In the two previous messages we considered in detail the matter of experiencing Christ in His experiences and of offering to God the Christ whom we have experienced. In this message I would like to give a brief further word concerning our experiencing Christ in His experiences as the burnt offering.
I am concerned that some may misunderstand what I mean by experiencing Christ in His experiences. When many Christians hear that we need to experience Christ in His experiences in order to have Him as our burnt offering, they may think that this is a matter of imitating Christ in an outward way, of taking Christ as an outward example and pattern and then following Him and learning of Him. This understanding is wrong.
In order to help you have the right understanding of experiencing Christ in His experiences, I would point out that regarding this matter there are in so-called theology two main schools of thought.
The first school, which is much more popular than the second and which is held by both Catholics and Protestants, teaches the believers to follow Christ and imitate Him altogether in an outward way. This teaching is illustrated in a famous Catholic book written hundreds of years ago entitled The Imitation of Christ. According to this book, a Christian should try to imitate the outward living of Christ. Much of today’s Protestant theology also speaks of following Christ, imitating Him, and learning of Him.
Certain verses in the New Testament seem to provide a basis for this school of thought. In the Gospels the Lord Jesus often charges others to follow Him. In Matthew 11:29 He said, “Take My yoke on you and learn from Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart.” Furthermore, Paul exhorted the believers, saying, “Be imitators of me, as I also am of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1). Such verses apparently support the teaching that to experience Christ is to imitate Him outwardly.
The second school of thought, which is held by only a few Bible teachers, says that experiencing Christ in His experiences is not a matter of imitating Christ outwardly but is instead a matter of living Christ. To experience Christ in His experiences is not to take Him as a pattern outwardly-it is to live Christ. Regarding this, Paul says, “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). Paul does not say, “I take Christ as my pattern and follow Him”; he says, “I have been crucified with Christ” and “Christ lives in me.” In Philippians 1:21 Paul goes on to say, “To me to live is Christ.” Paul did not merely take Christ as his pattern and imitate Him outwardly. Paul lived Christ.
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