I.　We need to see a vision of Christ's person and work in His death and resurrection as presented in the Gospel of John—1:29; 20:1, 17, 22:

A.　John speaks concerning Christ's person and work in His death:

1.　Christ died as the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world—1:29; 1 Cor. 15:3; 1 Pet. 2:24; Heb. 9:28; 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 9:26:

a.　In redemption as the Lamb of God, Christ satisfied the requirements of God's righteousness, holiness, and glory—Rom. 2:5; Heb. 12:29; 9:5.

b.　In the Gospel of John, the Lamb of God signifies the Word in the flesh (1:1, 14) as the fulfillment and the totality of all the Old Testament offerings to accomplish God's full redemption.

2.　Christ died as a serpent in form, destroying the devil, who had the might of death—3:14; 12:31; Heb. 2:14:

a.　The Lord Jesus applied the type of the bronze serpent to Himself, indicating that when He was in the flesh, He was "in the likeness of the flesh of sin," which likeness is equal to the form of the bronze serpent—Num. 21:4-9; Rom. 8:3.

b.　Christ was made "in the likeness of the flesh of sin," but He did not participate in any way in the sin of the flesh—2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15.

c.　By being crucified as a serpent in form, the Lord Jesus crushed the head of the serpent, judging the ruler of this world—John 12:31.

3.　Christ died on the cross as a grain of wheat, falling into death for the release of the divine life—v. 24:

a.　He, as the God-man, was a grain of wheat, having both the shell without and the divine life within.

b.　As a grain of wheat Christ died to release the divine life for the enlivening of God's redeemed ones, producing many grains that are ground and blended into flour to make a loaf, which signifies the Body of Christ—1 Cor. 10:17.

4.　In His work on the cross, Christ cast out the ruler of this world and judged the world—John 12:31:

a.　Because the world system is connected to Satan (1 John 5:19), when he, the ruler of the world, was judged, the world was judged as well.

b.　When the Lord Jesus was crucified, the satanic world was crucified with Him; hence, His death terminated the satanic world—Gal. 6:14.

5.　Two substances came out of the Lord's pierced side: blood and water— John 19:34:

a.　Blood is for redemption, to deal with sins for the purchasing of the church—Heb. 9:22; Acts 20:28.

b.　Water is for imparting life, to deal with death for the producing of the church—John 3:14-15; Eph. 5:29-30.

B.　John speaks of Christ's person and work in His resurrection:

1.　In His resurrection Christ accomplished the work of rising from the dead to be the firstfruits of resurrection; the freshness of His resur-rection was first for the Father's enjoyment—John 20:17; Exo. 23:19a; Lev. 23:10-11.

2.　In His resurrection Christ germinated the new creation; the fact that He arose on the first day of the week indicates that the entire universe had a new beginning in His resurrection—John 20:1; 2 Cor. 5:17.

3.　In His resurrection Christ produced many grains for His multiplication and glorification—John 12:24; 13:31-32; 17:1.

4.　In His resurrection Christ brought forth the corporate child—the corporate new man—including Himself as God's firstborn Son and His many brothers as God's many sons—16:19-22; 20:17; Rom. 8:29; Heb. 2:10.

5.　In His resurrection Christ rebuilt God's temple, making it a corporate one—John 2:19-22; 14:2; 1 Cor. 3:16-17.

6.　Christ's resurrection was His transfiguration into the life-giving Spirit, the pneumatic Christ, the Spirit of reality as another Comforter, and in His resurrection He breathed Himself as the Holy Spirit into His disciples–John 14:16-18; 20:22.

C.　All our experiences of Christ are related to His death, His resurrection, and His Spirit—3:14; 12:24; 20:1, 22:

1.　The death of Christ, the resurrection of Christ, and the Spirit of Christ always go together—19:34; 1 Cor. 15:45b; Rom. 8:9, 11, 13.

2.　The way to enjoy Christ is to experience Him in His death and resur-rection and to remain in His Spirit, who is in our spirit—v. 16; 1 Cor. 6:17.

II.　We need to experience Christ in His death and resurrection as portrayed in Song of Songs—4:6; 1:13-14, 17; 2:5, 10-14:

A.　We cannot experience Christ's death and resurrection as something apart from Christ Himself—4:6.

B.　The lover of Christ enjoys Him as a bundle of myrrh between her breasts (faith and love) in the night, signifying Christ in His sweet death for her; this is Christ in His death for her to enjoy privately—1:13.

C.　The lover of Christ enjoys Him as a cluster of henna flowers, signifying Christ in His resurrection, for her to express openly—v. 14.

D.　The lover of Christ enjoys Him in His resurrection (cedars) as the beams and in His death (cypresses) as the rafters for her shelter—v. 17.

E.　Christ in His death is signified by the raisin, and Christ in His resurrection is signified by the fresh apples; we can be nourished by experiencing Christ as the crucified One, as the raisin, and be refreshed by experiencing Christ in His resurrection, as the refreshing apples—2:5.

F.　Staying in the cross—"the clefts of the rock" and "the covert of the precipice"—is possible only by the power of Christ's resurrection—vv. 10- 14:

1.　Our being crucified is not by our natural life or natural strength but by the power of Christ's resurrection—Phil. 3:10.

2.　It is only by being conformed to the death of Christ by the power of His resurrection that we can be delivered from our self to be transformed— S. S. 2:15; Matt. 16:24; Phil. 3:10; 2 Cor. 3:18.