CHRIST’S DEATH SOLVING MAN’S PROBLEMS
One day this Christ, who was God yet man, went to die on the cross. There on the cross the flesh, the humanity that He had put on was crucified. This is a great mystery. Even though inwardly we may have a deep realization, outwardly we do not have the proper utterance to express this. Christ was God mingled with man. Whatever is of God is glorious, but whatever is of man is problematic. Everything in Christ that was of God was glorious, holy, spiritual, and of life. But the human elements in Christ were all problems, not only concealing the glory of God but also hindering the life of God from being expressed.
One day Christ was put to death on the cross with His human body, with the humanity He had put on. What was crucified was nothing other than the humanity He had put on. As a result, the problem of the flesh, which He put on in His incarnation, was solved on the cross. Christ’s death dealt with the flesh and the humanity that He had put on and also released God’s life—the glorious life—from within Him. On the one hand, the death of Christ on the cross solved all the problems of man, dealing with all the things of man that had become problems to man. On the other hand, the death of Christ released God with everything of God and of the Spirit from within Him.
CHRIST’S RESURRECTION RELEASING THE LIFE OF GOD
What a wonderful story this is! When Christ, as the incarnated God who put on humanity, was crucified on the cross, on the one hand He crucified the humanity He had put on, and on the other hand He released the God who was in Him. This is the sum total of Christ’s death and resurrection. We have said before that Christ is the mingling of God and man. Then, what is Christ’s death? And what is Christ’s resurrection? Christ’s death terminated everything of man while Christ’s resurrection released everything of God. Everything of man was dealt with and everything of God was released—this is the death and resurrection of Christ. Regrettably, among God’s children today, very few have been enlightened by God and have had their eyes opened to see that the Christ whom they have received is such a Christ. Let me ask again, who is Christ? Christ is the One in whom God and man converged and were mingled together. What is Christ’s death? Christ’s death is the termination of everything of man that He had put on. And what is Christ’s resurrection? Christ’s resurrection is the release of all the fullness of God that was in Him.
Christ is the One in whom God and man converged. God is glorious and holy, whereas man is sinful, evil, and full of troubles and problems. Yet such a humanity which is subject to troubles and problems was put on Christ as the God who is glorious and holy. This Christ is the mingling of God and man. When the Lord Jesus was walking on the earth, within He had God’s nature with God’s glory and God’s life, and without He had man’s body of sin. Inwardly, He was God with the holy and glorious life of God; outwardly, He was a man with the body of sin—He had put on the man of humiliation. In such a situation, what did He do? How was the sinful man without dealt with so that the glorious God within could be released? We can liken this situation to placing a treasure, such as ointment, into a base vessel and then being unable to get it out. The solution would be to break the outer vessel so that the ointment, the inner treasure, could be released. When the Lord Jesus was on the earth, the treasure that was within Him was God Himself and the outward base vessel was man’s body of sin. God put Himself into a difficult situation. As the God of freedom He confined Himself in a man so that seemingly He could not get free. One day, however, He was crucified, and the humanity that He had put on was also crucified. Man was completely dealt with on the cross. Then He resurrected, and in resurrection He released everything of God that was within Him.
In His resurrection Christ became the Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b). As such a Spirit He is omnipresent. He enters as life into anyone who calls on Him and believes in Him. When He as the Spirit enters into a person and lives in that person, immediately that person receives Him and His life, and he is joined to Him as one spirit (John 20:22; 1 Cor. 6:17). At this time, His death becomes that person’s death and His resurrection becomes that person’s resurrection, because that person has been joined to Him (Rom. 6:5).
(The Path of Our Growth in Life, Chapter 4, by Witness Lee)
