Through Death Unto Life

Through Death Unto Life

Not only does the river Jordon flow before the Promised Land, but before every promise there flows a river Jordon through which we must pass in faith. And the greater and more glorious the preceding promise, the deeper is Jordan. Jordan is the river of death, a portion of death through which we must pass. We must penetrate deeper into His fellowship of death; only in this way can we enter a new chapter of life, as Jesus says: “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.” Jesus showed His disciples this glorious thing; but they were afraid of the narrow gate, and they turned away. They certainly wanted to proceed, but they could not understand that this meant they had to go through the narrow gate; they feared going “deeper” and “narrower.”

Let us not dwell on our old experiences. Experience is only glorious when we can use it to gain an even more glorious one. Paul had had wonderful experiences, and yet he said: “Forgetting those things which are behind . . .” And by that he meant not only his past, his sins and in what he had fallen short, but also his glorious experiences. He was gripped by that which he had not yet apprehended; he continued to reach forward for more. This door is called: The fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, Philippians 3.