Live in the Principle of Resurrection by Touching the Spirit to Overcome Death

Resurrection life is life that overcomes death without being damaged or injured by death; the principle of resurrection is that the natural life is put to death and the divine life rises in its place, and the Spirit is the reality of Christ’s resurrection and its power. Hallelujah!

Resurrection is truly a mystery to the human concept, for we are limited by space and time, and we do not know what is going on after death.

What we know as human beings is that death is the end, and we don’t know exactly what will happen afterwards.

However, the Lord Jesus, God incarnated to be a man, came and lived on earth, died on the cross, and after three days of being in Hades (the place where dead people are kept), He resurrected. Wow.

There is a man – not just God, but a man – that overcame death.

Death simply could not hold Him back. Satan thought that he would kill the Author of life, but actually, Christ came out of death victoriously.

He could not remain in death, death could not hold Him back, so Christ walked out of death and took the keys of death and Hades with Him.

He is now living; He always lives and will live, for He is resurrection life itself (John 11:25). This is truly amazing.

And by believing into the Lord Jesus, we not only are forgiven of our sins, justified by faith, and made one spirit with the Lord; we also receive the life of God, which is resurrection life, into our spirit.

We believers in Christ have the resurrection life of Christ in us, and we can experience Christ and know His resurrection life experientially. This is the principle of resurrection. Praise the Lord!

This was Paul’s aspiration in Phil. 3:10; he wanted to know Christ and the power of His resurrection.

Today we want the same thing; we want to experientially know Christ and in particular, know the power of His resurrection.

Death is the greatest limitation and the last enemy of man, but praise the Lord, a Man has overcome death and came out of death, and this Man now lives forever.

This Man, Jesus Christ, is a God-man who is the life-giving Spirit, and He imparts His resurrection life into us for us to enjoy, partake of, and be filled with day by day.

Humanly speaking, we will all die, unless the Lord comes back in our lifetime.

Spiritually speaking, however, we live in a different realm; we live in the realm of resurrection, allowing the Lord to put to death anything of the natural man so that we may live by the resurrection life in our spirit.

This is to live in the principle of resurrection.

Resurrection is Life that Overcomes Death without being Damaged by Death

Resurrection is life, but not just life; resurrection is a life that overcomes death and comes out of death, not being damaged or injured by death (John 11:25; Rev. 1:17b-18; 2:8).

When the Lord Jesus died and was raised, He did not have some injuries here and there because of the struggle He had while in death.

Rather, He came out of death without being affected by death.

It is like the story of Daniel’s three companions who were thrown into the fiery furnace that was sevenfold intensified.

They were freely walking in the midst of the fire, without being touched by the fire, and when they came out, there was not even the smell of being burnt about them.

This is what happened to the Lord in His death and resurrection; He overcame death without being damaged or injured by death.

Death inflicts all kinds of damage on all the forms of life on earth – plant life, animal life, and human life.

The human life, the highest created life, is affected by death.

But there is only one kind of life that cannot be hurt by death: resurrection life. Death is powerless to do anything with resurrection life (Acts 2:24).

Though death comes in again and again, when we live by the resurrection life, we are not affected by death.

Though there are many situations where death operates and is manifested, we who live in the resurrection life are not damaged by death.

Resurrection is life that passes through death and cannot be held by it.

This resurrection life is not just a life apart from Christ; according to the full revelation in God’s word, God Himself is the resurrection life (Rom. 4:17).

God Himself is resurrection life, and He went through a process of incarnation, human living, crucifixion, death, resurrection, and ascension, for Him to dispense Himself as resurrection life into us.

Now we as believers in Christ can receive, enjoy, and experience the resurrection life of Christ simply by turning to our spirit.

Resurrection life is in our spirit, and we can experience this life when we turn to our spirit and exercise our spirit.

When we are in our spirit, death cannot hold the resurrection life.

Resurrection life is the life of God eternal being manifested.

It is an uncreated life, indestructible; it is Christ Himself, unconquerable, expressed.

Though death may combine all its forces against the resurrection life, death only gives it an opportunity to show the boundless power of life divine.

The more death tries to bury the resurrection life, the more this life multiplies and grows.

All kinds of suffering only help it grow and realize the fruits of life abundantly.

