In Phil. 2 we see Christ crucified as our pattern, and this pattern is the crucified life within us; when we live Christ, we live the One who is the pattern of a crucified life.
Christ as our pattern is not something only objective, something that we should follow outwardly, but also something subjective and experiential, something that we can experience inwardly by living Christ to live a crucified life.
Christ, the One who set up the pattern of emptying Himself and humbling Himself and not grasping at being equal with God, He Himself is our pattern, and He is now operating within us as the indwelling God.
We do not have to try to follow this pattern outwardly, by our own power and strength and zeal; we simply need to turn to Christ within, for He as the pattern lives in us, and we need to live Christ, that is, live a crucified life one with the Lord.
Christ is our inward pattern for our living; therefore, even if we have the highest standard of the highest position, we should not grasp it.
We desperately need to experience Christ as our pattern in the church life; we desperately need to live a crucified life one with Christ so that He may be expressed through us.
The apostle Paul lived such a life; even though others preached Christ out of envy and strife, trying to get a reaction from Paul, he was happy because Christ was preached.
Paul’s focus was Christ; he even testified that for him to live is Christ and to die is gain, for he will go to be with the Lord. What does it mean that for us to live is Christ? It means that we experience Christ as our pattern, that is, we take the self-humbling and self-emptying One as our crucified life and live Him.
This is to have the same mind, that is, to have the mind of Christ; in this way we are one not only in spirit but also in soul, for we think the same thing, being joined in soul, and our unique focus is to subjectively enjoy and experience Christ.
How much we need to live Christ in His human living, especially in His emptying Himself and humbling Himself and in His not grasping equality with God as a treasure!
How much we need to live by the divine life in us, the crucified life, for it is this life – and not we in ourselves – that can enable us to empty ourselves and humble ourselves. Amen, Lord Jesus, make this our experience!
Christ Crucified is our Pattern, and this Pattern is the Crucified Life within us
Hallelujah, as believers in Christ we have Christ crucified as our pattern, and this pattern is the crucified life within us (see 1 Cor. 1:23a; 2:2; Gal. 2:20; 3:1; 6:14).
When we were regenerated, the Spirit came into our spirit and mingled Himself with our spirit; now we can be as humble as Jesus was and we can empty ourselves by the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
Christ as the pattern is in us, for we have the Spirit of Jesus Christ; when we are in the spirit, we can empty ourselves and humble ourselves, considering others more excellent than ourselves.
But when we do not live in the Spirit of Jesus Christ, we do things out of rivalry and in competition with others, and the Lord is not expressed through us.
Christ is the pattern of a crucified life, and He lives in us; He is living Himself out from within us as the Spirit of Jesus Christ. He is not only our pattern in an outward way but also our life inwardly.
We have a life within us that never insists on being anything but always empties itself, takes a lower place, and humbles itself; we need to enjoy Christ as such a life, and we need to live by this life.
Christ’s pattern is seen in Phil. 2 in seven steps: 1. He emptied Himself, 2. He took the form of a slave, 3. He became in the likeness of men, 4. He humbled Himself, 5. He became obedient, 6. He became obedient even unto death, and 7. He was obedient unto the death of the cross.
This pattern is very high and in ourselves we cannot imitate Him or follow Him; we do have the aspiration to be like Him and to live the same kind of life as He did, but the only way we can do this is by realising that He is now our life within.
The crucified life of Christ is in us; the steps of His humiliation are all aspects of the crucified life. When we live the crucified life, we can lay aside any self-exaltation, we humble ourselves, we empty ourselves, and we do not grasp on any position or honor that is rightfully ours.
Christ’s being obedient unto the death of the cross was the crucified life lived out in a full and absolute way; such a life is now in us, and when we live Him, we can live the same kind of life in our daily life.
In ourselves we do not want to be humble or emptied but rather, we want to be exalted and filled, but when we live Christ, when we live the crucified life, we spontaneously humble ourselves, empty ourselves, and we do not grasp at any honor or position.
How much we need to live Christ, experience Christ, and know Him in a subjective way as our pattern by living this crucified life within us!
Thank You Lord for setting up a pattern of a crucified life, and thank You for coming into us as the crucified life to live the same kind of life in us today! Hallelujah, the One who emptied Himself, humbled Himself, and didn’t consider equality with God as a treasure to be grasped now lives in us and we can live Him! Lord, keep us turning to You and taking You as our life and our everything so that we may live the crucified life in our daily life. Amen, Lord, may the crucified life be lived out in us in a full and absolute way.
