On one hand, we need to aspire to attain to the out-resurrection in our lifetime by living in resurrection today; on the other hand, the Spirit is dwelling in us to work the out-resurrection into our being in a real and practical way, and we can live in the new creation to attain to the out-resurrection in this age.
Thank the Lord for His speaking to us; we thank Him for unveiling us to see what is the goal of our Christian life.
According to the apostle Paul in chapter 3 of Philippians, the goal of our Christian life is the out-resurrection from the dead.
This is not a normal resurrection, the resurrection that all human beings partake of after the kingdom age, in order to be brought before the judgment seat and have our eternal destiny determined before God.
Rather, this is the resurrection that is outstanding, the out-resurrection, the extra resurrection; it is the resurrection that is given to us as a reward for overcoming believers in this age.
This out-resurrection will not be a surprise to us; rather, this resurrection has been operating in us, we have been living in resurrection, and we are arriving at the out-resurrection in this age so that in the next age we would enter into it in a full way.
Others may ask us, Can we really reach the out-resurrection in this age, or is it only in the next age that we can reach it, while in this age we just run the race with endurance?
We should not look at our situation and focus on our condition today; rather, we need to believe the word of God and allow the Lord to mold us into His death so that we may live in resurrection today.
The more we go through death and resurrection, the more we’re conformed to the death of Christ so that the power of His resurrection may be manifested in us and His resurrection life may live and flow through us, the more we arrive at the out-resurrection from the dead.
When the enemy accuses us, we apply the blood of the Lamb and defeat him, for we overcome the accuser by the prevailing, overcoming blood of Christ.
Regarding our soul life, we do not love our soul life even unto death.
And regarding our testimony, we do not speak what we feel or see happening around us: we speak the word of our testimony, standing on the word of God, declaring the facts that God has spoken (Rev. 12:11).
Day by day we stand one with the Lord and partake of Him, and we are conscious of the fact that He is taking us through certain experiences in order for His death to mold us and for His resurrection life to flow deeper in our being and even to flow out of us.
May we be those who cooperate with the Lord in this age to attain to the out-resurrection today so that we may receive the out-resurrection from the dead as a prize in the next age.
The Spirit is Dwelling in us to Work the Out-resurrection into our Being in a Real and Practical Way
In Phil. 3:10-11 Paul aspired to know Christ, the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, so that he may attain to the out-resurrection from the dead.
This is what we all aspire to, for we want to have our whole being brought through death and resurrection to attain the out-resurrection.
In Rom. 8:11 we see that, if the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to our mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells us.
In other words, we can attain to the out-resurrection in this age, and this is not because of us and our zeal for the Lord but because the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead also dwells in us. Wow!
The life-giving Spirit, the Spirit that raised Christ from the dead, dwells in our spirit, and He is spreading into our mind, emotion, and will (Rom. 8:6) to fill our soul with the divine life.
The consummation of this process is that He will impart life even to our mortal body.
The part of our being that is dying, our mortal bodies, will have life imparted to it by the One who raised Christ from the dead.
How encouraging is this!
Rom. 8:11 reveals that we can attain to the out-resurrection in this age, for the Spirit is dwelling in us to work the out-resurrection into our being in a real and practical way.
On our side, we need to contact the Lord, open to Him, learn to set our mind on our spirit, and remain in our spirit.
On His side, the Lord operates in our inner being to resurrect every part of our being, from our mind to our emotions to our will with all that they entail.
Verse 11 of Romans 8 is very encouraging to us, for it says that, if the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to that part of our being which is dying – our mortal body.
What does it mean that the Spirit will give life?
This refers not only to healing but to the result of our allowing the Spirit of God to make His home in us and saturate our entire being with the divine life.
If throughout the day we open to the Lord, exercise our spirit, set our mind on our spirit, and allow the Lord to make His home in our heart (Eph. 3:17), He saturates and permeates our inner being with Himself.
As we remain in this process of allowing the Lord to saturate our inner parts with Himself, we are inwardly reconstituted and saturated with the divine life.
