THE SECOND PART: A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
The Gospel according to John
Message Five
Christ’s Death and Resurrection
Scripture Reading: John 1:29; 3:14; 12:24, 31; 19:34; 20:1, 17, 22; S. S. 4:6; 1:13-14, 17; 2:5, 10-14
I. We need to see a vision of Christ’s person and work in His death and resurrection as presented in the Gospel of John—1:29; 20:1, 17, 22:
A. John speaks concerning Christ’s person and work in His death—1:29; 3:14; 12:24:
1. Christ died as the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world—1:29; 1 Cor. 15:3; 1 Pet. 2:24; Heb. 9:28; 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 9:26:
a. In redemption as the Lamb of God, Christ satisfied the requirements of God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory—Rom. 2:5; Heb. 12:29; 9:5.
b. In the Gospel of John, the Lamb of God signifies the Word in the flesh as the fulfillment and the totality of all the Old Testament offerings to accomplish God’s full redemption—1:1, 14.
2. Christ died as a serpent in form, destroying the devil, who had the might of death—3:14; 12:31; Heb. 2:14:
a. The Lord Jesus applied the type of the bronze serpent to Himself, indicating that when He was in the flesh, He was “in the likeness of the flesh of sin,” which likeness is equal to the form of the bronze serpent—Num. 21:4-9; Rom. 8:3.
b. Christ was made “in the likeness of the flesh of sin,” but He did not participate in any way in the sin of the flesh—2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15.
c. By being crucified as a serpent in form, the Lord Jesus crushed the head of the serpent, judging the ruler of this world—John 12:31.
3. Christ died on the cross as a grain of wheat, falling into death for the release of the divine life—v. 24:
a. He, as the God-man, was a grain of wheat, having both the shell without and the divine life within.
b. As a grain of wheat Christ died to release the divine life for the enlivening of God’s redeemed ones, producing many grains that are ground and blended into flour to make a loaf, which signifies the Body of Christ—1 Cor. 10:17.
4. In His work on the cross, Christ cast out the ruler of this world and judged the world—John 12:31:
a. Because the world system is connected to Satan, when he, the ruler of the world, was judged, the world was judged as well—1 John 5:19.
b. When the Lord Jesus was crucified, the satanic world was crucified with Him; hence, His death terminated the satanic world—Gal. 6:14.
5. Two substances came out of the Lord’s pierced side: blood and water—John 19:34:
a. Blood is for redemption, to deal with sins for the purchasing of the church—Heb. 9:22; Acts 20:28.
b. Water is for imparting life, to deal with death for the producing of the church—John 3:14-15; Eph. 5:29-30.
B. John speaks of Christ’s person and work in His resurrection:
1. In His resurrection Christ accomplished the work of rising from the dead to be the firstfruits of resurrection; the freshness of His resurrection was first for the Father’s enjoyment—John 20:17; Exo. 23:19a; Lev. 23:10-11.
2. In His resurrection Christ germinated the new creation; the fact that He arose on the first day of the week indicates that the entire universe had a new beginning in His resurrection—John 20:1; 2 Cor. 5:17.
3. In His resurrection Christ produced many grains for His multiplication and glorification—John 12:24; 13:31-32; 17:1.
4. In His resurrection Christ brought forth the corporate child—the corporate new man—including Himself as God’s firstborn Son and His many brothers as God’s many sons—16:19-22; 20:17; Rom. 8:29; Heb. 2:10.
5. In His resurrection Christ rebuilt God’s temple, making it a corporate one—John 2:19-22; 14:2; 1 Cor. 3:16-17.
6. Christ’s resurrection was His transfiguration into the life-giving Spirit, the pneumatic Christ, the Spirit of reality as another Comforter, and in His resurrection He breathed Himself as the Holy Spirit into His disciples—John 14:16-18; 20:22.
C. All our experiences of Christ are related to His death, His resurrection, and His Spirit—3:14; 12:24; 20:1, 22:
1. The death of Christ, the resurrection of Christ, and the Spirit of Christ always go together—19:34; 1 Cor. 15:45b; Rom. 8:9, 11, 13.
2. The way to enjoy Christ is to experience Him in His death and resur-rection and to remain in His Spirit, who is in our spirit—v. 16; 1 Cor. 6:17.
