On one hand, Paul wanted to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings; on the other hand, he wanted to be conformed to Christ’s death, that is, take Christ’s death as the mold of his life.
On the Lord’s side, He first experienced death and then entered into resurrection; on our side, we first experience the power of Christ’s resurrection, and then by this power we are enabled to participate in His sufferings (Phil. 3:10).
Hallelujah, Christ with the power of His resurrection is in the compound Spirit, and this Spirit is with our spirit today; we can experience the power of Christ’s resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings in spirit.
This expression, “the fellowship of His sufferings” indicates that, on one hand, Christ already suffered for His Body (the sufferings for our redemption, in which we cannot have any participation), and on the other, He still is suffering.
Today Christ still has sufferings for His Body, mainly for the building up of the Body, and Paul was eager to participate in these sufferings for the Body.
This may mean that there’s outward persecution and the believers are suffering, or that there is psychological persecution and the saints are suffering; also, this means that we can pray and be joined to the suffering Jesus to participate in His sufferings for His Body.
It is an honor to be one with the Lord in the way of suffering one with Him for the Body. Paul even wrote that his afflictions were for the saints, so the saints shouldn’t feel sorry for him but rather, as death was operating in him, so life operates in the saints. Oh, what a fellowship!
As believers in Christ who live a secret life with the Father, we exercise to be one with Him both in our daily living and in our sufferings, so that the divine life may be released and may flow in the Body for the building up of the Body.
For example, brother Watchman Nee chose to remain in prison in China so that death would operate in him and life would operate in the saints, and now we reap the benefits of his rich ministry.
Many pay a high price and endure much suffering not for themselves but in and for the Body of Christ, and when we experience Christ in His resurrection and are being conformed to His death, we can have the fellowship of His sufferings, fulfilling what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ for His Body.
Being Conformed to the Death of Christ by taking Christ’s Death as the Mold of our Life
What does it mean for us to be conformed to the death of Christ, as Paul mentioned in Phil. 3:10? It means that Christ’s death is a mold, and we take this death as the mold for our life.
A mother may want to bake a cake and may use a mold where she puts the dough, and after the dough is in the mold in the oven, the cake will take the shape of this mold. Similarly, the death of Christ is a mold, and by believing into Him and being one spirit with Him, we are being conformed to the mold of Christ’s death.
This means that we can live a crucified life with Christ, a life continually under the cross, even Christ did in His human living. When we live such a life, the life of God is manifested in us (John 6:57).
The mold of Christ’s death refers to the continual putting to death of His human life so that He may live by the divine life of God. When the Lord Jesus was on earth, on one hand He was a man with a high, noble, ethical, and moral humanity, and on the other hand He was God, having the divine life in Him.
Even though the Lord’s humanity was perfect, without defect, and without any problem, He stil had to put it aside and deny Himself, living a life under the cross, so that He may live not by His perfect human life but by the divine life in His spirit.
God’s intention was not that Jesus would live a perfect human life by His perfect humanity; rather, it was that Christ would live a crucified life, a life of continually denying His human life to live by the divine life so that He may express God.
In this way, the human life is the channel for the divine life to live out and be expressed.
Many believers and unbelievers alike know that the Lord’s human life was excellent; He was perfect in every way, and He did not make mistakes, say lies, do bad things, or do any evil. However, even such an excellent human life had to be put to death for the sake of the release of the divine life.
This is the mold of Christ’s death, and this mold was taken by Paul as the mold for his life. Paul aspired to be conformed to the death of Christ by taking Christ’s death as the mold of his life.
Being conformed to Christ’s death is the base of the experience of Christ (Phil. 1:20-21; 3:9-10). The mold of Christ’s death refers to Christ’s continually putting to death His natural life so that He may live by the life of God.
This kind of life Paul aspired to live, and this kind of life the Lord wants to repeat in our life, so taht we may be conformed to Christ’s death in the power of His resurrection.
Lord Jesus, we take Your death as the mold of our life; what we want is not that we would live a perfect human life but that the divine life would flow and be expressed in our human life. Amen, Lord, may we realise that being conformed to Christ’s death is the base of the experience of Christ. May we experience Christ’s continual putting to death His natural life so that we also may live by the life of God. Amen, Lord, may we know You and the power of Your resurrection and the fellowship of Your sufferings, being conformed to Your death!
