Actively Letting the Cross to Operate in Us so that Life Be Ministered to the Body

“Death operates in us, but life in you” (2 Cor. 4:12). In order for the divine life to be richly imparted into the members of the Body, some need to experience the cross and actively allow the death of Christ to operate in them. Just like Paul, we need to be open to the Lord in our daily life and not resist the cross when the Lord puts us in certain situations.

We are not “asking for the cross to come”, neither are we so presumptions to say, “Lord, give me more of the cross and even a deeper cross!” What we do is just enjoy the Lord, keep our heart turned to Him, and God Himself will arrange our environment and bring about people, things, family members, circumstances, and sufferings, so that the cross of Christ may be applied to us.

We simply need to LET the cross operate in us – actively allowing Christ to apply His death to our being, and we will touch God’s divine life flowing. Also, as we experience Christ’s death, life will be released in the Body of Christ.

We don’t even need to tell others of our experiences of the cross of Christ – these experiences are in the Body and they release life to the Body of Christ.

We experience death and we touch life, and the divine life is released and imparted into the Body. What we go through in secret with the Lord Jesus is sufficient to minister life to the Body (see Matt. 6:16-18; Col. 3:3-4).

Allowing the Cross to Operate in Us so that Life Be Ministered to Others

If no cross, no ministry; if no death, no life. Where there is the cross, there is the ministry of life for the building up of the Body. The way to be used by God to minister life to the members of the Body of Christ is to actively let the cross of Christ operate in us in the normal course of our life with the Lord (see 2 Cor. 4:10-12).

An important principle of the Body is “death operates in us, but life in you” (2 Cor. 4:12). We may experience the death of Christ personally and secretly, just us and the Lord, but life is being imparted to the Body of Christ. Anything that God takes us through by the way of the cross spontaneously brings an increase of life in the Body of Christ!

We need to have such an attitude of actively allowing Christ to touch us, break through in us, and cross us out, so that as death operates in us life would be ministered to the Body. We may even tell the Lord in our personal time with Him,

Lord, I will LET the cross operate in me. I don’t want to promise You that “I’ll be a better person”, neither do I seek improvement. I decide before You, I will let the cross operate in me. I place myself into Your hands as never before. Do not leave me untouched. For the sake of the Body, for the building up of Your organism on earth, have a way in me.

Communicating Life to the Body by Having Many Secret Experiences of Christ

Many Christians believe that it is mainly by speaking about our experiences with Christ and doing a lot of activities that the Body of Christ is built up. But the Holy Spirit testifies mainly to the inward spiritual reality of a believer who is under God’s hand, one who allows God to operate in him and apply the cross of Christ to his being (John 16:13; 1 John 5:6).

The Body of Christ is ministered to by the communication of life. As we experience the death of Christ, as we allow Christ to apply the cross to our being in our daily life, death operates in us and life is ministered to the Body.

God requires that certain experiences we have with Him are in secret and remain in secret, and we should never talk about them to others. Though others may not know our experiences with Christ, they receive life by virtue of our being in the Body. When we go through the operation of the cross every day and we touch life, this is sufficient: the Body is supplied with more life.

What we go through in secret with the Lord is quite sufficient to minister life to His members. If we suffer for the Lord’s sake, that suffering will bring increase to others, without our making known the story of our suffering. Talking about it is not only superfluous; in some circumstances it is an abomination. (Watchman Nee)

The way we impart life to the Body of Christ is not by much outward activity or a lot of speaking, but it is mainly by personally and secretly opening to the Lord and letting Him apply His death to our being.

They way to function is based on the oneness of the Body of Christ – what we go through belongs to the Body, and there’s no need to struggle to communicate it to others or to pass it on. The way to build up the church is to let the church be built up in you.

Whatever we experience of Christ is an experience in and of the Body, and whatever we receive from the Head is in and for the Body. We simply enjoy Christ, experience Him, allow the cross to operate in us, and life will be flowing in the Body.

The more we experience Christ and His death in this way, the more life will be ministered to the Body of Christ, and the more the Body is growing. The measure of the stature of the Body increases as we have many secret experiences of Christ and the cross.

We need to pray many desperate prayers before the Lord concerning this – no one can help us in this respect but the Lord. Only a direct contact with the Lord can show us the Body, the principles of the Body, and the ministry of life needed for the Body. The Lord wants to shape us and form us to His image to make us His reproduction.

Lord Jesus, we just open to You. You know our being, and You know where we are. Lord, make us willing to be willing. Make us willing to let the cross operate in us. We don’t ask for a deeper cross, but we ask for the experiences that we need for life to be imparted to the Body of Christ so that You may get what You are after. Lord, keep us in a direct and personal contact with You. We don’t care for a position in the church or for a “good image” before others. We want You to build up the church to be the Body You need for Your expression!

References and Further Reading

• This sharing is inspired from brother Ron Kangas’ sharing and portions in, Collected Works of Watchman Nee (vol. 40, pp. 125-127), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, ITERO spring 2013 “The Experience, Growth, and Ministry of Life for the Body“, week 8 entitled, Living a Sacrificing Life in the Body and Ministering Life to the Body for the Growth of the Body.
• Further reading: recommending msgs. 30-35 from the Life-Study of 2 Corinthians (by Witness Lee).
• Hymns on this topic:
  # Through the Cross, O Lord, I pray, / Put my soul-life all away; / Make me any price to pay, / Full anointing to receive.
  # Every moment, every member, / Girded, waiting Thy command; / Underneath the yoke to labor / Or be laid aside as planned. / When restricted in pursuing, / No disquiet will beset; / Underneath Thy faithful dealing / Not a murmur or regret.
  # Enter the veil for resurrection pow’r, / Go out the camp to bear the cross and woe, / If I His radiant face in heaven see, / His footsteps I will follow here below.
• Pictures credit: from a friend on Facebook and via instagram here.