Taking the Death of Christ as the Mold of our Life to be Conformed to Christ’s Death

In Phil. 3:10 Paul spoke of being conformed to Christ’s death – he desired to take Christ’s death as the mold of his life; we need to take the death of Christ as the mold in which the power of Christ’s resurrection leads us and keeps us.

Such a small verse, v. 10 in Phil. 3, is so packed with many terms that are so rich in meaning and applicable to our experience.

First, we need to know Christ; we need to know not just about Christ but know Christ Himself, the person.

We need to know Him personally and subjectively, and we need to have the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, our Lord.

Our whole life as believers in Christ is a quest for us to know Christ, the all-inclusive One. Second, we need to know the power of His resurrection.

Before we can know the fellowship of the Lord’s sufferings and be conformed to His death, we need to know the power of His resurrection.

The power of Christ’s resurrection is what operates in us day by day, and we need to know this power in a subjective way, in the way of experience.

This power, however, is not something that supernaturally does this or that in us or for us; it is the power of the divine life in us.

When we know the power of Christ’s resurrection, we can have the fellowship of His sufferings.

The power of resurrection is not for us to become powerful and mighty so that everyone would see how strong and powerful we are in the Lord.

This power is so that we may be able to share in the fellowship of the sufferings of Christ.

We cannot share in the Lord’s sufferings for redemption; this is something that only He can do.

But we can participate in the sufferings of Christ for the producing and building up of the church as the Body of Christ.

This means that we need to fill on our part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in our flesh for His Body, which is the church (Col. 1:24).

In order for the church as the Body of Christ to be produced and built up, much suffering is required.

Christ suffered and is suffering for the church, and we all need to share in this suffering.

We are the many grains of wheat who follow Him into the ground to die; we are not here to make a name for ourselves in Christianity nor do we want to build a following – we’re here to follow the Lord into the earth to die.

He took the lead to go through death into resurrection so that the divine life may be released; we need to follow His lead to share in His sufferings for the members of the body of Christ to grow in life, be cared for, be matured, be transformed, be conformed to the image of Christ, and be built up in the Body.

Being Conformed to Christ’s Death: taking the Death of Christ as the Mold of our Life

The excellency of the knowledge of Christ, counting all things as loss, gaining Christ (Phil. 3:7-8), being found in Christ (v. 9), knowing Christ, knowing the power of His resurrection, and knowing the fellowship of His sufferings all issue in one thing: being conformed to His death (v. 10).

We need to have the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ so that we may count all things as loss in order that we may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having our own righteousness but the righteousness that is God Himself lived out of us.

We do this so that we may know Him, the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings.

When we do this, we are being conformed to Christ’s death (v. 10).

Being conformed to the death of Christ is the issue of the previous experiences, and the ultimate result is that we would arrive at the out-resurrection from the dead.

Being conformed to Christ’s death indicates that the death of Christ is a mold to which we are conformed.

The apostle Paul considered the death of Christ to be a model, a form, a mold; the Lord put him in this mold, and now he is conformed to the death of Christ.

The sisters may bake some cookies or some bread, and they use a particular mold into which they put the dough.

The dough takes the shape of the mold, and when the cookies or the bread is baked, it has the shape of the mold into which they were put.

We believers in Christ we put in Christ and in the death of Christ; when we were baptized, we were put in Christ and in the death of Christ.

Now we are being conformed to Christ’s death day by day as we remain in the death of Christ.

To conform is to bring into harmony or accord, to make something similar or identical.

We are being brought into harmony or accord with the death of Christ; we’re being made similar or identical with the death of Christ.

On one hand, when we believed into the Lord and were baptized, we were put into Christ; on the other hand, we were put into the death of Christ.

We are now being conformed to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:28-29), and we are being conformed to the death of Christ (Phil. 3:10).

We are in the death of Christ as the mold and, as long as we remain here, the Lord is arranging all the circumstances and situations around us in order to conform us to the death of Christ.

All the situations, people, matters, and things around us in our human living are arranged by the Lord to help us be conformed to the image of Christ.

The centre of Phil. 3 is the matter of being conformed to the mold of Christ’s death (Phil. 3:7, 9, 12-16).

The conformity to the death of Christ is the launching pad for us to experience the out-resurrection in v. 11; for us to have such an experience, we need to be conformed to the death of Christ.

We do not need to seek more experiences of the death of Christ; the Christian life is not a life that seeks suffering and death but a life of enjoying Christ.

However, God is sovereign to arrange all things, situations, people and matters around us in our human living so that we may be conformed to Christ’s death.

We simply need to take the death of Christ as the mold of our life and remain here.

We can even tell the Lord,

Thank You, Lord, for putting us in You and in Your death as the mold for our life. Hallelujah, we were baptized into Christ and into His death, and the death of Christ is the mold for our Christian life. Keep us here, dear Lord, in the mold of Your death, so that we may be conformed to Christ’s death in our daily life. We open to You to enjoy You, experience You, and know You in a subjective way. We do not ask for more experiences of suffering and death; we simply ask for the grace that we would be conformed to Christ’s death. Amen, Lord, keep us in You. Keep us in Your death as the mold for our Christian life. Save us from trying to escape from the mold of Your death.

