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In order to be in the reality of the Body of Christ, we need to be conformed to the death of Christ through the cross—Phil. 3:10:
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The cross—the death of Christ—is the centrality and universality of our way to live the Christian life in order to fulfill God's purpose.
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In our experience the turning point in living a life with Christ is the cross.
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As Christ's continuation, we should live a crucified life every day—1 Cor. 15:31; 2 Cor. 4:10-11.
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Such a life of dying to ourselves and living to God is for Christ, the first God-man, to be formed in His many members, the many God-men, for the building up of His organic Body—Gal. 4:19; Eph. 4:12, 16.
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We must be those who live a crucified life by continually taking Christ's death as the mold of our life; it is only by this kind of corporate living that we can have the reality of the Body of Christ—Phil. 3:10; Rom. 12:5; 1 Cor. 2:2; 12:27.
Morning Nourishment
2 Cor. 4:10-11 Always bearing about in the body the putting to death of Jesus that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who are alive are always being delivered unto death for Jesus' sake that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.Paul lived a crucified life continually, a life under the cross, just as Christ did in His human living. Through such a life the resurrection power of Christ is experienced and expressed. 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). Our life should be conformed to such a mold by our dying to our human life to live the divine life. 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. (Phil. 3:10, footnote 4)
Today's Reading
The way of the Christian life is the way of the cross. Christ's cross is the centrality and universality of our way to live the Christian life. The way to live the Christian life is composed of and constituted with Christ's death.To say that I have been crucified with Christ is certainly right, but I also must live. I still live and do things, but I no longer do them by myself; I do them with Christ who lives within me. In this way I live a grafted life.
In our experience the turning point in living a life with Christ is the cross. Without the cross we live, but not Christ. With the cross we still live, but we no longer live by ourselves; Christ now lives with us. When [we] prepare to speak,...we must always realize that we have been crucified and that we should no longer live by ourselves but by Christ who lives within us. (CWWL, 1990, vol. 1, "The Triune God to Be Life to the Tripartite Man," pp. 327,316-317)
If we practice this life, then in our experience we will be crucified and conformed to the death of Christ. Then we will be able to say with Paul that we have been crucified with Christ and that we no longer live but Christ lives in us (Gal. 2:20). When Paul was in prison, he could declare that for him to live was Christ (Phil. 1:21). He was one with Christ, and he lived Christ and magnified Christ by the bountiful supply of the Spirit (vv. 19-20).
When Christ lived on earth, His life was pure and holy. Yet He never did anything by Himself nor spoke anything of Himself or from Himself. Whatever He did and spoke was by the Father (John 5:19, 30; 7:16; 8:28; 12:49-50). For thirty-three and a half years He lived a crucified life, always living by the Father. Now we are Christ's continuation, and we should live a crucified life every day. (Life-study of 1 & 2 Kings, p. 154)
Such a life of dying to ourselves and living to God is for Christ, the first God-man, to be formed in His many brothers, the many God-men, for the building up of His organic Body that the eternal economy of God might be carried out. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 2, "The Practical Way to Live a Life according to the High Peak of the Divine Revelation in the Holy Scriptures," p. 56)
We must be those who live a crucified life continually by taking Christ's death as the mold of our life. It is only by living this kind of life that we can have the reality of the Body of Christ. May the Lord have mercy on us so that we can live a life of being conformed to the death of Christ through the cross. May the Lord open our eyes to see this vision. Only those who have passed through death and resurrection can have their eyes opened; they live and walk by the revelation that they have seen. Only such a living is the God-man living, and only such a living can live out the reality of the Body of Christ. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, "A General Outline of God's Economy and the Proper Living of a God-man," p. 514)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1990, vol. 1, "The Triune God to Be Life to the Tripartite Man," chs. 8, 10-11, 19; CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, "A General Outline of God's Economy and the Proper Living of a God-man: A Fellowship with the Elders from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Malaysia," ch. 3