Being Conformed to Christ’s Death to experience Christ for the Release of God’s Life
When we speak of putting to death our natural life so that the divine life would be released and would be expressed through us, many agree, for they do their best to put to death the negative aspects of their natural life.
However, they treasure and even preserve te good aspects of their natural life.
For example, we may treasure our own national characteristics and philosophy; we may think that by nature and by birth we are a little bit better, more patient, and nicer than others in certain aspects.
The Chinese pride themselves on their philosophical ethics, the Americans may boast of their frankness and openness, the British may boast of their politeness and class, the French may boast of their culture, etc.
As a result, a basic element of our natural lie is not put to death, and this element becomes a huge rock hindering the release of the power of Christ’s resurrection from within us.
But when we are conformed to Christ’s death, we experience Christ in His death for the release, impartation, and multiplication of life, and we also glorify the Father (see John 12:24-26, 28; 13:31; 2 Cor. 4:12).
When we are conformed to Christ’s death, when we have a personal participation in Christ’s death, and we know what the cross is; we will not speak of the cross in a religious way but we will know the suffering Christ, the Man of sorrows.
Our whole being will be a gateway of life; we will be both conformed to Christ’s death and we will experience the release of life.
But if we are not conformed to the death of Christ, we may not progress in our growth in life, and we will severely limit our experience of the power of Christ’s resurrection.
If we’re not being conformed to Christ’s death to experience Christ for the release of God’s life, we will be hindered from having further and higher experiences of Christ; instead of up-to-date experiences of Christ, we will try to live on our past experiences and speak of them again and again.
But praise the Lord, as we are conformed to the death of Christ, we will experience His all-accomplishing death!
First, if we die with Christ, we will keep our soul-life unto eternal life (John 12:25) and second, we will overcome the world and defeat Satan (v. 31; Heb. 2:14).
If we’re being conformed to the death of Christ, we will experience Christ in His death for the release, impartation, and multiplication of life (John 12:24-26; 2 Cor. 4:12), and the divine life within us will be released to be imparted into others, thereby being multiplied. Hallelujah!
When we are being conformed to the death of Christ, spontaneously the divine life within us will be released, and our God and Father will be glorified.
The more we are being conformed to Christ’s death, the more we will glorify the Father, and the more others will be drawn to Christ. Such an attraction of others to Christ comes through the release of life as an issue of our conformity to Christ’s death.
The way God will gain Europe and the earth is not by outward and spectacular moves but by many grains of wheat falling into the ground and dying; their shell is broken, and the divine life within them is released.
Lord Jesus, may we be those who experience Christ in His death for the release, impartation, and multiplication of life, so that the Father may be glorified! May we have a direct, personal participation in Christ with His death, so that the divine life would be released, imparted, and multiplied! Amen, Lord Jesus, may we take the same way as You did, falling into the earth as grains to die, allowing Your death to operate in us, so that the divine life would be released, imparted into others, and multiplied for the glory of the Father!
This article can also be read in the Romanian language / Citiți acest articol în limba română vizitând următorul link, Să fim conformați morții lui Cristos pentru a-L experimenta pe Cristos pentru eliberarea vieții lui Dumnezeu.
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1978, vol. 1, “The Experience of Christ,” chs. 17-18, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Experience of Christ (2019 Memorial Day Conference), week 6, Being Found in Christ, Knowing Christ, and Pursuing Christ.
- Hymns on this topic:
# We need to work out our own salvation / By obeying the inner operating God. / We need to be conformed to the mold of Christ’s death / By the power of His resurrection that we may attain / To the out resurrection from the dead. (Song on, The Christian life is a life)
# Crucified with Christ my Savior, / To the world and self and sin; / To the death-born life of Jesus / I am sweetly ent’ring in: / In His fellowship of suff’ring, / To His death conformed to be, / I am going with my Savior / All the way to Calvary. (Hymns #481)
# Jesus, my life, Thyself apply; / Thy Holy Spirit breathe; / My vile affections crucify; / Conform me to Thy death. (Hymns #364)
About aGodMan
