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In this short book, we want to fellowship about the centrality and universality of Christ — Christ as the center and Christ as everything. Christ is the center, and Christ is the circumference. The whole universe — including the old and new creations, including everything in the heavens and on the earth, in the present and in the future — is like a great wheel (cf. Ezek. 1:15). Christ is the hub, the center; Christ is the rim, the circumference; and Christ is the spokes of this wheel. Christ is everything.
The centrality and universality of Christ is an all-inclusive subject. Of course, we will not go into the details, but we will see this matter in a very subjective way. We will spend one chapter for the objective aspect of this subject and three chapters for the subjective aspect. In this chapter we would like to read a number of important verses from the Scriptures that reveal that Christ is everything.
Colossians 1:15a says that Christ, the Son of God, is “the image of the invisible God.” This tells us the position that Christ occupies in the Godhead. In the Godhead Christ is the image of the invisible God. Verse 15b says that He is “the Firstborn of all creation.” This tells us His position in the old creation. In the old creation He is the first; He is the beginning; He takes the preeminence, the first place, in God’s creation.
Verse 16 says, “Because in Him all things were created, in the heavens and on the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or lordships or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and unto Him.” Christ is not only the first One of all creation, but He is everything in the creation. All things were created in Him, in the power of His person, through Him as the active instrument, and unto Him for His possession.
Verse 17 says, “And He is before all things, and all things cohere in Him.” To cohere in Him means to subsist together in Him. All things are united and compacted together in Christ because Christ is the center and Christ is the circumference. Christ is the hub and Christ is the rim. If you take the rim and hub away from a wheel, the entire wheel will collapse. Christ is the center and the circumference of the universe. The scientists do not know this. But the best scientists tell us that there is a wonderful power holding the universe together. This wonderful power is Christ Himself as the center and the circumference. Christ is the very One in whom the whole universe, including all things, is compacted and subsists together.
Verse 18 says, “And He is the Head of the Body, the church; He is the beginning, the Firstborn from the dead, that He Himself might have the first place in all things.” Verse 17 tells us the position of Christ in creation. Verse 18 tells us the position of Christ in the new creation, in the Body, in the church. It says that He is the Head of the Body, the church. In the old creation, in the universe, He is the first. In the new creation, in the church, He is also the first. He is the Head and the Firstborn from the dead that He might have the preeminence, the first place, in all things. He must be the first.
Verse 19 says, “For in Him all the fullness was pleased to dwell.” The fullness here refers to the fullness of the Godhead. Colossians 2:9 says, “In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” This fullness was pleased to dwell in Christ.
Now let us read Colossians 2:2-3: “That their hearts may be comforted, they being knit together in love and unto all the riches of the full assurance of understanding, unto the full knowledge of the mystery of God, Christ, in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden.” In Christ, who is the mystery of God, are hidden all the treasures of spiritual wisdom and divine knowledge.
Verses 8 through 10 say, “Beware that no one carries you off as spoil through his philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ; for in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you have been made full in Him, who is the Head of all rule and authority.” For someone to carry you off as spoil is to take you away as his prey. To be made full in Him is to be filled up with all the divine riches. The Living Bible, a paraphrased edition, says in verse 10, “You have everything when you have Christ.” If we have Christ, we have everything.
Verse 19 says, “Holding the Head, out from whom all the Body, being richly supplied and knit together by means of the joints and sinews, grows with the growth of God.” The nourishment, the supply, comes from the joints, and the knitting together comes from the sinews. In the Body there are the supplying joints and the uniting sinews. But all of this comes from the Head through the members of the Body. The supply and the knitting together issue in the growth of the Body, which depends on the growth of God, the increase of God’s element, in the Body.
Colossians 3:4 speaks of “Christ our life.” Then 1:27 says, “To whom God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Christ is our life within us today, and Christ is our hope within us for the future. He is everything. Colossians 3:11b says, “Christ is all and in all.” I do not think that anyone can fully comprehend this phrase. But we all need to announce, to declare, and to proclaim that Christ is all and in all.
Now I would like us to read one more verse — Ephesians 1:10: “Unto the economy of the fullness of the times, to head up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth, in Him.” The Greek word for economy means “household government or administration,” and derivatively, “administrative dispensation, arrangement, plan, or economy.” The economy that God, according to His desire, planned and purposed in Himself is to head up all things in Christ at the fullness of the times.
I would like to ask, “Is our body upholding our head, or is our head upholding our body?” When I was young, I had the thought that the body upholds the head. But one day I realized that it is the head which upholds the body. If our head were cut off, our body would collapse. This proves that the head upholds the body. This is an illustration to show us that Christ as the Head upholds His Body. God has been working through all the generations and is working today that Christ might head up all things, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth. Christ is the Head. Eventually, He will head up the whole universe. This shows us again that Christ is everything.