Resurrection life cannot be held back by death; it breaks through every block and barrier.

This is the principle of resurrection. Resurrection life conquers the power of darkness and of hell, it swallows death, and it causes us to partake of victory.

Resurrection life manifests God’s fullness and yields God’s righteousness and holiness, for the more we experience this life, the more we have the glorious image of Christ.

May we know this resurrection life, and may its power be outpoured in any kind of death.

Lord Jesus, we praise You for coming into us as resurrection life to be enjoyed and experienced by us. Hallelujah, death cannot hold the resurrection life. Praise the Lord, resurrection life breaks through every block and barrier. Thank You, Lord, Your resurrection life conquers the power of darkness and of hell, and it swallows death to make us partakers of Your victory! Keep us coming to You, dear Lord, to enjoy You and experience the resurrection life so that we may bear Your glorious image. May any death around us only cause the resurrection life to grow, be manifested, and bear abundant fruits of life. Amen, Lord, we want to know the resurrection life and in every kind of death, may its power be outpoured! May we experience and realize this life, which is nothing else but Christ, our living Lord!

The Spirit is the Reality of Christ’s Resurrection and Its Power

Resurrection is life that comes out of death; in order for us to have resurrection, death has to be present.

Resurrection, therefore, is the Spirit, for the Lord became the Spirit in His resurrection (Rom. 8:9-11; 1 Cor. 15:45b; 1 John 5:6).

When Christ was on earth, He was a man in the flesh; then, after passing through death and resurrection, He was transfigured to become the Spirit, even the Spirit that gives life, the Spirit of Jesus, the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of Jesus Christ, and the compound Spirit.

In Rom. 1:3-4 we are told that Christ was designated the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness out of the resurrection from the dead.

This verse strongly tells us that the very power that designated Christ is the power that raised Him from the dead, and this power is the Spirit.

The Spirit is the reality of resurrection. And this Spirit today dwells in us; this is not only real to us in our experience today but also it is our hope for the future.

Today we can enjoy the indwelling Spirit of life imparting life to every part of our soul, and in the future, He will even impart life to our mortal body.

Christ Himself is the power of His resurrection, and the Spirit is Christ in resurrection.

We need to experience this power of resurrection so that we may obtain Christ.

In order for us to experience the resurrection life of Christ, we need to see that in resurrection Christ became the life-giving Spirit.

The highest definition of resurrection is that it is the process by which Christ, the last Adam, became the life-giving Spirit.

This process is the process by which His human life was put off through death.

Death helped the Lord to strip the human life.

In order for us to experience resurrection, we need to exercise to deny the self and put off the natural man so that we may partake of the divine life, the resurrection life.

We cannot partake of both the natural life and the resurrection life.

Christ’s resurrection was His transfiguration into the life-giving Spirit in order for Him to enter into us, His believers (John 20:22).

Thank the Lord that He not only is resurrection life and that’s it, but that He went through a process in order to become the Spirit who now comes into our spirit to impart this life into us!

We can now exercise our spirit, apply the blood of the Lamb to be cleansed from anything that hinders our fellowship with Him, deny the self, and put the natural man to death, so that we can partake of and enjoy the resurrection life of Christ.

This resurrection life is in the Spirit and is the Spirit; when we set our mind on our spirit, the resurrection life spreads into our mind to revive, uplift, renew, and resurrect our mind (Rom. 8:6).

And from our mind, this life continues to spread into our emotion and will to saturate our soul.

One day, this life will also reach our mortal body to transfigure it and conform it to the body of His glory! Praise the Lord!

Thank You, Lord Jesus, for becoming the life-giving Spirit to be the reality of resurrection for us to enjoy and experience today! Hallelujah, we believers in Christ can experience the resurrection life of Christ by contacting and receiving the Spirit! Amen, Lord, open to You. We want to remain in the organic union with You today so that the resurrection life may operate in us. Thank You we are one spirit with You. Infuse us with Yourself as life a little more today. Operate in us to eliminate any death in our being.

The Principle of Resurrection is that the Natural Life is put to Death and the Divine Life Rises in its place

The principle of resurrection is that the natural life is killed and that the divine life rises up in its place; when death operates in us and the natural life is put to death, the divine life can live in us and be manifested through us (2 Cor. 1:8-9).

