God, however, cannot be affected by death. No matter how much death He passes through, He remains the same. Death actually helps Him to be released. God came out of His dwelling place and went to the cross and died there in order to release what was in Him. We may use a grain of wheat as an illustration. When a grain of wheat is sown into the earth, it dies. Is this death terrible or is it wonderful? We should say that the death of a grain of wheat is wonderful, because without this death all the riches and beautiful things in the grain cannot be released. For this reason, the death of a grain of wheat is not terrible but wonderful. In the same principle, death is wonderful to God. The Lord Jesus said, “Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24). He was speaking of Himself as the one grain who would fall into the ground and die in order to be multiplied into many grains. By His death the riches of the divine life within Him were released. Because God is life, even resurrection, He cannot be terminated by death. Whatever is of man can be terminated, but whatever is of God is released through death. Now we can see that when God went to the altar, the cross, and died there, His life was released.
As we have pointed out, man also was on the cross. When the Lord Jesus died, man also died, and this death meant the termination of man. All the negative things related to man were terminated on the cross. Praise the Lord that we all were terminated on the cross! By the all-inclusive death of the Lord Jesus on the cross, all the riches of God were released. The death of Christ on the cross was a wonderful release to God and a wonderful termination to us. We all need this vision of the altar. We need to see that, no matter what our age may be, we all were terminated on the cross at the same time. The riches of God were released there, and all the negative things were terminated there. Therefore, the all-inclusive death of Christ on the cross was our termination and God’s release.
The mingling of God with man began when the Lord Jesus was born in Bethlehem. By His incarnation God came into man. But the mingling of man with God began on the cross and was fully accomplished at the resurrection. Through the Lord’s death and resurrection, we were put into God and were mingled with God. Therefore, through incarnation God came into man, and through death and resurrection man was put into God.
All that we are and have was terminated on the cross, on the altar. Through the cross the divine life was released, and then this life was imparted to us through Christ’s resurrection. If we bury a grain of wheat and a small stone, something living will grow out of the grain of wheat, but the stone will remain buried. Through His death on the cross, the Lord Jesus as a grain of wheat was released, but we, a dead “stone,” were terminated. Although we have been terminated in this way, the divine life has been imparted into us to make us wonderful persons.
Originally we were not wonderful. Before we were saved, we were outside the wall of the temple compound, and we loved ourselves very much. After we were saved and passed through the gate into the outer court, we no longer loved ourselves as much but still had a certain amount of self-pity. However, after we come into the inner court, we no longer love ourselves or pity ourselves; rather, we hate the self. As we proceed further and come to the altar, we see that the ugly self, which we loved when we were outside the wall, pitied in the outer court, and hated in the inner court, has already been terminated. Since the self has been terminated, there is no need for us to love it or pity it or even hate it. Instead, we should simply forget the self and leave it on the altar.
We have pointed out that since the cross, the altar, occupies a central place in our relationship with God, we cannot avoid it. Actually, as soon as we enter through the gate, we begin to realize something concerning the cross. The cross is implied in the gate which signifies the Lord Jesus who fulfilled all the requirements of the Ten Commandments and who then died on the cross to fulfill the righteous requirements of God’s law. The cross is also implied in the eating of the sacrifices, which have passed through death. This eating takes place on the pavement. Furthermore, the boiling places and the tables upon which the sacrifices are slain both imply the cross. This indicates that throughout the holy building of God, we can see the cross—at the main gate, on the pavement, at the boiling places in the corners, and at the tables in the inner court. The cross, therefore, is not only the center but also the circumference. The cross spreads in every direction and to every corner. After we have been saved, we will meet the cross everywhere. Apart from the cross, it is impossible to contact Christ or to have Christian spiritual experiences.
Although we meet the cross everywhere in our Christian life, we experience the cross in a particular way when we come to the altar at the center of God’s building. To come to the altar at the center is to realize that all that we are and all that we have were terminated at the cross. Here we have a definite experience of the cross and not merely a superficial knowledge about the cross. In our fellowship with the Lord, we are brought to the point where we touch the cross in a definite way and sense that God will no longer allow us to live in our natural man. This causes us to have a major breakthrough and an absolute submission to the cross. As a result, we will know what the natural life is and what it means for the old creation to be stripped away. This is the experience of the cross as the center.
I am grieved that although many of us have heard messages about the cross, only a few among us truly live a crucified life. For example, we may not live a crucified life in our married life. If a married brother and his wife argue with each other, this indicates that they are not living a crucified life. If they were living a crucified life, they would not accuse each other and vindicate themselves. Those who live a crucified life do not vindicate themselves when they are attacked or criticized. They experience the termination of their Adamic life and of the old creation through the death of the cross and enjoy God’s riches and His divine element, which were released through the cross.
When some, especially young people, hear this word about the altar, they may be frightened and think that it is better not to love the Lord and seek Him. They may think that it is adequate simply to enter through the gate into the outer court and enjoy Christ on the pavement; they may think that there is no need for them to go further through the inner gate, which leads into the inner court toward the altar. They may fear that it would be dangerous to reach the altar and become a burnt offering.
We need to realize, however, that since the Lord has had mercy on us, we cannot escape Him. We were not saved of our own will. On the contrary, while we were wandering in the world, having no intention of entering in through the gate, the Lord brought us through the gate. Apart from our own choice, we believed into Christ. This is altogether a matter of God’s selection, of His mercy, and of His reaching us with His care. The principle is the same in our loving the Lord and pursuing Him. If we did not believe in the Lord, love Him, and pursue Him, we would feel uncomfortable and dissatisfied. But the more we love the Lord and pursue Him, the more we are satisfied. This also is a matter of the Lord’s mercy. Because of His mercy to us and His operation within us, we have no choice except to go forward; we cannot turn back. If we do not advance toward the altar but instead try to go back to the outer court, we will feel uncomfortable. Therefore, we need to go on and on until we reach the altar.
Eventually, all those who are spiritual and who pursue the Lord end up on the altar where they are terminated, even destroyed, by the Lord. Seemingly without reason, the Lord tears them down and strips them of everything. God puts to death all that we are and all that we have. Madame Guyon experienced this and could say that God gave her the cross. Because we love the Lord and pursue Him, sooner or later we will meet the cross, which will tear us down and bring everything into death. We will be forced to pass into death, even if we are not willing to do so.
We do not experience the cross once for all—we experience the cross again and again. Those who pursue the Lord will meet the cross at every turn. At one time they will meet the cross through their children. At another time they will meet the cross through their spouse or through illness. At other times, they may experience the cross through the church or through the co-workers. The reason that the cross is everywhere is that we must go through the cross in order to contact God. Thank the Lord that God gives us the cross and that the cross gives us God. The ones who love God the most and experience Him the most are the ones who have gone through the cross.