Morning Nourishment - Being Conformed to Christ’s Death and Attaining to the Out-resurrection
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Day 1
Verses: Phil. 3:10 To know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death. John 6:57 As the living Father has sent Me and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me. In Philippians 3:10 Paul spoke of “being conformed to His death.” This expression indicates that Paul desired to take Christ’s death as the mold of his life. The excellency of the knowledge of Christ, counting all things as loss, gaining Christ, being found in Him, knowing Him, knowing the power of His resurrection, and knowing the fellowship of His sufferings all issue in one thing—being conformed to Christ’s death. Paul lived a crucified life continually, a life under the cross, just as Christ did in His human living. Through such a life of being molded to Christ’s death, Paul experienced and enjoyed the resurrection power of Christ. The mold of Christ’s death refers to Christ’s experience of continually putting to death His human life that He might live by the life of God (John 6:57)…By living a crucified life He was alive to God and lived Him. He always put His human life to death so that the divine life within Him could flow out (10:10- 11, 17). As He was living, He was also dying—dying to the old creation in order to live a life in the new creation. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3507-3508)
The power of Christ’s resurrection is His resurrection life, which raised Him from the dead (Eph. 1:19-20). The reality of the power of Christ’s resurrection is the Spirit (Rom. 1:4)…To experience the power of Christ’s resurrection, we need to live a crucified life, as He did. Our conformity to His death affords the power of His resurrection a base from which to rise up that His divine life may be expressed in us…The power of Christ’s resurrection is for the producing and building up of the Body. If we put ourselves aside and remain under the death of the cross, we will enjoy the power of resurrection. Spontaneously, the power of resurrection experienced by us will produce the Body. The expression the fellowship of His sufferings in Philippians 3:10 refers to the participation in Christ’s sufferings (Matt. 20:22-23; Col. 1:24), a necessary condition for the experience of the power of His resurrection (2 Tim. 2:11) by being conformed to His death…With Christ, the sufferings and death came first, followed by the resurrection; with us, the power of His resurrection comes first, followed by the participation in His sufferings and conformity to His death. We first receive the power of His resurrection; then by this power we are enabled to participate in His sufferings and live a crucified life in conformity to His death. Such sufferings are mainly for producing and building up the Body of Christ (Col. 1:24). Christ’s sufferings are of two categories: those for accomplishing redemption, which were completed by Christ Himself, and those for producing and building the church, which need to be filled up by the apostles and the believers (v. 24). We cannot participate in Christ’s suffering for redemption, but we must take part in the sufferings of Christ for the producing and building up of the Body (cf. Rev. 1:9; 2 Tim. 2:10; 2 Cor. 1:5-6; 4:12; 6:8-11). Christ as the Lamb of God suffered for redemption (John 1:29); Christ as the grain of wheat suffered for reproducing and building (12:24)… The one grain did not complete all the sufferings that are needed for the building up of the Body; as the many grains, we must suffer in the same way the one grain suffered (vv. 24-26). As the many grains, we also must lose our soul-life through death that we may enjoy eternal life in resurrection (v. 25). This is to follow Him that we may serve Him and walk with Him on the way of losing the soul-life and living in resurrection (v. 26). The way for the church to come into being and to increase is not by human glory but by the death of the cross. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3506-3507) Further Reading: CWWL, 1978, vol. 1, “The Experience of Christ,” ch. 19
Day 2
Verses: Gal. 2:20 I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. Matt. 16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. Christ’s death is a mold to which we are conformed in much the same way that dough is put into a cake mold and conformed to it. God has put us into the mold of Christ’s death, and day by day God is molding us to conform us to this death (Rom. 6:3-4). We should be conformed to such a mold by our dying to our human life to live the divine life. If we put to death our natural life, we will have the consciousness that we have another life, the divine life, within us; this life will be released, and then in our experience we will be conformed to Christ’s death (John 10:10; 1 John 5:11-12). In the mold of Christ’s death, the natural life is killed, the old man is crucified, and the self is nullified (2 Cor. 4:16; Rom. 6:6; Matt. 16:24). If we allow our circumstances to press us into this mold, our daily life will be molded into the form of Christ’s death (Rom. 8:28-29). Being conformed to the death of Christ is the condition for knowing and experiencing Him, the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings. Being conformed to the death of Christ is the base of the experience of Christ. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 3508)