Verses 22 and 23 say, “He subjected all things under His feet and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church, which is His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all.” Christ has been made by God the Head over all things, not only for the church but to the church. The church is the Body, the fullness, of Christ, the One who fills all in all.
Now let us read Ephesians 4:13-16: “Until we all arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we may be no longer little children tossed by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching in the sleight of men, in craftiness with a view to a system of error, but holding to truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ, out from whom all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.”
Verse 14 speaks of every wind of teaching, not every wind of heresy. Even a teaching can be a wind to blow us away, to carry us away, from Christ and the church. We can be carried away by the winds of teaching because we are childish. We are children who have not yet grown up. Thus, it is easy for us to be deceived, to be carried away by something that looks good and that sounds nice. We are carried away not by some heresy but by some teaching. Instead of being carried away, we need to hold to truth in love. The truth is the reality, Christ Himself. When we hold Christ as the reality in love, we grow up into Christ, who is the Head, in all things. Then out from the Head all the Body causes the growth of the Body by the supplying joints and the operating parts.
If we consider before the Lord the above verses from Ephesians 4, we will have a clear vision that God’s intention is to work Christ into us, to make Christ everything to us, and to cause us to grow in Christ. God does not want us just to learn some teaching. We should not pay our attention to anything other than to holding Christ as the reality, the center, the circumference, and everything. We hold Christ as the reality that we may grow up into Him in everything. Not just in one aspect but in all aspects, in all things, we have to grow up into Christ. Christ is everything.
Now we need to read 1 Corinthians 1:22-24: “Indeed Jews require signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” The Jews were looking for signs, for miracles. Religion needs signs, and the Jews continually required them. The Greeks sought wisdom. Wisdom pertains to philosophy and was constantly sought by the Greeks. Paul did not minister these things. Instead, he preached Christ crucified. Here we have a contrast, not between Christ and sin and worldliness. We have a contrast between Christ and signs and wisdom. Even miracles, signs, and wisdom can be something in contrast with Christ. Paul preached Christ crucified to the Jews, and this became a stumbling block to them because they were seeking something other than Christ. They were seeking signs, miracles. The Greeks were seeking philosophical wisdom, not Christ. Thus, Paul preached the crucified Christ as the power of God and the wisdom of God.
In 1 Corinthians 2:2 Paul said, “I did not determine to know anything among you except Jesus Christ, and this One crucified.” Paul decided and even determined not to know anything but Christ. He said this emphatically, definitely, and clearly in a book that deals with signs, miracles, and gifts.
These passages that we have read from the Scriptures bring us under the divine light and make everything transparent for us to see that in God’s intention Christ is everything. He is the center and the circumference.
Now let us consider five items concerning Christ as everything in God’s intention.
The first item that we want to consider is Christ in the Godhead. Even in the Godhead, Christ is the center. In the Godhead, there are three persons — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. The Father is the source; the Spirit is the communion, the fellowship, the transmission; and the Son, Christ, is the center. All that the Father has planned and purposed is in the Son, for the Son, and through the Son, and all that the Spirit is doing is also for the Son. The Spirit comes to witness for the Son, to glorify the Son, and to make the Son real to us (John 16:13-15). Thus, we see that even in the Godhead, Christ is the center.
Furthermore, all the fullness of the Godhead is pleased to dwell in Christ bodily (Col. 1:19; 2:9). If we do not have the Son, we do not have the Father. If we have the Son, we have the Father also, because the Father is in the Son (John 10:38; 14:10-11) and the Son is the very embodiment of the Father (Col. 2:9). Christ is the image of God (1:15; 2 Cor. 4:4b) and the impress of God’s substance, the expression of what God is (Heb. 1:3a). Apart from Christ we cannot meet God or have God. Christ is God (John 1:1; 20:28-29; Rom. 9:5). Hence, Christ is the center of the Godhead.
The second thing that we want to consider is Christ in God’s plan. We have seen clearly from Ephesians that in God’s economy Christ is the very center. In God’s plan Christ is the Head to head up all things (1:10). The whole universe is for Christ. Whatever God has planned, whatever God has done, and whatever God is doing are to make Christ the Head, the center, and everything. This is God’s eternal purpose. The phrase to head up all things in Christ (v. 10) indicates the divine economy. Hence, in God’s plan, in God’s economy, Christ is the Head and the center. Christ is everything.