Our mind becomes life, our emotions are filled with the divine life, and even our will is subdued by and filled with the divine life.
The consummation of this process, the result of our allowing the Spirit of God to make His home in us, is that even our mortal body is saturated with His life.
The Spirit is dwelling in us to work the out-resurrection into our being in a real and practical way.
In a very real and practical way, the Spirit operates in us; He dwells in us, He spreads into our soul to saturate our soul with the divine life, and He even spreads into our mortal bodies to resurrect it.
Isn’t it so encouraging to see and realize that the Spirit is dwelling in us to work the out-resurrection into our being in a real and practical way so that we can attain to the out-resurrection in this age?
It really is so encouraging to see this, and we’re filled with hope and aspiration that the Lord will bring us, by His Spirit who indwells us, all the way to the goal of the out-resurrection.
Thank You, Lord Jesus, for coming to indwell us as the Spirit. Hallelujah, the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us! Amen, Lord, we open to You; we give You the permission to spread from our spirit into our mind, emotion, and will. Make Your home in our heart. Spread into our thoughts, our feelings, our decisions, and in all the inward parts of our being. We want to allow the Spirit of God to make His home in us and saturate our entire being with the divine life. Amen, Lord, may the Spirit who dwells in us work the out-resurrection into our being in a real and practical way day by day! May we daily be filled with the divine life in our spirit, soul, and even in our body so that we may be filled with life and attain to the out-resurrection in this age! Amen, Lord, do this in us and do this in all Your saints!
Attain to the Out-resurrection in this Age by Living in the New Creation and Pursuing toward the Goal
Life out of death – life that goes through death and comes out of death into resurrection, this is the real life, the divine life, the resurrection life.
Who can have such a life, and how can we experience such a life in our daily life?
As believers in Christ, we need to realize that, just as our salvation is not of ourselves – for we could not save ourselves – so our being resurrected and attaining to the out-resurrection is not of ourselves but of the Lord.
The Spirit is dwelling in us to work the out-resurrection into our being in a real and practical way.
On our side, we need to be conformed to the death of Christ in our family life and in our church life; we need to die to the old creation so that we may live in the new creation.
We need to realize that, on the one hand, we’re in the old creation, for we were born of our human parents, but on the other hand, we’re in the new creation, for we were born of God in our spirit.
Our daily living needs to be in the new creation, not in the old creation.
To live in the new creation, we need to conformed to Christ’s death so that we may live in resurrection.
When we live in the new creation, even our love for our wife will not be natural but in resurrection.
The wife’s submission to her husband will not be natural, according to her ethics or cultural background, but in another realm, the realm of resurrection.
When we live in the new creation, our love, submission, obedience, and patience will all be in a different realm; there will be nothing natural in them, but Christ will be expressed.
God doesn’t want our natural love or submission; He is not after an improved human patience or perfected obedience in the natural realm.
What God wants is what Phil. 3 reveals: He wants that we to gain Christ, be found in Him, know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, so that we may attain to the out-resurrection.
In the out-resurrection there’s no element of the old creation; rather, everything here is full of the divine element.
Many times we see this with the saints who live in the Lord’s presence and are therefore in resurrection; when we speak to such ones, we do not sense that they know so much, they can do so much, or that they love the Lord so much, but we sense Christ being lived out in them.
In our daily life, we want to live in the new creation so that we may attain to the out-resurrection.