Unless we are conformed to Christ’s death, we cannot be conformed to the image of Christ. Christ’s death is the mold in which we are being conformed to His image, the image of the firstborn Son of God. As we experience the process of transformation and conformation, we are being conformed to the death of Christ. The death of Christ was present in Him throughout His whole life. As He was living, He was also dying…When He told His disciples that He would suffer and be crucified, they had no ears to hear. Day after day Christ died to the old creation so that He might live in the new creation. Being conformed to Christ’s death should be our daily experience as believers. The more our natural life is put to death, the more the divine life in us will be released. Then in our experience we will be conformed to Christ’s death. The cross [Matt. 16:24] is not merely a suffering; it is primarily a killing. It kills and terminates the criminal. Christ bore the cross and then was crucified. As He was bearing the cross, He was under a killing rather than a suffering. The believers in Christ are crucified with Him and then bear the cross. Bearing the cross means to remain in the killing of the death of Christ for the terminating of our self, natural life, and old man. For us to bear the cross, we must realize that we have already been crucified. We have been crucified together with Christ on the cross; our own life, the natural life, the old man, and our entire being have been killed. Now we must remain under the killing. This is the meaning of bearing the cross. The meaning of bearing the cross is that we bear about in our body the death of Christ, allowing the death of Christ to work continuously on us for the putting to death of our self. To bear the cross is also to remain in the death of Christ. The death of Christ is our destiny and our goal. If we want to be transformed and conformed to the image of Christ the Firstborn, we need to remain in His death, taking His death as our dwelling place. Hence, the meaning of bearing the cross is to join ourselves to the crucified Christ and remain with Him in His death. If we do not remain in Christ’s death, we are forsaking His cross; if we remain in His death, we are bearing the cross. This is to be conformed to the death of Christ. (Truth Lessons—Level Three, vol. 3, pp. 51-53) Further Reading: Truth Lessons—Level Three, vol. 3, lsn. 45
Day 3
Verses: John 12:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself. As we are conformed to Christ’s death, we experience His all- accomplishing death. First, if we die with Christ, we will keep our soul-life unto eternal life (John 12:25). Second, if we are willing to be conformed to Christ’s death, we will overcome the world and defeat Satan (v. 31; Heb. 2:14). Third, by being conformed to His death, we experience Christ in His death for the release, impartation, and multiplication of life (John 12:24-26; 2 Cor. 4:12). We need to be conformed to the death of Christ so that the divine life within us may be released and imparted into others and thereby multiplied. Fourth, when we are conformed to the death of Christ, spontaneously the divine life within us will be released, and God the Father, the source of this life, will be glorified. Hence, the more we are conformed to Christ’s death, the more we glorify the Father (John 12:28; 13:31)…Fifth, through His death on the cross, people are drawn to Christ (12:32). The real attraction is in His dying. When we die the death of Christ and are conformed to His death, we will be a magnet drawing others to Christ…Such an attraction comes through the release of life; this is the crucified life with its attracting power. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3508-3509)
For us to be conformed to the death of Christ, we need to bear the cross, accept the fact that the old man has been crucified, crucify the flesh with its passions and lusts, put to death the practices of the body, deny the self, lose the soul, and also experience dying with Christ to be freed from the elements of the world. Here are six negative things that must be dealt with: the old man, the body of sin, the flesh with its passions and lusts, the practices of the body, the self, and the soul (the natural life)…In the mold of Christ’s death no trace of these six things can be found. In actuality, to be conformed to Christ’s death is to deal with these six negative things. The more these things are dealt with, the more we are conformed to Christ’s death and the more we are conformed to the image of God’s firstborn Son. (Truth Lessons—Level Three, vol. 3, p. 61) We need to forget the teachings about the improvement of behavior. Do not try to love others, to control your temper, or to be a good husband or wife. Instead, endeavor to be conformed to Christ’s death…The only thing you need to do is to be conformed to the death of Christ…I have no burden to help you control your temper or be a good wife or husband. My burden is to charge you to be conformed to the death of Christ. As you are about to love someone, be conformed to His death. As you are about to lose your temper, be conformed to His death. As you are about to go somewhere or do something, be conformed to His death. Simply be conformed to the death of Christ. Unbelievers cannot be conformed to Christ’s death because they do not have the Holy Spirit within them. But because we have the Holy Spirit within us and because we have been regenerated with the divine life, we can be conformed to the death of Christ. We need to see the vision that God’s economy is not a matter of ethics or religion but of being conformed to the death of Christ. This means that we need to be buried and remain always in death to be conformed to Christ’s death…Often we live and act in a natural way, even in doing spiritual things or scriptural things. We may act according to the Scriptures, but we are not conformed to the death of Christ in doing so. Rather, we are in our natural life. It is easy for Christians to give up evil things, but it is very difficult to be conformed to the death of Christ and not to do anything by our natural life. Nearly fifty years ago I gave up the sinful things, but I am still learning how to be conformed to Christ’s death. (CWWL, 1978, vol. 1, “The Experience of Christ,” pp. 479-480) Further Reading: Truth Lessons—Level Three, vol. 3, lsn. 45
Day 4