The next item that we want to consider is Christ in God’s creation, that is, the old creation. In God’s creation Christ is the first, the One who has preeminence among all creatures. In the old creation all things were created in Christ, through Christ, and unto Christ (Col. 1:15b-16). Furthermore, all things cohere, subsist together, and are compacted as one in Christ (v. 17b). We can see the beauty of the universe and the oneness of all things in this universe. If the moon went out of its orbit even to a small degree, there would be a terrible result on this earth. However, today everything in the universe is going on in a good order. This is due to the power of Christ. Christ is the power by which and in which all things cohere. Christ is the center of God’s creation, and He has the first place in all creation.
The fourth item is concerning Christ in the new creation, that is, the church. Whereas the old creation was created by God in Christ, through Christ, and unto Christ, the new creation is something of the old creation that has died and resurrected into life to have a fresh start in newness. Christ is the Firstborn from the dead (v. 18); He is the first in resurrection. As such, He has the first place in the church as God’s new creation (2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15). Christ is not only the Firstborn of the new creation but also the Head of the church, the Body. Moreover, He is the constituent of the Body. He is all the members of the Body and in all the members (Col. 3:11). Even the Body itself is Christ (1 Cor. 12:12). Everything of the Body, the church, in a positive way and in the proper condition, must be Christ Himself. Christ is the Head, Christ is the life, and Christ is the constituent of the church. Hence, in the new creation, the church, Christ is everything.
Now we come to the last item concerning Christ as everything in God’s intention — Christ in the Christian life, or Christ in the Christians. In the Christians, or in the Christian life, we should not have anything other than Christ. Christ must be everything in our Christian life.
One day in 1933 the Lord opened my eyes to see that Christ is everything to us. Many times the saints came to me to praise someone by saying that he was humble or lovely. But after 1933 whenever I heard this kind of praise about a person, I always had a question within me. What do you mean by being humble? What do you mean by being lovely? Do you mean that here is a part of the old Adam that is so humble? Or here is a man in Adam who is so lovely? The real humility and loveliness of a Christian must be Christ Himself. Our love toward others must be Christ. Our patience, our humility, our wisdom, our knowledge, and our insight must be Christ.
However, we were not originally born in Christ, of Christ, or with Christ. What we had originally was absolutely out of Adam. But now we have been born of Christ. Yet still something of the old nature remains with us. We have Christ and the old Adam as well. We can even be humble and nice by the old adamic life. In China I saw some people who were taught, educated, by the teachings of Confucius. They were really nice and lovely, but there was nothing of Christ. Our humility and loveliness must not be something of the old life but something of Christ. The Christian life must be a life which is Christ Himself expressed through us.
Brothers and sisters, I think that I have given you a picture of the centrality and universality of Christ in a very brief way. In the Godhead Christ is the center. In God’s eternal purpose Christ is the Head, the center, and everything. In God’s creation Christ is everything, and everything is for Christ. In God’s new creation, that is, in the church, the Body of Christ, Christ is everything. And in the Christian life, that is, in us Christians, Christ must be everything. This is very clear.
Now let us look at the situation of Christianity today. There is very little of Christ in today’s Christianity. Instead, Christianity is full of three categories of things. First, today’s Christianity is full of forms and regulations, and it is organized as a religion. Second, today’s Christianity is full of doctrines, knowledge, teachings, and theology. Once I met a person who spoke with me about justification by faith. But I found out that he himself had not been justified, though he was so much for justification by faith. This is because he had the doctrine of justification by faith, but he did not have the living person of Christ. If you have Christ, you are justified. If you do not have Christ, you are not justified. Someone may have a doctor’s degree in divinity and yet not be saved. He is full of doctrines but void of Christ.
Sometimes people have asked me, “Brother Lee, do you believe in absolute grace?” I said, “I believe in the very Christ who is grace itself. What do you believe? You believe in the doctrine of grace, but do you have grace? Who is grace? Who is the all-inclusive grace? Who is the absolute grace?” Brothers and sisters, we must see that grace is a living person, not a doctrine. Grace is Christ Himself (John 1:17). You can teach grace and even fight for the doctrine of grace, yet you do not have grace if you do not have the living person of Christ. You may not have the word grace in your vocabulary or dictionary, but if you have the reality of Christ, you have the reality of grace. It is not a matter of doctrine but a matter of the living Christ to be realized by you.
Third, today’s Christianity is full of gifts, full of the seeking for healings and speaking in tongues. But where is Christ? How much Christ is there? Christianity is full of forms, full of teachings, and full of gifts, but it has very little of Christ. Christ nearly has no place, no ground, even in the formal church, the doctrinal church, the fundamental church. Also, in the Pentecostal church there is not much room for Christ Himself. This is the condition of today’s Christianity.