II. We need to experience Christ in His death and resurrection as portrayed in Song of Songs—4:6; 1:13-14, 17; 2:5, 10-14:
A. We cannot experience Christ’s death and resurrection as something apart from Christ Himself—4:6; Rom. 6:5.
B. The lover of Christ enjoys Him as a bundle of myrrh between her breasts (faith and love) in the night, signifying Christ in His sweet death for her; this is Christ in His death for her to enjoy privately—S. S. 1:13; 4:6.
C. The lover of Christ enjoys Him as a cluster of henna flowers, signifying Christ in His resurrection, for her to express openly—1:14; 4:13; Rom. 1:3-4.
D. The lover of Christ enjoys Him in His resurrection (cedars) as the beams and in His death (cypresses) as the rafters for her shelter—S. S. 1:17; Psa. 92:12.
E. Christ in His death is signified by the raisin, and Christ in His resurrection is signified by the fresh apples; we can be nourished by experiencing Christ as the crucified One, as the raisin, and be refreshed by experiencing Christ in His resurrection, as the refreshing apples—S. S. 2:3, 5.
F. Staying in the cross—”the clefts of the rock” and “the covert of the precipice”—is possible only by the power of Christ’s resurrection—vv. 10-14:
1. Our being crucified is not by our natural life or natural strength but by the power of Christ’s resurrection—Phil. 3:10.
2. It is only by being conformed to the death of Christ by the power of His resurrection that we can be delivered from our self to be transformed— S. S. 2:15; Matt. 16:24; Phil. 3:10; 2 Cor. 3:18.
Ministry Excerpts:
THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF CHRIST BECOMING A VISION TO US
The death and resurrection of Christ must become a vision to us. On the cross not only was Christ crucified there, but also all the existing things in the universe were crucified with Him. He was on the cross representing the entire old creation, so when He died, we died with Him. His death was our death. Likewise, when He resurrected, we also resurrected with Him to be the people of His new creation. His resurrection was the birth, the germination, of the new creation. Christ is an all-inclusive person, so His resurrection, based upon His all-inclusive death, is also all-inclusive. My burden is to help you see this vision.
Vision comes from hearing, and hearing comes from speaking. In Christianity the subtle enemy has cut off the proper speaking of Christ and His death and resurrection. But praise the Lord that He is still speaking today. As long as He speaks and you hear, you also see a vision. Once you see something, you also enjoy the reality. The reality is mainly composed of three factors: the all-inclusive Christ as a living person, His all-inclusive death, and His all-inclusive resurrection. When we see these factors, we are brought into the realization and experience of them. (CWWL, 1989, vol. 3, “The Experience and Growth in Life”, msg. 13)
The Lamb of God
In John 1:29 we see that in redemption Christ is the Lamb of God: “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” This verse indicates that Christ as the Lamb of God takes away sin from the human race. The phrase “of the world” in this verse actually means from mankind. Through Satan sin entered into man, for Satan injected sin, his poisonous nature, into the human race. But the Lamb of God has come to take away this sin from the world, from mankind.
Christ died on the cross as the Lamb of God to deal with sin and sins. From 1 Corinthians 15:3, 1 Peter 2:24, and Hebrews 9:28 we see that as the Lamb of God the Lord Jesus died for our sins. Furthermore, according to 2 Corinthians 5:21 and Hebrews 9:26, His death dealt with sin. Therefore, both sin and sins were dealt with by the Lamb of God, who was under God’s judgment on the cross.
In redemption Christ as the Lamb of God satisfied God’s requirements, the requirements of His righteousness, holiness, and glory. No fallen human being could ever fulfill these requirements. Hence, there was the need of a Redeemer, the Lamb of God, designated by God to fulfill His righteous, holy, and glorious requirements.
In the Gospel of John the Lamb of God signifies the Word in the flesh (John 1:1, 14) as the fulfillment of all the Old Testament offerings to accomplish God’s full redemption. Christ is the totality of all the offerings. He is not only the sin offering but also the trespass offering, the burnt offering, the meal offering, the peace offering, the wave offering, the heave offering, the free-will offering, and the drink offering. With Christ as all the offerings we have God’s full redemption. Through Christ as the Lamb of God fulfilling all the offerings we may enter into God and participate in the divine life and nature (John 3:14-15; 2 Pet. 1:4). Because of Christ as the Lamb of God, we are well able, even enabled, to enter into God. We may boldly come into God, knowing that He does not have the right to reject us, because we come through His Lamb. We have full redemption in Christ, and therefore we are enabled to enter into God to enjoy all that He is.