Verses: Phil. 3:11 If perhaps I may attain to the out-resurrection from the dead. Rev. 20:6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no authority, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years. To attain to the out-resurrection from the dead requires us to run triumphantly the race for the prize (1 Cor. 9:24-26; 2 Tim. 4:7-8). The out- resurrection refers to the outstanding resurrection, the extra-resurrection, which will be a prize to the overcoming saints (Heb. 11:35; Rev. 20:4-6). All believers who are dead in Christ will participate in the resurrection from the dead at the Lord’s coming back (1 Thes. 4:16; 1 Cor. 15:52), but the overcoming saints will enjoy an extra, outstanding portion of that resurrection. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 3509)
God first resurrected our deadened spirit (Eph. 2:5-6). Then from our spirit He proceeds to resurrect our soul (Rom. 8:6) and our mortal body (v. 11), until our entire being—spirit, soul, and body—is fully resurrected out of our old being by and with His life. This is a process in life through which we must pass and a race that we must run until we arrive at the out-resurrection as the prize. Hence, the out-resurrection should be the goal and destination of our Christian life. We can reach this goal only by being conformed to the death of Christ, by living a crucified life. In the death of Christ we are processed in resurrection from the old creation to the new. To be in the out-resurrection means to leave everything of the old creation and to be brought into God…There is only one kind of resurrection that brings us out of the old creation and into God, and this is the resurrection of Christ. Thus, Christ’s resurrection is the outstanding resurrection. Christ is the unique One to pass out of the old creation and to enter into God. Christ lived in an old creation body and environment for thirty-three and a half years, but the life He lived belonged wholly to the new creation because He continually died to His old creation body and environment and lived to God. Through His death and resurrection, He left the old creation behind and was brought into God. The out-resurrection is actually the dear, precious, excellent person of Christ, the One who, through crucifixion and resurrection, has passed out of the old creation and has entered into God. This wonderful One is far more excellent than the angels, who belong to the old creation. They have not experienced crucifixion or resurrection. But after Christ was crucified and buried, He was resurrected out of the old creation and into God. Christ Himself is the reality of the out-resurrection. Now we must pursue a life which is this wonderful person of Christ. With Paul, we should be able to say, “To me, to live is Christ” (Phil. 1:21). Paul could also testify that he had been crucified with Christ and that Christ lived in him (Gal. 2:20). The Christ who lived in Paul is the One who, in His own person, is the out-resurrection. Can we reach the goal of the out-resurrection in this age, or can we only run the race and hope to reach the goal in the coming age? Some may think that we must wait until the coming age to reach the goal. But if we do not arrive at the goal in this age, we will not attain to it in the next age. We must endeavor to arrive at the goal during our lifetime. In Romans 8:11 Paul says, “If the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you.” This verse indicates that we can attain to the out-resurrection in this age. Here Paul says that the Spirit of the One who raised Christ from the dead will give life to that part of our being which is dying, our mortal bodies…The Spirit is dwelling in us to work the out-resurrection into our being in a real and practical way. Thus, Romans 8:11 indicates that we should attain to the out-resurrection in this age. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3509-3511) Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 349
Day 5
Verses: Phil. 1:21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. John 11:25 Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life… To live Christ is to live the out-resurrection; this should be our goal…Our deeds and words must be in resurrection…The question is not whether a particular thing is right or wrong but whether or not it is in resurrection. This shows that to live Christ is to live the out-resurrection, to live a life absolutely outside of the old creation and in God. 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… His deeds and words [are] in resurrection. This is the out-resurrection in our daily life…Paul was pursuing this kind of living. This is what he 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 [cf. Phil. 3:10-11]. We need to pray, “Lord Jesus, I love You in a way that I have never loved You before…In Your presence I resolve to pursue You as the out- resurrection. I want everything in my life to be outside of the old creation and in God.” (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 3511)
This term out-resurrection means that every part of our being will be resurrected…The Christian walk involves a long process, and it takes us a long way. At the end of this walk is the goal at which we need to arrive,…the out-resurrection. Arriving at the out-resurrection is the result, the issue, of being conformed to Christ’s death. To be conformed, molded, to the death of Christ means that we remain always in His death. If we remain in Christ’s death, allowing ourselves to be molded into its likeness, the outcome will be that every part of our being will be gradually resurrected. Our resurrection began with our regeneration. As sinners, we were all part of the old Adam. In every respect we were old…But when we believed in the Lord Jesus, something new entered into us. The Holy Spirit of God came in to regenerate us with the life of God. Thus, by regeneration our old, deadened spirit