The cross which puts the "self" to death, is the basis of the fellowship of the church.

Fellowship by means of the cross

Rodrigo Abarca

All believers have been called to live a life of fellowship and mutuality in the body of Christ. It was never God's purpose for us to live out his life in us in an individualistic and solitary way. Because his life is the expression of his nature whose essence is love and fellowship. In the most intimate part of his being, God is not solitary, but a Trinity of Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And from eternity past there has been a deep and indescribable communion of love between them.

None of divine persons in the Godhead exists for himself, but rather each one of them for the other: The Father has given the Son all things and has made him center and Lord of the whole creation. The Son loves the Father and submitted himself so that the Father could carry out his will. And the Holy Spirit has eternally lived to glorify the Father and the Son. This means that the principle which eternally operates in the bosom of the divine life is no other than the principle of the cross.

The historical cross and the eternal cross

Certainly, for many of us, the cross is a very defined historical event. But in fact, this historical event is the supreme expression of an eternal reality. God revealed himself in Jesus Christ in a full and definitive way. And by doing so, he showed us that the essence of his nature and character is love. Love that was expressed in a supreme way on the cross. But, the Scripture tells us that the Lamb was slain before the foundation of the world. He was slain as an act of love in which the whole Godhead gave up, so to speak, that which they loved most. For the Father it was his Son; for the Son, the love and fellowship which he had with the Father; and for the Spirit the inexpressible bond that unites the Father and the Son, because he is the essence of that bond.

And because God knew the cross before the foundation of the world, we could finally be conformed to the eternal purpose of his heart. Because the cross was conceived as the divine remedy for our rebellion. Indeed, God wanted his divine life to overflow from his bosom and to become the life of beings that were different from him. He wanted to share the joy and the glory of his life.

That's why he designed and prepared a race of beings destined to be raised up from their condition of simple creatures to the participation of his life and of his divine glory as children, by means of his Son. However, he foresaw that those creatures would rebel and fall under the power of sin and death. So he determined in the intimate counsel of his will that, one day, after the creation and rebellion of the human race, his only-begotten Son would enter history and die on the cross to undo all the consequences of man's rebellion and to bring him back to his eternal vocation. This was the price that God paid for our creation.

The cross in the church

The church is the vessel that contains and expresses the divine life. And it is the fruit of Christ's death on the cross. In eternity past it was conceived under the shadow of the cross, and at the appointed time was brought to life by means of the cross. So, on the one hand the cross is the expression of the divine love in Christ, and on the other, it is the destruction of all that sin introduced into the human race. Sin is the antithesis of the divine nature. Our human nature has become so introverted, to the extent that "self" becomes the center of everything.

It is an egocentric and individualistic life centered on the self and its interests, whilst blind to everything else. It is a life that seeks to be self-sufficient and independent. That's why our nature needs to be radically corrected, because God cannot live nor have fellowship with a creature whose form of life is the antithesis of his. And this is, in fact, the work of the cross.

On the one hand, God put an end to sinful man and his egocentric and self-sufficient life on the cross. Our old man was crucified together with Christ. As far as God is concerned, Christ's death was an all-inclusive death, in which all men also died. Our life of service to sin finished there. On the other hand, when placing all men in Christ and making them one with him in his death, God also made them one with his life. What does this mean? That on the cross God put an end not only to the many that were sinful, but rather at the same time, in Christ, in his body pierced by the nails, he made one new man out of them all. And he lifted that one new man in Christ up from among the dead together with him. A new man who came to life through the death and resurrection of Christ. This new man is the Church which is also now his body.

However, if we have properly understood the work that God carried out on the cross, we will also undoubtedly understand that the church only exists by virtue of its union with Christ in the resurrection life. As far as God is concerned, all that belongs to fallen man was finished on the cross forever. And from that time on, the only thing that remains before him is Christ and the church which lives and exists through him. The Church is inseparable from Christ, because it doesn't have any life or existence apart from him. Oh that the Holy Spirit would open our eyes to see this glorious and definitive fact! The old sinful man has been removed forever and a new man has been introduced in his place. And this new man carries the same divine and heavenly as God within it.

But, we have seen that the cross is, also, the operative principle of the divine life. Life whose essence is fellowship and love. Therefore, the cross doesn't only imply the end of the old sinful man, but also the principle by which we should live the new life as children of God. This principle should be radically incorporated into our being. And this leads us directly to the practical and experimental dimension of the church on the earth.

The cross in the life of the church

How can we live and express what we are in Christ on the earth? It is worth stressing that the fact that in Christ we are one new man, a single body. Because as the apostle Paul tells us, us, we being many, are one body in Christ; and individually members of one another. We all share the same life of Christ. We can no longer consider ourselves as isolated or solitary individuals. Now we are members of the family of God, and we are called to a life whose essence is fellowship and love.
This means that we should live a life of mutuality, companionship, and interdependence. This is what the life that God has placed in us is like. We are captivated by it, it unites us and it binds us together. It is the life of the fellowship of God. It is the fellowship of the Father and of his Son Jesus Christ by means of the Holy Spirit.

On this point the cross comes to our aid. As we have said, it didn't only put an end to the old man; it also brings us into the principle through which the divine life is expressed and operates. And this implies death to our natural life for the sake of our brothers and sisters in Christ. That is to say, it is participation in Christ's death with an eye toward the edification and manifestation of his body. Because in order for the church to be edified and expressed on the earth it is necessary for each one of its members to voluntarily surrender to death so that others receive life: "so then death is working in us but life in you". When accepting the inner and subjective working of the cross, voluntarily exposing ourselves to suffering and death in the bosom of corporate life, we bring about the manifestation of the divine life in the church.

That's why Paul, when speaking to us about the practical dimension of the church, tells us that we should, "put on the new man". Certainly, from the heavenly point of view, we are already in that new man in Christ. But from the point of view of experience, we must take on each one of Christ's characteristics in our life of fellowship and mutual interdependence: "Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, longsuffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another... even as the Christ has forgiven you. ". The previous declaration shows us that the true character of the divine life can only be developed in a life of fellowship and interdependence. Because humility, meekness, patience, and forgiveness can only be formed in our relationship with others. So here, according to Paul, Christ's life is expressed in our life of the body. And the cross is the operative principle of that life. Since when accepting our own death and self-emptying, we make room so that Christ lives and expresses his life in us, not only as individuals but also as a body. So in this way death works in us, and life in others.

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