According to 1 Peter 1:20, Christ as the redeeming Lamb was foreknown by God before the foundation of the world, that is, before the creation of the universe: “Who was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was manifested in the last times for your sake.” Christ was foreordained, prepared, by God to be His redeeming Lamb according to His foreknowledge before the foundation of the world. This was done according to God’s eternal purpose and plan; it did not happen accidentally.
A Serpent in Form
Some may be very surprised to hear that Christ died on the cross even as a serpent in form. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life” (John 3:14-15). Here the Lord Jesus applies to Himself the type of the brass serpent lifted up by Moses in the wilderness (Num. 21:4-9). Because the children of Israel complained and were rebellious, “the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died” (Num. 21:6). Then the people came to Moses and confessed that they had sinned in speaking against the Lord and against him. They asked Moses to pray that the Lord would take away the serpents. When Moses prayed for the people, the Lord said to him, “Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live” (v. 8). We are told that Moses made a serpent of brass and put it upon a pole. Then “it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived” (v. 9).
The incident in Numbers 21 was sovereignly prepared by God to reveal a particular type of Christ. The brass serpent lifted up on a pole is a type of Christ lifted up on the cross for us as a serpent in form according to John 3:14. As fallen human beings, we all have been “bitten” by the serpent, the Devil. We were bitten in the garden of Eden when Adam was bitten by the serpent and poisoned by him. Therefore, we are all serpentine beings with the poison of the serpent in our nature. In the sight of God, the entire fallen human race consists of poisonous serpents. As such serpents we needed a substitute; we needed Christ to die for us in the form of a serpent, but without the poisonous element of the serpent.
We need to be very clear that Christ was a serpent in form but that He did not have the poisonous nature of a serpent. We, however, actually are serpentine, for in our fallen nature we are children of the old serpent, the Devil (1 John 3:10). For this reason, in Matthew 12:34 the Lord Jesus called the Pharisees a “brood of vipers.” In Matthew 23:33 He called them “serpents, brood of vipers,” the offspring of the most poisonous kind of serpents. Because the Devil is the father of sinners (John 8:44), sinners are children of the Devil. Sinners also are serpents, the offspring of vipers. Therefore, in the sight of God, in our fallen nature we are not only sinful—we are serpentine.
The serpent is a symbol of the Devil, who is called “the ancient serpent” (Rev. 12:9). No doubt, the Lord Jesus was crucified as a serpent in form in order to deal with Satan, the Devil, the old serpent.
It was through being crucified as a serpent in form that the Lord Jesus crushed the head of the old serpent, the Devil (Gen. 3:15). In this way He judged the ruler of this world: “Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the ruler of this world be cast out” (John 12:31). By His death on the cross Christ destroyed the Devil, who had the power of death (Heb. 2:14). Therefore, as the One who died as a serpent in form under God’s judgment, the Lord Jesus dealt with the Devil and with his world, the satanic system.
Through the death of Christ, sins, sin, the old man, the entire creation, the Devil, and the world have all been dealt with. This was possible only because Christ was crucified as the Lamb of God, a man in the flesh, the last Adam, a creature, and a serpent in form. As the Lamb of God, Christ took away sin. As a man in the flesh, He made it possible for God to condemn sin in the flesh. As the last Adam He terminated the old man. As a creature, He crucified the entire creation. And as a serpent in form, He destroyed the Devil and the satanic world. (Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 28)
As a Grain of Wheat Falling into Death for the Release of the Divine Life
In His work on the cross the Lord Jesus died as a grain of wheat falling into death for the release of the divine life. “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24). Christ’s all-inclusive death released the divine life that was within Him. As a grain of wheat He died to release the divine life and to enliven God’s redeemed ones, to produce many grains that can be blended together in a loaf to be offered to God. This loaf is the church, the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 10:17).