![In the out-resurrection there is no element of the old creation. Instead, everything is full of the divine element. This is the reason that people sense God when they are with a person who lives in the out-resurrection. The living of such a person, his deeds and words, is in resurrection. This is the out-resurrection in our daily life…This is what [Paul] had in mind when he declared that his desire was to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and by any means to attain to the out-resurrection. Not regarding himself as having attained, he pursued toward the goal of the out-resurrection. Just as the goal is the out-resurrection, so the prize is also the out-resurrection. The goal is for us to gain, whereas the prize is for us to enjoy. We may reach the goal in this age, but we shall enjoy the prize in the coming age. Life-study of Philippians, pp. 470-471, by Witness Lee](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/In-the-out-resurrection-there-is-no-element-of-the-old-creation-jpg.webp?resize=400%2C600&ssl=1 "In the out-resurrection there is no element of the old creation. Instead, everything is full of the divine element. This is the reason that people sense God when they are with a person who lives in the out-resurrection. The living of such a person, his deeds and words, is in resurrection. This is the out-resurrection in our daily life…This is what [Paul] had in mind when he declared that his desire was to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and by any means to attain to the out-resurrection. Not regarding himself as having attained, he pursued toward the goal of the out-resurrection. Just as the goal is the out-resurrection, so the prize is also the out-resurrection. The goal is for us to gain, whereas the prize is for us to enjoy. We may reach the goal in this age, but we shall enjoy the prize in the coming age. Life-study of Philippians, pp. 470-471, by Witness Lee")
Inwardly, the Spirit is dwelling in us to work the out-resurrection into our being in a real and practical way.
On our side, we cooperate with the Lord to pursue toward the goal of the out-resurrection.
This is our goal, and this is also the prize that we will receive at the Lord’s return.
We may reach the goal in this age, but we will enjoy the prize in the coming age.
In Rev. 20:6 we see the prize in the coming age: the first resurrection, which is the best resurrection.
The word for “first” in this verse is the same as for “best” robe in Luke 15.
We want to attain to the out-resurrection in this age so that we may have part in the first and best resurrection, and be priests of God and of Christ, reigning with Him for a thousand years.
God has called us for this prize, and we forget what is behind in order to stretch forward to reach this goal and obtain the prize.
If we obtain this goal today, if today we attain to the out-resurrection, this will be our prize in the coming age.
Our goal will become our prize, and we will reign with Christ in the millennium.
God has called us from above for this prize, and this prize should be the goal we pursue and obtain in this age.
Lord Jesus, we want to live in the new creation today for the goal of attaining to the out-resurrection from the dead. Amen, Lord, may our living, our work, our deeds, and our words be in resurrection. We desire to know Christ, the power of His resurrection, and by any means to attain to the out-resurrection. We have not yet obtained, Lord, but we forget what is behind and stretch forward to what is before. Amen, Lord, we want to live in the new creation to attain the out-resurrection today as the goal so that we may receive the prize when you return. Grant us to be those blessed and holy who have part of the first resurrection, those over which the second death has no authority! Amen, Lord, we pursue toward the goal of the out-resurrection. We open to the Spirit’s working within us and we want to cooperate with You to attain to the out-resurrection in this age!
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 Ron Kangas in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-Study of Philippians, pp. 470-479 (by Witness Lee), 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 6, entitled, Attaining to the Out-resurrection.
- Similar articles on this topic:
– Outline 6 of the 2023 Memorial Day Conference.
– Live in Christ’s Death and Resurrection to be Constituted into New Jerusalem, via, New Jerusalem blog.
– Glory, resurrection, Christ, and the Spirit, article by Kerry S. Robichaux in, Affirmation and Critique.
– 3 Wonderful Things That Happened in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, article via, Bibles for America blog.
– The Glory of God (2): Released through Christ’s Crucifixion and Resurrection, article via, Living to Him.
– The Last Adam, Christ, Became a Life-giving Spirit, article via, Holding to Truth in Love.
– The meaning of the out-resurrection, a portion from, The Experience of Christ, Chapter 19, by Witness Lee. - Hymns on this topic:
– I take Him for this mortal frame, / I take my healing through His Name, / And all His risen life I claim, / “I take”—“He undertakes.” / I simply take Him at His word, / I praise Him that my prayer is heard, / And claim my answer from the Lord, / “I take”—“He undertakes.” (Hymns #576 stanzas 5-6)
– This Spirit shall transform our natural life, / Save us from self, build us in one new man, / Till we’re conformed to be like Jesus Christ, / Thus finishing our God’s eternal plan. / Life is our God and life is Christ our Lord. / Life is the Spirit. Life’s the only way— / Till we’re transfigured and redeemed to God. / We’re waiting, looking forward to that day! (Hymns #1195 stanzas 11-12)
– 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. / All my will is yielding to Him, / And His Spirit reigns within; / And His precious blood each moment / Keeps me cleansed and free from sin. (Hymns #564 stanza 2)
About aGodMan
Life-study of Philippians, pp. 470-471, by Witness Lee
Wow, brother, the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us, and He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to our mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells us! Amen!
