The unique subject, center, content, and substance of the apostle’s ministry is the crucified Christ, and God’s way to deal with every problem in the universe is to terminate everyone and everything through the cross.
As we are prayerfully considering the crystals in the book of Ezekiel, the matter of the cross is quite critical and important, for it is signified by the altar in the center of the temple, and it is implied by the doors, the rooms for washing and eating, the pavement, and many things in the temple.
The center of the temple is an altar: it is here that God comes to meet man (God comes out of the temple to meet man at the altar), and it is here that man comes to meet God (man brings offerings to God and meets God at the altar).
The cross of Christ is the center of the universe, for it is here that God meets man and man meets God. God’s center is the cross, and our center should also be the cross. We may say that Christ is our center, but in an experiential way, Christ with His cross is the center, for whenever we have Christ, we have His cross.
In God’s plan there’s no thing or person higher than the Lord Jesus, and then besides the cross there’s no other way that He takes. The principle of the cross is not merely suffering and dealing; through the cross God terminates everything of the old creation so that the new creation may be germinated.
The reason we need the cross is because we are in the old creation, and what God desires to obtain is the new creation; when the cross is applied to the old creation and everything of the old creation is terminated, the new creation can come in.
The old creation consists of at least these things: the angelic life, the things in heaven and on earth, the human life, Satan (the one who has the might of death, the devil), the kingdom of Satan, sin, sins, the world, death, the flesh, the old man, the self, and all things – all creation.
Christ put all these things on Himself when He went to the cross, and He terminated them all; now we need to experience the crucified Christ, speak this One, and take Him as our center and content, and we will be suitable for God’s building and for the fulfillment of His purpose.
The Crucified Christ is God’s Power to Abolish all Negative things and Carry out His Plan
According to 1 Cor. 2:2, Paul spoke and focused on only one matter: the crucified Christ; the unique subject, the center, the content, and the substance of the apostle’s ministry was the crucified Christ.
In God’s universe He has the cross at the center, and the apostle Paul also had the cross at the center, beginning from his personal life to his ministry.
When he went to Corinth and visited the saints, and then later wrote them, he knew that there were many problems, that the saints were exalting excellent speech and were seeking wisdom, and he was not bothered by it; rather, he wrote to them not to appeal to their intellect or to please them, but he just wanted to impart the crucified Christ to them.
The death of Christ has become God’s power to eliminate all the problems in the universe. All the problems in the universe, in our Christian life, family life, work life, and personal life can be eliminated by only one thing: the crucified Christ, the cross of Christ.
Christ crucified is God’s power to abolish all negative things and to carry out His plan (1 Cor. 1:23-24).
The apostle Paul was not concerned how eloquent his speaking was; he just wanted to minister the crucified Christ to man, even though this One was a stumbling block to the Jews (who were looking for miracles) and a foolishness to the Gentiles (who were looking for wisdom).
When Jesus was on the cross, the Jews wanted Him to get down and make a miracle, and they will believe into Him; but praise the Lord, Jesus Christ didn’t get down from the cross to make a miracle! Rather, as He was hanging there, God’s strongest power was operating in Him to be manifested in Him.
God’s power was manifested by the crucified Christ upon whom were laid all the sins of the world, including man, Satan, the angelic world, the old man, the flesh, and everything of the old creation.
The cross of Christ was God’s power and wisdom. To the Greeks, however, this is foolishness, for the Greeks were looking for something smart, for Him to find a way out and get around it. But to those who are called – both Jews and Gentiles – Christ with His cross is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
To God it’s not about smartness or miracles, but God’s wisdom and power, for through Christ’s crucifixion He terminated everything of the old creation. The crucifixion of Christ has silenced the entire universe and has simplified the extremely complicated situation in the universe (see 2 Cor. 11:2-3).
The Jews with their desire for miracles were silenced by the Lord’s death, and the Greeks with their search for wisdom were shut up. When death comes in, everyone is quiet, because everyone is terminated.
There are so many problems in the world, at work, at school, in the family life, and in the church life; the only solution to all these problems is the crucified Christ, the cross of Christ.
Lord, thank You for Your death on the cross, which is God’s power to eliminate all the problems in the universe. Cause us to have a change of concept in regards to the cross, that we may realized that the crucified Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. Thank You Lord Jesus for not coming down from the cross to make a miracle for the Jews or to show wisdom for the Greeks. Thank You for dying an all-inclusive death on the cross to terminate everything of the old creation and germinate the new creation! Thank You Lord for the cross!
God’s way to Solve Problems is to Terminate Everyone Involved through the Cross
The world is full of problems, and the human way of solving problems is to negotiate; however, the way of negotiating and compromise doesn’t solve the problems but rather creates more problems.
God’s way to solve problems is not to negotiate but to terminate everyone and everything involved through the cross. The best way to solve problems among people is not to give in a little here and make a compromise over there, but to terminate everyone involved (Gal. 2:20, cf. 1 Cor. 6:7-8).
The cross of Christ is the unique solution to the problems in the church life and the family life. On the one hand, we need to enjoy Christ, for He is our life, our life supply, the living water, the living bread, and so many things to us.