The Lord Jesus fell into the ground and died so that His divine element, His divine life, might be released from within the shell of His humanity to produce many believers in resurrection (1 Pet. 1:3), just as a grain of wheat has its life element released by falling into the ground and growing up out of the ground to bear much fruit, that is, to bring forth many grains. The Lord Jesus, as a grain of wheat falling into the ground, lost His soulish life through death so that He might release His divine life in resurrection to the many grains.
On the negative side, Christ’s all-inclusive death has solved the problems of sins, sin, the old man, the old creation, Satan, the world, and the ordinances. On the positive side, Christ’s death has released the divine life from within Him. He was a grain of wheat, and there was no other way for that grain to increase except to fall into the ground and die. This is the way to have the multiplication of life. Therefore, in His death Christ was sown into the earth as a grain of wheat to produce a multiplication through the release of the divine life.
The Father Being Glorified in the Son’s Glorification
Through His Death and Resurrection
Furthermore, it was by dying to release the divine life that the Lord Jesus was glorified and glorified the Father. In John 12:23 the Lord said, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified,” and in verse 28 He prayed, “Father, glorify Your name.” The Lord was glorified through death and resurrection because it was through death and resurrection that His divine element was released and manifested. God the Father was glorified by the Son’s being glorified. When the Son’s divine element was released and manifested through His death and resurrection, the Father’s divine life was released and manifested. Thus, the Father was glorified in the Son’s glorification through His death and resurrection. The death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus glorified God the Father because Christ’s death released the divine element from within Him. This element was confined in His flesh, just as the life element of a grain of wheat is confined within its shell. In order for the life element of a grain of wheat to be glorified, the grain must die so that the element within it can be released. It is the same with the divine element within the Lord Jesus.
To glorify the name of the Father is to cause the Father’s element to be manifested. This element, which is the eternal life, was in the incarnated Son. The shell of the Son’s incarnation, His flesh, had to be broken through death so that the Father’s element might be released and manifested in resurrection, just as the life element of a grain of wheat is released by its shell being broken and manifested by its blossom. This is the glorification of God the Father in the Son’s glorification through His dying as a grain of wheat to release the divine life. (Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 72)
Casting Out the Ruler of This World and Judging His World
In His work on the cross Christ also cast out the ruler of this world and judged his world. “Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the ruler of this world be cast out” (John 12:31). This indicates that Christ’s work in His death included the casting out of Satan, the ruler of this world. Satan thought that he was wise in having the Lord Jesus crucified. Actually, by doing this Satan caused himself to be cast out. The cross was the way used by God to cast out Satan.
The New Testament reveals that Satan has formed an evil, satanic system called the world. Through the world, the satanic cosmos, Satan has systematized fallen mankind under his usurping hand. Satan uses the world to keep people from the purpose of God and to distract them from the enjoyment of God. But this evil world system, the kingdom of darkness, was judged through Christ’s work on the cross.
Because the world system is connected to Satan, when he, the ruler of the world, was judged, the world was judged as well. The ruler of this world was cast out when Satan was cast out by Christ’s work in His death. Simultaneously, the world system related to Satan was judged.
When the Lord Jesus was crucified, the entire old creation and the satanic world were crucified with Him. Hence, the Lord’s crucifixion was the termination of the satanic world. Therefore, in Galatians 6:14 Paul could declare, “Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.” (Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 71)
Two Substances Coming Out of the Lord’s Pierced Side: Blood and Water
John 19:34 says, “But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately there came out blood and water.” Two substances came out of the Lord’s pierced side: blood and water. Blood is for redemption, dealing with sins (John 1:29; Heb. 9:22) for the purchase of the church (Acts 20:28), and water is for imparting life, dealing with death (John 12:24; 3:14-15) for the producing of the church (Eph. 5:29-31). On the negative side, the Lord’s death takes away our sins; on the positive side, it imparts life into us. Hence, it has two aspects: the redemptive aspect and the life-imparting aspect. The redemptive aspect is for the life-imparting aspect. The record of the three other Gospels is only for the redemptive aspect of the Lord’s death, but John’s record is not only for the redemptive aspect but also for the life-imparting aspect. In Matthew 27:45, 51; Mark 15:33; and Luke 23:44-45, “darkness,” as a symbol of sin, appeared, and “the veil of the temple,” which separated man from God, “was rent.” Those were signs related to the Lord’s redemptive death. Furthermore, the words spoken by the Lord on the cross in Luke 23:34, “Father, forgive them,” and in Matthew 27:46, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (because He bore our sin at that time), also depict the Lord’s redemptive death. But the flowing water and the unbroken bone mentioned by John in verses 34 and 36 are signs of the Lord’s life-imparting death. This life-imparting death releases the Lord’s divine life from within Him for producing the church, composed of all His believers into whom His divine life has been imparted. This life-imparting death of the Lord was typified by Adam’s sleep that produced Eve (Gen. 2:21-23), and is signified by the death of the one grain of wheat falling into the ground for the bringing forth of many grains (John 12:24) for the making of the loaf—the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 10:17). Hence, it is also the life-propagating, life-multiplying, regenerating, and reproducing death.