was resurrected. The Bible says that when we were saved, we were made alive (Eph. 2:5). Before we were saved, we were dead in offenses and sins (v. 1; Col. 2:13). But when we believed in the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit of God came in to enliven our deadened spirit with the divine life. At that time, part of our being, our spirit, was resurrected. But what about the other parts of our being, such as our mind, emotion, will, and heart? When we were regenerated in our spirit, these parts were not yet resurrected. Nevertheless, God’s goal is to resurrect our whole being. One day [a brother] may come to see that his love for his wife should not be a natural love. Thus, he may pray, “Lord, I confess that my love for my wife has been a natural love. Grant me the grace to live a crucified life with my wife.” This is to be conformed to Christ’s death in the particular matter of loving his wife. Several days later he may realize that even his contact with the saints has been too natural…Therefore, he prays and confesses this matter to the Lord, asking Him for the grace to no longer shepherd the saints according to his natural life. He may pray, “Lord, I want to be conformed to Your death. Like You, I want to live a crucified life. When You were on earth, You did not love people or care for them according to the natural life. Everything You did was in resurrection. Lord, grant me the grace that from now on I will not shepherd Your saints in my natural life but in You.” Through this experience he becomes conformed to the death of Christ in this matter also. Item by item, he is conformed to Christ’s death. The more he is conformed to Christ’s death in this way, the more his being is resurrected. In loving his wife and in shepherding the saints, he is resurrected. (CWWL, 1978, vol. 1, “The Experience of Christ,” pp. 475-478) Further Reading: CWWL, 1978, vol. 1, “The Experience of Christ,” ch. 19
Day 6
Verses: Phil. 3:12-13 Not that I have already obtained or am already perfected, but I pursue, if even I may lay hold of that for which I also have been laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brothers, I do not account of myself to have laid hold; but one thing I do: Forgetting the things which are behind and stretching forward to the things which are before. Paul had experienced and gained Christ tremendously, yet he did not account of himself to have experienced Christ in full or to have gained Him to the uttermost. He still endeavored to pursue toward the goal—the gaining of Christ to the fullest extent. In Philippians 3:13 Paul speaks of “forgetting the things which are behind.” In order to gain Christ to the fullest extent, Paul not only forsook his experiences in Judaism but also would not linger in his past experiences of Christ. He forgot the past. Not to forget but to linger in our past experiences, however genuine they were, frustrates our further pursuing of Christ. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 3512)
Paul also tells us that he was stretching forward to the things which are before. He knew that Christ is unsearchably rich, that there is a vast territory of His riches to be possessed. He was stretching forward to gain these riches and to advance further into this territory. Even though Paul was a matured saint and an experienced apostle, he tells us that he had not already obtained and had not yet been perfected… He, of course, had obtained the common salvation by the common faith (1 Tim. 1:14-16), but he was still pursuing Christ in order to gain Him to the fullest extent. Furthermore, Paul was also seeking Christ in order to have the extra portion of resurrection, the out-resurrection. In order to have this portion of resurrection, we must pursue, run the race, and finish our course triumphantly…At the time of our conversion, we were gained by Christ so that we may gain Him. Now as those who have not yet obtained and who have not yet been perfected, we are pursuing Christ. Paul was pursuing toward the goal for the prize [Phil 3:14]. Christ is both the goal and the prize. The goal is the fullest enjoyment and gaining of Christ, and the prize is the uttermost enjoyment of Christ in the millennial kingdom as a reward to the victorious runners of the New Testament race. In order to reach the goal for the prize, Paul was exercised to forget the things which are behind and to stretch forward to the things which are before. This is the way to gain Christ by pursuing Him. We should see the fact that God has set up a goal and prepared a prize. We need to run a good race and to pursue Christ by forgetting the things which are behind and stretching forward to the things which are before, that is, the things concerning Christ and His Body, the church. Let us all forget the things behind and pay attention to the bright future ahead of us, a future of gaining Christ and experiencing Him to the uttermost in His Body. We should not be satisfied simply with Bible knowledge, not even with the knowledge of Philippians 3. We need to have the actual pursuing of Christ. The Greek word for pursue can also be translated “persecute.” Before Paul was saved, he was persecuting Christ in a negative way. After he was saved, he pursued Christ to such an extent that we may even say he persecuted Christ but in a very positive way. To persecute a person is to trouble him and refuse to let him go. Before Paul was saved, he bothered Christ and would not let Him go, persecuting Him negatively. But after he was saved and had been gained by Christ, Paul still persecuted Him, but positively, for he refused to let Christ go. We also should persecute Christ in this way in order to gain Him. We should not let Christ go; rather, we should bother Him, persecute Him, in order to gain Him. This is to pursue Christ. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3512-3513) Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 349