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The reality of the Body of Christ is a corporate living of the conformity to the death of Christ—Phil. 3:10; 1 Cor. 12:12-13; 2 Cor. 4:10-12; Rom. 8:13-14; 12:4-5:
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The life of a Christ-pursuing God-man is a life of pursuing to die with Christ through the experience of the cross—Matt. 10:38; 16:24:
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The cross must become our experience; the cross that enters into our heart is the cross that has become our subjective experience for us to live Christ—Gal. 6:14; 5:24.
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A living under the cross touches the deepest parts of our being and every detail in our daily life.
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It is by the power of Christ's resurrection that we are conformed to the death of Christ—Phil. 3:10; John 11:25; Eph. 1:19-20; 3:16; S. S. 2:8-13.
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The reality of the Body of Christ is a living of being 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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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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We should be those who live a crucified life by 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
Phil. 3:10 "To know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death."1 Cor. 15:31 "I protest by the boasting in you, brothers, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily."
The God-man living is also a living of being conformed to the death of Christ through the cross. This conformation to the death of Christ is through the power of Christ's resurrection (Phil. 3:10). 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)
Today's Reading
Among the several steps of God's economy, only two steps require our daily experience—not incarnation or human living but death and resurrection. The cross is a synonym for death, and the Spirit is a synonym for resurrection. Brother Nee said that the reality of resurrection is the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is the reality of resurrection; without the Holy Spirit there is no resurrection. In John 11:25 the Lord Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life.” This indicates that resurrection is a person. Hence, the reality of resurrection is Christ becoming the life-giving Spirit. Today, as God-men, we should live the God-man life, which is a life of the experience of death and resurrection, a life of the experience of the cross and the Spirit.Our living today must be the life of the cross and the Spirit. May the Lord cover me with His precious blood to say this: During the turmoil in recent years, I do not know how many slanderous and defaming words were aimed at me, but I did not say anything; I just let the Lord speak. This is the cross and the Spirit. I received great help from Brother Nee in this matter. When I was working with him throughout those eighteen years, I saw that all the opposers' attacks were aimed at him; yet he just smiled and said nothing. He truly was one who experienced the cross and the Spirit.
Husbands and wives must also experience the cross and the Spirit continually in their living. Not to mention the big things, but even in small, ordinary things between husbands and wives, we should always say, “I am not; I am dying on the cross.” Before we speak to our spouse, we must ask, “Is this I speaking or the Lord speaking?” To practice this is to remain on the cross. All day long we should have this kind of experience. This is the normal Christian life. When we die on the cross, the Lord is brought forth in the Spirit, and the issue is the church.
Without the cross and the Spirit, there is no church. What we have is just a club; it is neither the church nor the Body of Christ. Neither is it the house of God, because it is we who act as lord. It is not the kingdom of God, because it is we who act as king. It cannot be the counterpart of Christ, because Christ is a God-man, so His counterpart must also be a God-man. Without the cross and the Spirit, there is only man without God, so there is no God-man. Hence, we must experience the cross and the Spirit daily so that there may be an issue with five aspects—the church, the Body of Christ, the house of God, the kingdom of God, and the counterpart of Christ. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 2, “The Governing and Controlling Vision in the Bible, “pp. 318, 323-324)
Further Reading: Life-study of Numbers, msgs. 32, 50