On the other hand, as we enjoy Christ, we are being terminated by the cross. As the cross terminates us, we should simply remain restfully in the place of termination, allowing the cross to operate in us.
God doesn’t negotiate with us; He simply terminates everyone. The only way for us to have real peace is for everyone to be terminated by the cross of Christ and for Christ to live and be expressed in us.
No problem in the church is simple: they are all complicated, and even though many have a good heart and intention, they still may cause problems.
We need to realize that we CANNOT solve problems; we may think we know the solution and we may even have passed through a similar experience, but we need to learn to say, I don’t know. Let’s go to the Lord – let us allow the cross to operate in us. If we all get terminated by the cross, the church life is wonderful.
But if we don’t experience the crucified Christ and don’t allow His cross to terminate us, there will be arguments between husband and wife, parents and children, and brothers and sisters. Everyone thinks he’s right, and everyone has a point.
The way to take care of all the problems is to enjoy the Lord as the crucified Christ; Christ and His cross are the unique solution to all the problems in the universe.
When we experience the crucified Christ, all that we are, all that we have, and all that we can do are completely terminated, and His resurrection life is imparted through us into others (see John 12:24-26; 2 Cor. 4:10-12).
The cross solves all the entanglements that we face in the church life and especially in our married life. There are many bothersome, puzzling, and entangling situations and feelings in the family life, the married life, and even in the church life; the instrument used by God – the cutting knife – to save us from all these entanglements is the cross.
In Rev. 2:17 we see the reward to the overcomers: eating the tree of life; the word for tree here is wood, the same word for cross in the original language. The tree of life is the real cross; when we enjoy Christ as life, we are being crossed out. Eating the tree of life results in us being crossed out and being inwardly supplied to live Christ.
God wants us to enjoy the tree of life, which tree is the wood of the cross. As we come to the Lord to enjoy Him as the tree of life, the cross is ministered to us.
We should resist the temptation of trying to deal with the problems that come up in the church life and the family life by our natural wisdom, and we should simply turn to the crucified Christ to experience Him, allowing His cross to operate in us as we enjoy Him as the tree of life.
Lord Jesus, save us from the temptation of trying to solve the problems in our church life and family life by our wisdom and knowledge. Keep us turning to You, Lord, to experience You as the crucified Christ. May we realize that the cross of Christ is God’s unique way of dealing with all the problems in the universe. May we enjoy You as the tree of life and allow the cross to operate in us day by day. Save us from negotiating or making compromises; keep us enjoying You and experiencing You as the crucified Christ so that all problems would be finished, we would be terminated, and Christ would live in us!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by James Lee for this week, and portions from, Life-study of 1 Corinthians, msgs. 5, 8 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of Ezekiel (2), msg. 7 (week 19 in the HWMR), The Cross – the Center of the Universe.
- Hymns on this topic:
# The Christ we know is crucified — experience of the cross / Allows us to enjoy His life and count ourselves but loss; / The sense of life and death within us functions as a gauge, / Equipping us to live Christ in the Body in this age. (Song on the cross is not a suffering)
# I am crucified with Jesus, / And He lives and dwells with me; / I have ceased from all my struggling, / ’Tis no longer I, but He. (Hymns #564)
# 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)
About aGodMan
Human life is filled with problems and entanglements. Simply to be alive is to encounter problems and troubles. This is true not only in the married life and family life but also in the church life. According to the human way, negotiation is the means of solving problems or resolving entanglements. A brother and his wife may attempt to solve problems in this way. However, this is not the divine way. God’s way is to supply you with Christ and terminate you by the cross. Whenever there is a problem in the family life or in the church life, the natural man may immediately try to negotiate and solve the problem through conversation. By the Lord’s mercy I can testify that whenever I face this temptation, deep within I have the sense that there is no need for me to talk or negotiate. My only need is to go to the cross and be terminated. Then Christ comes in with the supply to solve every problem. This is God’s way to solve all the problems in the church life. (Life-study of 1 Corinthians, pp. 46-47, by Witness Lee)
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[amen, Lord!]
Praise the Lord!Amen
Praise the Lord for the power of crucifixion, and the power of the wonderful death of Christ! 1Cor.2:2 says ” I did not determine to know anything among you expect Jesus Christ, and this One crucified.” When we experience the crucified Christ, we are terminated. When we call on the name of the Lord Jesus, as we are enjoying Him and experiencing Him, His crucifixion will terminate us. Christ crucifixion is God’s power to abolish all negative things and carry out His plan. On the one hand, Christ is our enjoyment; on the other hand, the cross is our termination. We should remain restfully in the place of termination. Whatever is terminated by the cross is redeemed. The enjoyment of redemption depends on the experience of termination. Only the cross can save us from problems and the entanglements of anything. God’s is to supply us with Christ and terminate us by the cross. May we be willing to treasure God’s way which is Christ and the cross.
Thank the Lord that God gives us the cross and that the cross gives us God. The ones who love God the most and experience Him the most are the ones who have gone through the cross.
Philippians 3:10 To know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death. – This verse is my way to enter into crucifixion. His resurrection life is the life and power in my spirit that can crucify my soul-life, if I let Him, if I allow it.