As we shall see, the Lord’s pierced side was prefigured by Adam’s opened side, out of which Eve was produced (Gen. 2:21-23). The blood was typified by the blood of the Passover lamb (Exo. 12:7, 22; Rev. 12:11), and the water by the water that flowed out of the smitten rock (Exo. 17:6; 1 Cor. 10:4). The blood formed “a fountain” for the washing of sin (Zech. 13:1), and the water became “the fountain of life” (Psa. 36:9; Rev. 21:6). (Life-study of John, msg. 43)
Christ Being the First One Raised from Among the Dead
as the Firstfruit of Resurrection
The firstfruit signifies the resurrected Christ. Christ was the first one raised from among the dead as the firstfruit of resurrection (1 Cor. 15:20). This was typified by the firstfruits in Leviticus 23:10-11 offered to God on the day after the Sabbath, the day of resurrection (Matt. 28:1).
From the day of Christ’s resurrection to the day of Pentecost was exactly fifty days. After His resurrection, the Lord Jesus stayed with the disciples for forty days. Then He left them and ascended to the heavens. Following that, the dis-ciples prayed for ten days. Then on the day of Pentecost (Pentecost means fifty), fifty days after the resurrection of Christ, there was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit was the full issue of the resurrected Christ. The resurrected Christ was the firstfruit, the barley sheaf, on the day of resurrection. Then this resurrected Christ had a full issue manifested on the day of Pentecost. This means that the resurrected Christ became the Spirit poured out upon His believers for their full enjoyment. (Life-study of Exodus, msg. 179)
Germinating the New Creation in Resurrection
The revelation of the Triune God requires the incarnation of Christ, the Lord’s human living, and His crucifixion and resurrection. After the resurrection of Christ, we have the coming of the Spirit. Now we know that the Triune God is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.
This Triune God is the processed God. He has passed through the process of incarnation, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection. In crucifixion, He accomplished redemption, the termination of the old creation, and the destruction of Satan and death. In resurrection, He germinated the new creation. Now He is the life-giving Spirit as the ultimate consummation of the Triune God. The church is in such a Triune God. The church is in the processed Triune God, the One who has become the life-giving Spirit with the Father and the Son. (Life-study of 1 Thessalonians, msg. 7)
Bringing Forth the Corporate Child—the Corporate New Man
By His work in His resurrection Christ brought forth the corporate child—the corporate new man—including Himself as God’s firstborn Son and His many brothers as God’s many sons (John 16:19-22; Rom. 8:29). In John 16:20 and 21 the Lord Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, that you shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice; you shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. When a woman gives birth she has sorrow, because her hour has come; but when she brings forth the child, she no longer remembers the affliction because of the joy that a man has been born into the world.” Here the Lord Jesus indicates that the disciples were like a woman travailing in birth, and He was the child to be brought forth in His resurrection (Acts 13:33; Heb. 1:5; Rom. 1:4). Actually, the man in John 16:21 includes Christ and all believers. According to Acts 13:33, the Lord Jesus was begotten in resurrection to be the Son of God with respect to His humanity. The Lord’s resurrection, therefore, was a birth. This means that when Christ was resurrected, He was born.
