Work of the Cross & Way of the Cross

Let us consider now four portions of Scripture often confused with the old man, which actually apply to the new man. [i]"And why stand we in jeopardy every hour? I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die."[/i] (1 Corinthians 15:30-32). In this passage it is the new man that stands in jeopardy every hour, for this reason Paul says he dies daily. The context is very plain. There is no reference to dying to sin as some suppose. The Apostle speaks of his daily willingness to hazard death for the sake of the gospel.

The second passage sometimes associated with death to sin is found in John 12:24, [i]"Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit."[/i] But any good farmer always plants good seed-seed with life in it. Seed is planted, not for purification, but for production. We are seed in His hand.

The third passage can be found in Philippians 3:10. Six years before writing this verse Paul testified, [i]" I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."[/i](Galatians 2:20). Why should one who testified to such a death say later, [i]"That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;"[/i] (Philippians 3:10). If one is dead, is he not dead? How can Paul speak about longing to die again or continuing to die? The answer lies in the fact that Paul was no longer speaking about the dying of the old man. he is speaking as God's new man-it is his purpose to [i]"fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church"[/i]... (Colossians 1:24) As he shared more deeply in Christ's suffering by conforming to the way of the Cross, he would know greater resurrection power. We also have the same joy and privilege to be identified with the Lord Jesus in ministry.

Finally the fourth passage makes this truth clear. [i]"For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:"[/i](2 Corinthians 1:8-9) Conformity to death on the resurrection side of the Cross means deepening weakness in ourselves, not an increasing sense of strength! Our natural desire is to feel we are strong and can do this or that. Weakness is the way of the Cross, for we live by the life and strength of Another.

It seems like a paradox, on one side, a true and total self-denial; on the other side, a daily need to be crucified. Surely the answer lies, as we have been pointing out, in keeping these two phases distinct: the work of the Cross which deals with the Adam life; and the way of the Cross which the new man gladly embraces as a daily pathway. Recall Jacob's midnight wresting with God when God put the sentence of death upon the strength of the old Jacob. Even when he came forth in his new name "Israel", God designed that he should bare the mark of lameness. It was to be a constant reminder that he was not to walk after the old life of the flesh, but in the strength of his new life as "Israel". So it is as the new man in Christ that we learn our own weakness in ourselves, but that our constant source of strength is in Him.

- Excerpted from [i]Ultimate Intention[/i] by DeVern Fromke