In the previous chapter we covered the first factor which is vital to the recovery of the church life. This factor is Christ, the all-inclusive One. In this chapter we will cover two additional factors—the factor of the Spirit and the factor of the divine life. The Spirit is the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit, and life is the divine life, the eternal, uncreated life of God (1 John 1:2; Eph. 4:18). Before covering these two factors, however, I would like to say something further concerning Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension.
Christ died on the cross with a sevenfold qualification: He was the Lamb of God; He was in the likeness of the flesh of sin; He was in the form of a brass serpent; He was the last Adam, the last of mankind; He was the Firstborn, the first item, of all God’s creatures; He was the Peacemaker; and He was a grain of wheat. These are the seven qualifications with which Christ died on the cross.
Among Christians it is commonly taught that Christ died on the cross as our Redeemer. This is absolutely correct, but it is too general. Christ died as our Redeemer, but what does this mean? When I was very young I heard this kind of teaching and even preached this kind of gospel to others. However, I did not know what it meant to say that Christ died as our Redeemer. I only understood that Christ was our Redeemer to save us from God’s judgment and from hell. But after I was saved, I spent a great deal of time studying the Bible concerning Christ’s death. I have studied this matter for approximately fifty years, and I have come to the conclusion that, according to the complete word of God in the Bible, Christ died on the cross as seven items. Christ died on the cross not only as one item—our Redeemer—but as seven items.
First, Christ died on the cross as the Lamb of God to take away our sin (John 1:29). Second, He died on the cross in the likeness of the flesh of sin (Rom. 8:3). In other words, He died on the cross in our likeness. We are the flesh of sin. The fact that Christ died on the cross in the likeness of the flesh of sin means that He died in our likeness. The flesh of sin actually denotes sinners. To say that we are the flesh of sin means that we are sinners. Christ died on the cross in the likeness of sinners. He Himself was not a sinner. He knew no sin (2 Cor. 5:21) and He had no sin (Heb. 4:15), yet He died in the likeness of sinners.
Then, third, Christ died in the form of a brass serpent (John 3:14; Num. 21:8-9). When He was crucified on the cross, in the eyes of God He was a brass serpent. He died in the form of a brass serpent to destroy the old serpent, Satan, the Devil (Heb. 2:14). Fourth, Christ died on the cross as the last Adam, the last of mankind (1 Cor. 15:45b). Fifth, He died as the Firstborn of all creation, the first item of all the creatures (Col. 1:15). Since Christ became a man, He surely was a creature. In the eyes of God, Christ as a man was considered the first item of all the creatures. He died as the first of the creatures to terminate all the creation. Then, sixth, Christ died on the cross as a Peacemaker (Eph. 2:14-15). As the Peacemaker, and even as the very peace, He made peace between us and God and between all the different nations. Lastly, He died as a grain of wheat to produce many grains for His multiplication, His increase, and His propagation (John 12:24).