«　WEEK 6　DAY 5　»

　　Phil. 3:10 To know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.

　　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.

　　In Philippians 3:10 Paul uses the expression being conformed to His death. This expression indicates that Paul desired to take Christ's death as the mold of his life. Christ's death is a mold to which we are conformed in much the same way that dough is put in a cake mold and conformed to it. Paul continually lived a crucified life, a life under the cross, just as Christ did in His human living. Through such a life, the resurrection power is experienced and expressed. The mold of Christ's death refers to the continual putting to death of His human life that He might live by the life of God (John 6:57). Our life should be conformed to such a mold—dying to our human life in order to live the divine life. (Life-study of Philippians, p. 184)

　　When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He lived a crucified life. Christ had two lives—the divine life and the human life.... God did not want Him simply to live out the human life. Rather, it was God's intention that the Lord Jesus live the divine life through the channel of the human life.... According to this pattern, Christ continually put to death His human life so that His divine life could flow out. This is the mold of the life of Christ and the death of Christ. There can be no doubt that the human life of the Lord Jesus was excellent. But even such an excellent human life was put to death for the sake of the release of the divine life.

　　Most Christians only put to death the negative aspects of their natural life. They treasure the good aspects and seek to preserve them. Those of every nationality treasure their own national characteristics and philosophy. The Chinese may pride themselves on their philosophical ethics, whereas Americans may boast of their frankness and openness.... Although we may be willing to put so many other things to death, we hold these national characteristics as a priceless treasure.... As a result, a basic element of our natural life is not put to death. This element then becomes a huge rock hindering the release of the power of Christ's resurrection from within us. Years ago, you may have had much more conformity to Christ's death than today. Because you have not progressed in being conformed to the death of Christ, your growth in life has been held back, and your experience of the power of Christ's resurrection has been severely limited. This hinders you from further and higher experiences of Christ. Thus, instead of speaking of up-to-date experiences, you try to live on your past experiences and speak of them again and again. (Life-study of Philippians, pp. 185-188)

　　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).... 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)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Philippians, msg. 22; CWWL, 1978, vol. 1, “The Experience of Christ,” chs. 17-18; CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 2, “The Christian Life,” ch. 16