I am so encouraged to realize that the Spirit is dwelling in us to work the out-resurrection into our being in a real and practical way so that we may attain to the out-resurrection in this age!
Praise the Lord! 😃🙋🏽🙏
the entire Triune God — “the One who raised Jesus from the dead,” “Christ,” and “His Spirit indwells in us!; the process required for His dispensing, as implied in the words Jesus (emphasizing incarnation), Christ (emphasizing crucifixion and resurrection), and raised (emphasizing resurrection); and (His dispensing of Himself into the believers, as shown by the words give life to your mortal bodies, which indicate that the dispensing not only occurs at the center of our being but also reaches to the circumference, to our whole being.
This is the out-resurection we can experience even in this life brother!
O May we pursue you Lord and die to ourselves!
Hallelujah!😃
According to Romans 8:11 we can attain to the out-resurrection from the dead in this age, through the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead.
Such a one dwells in us as the reality of Christ’s resurrection and in giving life to our mortal bodies, saturating our entire being makes the out-resurrection real to us in a practical way.
Amen! Thank you Lord for another day to be in this process.
Bring our being more into resurrection.
Complete this process in our lifetime
Amen Lord do this in me, in us, in all your people for Your body and bride!
Ameeen!!!!
Christ as the Spirit who is the the reality of the out-resurrection is dwelling in us.
This Spirit is dwelling in us to work the out resurrection into our being in a real and practical way for make it possible for us to reach this goal of our christian life.
The Spirit who dwells in us is the reality of Christ’s resurrection, the reality of the outstanding resurrection.
We need to pursue the goal of being fully out of the old creation and wholly resurrected in the new creation. What is now our goal will become our prize.
The goal is for us to gain, whereas the prize is for us to enjoy.
May we remain crucified to Christ so that it’s no longer we who live, but it’s Jesus who lives in us…
Amen, praise the Lord.
We open to You that we might attain the out-resurrection 🙏🏽
Amen. The Spirit is willing (praise the Lord). We have to always remember this and be open to a His life giving Spirit in us. Amen
Amen, wow praise the Lord for the life giving Spirit with our spirit that is working within our being so that we may gain the out resurrection daily whenever we open to Lord.
Amen, thank you for your sharing brother
Amen. We open to Your life-giving Spirit in our spirit Lord!
Wow! Amen! The Spirit is the reality of Christ’s resurrection, the reality of the out-resurrection! Lord we like to be open vessels today that we may attain to the out-ressurection gradually and continually a little bit more today!!
Listen to the audio version of this article via,
Amen, Lord Jesus, we are open to you right now, saturate us with your life.
I enjoyed this. Extremely encouraging. Thank you.
It leads me to wonder about our initial, organic salvation as contrasted to this, our transformation. An analogy comes to mind, if you’ll permit me. I think of the many immigrants who came to this country… how in a moment they were transferred from a boat or an airplane and then suddenly here, on the ground of hope. Of course there was a process through bureaucracy in most cases, but they were on the ground of hope. And that is where the real work began… finding employment, lodging, food. Many had to learn a new language or acquire new skills. Some failed alas. But many continued, fighting against so many difficulties. They bought houses, built businesses,raised families and realized their dreams.
So our initial salvation, whereby we are imparted with resurrection life, places us on the ground of hope. But then the real work begins. And we are in that process now… to live by this new life and give everything over to it. I find it is easy to give over my weak areas to God, I know I need His help there. It is my strong areas that get me into trouble. But just as we invited Him in initially, I try to do that every day now, to reaffirm that everything in my life, the weak things, the strong things, and everything in between, is His. Blessings to all.