We may wonder why it was necessary for Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, to be born in resurrection as the Son of God. In eternity Christ was the only begotten Son of God. Then in His incarnation He was born of Mary, and in resurrection He had another birth. When Christ was born of Mary, He was born as a man, and His humanity had nothing to do with God’s sonship. Strictly speaking, the human part of Jesus was not the Son of God but the Son of Man. Therefore, it was necessary for the human part of the Lord Jesus to be born into the divine sonship through resurrection. Hence, Christ’s resurrection was a new birth for Him. He was already the only begotten Son of God before His incarnation. Then through incarnation He was born to be a man. Now in resurrection He was born to be the firstborn Son of God.
Furthermore, Christ’s being the firstborn Son of God implies that He has many brothers and that He is the Firstborn among these brothers (Rom. 8:29). The birth that took place through Christ’s resurrection involved the birth not only of an individual but of a group, a group that includes the firstborn Son of God and the many sons of God. This indicates that through one birth, one delivery, many sons were brought forth. According to God’s view, the divine view, all His chosen people were born together with Christ in His resurrection. This resurrection was the birth of a corporate child. (Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 73)
Becoming the Life-giving Spirit
In resurrection Christ became the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). This was not an easy matter; on the contrary, it was a great work. In order to accomplish the work of becoming the life-giving Spirit, the Lord Jesus had to pass through death and then, in resurrection, do certain wonderful things. Now He is the Spirit who gives life, the Spirit who imparts life to us, the Spirit who dispenses Himself as life into the believers.
Christ’s resurrection was His transfiguration into the life-giving Spirit. He was Christ in the flesh, but He has been transfigured into the pneumatic Christ, the Christ who is the life-giving Spirit. Resurrection was His actual transfiguration. Before His death and resurrection He was transfigured on the Mount of Transfiguration. However, that transfiguration was temporary. His actual transfiguration was His resurrection, for in resurrection He became the life-giving Spirit.
If we are lacking in revelation, in proper spiritual vision, we may not realize that in resurrection Christ as the last Adam became the life-giving Spirit. To deny that Christ is the life-giving Spirit is equal to denying the reality of resurrection. The life-giving Spirit is the life pulse of Christ’s resurrection. If Christ had merely been resurrected with a body and had not become the life-giving Spirit, His resurrection would not mean nearly as much to us. It would simply be an objective fact unrelated to life. It could then be compared to the resurrection of Lazarus. The resurrection of Lazarus was merely an act of resurrection; it did not produce anything related to life. But Christ’s resurrection is a matter absolutely related to life, for in resurrection He became the life-giving Spirit, the Spirit who imparts life.
Resurrection was not merely an objective act accomplished by Christ. It is very much related to us subjectively. Through incarnation Christ became a man. Incarnation was much more than an objective fact; it was a process that brought God into humanity. The principle is the same with the process of resurrection. Resurrection was not merely an act in itself; it was a process to bring forth the life-giving Spirit. Through the process of resurrection Christ, who ended the old creation, became the life-giving Spirit, the germinating element of the new creation. (Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 74)
All the Experiences of Christ Being Related to His Death,
His Resurrection, and His Spirit
All the experiences of Christ are related to His death, His resurrection, and His Spirit. His death goes along with His resurrection, and His Spirit is the realization of His resurrection. In order to know the power of Christ’s resurrection, we must learn to turn from our mind to our spirit continually (Rom. 8:6). When we turn to our spirit, we have nothing to do but pray. When we turn to our spirit and pray, immediately the Spirit is with us as the power of resurrection. Then as we take the cross, those around us may not know that we have been crucified and are in resurrection. This may cause us to sing, “Hallelujah, Christ is Victor!” When we enjoy the power of His resurrection, He is the Victor in our experience, and we are the conquerors. The way to experience Christ in His crucifixion by the power of His resurrection is by the Spirit Himself who is in our spirit. Romans 8:6 says, “The mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.”
In order to experience Christ and to gain Christ, we need to know the all-inclusiveness of Christ. We also need to know that we have a regenerated human spirit and that today the Spirit of God has become the consummated life-giving Spirit of Christ as the power of His resurrection. We must know these three things. Then we can experience Christ and gain Him. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 3, “Crystallization-study of Song of Songs”, msg. 5)
THE LOVER’S GAIN AND ENJOYMENT OF CHRIST
The word gain is strongly used by Paul in Philippians 3, where he expresses his aspiration to gain Christ (v. 8). We need to see how to gain Christ.