When we Live Christ, we live the One who is the Pattern of a Crucified Life – we live a Crucified Life
In Phil. 1:21 Paul testified that for him to live was Christ, and then he continued to speak about this Christ in Phil. 2 when he presented the pattern of Christ.
Who was the Christ that Paul lived? It was the One who humbled Himself, emptied Himself, and did not consider equality with God as a treasure to be grasped; this is Christ as our pattern of a crucified life.
When we live Christ, we live the One who is the pattern of a crucified life; we live the One who is the self-emptying One and self-humbling One.
What does it look like for us to live Christ? If we live Christ, we empty ourselves, we humble ourselves, and we do not grasp at any honor or position that may be rightfully ours.
In our family life, among the husband and wife, the husband who lives Christ does not grasp on his “husbandship” and does not claim his authority; rather, he humbles himself and empties himself, and he lives by Christ as the crucified life.
When we experience Christ and live Christ, we automatically live a crucified life; we live the One who is the pattern of a crucified life.
Christ is our pattern not for us to outwardly strive to imitate Him but for us organically and spontaneously live Him by living and experiencing Christ.
The crucified life of Christ in us is truly a self-emptying and self-humbling life, and this life doesn’t grasp at anything as a treasure but is always willing to lay aside position and title.
When we are exchanging words with our spouse and sense that the “temperature is rising”, we need to allow the living mind of Christ to operate in us, and we need to live the crucified life.
In our conversation with others, when others offend us, when we are about to do and say something, we need to simply say Amen, Lord, amen to Your mind infusing, saturating, and transforming our mind! Amen!
Philippians 2 shows us that we should live a crucified life so that we may enjoy the power of resurrection; we should take the crucified life of Christ as our pattern so that we can experience the power of resurrection, which exalted Christ to the highest peak in the universe (Phil. 2:9).
Both the experience of Christ as the pattern of a crucified life and experience of the resurrection power that exalts Him are endless.
When we live Christ, we live the One who is the pattern of a crucified life, and we live a crucified life of emptying ourselves and humbling ourselves; we don’t try to humble or empty ourselves – we simply live such a life.
When we live such a life, when we live a crucified life, we are ushered into the power of resurrection by which Christ is exalted.
We will stand firm for the Lord’s testimony but we will not claim any standing, title, or position for ourselves; rather, we take the crucified life as our pattern.
Eventually, we will enter into the power of resurrection and we will experience God’s exaltation.
It is not that we seek to be exalted, but that we seek to experience the crucified life and as we do this, we will experience also the resurrection life and power, and we will be exalted in Christ and with Christ.
Lord Jesus, we want to live Christ, live the One who is the pattern of the crucified life. Save us from outwardly trying to imitate You and humble and empty ourselves; may we learn to turn to You and allow Your mind to saturate us, transform us, and cause our mind to be the mind of Christ. Amen, Lord Jesus, may Your crucified life be lived in us in a full and absolute way until we are brought into resurrection to be exalted with You and in You. Thank You Lord for being our pattern and for coming into us as the pattern to live in us.
This article can also be read in the Romanian language / Citiți acest articol în limba română vizitând următorul link, Când Îl trăim pe Cristos, Îl trăim pe Cel care este modelul unei vieți crucificate.
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Ricky Acosta for this week, and portions from, The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3491-3493 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Experience of Christ (2019 Memorial Day Conference), week 2, Knowing and Experiencing Christ as the Pattern.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Live Thyself, Lord Jesus, through me, / For my very life art Thou; / Thee I take to all my problems / As the full solution now. / Live Thyself, Lord Jesus, through me, / In all things Thy will be done; / I but a transparent vessel / To make visible the Son. (Hymns #403)
# This the secret of the holy, / Not our holiness, but Him; / O Lord! empty us and fill us, / With Thy fulness to the brim. / Oh! it is so sweet to die with Christ, / To the world, and self, and sin; / Oh! it is so sweet to live with Christ, / As He lives and reigns within. (Hymns #482)
# Oh, what a thought! Oh, what a boast! / Christ shall in me be magnified. / In nothing shall I be ashamed, / For He in all shall be applied. / In woe or blessing, death or life, / Through me shall Christ be testified. (Hymns #499)
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