Paul was in a situation in which he despaired even of living; there was the response of death in him.

He probably thought that this was it, he would die, that’s the end, for he had no hope.

At this point, he experienced the very God who raises the dead, and he experienced the resurrection of Christ.

We need many death situations; we need not the physical death but the death in the soul and even in the spirit, so that we may overcome by the resurrected One in us.

His life in us is not just the life of God; is the resurrection life that enables us to emerge out of death.

This resurrection, the reality of which is the Spirit, operates in us all the time, especially when we’re passing through situations of death.

When we pass through death, when death operates in our soul or even spiritual death is present, something rises up and still remains – that is resurrection.

The Spirit is what remains; what remains after we are put to death, after the natural man is terminated and killed, is the Spirit, and that is resurrection.

We experience resurrection by being willing to let go of our natural life, by denying the self.

When people in the world deny themselves, nothing remains; when we believers in Christ deny ourselves, Christ remains, and resurrection life is there.

The Spirit emerges as the reality of resurrection whenever we deny ourselves.

We are being exposed so much that we are inadequate, not qualified, and not competent, but we have One in us who is resurrection life itself.

May we all go to the cross and remain on the cross; when we do this, we will experience and know the power of Christ’s resurrection; this is the principle of resurrection.

When in the family life the husband goes to the cross and remains there, he will enjoy the power of Christ’s resurrection.

In the church life, it is the same; when we remain on the cross, the resurrection life is flowing and is manifested.

That which passed through death and still remains is resurrection (Rev. 2:8).

Resurrection is something that has come out of death and that is beyond the natural realm.

Resurrection means that no event or circumstance can cause us, who have the resurrection life of Christ, to be held down.

Nothing can hold us down, for there’s the resurrection life in us that causes us to rise up.

To be in resurrection means that our natural life is crucified and that the God-created part of our being is uplifted in resurrection to be one with Christ in resurrection (Rom. 6:4-6).

We are crucified with Christ, our old man is crucified with Him, and we are raised with Him, growing together with Him in His resurrection.

As we have grown together with Him in the likeness of His death, so we are growing with Him in His resurrection.

When we do not live by our natural life but live by the divine life within us, we are in resurrection (John 6:57; Rom. 8:11).

Lord Jesus, we want to live in the principle of resurrection today. We exercise our spirit to contact You and we choose to deny the self so that Christ may live in us. Thank You, Lord, for being in us as resurrection life. Grant us the experiences we need day by day so that we may have the resurrection life being manifested in us and through us. We do not want to live by our natural life but by the divine life within us so that we may be in resurrection. Hallelujah, no event or circumstance can cause us, who have the resurrection life of Christ, to be held down! Praise the Lord, we can have our natural life crucified and the God-created part of our being uplifted in resurrection to be one with Christ in resurrection! Amen, Lord, today we choose to live in the principle of resurrection!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother James Lee in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1978, vol. 1, “The Experience of Christ,” chs. 14-15, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Knowing, Experiencing, and Enjoying Christ as Revealed in Philippians (2023 Memorial Day Weekend Conference), week 4, entitled, Knowing Christ and the Power of His Resurrection.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Death cannot hold the resurrection life, / Thru every block and barrier it breaks; / Conqu’ring the pow’r of darkness and of hell, / It swallows death and victory partakes. / Death cannot hold the resurrection life, / All of God’s fulness it will manifest; / God’s righteousness and holiness it yields, / His glorious image by it is expressed. (Hymns #639 stanzas 4-5)
  – What a wondrous fact, I’m crucified with Christ; / Of my flesh and passion I’m relieved; / What a glorious fact, with Christ, the Lord, I live, / Resurrection life in Him received. / On the Cross of Calvary the Lord and I / Were crucified, were crucified; / Now in resurrection life with Him I live / And in Him e’er abide. (Hymns #487)
  – Pressed out of measure, pressed beyond all length; / Pressed so intensely, seeming beyond strength; / Pressed in the body, pressed within the soul, / Pressed in the mind till darksome surges roll. / God is my hope and God is my joy; / He is the resurrection life I enjoy. (Hymns #730 stanza 1 and chorus)