The Power of Resurrection Leads us, Carries us, Bears us, and Places us in the Mold of Christ’s Death

When many Christians hear about being conformed to the death of Christ, they may be not so happy about it, for death is quite a negative matter.

Human death, the death of Adam, is terrible; we loathe death, we don’t talk about it, and we do not invite it nor do we appreciate it.

However, the death of Christ is precious and lovable, and we all need to treasure it.

Because of the death of Christ, we have been redeemed, we are regenerated, and we can be children of God.

The Lord Jesus, when He was on earth, experienced two baptisms – first at the beginning of His ministry, when He was baptized in water by John the Baptist, and second at the end of His ministry, when He was baptized on the cross.

Both baptisms symbolize the lovable death of Christ.

We may understand this and mentally agree with this, but we may still not want to be conformed to Christ’s death.

Gal. 2:20 tells us that we have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer us who live but Christ who lives in us; however, we need to live a crucified life today.

We experience the sufferings and the death of Christ so that Christ may be lived out of us, for Him to be expressed in our daily living.

This is why we need to experience the power of Christ’s resurrection.

God put us in Christ and in the death of Christ as the mold, and the power of resurrection keeps us here so that we may be conformed to Christ’s death.

The power of the resurrection life of Christ in us leads us, carries us, bears us, and places us into the mold of Christ’s death (John 11:25; Eph. 1:19-20).

How much we need to know the power of Christ’s resurrection in our daily life so that we may be conformed to Christ’s death in our experience!

The power of Christ’s resurrection empowers us and strengthens us in our daily Christian life, and in particular, it leads us, carries us, bears us, and places us in the mold of Christ’s death.

The power of resurrection enables us to enter into the fellowship of the sufferings of Christ and to be conformed to His death.

As we experience Christ’s death, we also experience the power of His resurrection.

A. B. Simson said in one of his hymns, ‘Tis not hard to die with Christ, / When His risen life we know.

It is not hard to share in the Lord’s sufferings when our hearts are filled with joy and we enjoy His resurrection power.

His power causes us to follow Him all the way to Calvary.

Our God is full of power; He is Christ who empowers us with His resurrection life and power.

He is in us, and His life is the resurrection power.

When we are impoverished, Christ enables us with His resurrection power to withstand the pressures of poverty.

When we’re prosperous, He empowers us to withstand the test of prosperity.

When we are persecuted by others, Christ empowers us inwardly to endure.

When others praise us, His resurrection power strengthens us inwardly so that we can withstand the praise.

May we be willing to pay the price of our good qualities and strengths and even lose them so that we may experience Christ as the resurrection power and as our inward supply.

May we remain here, in the death of Christ, in our daily living, so that we may experience the power of Christ’s resurrection leading us, carrying us, bearing us, and placing us into the mold of Christ’s death.

May our daily living, our service to the Lord, and our living for God be in the mold of Christ’s death, to which we are conformed by the power of His resurrection.

Lord Jesus, we open to You as the resurrection life and power in us. We want to know You and experience You, even to be conformed to Christ’s death by the power of His resurrection. Amen, Lord, Your resurrection life enables us to withstand the pressures and empowers us to withstand the tests. We open to You so that the power of Your resurrection would lead us, carry us, bear us, and place us into the mold of Christ’s death so that we may bear the image of the death of Christ. Dear Lord Jesus, keep us one spirit with You today. We open to You in our daily living, throughout the day, that we would be kept in the mold of Christ’s death. Operate in us as the resurrection life and power day by day. Empower us and strengthen us within so that we may be conformed to the death of Christ and bear the image of Christ.

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ray M. in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1989, vol. 3, “The Experience and Growth in Life,” ch. 12, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Knowing, Experiencing, and Enjoying Christ as Revealed in Philippians (2023 Memorial Day Weekend Conference), week 5, entitled, Knowing the Fellowship of Christ’s Sufferings and Being Conformed to His Death.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – ’Tis not hard to die with Christ / When His risen life we know; / ’Tis not hard to share His suff’rings / When our hearts with joy o’erflow. / In His resurrection power / He has come to dwell in me, / And my heart is gladly going / All the way to Calvary. / If we die we’ll live with Christ, / If we suffer we shall reign; / Only thus the prize of glory / Can the conqueror attain. / Oh, how sweet, on that glad morning / Should the Master say to thee, / “Yes, my child, thou didst go with me / All the way to Calvary.” (Hymns #481 stanzas 2-3)
  – I would cease completely / From my efforts vain, / Let Thy life transform me, / Full release to gain; / Build me up with others / Till in us Thou see / Thy complete expression / Glorifying Thee. (Hymns #841 stanza 6)
  – I am crucified with Christ, / And the cross hath set me free; / I have ris’n again with Christ, / And He lives and reigns in me. / Oh! it is so sweet to die with Christ, / To the world, and self, and sin; / Oh! it is so sweet to live with Christ, / As He lives and reigns within. (Hymns #482 stanza 1 and chorus)