According to the New Testament, Christ has had two births. His first birth took place at His incarnation, and His second birth was in His resurrection. The church came into being through the resurrection of Christ. In His second birth the firstborn Son of God was born with all His brothers, who are the members of His Body, the church. Therefore, the church was born in resurrection, that is, in the second birth of Christ. The church now continues its existence in the all-inclusive Spirit.
In the foregoing message we pointed out that in God’s economy there is one Person, Christ, and one way, the cross. The diagram is actually a chart of this one Person and the one way. Things such as Gnosticism and asceticism have no place here. The teachings of Plato, Socrates, and Confucius and the practices of asceticism are all outside of Christ and apart from the way of the cross. All religions, including Judaism and Christianity, are outside of the line depicted on the diagram. But in the Lord’s recovery we are being brought back to the one Person and the one way. We all need to be recovered from so many different kinds of isms, philosophies, and practices to this one line, to Christ and the cross. Today both Christ and the cross are in the all-inclusive Spirit. Therefore, to be recovered to Christ and the cross is to be recovered to the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit.
In our daily Christian experience we need to know the difference between practicing asceticism and taking the way of the cross. To take the cross is certainly not to cause ourselves to suffer in some way. Some saints may say that to experience the cross is to exercise faith in order to apply what Christ accomplished on Calvary to our situation. But even this may be a subtle form of asceticism. In my early years as a Christian, I appreciated the book, The Imitation of Christ. Eventually I learned that a great deal of what that book advocates is actually asceticism.
If we would apply the cross to our situation, we need to contact the all-inclusive Spirit. The effectiveness of the death of Christ is in this Spirit, just as the effectiveness of certain medicines is included in a certain prescribed dose. When a person takes the prescribed dose, he experiences the effectiveness of that medicine. Today the all-inclusive Spirit is an all-inclusive dose. This dose includes the effectiveness of Christ’s death and the power of His resurrection. Furthermore, Christ’s resurrected and uplifted humanity is also in the all-inclusive Spirit.
According to the New Testament, the all-inclusive Spirit is the Spirit. In John 7:39 we are told that the Spirit was not yet because Jesus was not yet glorified. This means the Spirit of God had not yet been compounded to become the Spirit, the all-inclusive Spirit. But when Jesus was glorified, the process of compounding was accomplished, and the Spirit came into being. Today it is the Spirit who descends upon us and enters into us to indwell our spirit. In this Spirit we have the effectiveness of the death of Christ.
If we would apply the cross of Christ, we need to open ourselves to the Spirit, contact the Spirit, and allow the Spirit to have a free way within us. Then the Spirit will spontaneously apply the effectiveness of the death of Christ to us. This is what it means to apply the death of Christ. Furthermore, when we open to the Spirit and allow Him to apply the death of Christ to our situation, this experience of Christ’s death will bring Christ to us in resurrection. Hence, through the experience of Christ’s death, we also experience His resurrection. The more we experience this, the more we can say with Paul, “To me to live is Christ” (Phil. 1:21).
Due to the influence of tradition, we often use the right terms in the wrong way. The terms are correct, but our understanding of them is mistaken. One of these terms is the cross. When we speak of applying the cross to our situation, we need to have the proper understanding. We need to realize that the effectiveness of the death of Christ is in the all-inclusive Spirit. The reality of the cross of Christ is in the Spirit. Thus, if we open to the Spirit and allow the Spirit to move freely within us, He will flow within us. This inward flowing will bring to us the effectiveness of the death of Christ. Moreover, this application of Christ’s death will bring Christ Himself in resurrection. Then, as those who have died with Christ, we shall live with Him in resurrection. It is here that Christ becomes our life in a practical way. We have died with Christ on the cross, and we have been raised up together with Christ. Now, in resurrection, we have Christ as our life. If we spend more time considering the diagram, we shall be helped to realize in what way we have Christ as our life.