The Christian life is a life and a living on the pathway of life; as Christians and as followers of the Lord Jesus we need to enter through the narrow gate and walk on the constricted way which leads to life (see Matt. 7:13-14). What is this pathway of life?
We have the divine life in us – but what pathway do we need to take in order to have more life and to have this life in us grow, develop, flow, and be expressed? The Bible shows us that the way of life is the way of death – when the death of Christ is operating in us, there’s a way for the life of Christ to come out of us (see 2 Cor. 4:10; Phil. 3:10, and Gal. 2:20).
Death is the way for life to be released
God wants to clear all the obstacles in the way of His life in us, and the way He deals with all these inward and subjective problems is called the pathway of life. This work is accomplished through the death of the cross – all the hindrances are removed through the work of the cross in us.
Life is concealed in death – unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit (John 12:24). If we experience the death of Christ, if we know Christ in His death, life will be released. Death is an outlet for life, and life must pass through death to be released. Death is not the end, and death is sweet and life-releasing when we experience the death of Christ.
We all want to enjoy and experience life, and we want to do so abundantly, but the way for life to be released is the way of death. The way of life is the way of death, and the expression of the Lord’s life in us depends on our experience of His death.
Paul said, “Always bearing about in the body the putting to death of Jesus that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our body” (2 Cor. 4:10). Even Paul, who was mature in life and had a lot of experience, pursued to know the death of Christ and desired to be conformed to Christ’s death. He realized that the extent to which death worked in him is the extent to which the Lord’s life could be released from him.
The discipline of the Holy Spirit
How can we experience death? It’s not necessarily by praying for it or desiring it – we don’t need to be so super-spiritual that we ask the Lord to crucify us and give us more experience of death… The Lord is faithful to bring circumstances and things to us to cause us to experience Him in His death.
God uses tools such as God’s grace, the Bible, the Holy Spirit, the church, the saints, the speaking in the meetings, and especially our environment. The discipline of the Holy Spirit is mainly in our environment and our circumstances – here we can experience the life-releasing death of Christ in a subjective way.
There are three things we need to “read” today – we need to read the Bible (the word of God), we need to read the inward sense (of life and peace), and we need to read the environment (the circumstances, people, things, matters around us). We need to pay attention to the people, things, and matters we encounter – we don’t just “go through things” like everyone else does; rather, the Lord is operating in the environment to put us to death so that the divine life would be released!
Don’t neglect the environment and circumstances, and don’t blame the people around you for being mean to you. Our circumstances and our environment are a great means arranged by God for dealing with our person and subduing us. The discipline of the Holy Spirit is in our environment and circumstances, and it is the greatest took in God’s ordination!
All things work together for good
This wonderful verse in Romans 8:28 now has a new meaning – after Paul speaks about the Holy Spirit in the first half of chapter 8, in the second half he speaks of the sufferings, environment, and circumstances, and that God causes all these things to work together for good.
On the one hand, it is God who operates through the Spirit in our inner being, and on the other hand, we need to see that all things work together with God and with us to gain our cooperation and be conformed to the image of Christ, God’s Firstborn Son. The environment and the people around us are a great help to God to deal with us, subdue us, cause us to inwardly turn to the Lord, and have more life being released even as we experience death.
It is not only enough to know the Bible, and it is not only enough to know the Holy Spirit; we need to be those who see that all things around us, all our environment, and all matters are used by God to transform us and conform us to the image of Christ. In these things, we can experience the cross when we touch our mingled spirit – and the life of Christ can be released and can be expressed!
In these things, no matter how difficult they are, we can know the Lord’s grace and we can experience the Lord’s power, which is perfected in our weakness (2 Cor. 12:9). The pathway of life is through death, and nothing that happens to us is random or by accident. All things work together for good!
Lord Jesus, we want to know the pathway of life. We don’t want to enter the broad gate and be on the wide way like everyone else around us. Keep us seeking You to the extent that we can read not only the Bible and the inward sense, but even the environment. We want to cooperate with You, Lord, in Your dealings and in Your transforming work. Conform us to Your image, and gain the full release of life in us!
References and Further Reading
- Sharing inspired from, Knowing Life and the Church (chs. 6-7; by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Taking the Lead as Elders and Responsible Ones, week 2.
- Hymns on this topic:
# If I’d know Christ’s risen power. / I must ever love the Cross; / Life from death alone arises; / There’s no gain except by loss.
# Christ to me is so subjective, / All my being He transforms; / By the mind and will renewing / To His image He conform
# Through the Cross, O Lord, I pray, / Put my soul-life all away; / Make me any price to pay, / Full anointing to receive. - Picture inspiration: John 12:24.
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Thank you Lord..we take you how to read the bible,inward sense,environment,circumtances,peoples,things,matter arround us..
Amen! Lord, we want to be those who do cooperate with Your operation. (Heb 6:1 "LET US be brought on to maturity.") Lord, we don't want to miss Your inner operation by missing Your outward arrangement in all things. Make us those who are fully one with You, fully cooperating with You, fully willing to be made the same as You in life, nature, expression, function…in every detail of our life and living. Fully matching You! So we choose to be those who give You the way…who give LIFE the full way IN US by being conformed to Your death.
amen
In my mind Cross and Death is sepated very often, but in Lord's living it was not. He lived crucified life from the beginning to the end of His earthly living, experiencing the death on the Cross outwardly also. This was His top most humiliation (Philipians 2:5-11 (http://online.recoveryversion.org/bibleverses.asp?fvid=6252&lvid=6258&ol=on)). Lord, lead us the narow pathway of life.
Having discovered this page, this quote and this section–here is a new song, based on a portion of this page. The tune is from our hymnal, which is linked here, via hymnal.net, in case you do not know the tune well. Hope you enjoy the version.
Life Is Concealed In Death
tune: A Little Bird/724 https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/724
Life is concealed in death –
Unless the grain of wheat–
Falls into the ground and dies,
It abides alone;
But if it dies, it bears much fruit.
If we experience the death…
Of Christ, if we know Christ–
In His death, life will be–
Released. The way of life’s the way–
Of death, the expression,
Of His life in us depends on–
Our experience of His death.
source: inspired from, Knowing Life and the Church (chs. 6-7; by Witness Lee), (as quoted in HWMR booklet: Taking The Lead as Elders and Responsible Ones, week 2); song, from 8/31/14.