We surely should mourn over such a situation (Matt. 5:4). The United States is a Christian country, but it has very little of Christ. I am not trying to teach you and give you something new. I am here to tell you that you need Christ. What you need is not forms, doctrines, gifts, healings, and speaking in tongues but Christ the living One, the Son of the living God. You have to know Him and experience Him. You have to be filled with Him, to be saturated with Him, and to be mingled, blended, with Him.
In the New Testament we have the Epistle to the Hebrews, which deals with religion. Those Hebrew Christians had the best religion, the Jewish religion, yet they greatly neglected Christ. They forgot about Christ. They were distracted and even separated from Christ. They were led away from the right track, which is Christ Himself. They paid attention to something other than Christ, something that was used by God to bring people, to conduct people, to Christ. But their religion became a substitute for Christ, something that took the place of Christ. Even though it was good at one time, it eventually replaced Christ.
Galatians shows us that the law became a substitute for Christ. The Galatians were trying to do good, to improve themselves, and to adjust themselves in order to have good behavior. This kind of thing crept in among the Christians to usurp the place of Christ. Some Christians are good and try to do good. But this is a deceiving by the enemy. We are not for good conduct; we are persons who are one hundred percent for Christ. We were made vessels not to contain good conduct but to contain Christ. We are Christ-containers.
First Corinthians shows us the contrast between Christ and the gifts. I have said many times that 1 Corinthians shows us that it is quite possible for someone to have many gifts yet still be a babe, an infant, in Christ.
The Corinthian believers had all the outward, miraculous gifts, yet they were childish. That is why the apostle was forced to say, “When I came to you...I did not determine to know anything among you except Jesus Christ, and this One crucified” (2:1-2). The Jews are seeking signs, miracles, and supernatural things, and the Greeks are seeking wisdom and knowledge, but we, the saved ones of God, preach only Christ Himself. Besides Christ, we know nothing. Christ is the real power for signs and the real wisdom for knowledge. Today the enemy is still very subtle. If the enemy were to bring in something sinful, all the lovers of Christ, the seeking ones, would reject it. But the enemy is subtle to bring in something good. It is something really good, but it is not Christ Himself.
In the beginning of the New Testament, in Acts, there are the gifts, signs, and miracles. But when we come to the last Epistles, such as 2 Corinthians, the Epistles to Timothy, the Epistle to Titus, and 1, 2, and 3 John, we do not have signs, miracles, or gifts. In Revelation the gifts and miraculous things are not mentioned. All these books deal much with the matters of knowing Christ and of being worked on by God, by the Holy Spirit, through the cross so that Christ may be wrought into us, that we may be mingled, blended, filled, and saturated with Christ.
We have to come back to God’s Word, where we do not see any stress on doctrines, forms, gifts, healings, or speaking in tongues. The focus and stress in God’s Word are Christ the living One. The enemy is subtle. This is why the apostle tells us that while they were preaching Christ, on the one hand, negatively, they warned and admonished people, and on the other hand, positively, they taught people (Col. 1:28). Why was there the need of warning? Because some subtle things were brought in by the enemy.
In Colossians 2:8 Paul says, “Beware that no one carries you off as spoil through his philosophy and empty deceit.” Philosophy is something good, not something sinful or worldly. It is not something in black and dark clothing but something in a white and bright garment that can carry us away from Christ. It is something nice and good but something deceiving, sidetracking, and distracting. It separates us and carries us away from the right track, which is Christ Himself. Whenever we pay our attention to anything other than Christ, we have been sidetracked already. If we focus on something other than Christ, regardless of how good it is, we have been sidetracked; we are no longer on the right track.
Brothers and sisters, here is the battle. We are not fighting with men; we are fighting against the enemy, the cunning one, who has been damaging the Body of Christ for all the past generations, sometimes by bad things and sometimes by good things. Hebrews, Galatians, Colossians, and 1 Corinthians do not deal with bad things but with good things. The book of Hebrews deals with religion, Galatians deals with doing good according to the law, Colossians deals with the best human invention, philosophy, and 1 Corinthians deals with gifts. But all these things are substituting for Christ, replacing Christ, and usurping the ground of Christ in the believers. This is a battle. We need to pick up the burden to pray for this. The enemy is fighting to frustrate, to damage, to mix up, to confuse, and to complicate the pure building up of the church.
I look to the Lord that our eyes may be opened to see these things in a thorough way until they become transparent to us. We need to see that Christ is the center, Christ is the circumference, and Christ is everything.
