Once we know that our old man has been crucified and done away with in Christ, and once we realize that opinions and ideas are the expression of the old man, we naturally will not allow the old man to express itself again in opinions. Therefore, we will apply the crucifixion of Christ through the Holy Spirit to our opinions. This is our subjective experience in dealing with self. This is also what the Lord refers to in Matthew 16 as the denying of self and the bearing of the cross.
Today, in fallen Christianity, many truths have been misunderstood. The truth of bearing the cross is a case in point. Many people misinterpret the bearing of the cross as suffering. This is a wrong concept, a concept which we have inherited from Roman Catholicism. We should realize that the emphasis of the cross is not suffering, but death. When a person goes to the cross, the main thing is to go there not to suffer, but to die. When we mention execution by shooting today, we understand that that means death. Likewise, in the time of the Lord Jesus, whenever the cross was mentioned, man’s understanding of it was death. Therefore, the cross is not only a painful punishment, but also a deathly punishment. The cross does not cause man merely to suffer; the cross puts man to death. Likewise, the bearing of the cross is not a matter of suffering, but of being put to death, not of standing on the ground of suffering, but of standing in the place of death. To bear the cross is not to bear suffering but to bear death, not to put ourselves under suffering but to put ourselves under death. There is quite a difference between the two meanings.
Thus, the bearing of the cross is nothing else but a declaration that in this universe the death of the cross is accomplished by Christ. When the Word of God through the Holy Spirit reveals the cross to us, we receive it by faith, thereby applying the death of the cross to us and not departing from it. This is called the bearing of the cross. In other words, to bear the cross means to bear the death of Christ on us and allow the death of Christ to work on us continually in order to put our self to death.
The bearing of the cross differs from the crucifixion. The accomplished fact of Christ on the cross is called the crucifixion, while our daily experience of the cross is called the bearing of the cross. Hence, the crucifixion is accomplished by the Lord, and the bearing of the cross is our responsibility in experiencing it. The crucifixion on Calvary has been accomplished by the Lord once for all, and when we receive what the Lord has accomplished on the cross, we receive it once for all. But when we go on to experience this cross, we bear it continuously. Not only do we bear it daily and at all times, but we also bear it everywhere and in all places.
The Lord Jesus first bore the cross, and then He was crucified. But we are first crucified, and then we bear the cross. The Lord bore the cross all His life. There was an invisible cross that was laid upon Him. The cross was upon Him in His living and in His work. Then He bore the visible cross on the way to Golgotha (John 19:17), until finally He was nailed to this cross. The Lord not only bore the cross and endured the suffering, but He also endured death. Although He took only the form of a sinful body, without the reality of the flesh, and although He Himself is holy, yet He received the death of the cross unto Himself and allowed it to put Him to death. Finally, in His death at Golgotha, He put His whole being to death. Therefore, for the Lord, it was first the bearing and then the crucifying.
After the bearing of the cross and the crucifixion, He was resurrected. From that time forth, with respect to Himself, He was delivered from the cross; but within His life, which passed through the cross, there is the very element of the death of the cross. Therefore, when after the resurrection He came into us as the Spirit, He automatically brought with Him the fact of the crucifixion and the element of the death of the cross that we may share His crucifixion.
All this has been done by the Lord for us, but on our part we need the Holy Spirit to open our eyes that we may see not only that the cross of Christ has put the Lord to death, but that at the same time our old man has been crucified and finished there. We actually have died with Christ. Once we receive this fact, the Holy Spirit will further reveal to us that our opinions and ideas are the expression of the old man. Since the Lord has crucified our old man, why then do I let the old man express himself in such a way? Hence, we will apply the death of the cross to us. Whenever we discover that we are about to voice our opinion and idea, we will immediately deny it and put it under the death of the cross. This is the bearing of the cross. Therefore, with us the crucifying is first, and then the bearing.
Though we present this matter of bearing the cross and dealing with self in a simple way, yet I believe it is very clear to us. More than ten years ago, when we sought the Lord, we were not clear concerning the meaning of the cross, the bearing of the cross, and dealing with self. At that time we were really groping. We worship the Lord that in these years the Lord has had mercy upon His church and has continuously shown us His light that we may point out in detail these spiritual matters. Therefore, the Lord’s children today, provided they have a seeking heart, will find it much easier to know and experience all these lessons.
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