As a Bundle of Myrrh and a Cluster of Henna Flowers
Being Built upon the Fountain of His Redemption
The lover gains Christ as a bundle of myrrh (S. S. 1:13a), signifying Christ’s sweet death for her, and as a cluster of henna flowers, signifying Christ in His resurrection in the churches built upon the fountain of His redemption (v. 14). If we are going to gain Christ, we must gain Him in His death. Christ today is in His death, in His resurrection, and in His Spirit. To gain Christ is to gain Him in His death, His resurrection, and His Spirit. His Spirit is in our spirit, His Spirit is the reality of His resurrection, and His resurrection always implies His death. These three—the death, the resurrection, and the Spirit of Christ—always go together. If we have the death of Christ, we have His resurrection. If we have His resurrection, we have His Spirit, who is in our spirit.
We may say that we have exercised our spirit quite often, but when we exercise our spirit, do we receive Christ’s death and resurrection? Because of his quick disposition, a brother may be bothered by his slow wife. Then the Lord may say to him, “When you die with Me, you gain Me.” If he would take this word, immediately he will enjoy Christ in His death as a bundle of myrrh. The next morning he will be very refreshed with Christ’s resurrection. Then when he comes to the meeting, the Spirit of Christ will be in his speaking. The Spirit is constituted with Christ’s death plus Christ’s resurrection. We gain Christ through His death and resurrection in His Spirit, and this Spirit is in our spirit.
The lover enjoys Christ as a bundle of myrrh between her breasts in the night. This is Christ in His death for her to embrace privately (v. 13). Then she enjoys Christ as a cluster of henna flowers, which is Christ in His resurrection for her to express openly. This cluster of henna flowers is in the vineyards of En-gedi (v. 14). En-gedi means “the fountain of the lamb.” This signifies that Christ in His resurrection in the churches is built upon the fountain of His redemption. This fountain, which is through Christ’s redemption, is the Spirit. In the night we embrace Christ as a bundle of myrrh in His death. In the morning we wear Him as a cluster of henna flowers in His resurrection. This resurrection is in the church built upon the fountain of redemption. Here are the death of Christ, the resurrection of Christ, and the Spirit of Christ. This is the way that we gain Christ. Through the experience of His death and resurrection in His Spirit we gain Him.
As the Nourishing Raisin Cakes and the Refreshing Apples
In the banqueting house Christ sustains His lover with raisin cakes for nourishment and apples for the supply of life (S. S. 2:5). The raisin cakes signify Christ in His death. The grape in the New Testament is related to Christ’s death because the juice of the grape signifies His shed blood. The dried grapes are raisins for our nourishment. Christ in His death is signified by the raisin, and Christ in His resurrection is signified by the fresh apples. We can be nourished by experiencing Christ as the crucified One, as the raisin. We can be refreshed by experiencing Christ in His resurrection, as the refreshing apples. Both raisin cakes and apples are for the healing of the lover’s sickness of love in longing after her Beloved. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 3, “Crystallization-study of Song of Songs”, msg. 4)
Remaining in the Cross
Christ wants His seeker to remain in the cross, that is, to stay in “the clefts of the rock” and in “the covert of the precipice” (S. S. 2:14a). Christ wants us to remain in the cross continually. The brothers need to be crossed out in their relationship with their wives. Christ wants us to remain in a crucified condition all the time. We may say that some of the things that come to us in our environment to trouble us are Satan’s work, but they are also God’s assignment. God’s assignment is to put us to death. In the midst of our troubling environment we must learn to turn our mind to our spirit to receive the strengthening of the Spirit as the power of resurrection.
Christ wants to see His seeker’s countenance and hear her voice in the cross as the clefts of the rock and the covert of the precipice (v. 14b). To stay in the cross is a hard matter, like getting into the clefts of the rock and the covert of the precipice by a rugged road. It could be only by the power of Christ’s resurrection shown in the leaping of the gazelle upon the mountains and the skipping of the young hart upon the hills, not by her natural life. This is to “deny” herself as the Lord charges in Matthew 16:24. This is also to be conformed to the death of Christ by the power of His resurrection. It is only in this way that she can be delivered from her self, which frustrates her from experiencing Christ in resurrection. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 3, “Crystallization-study of Song of Songs”, msg. 5)