Search
In this message we will continue to consider Christ as the mystery of God.
In Colossians 2:16 and 17 Paul says, “Let no one therefore judge you in eating and in drinking or in respect of a feast or of a new moon or of the Sabbath, which are a shadow of the things to come, but the body is of Christ.” These verses reveal that as the mystery of God, Christ is the body, the reality, of all the shadows.
In verse 16 Paul covers matters related to daily life, weekly life, monthly life, and yearly life. Eating and drinking are daily, the Sabbaths weekly, the new moons monthly, and the feasts yearly. All the aspects of our living are shadows of Christ. Eating and drinking signify daily satisfaction and strengthening (1 Cor. 10:3-4), and the Sabbath signifies weekly completion and rest (Matt. 11:28-29). Without completion, we cannot enjoy rest. Rest always comes from completion and satisfaction. When we have finished a certain matter and are satisfied with it, we are then able to be at rest. After God completed His work of creation on the sixth day, He enjoyed rest on the seventh day (Gen. 2:1-3). Hence, the Sabbath signifies completion and rest on a weekly basis.
A new moon signifies a monthly new beginning with light in darkness (John 1:5; 8:12). Just as the new moon marked a new beginning in Old Testament times, so Christ affords us a new beginning with light in darkness today. Before we came to the Lord, we were in darkness, like all unbelieving Jews today. But after believing in Him, we now enjoy Christ as our new moon with light in darkness.
The feasts signify yearly enjoyment and joy (1 Cor. 5:8). Three times a year, God’s chosen people came together for the annual feasts, which were times of enjoyment, of rejoicing together before the Lord. Although the feasts were enjoyable, they were simply shadows of Christ. He is the real food, drink, completion, rest, new moon, and feast. Daily we eat and drink Him, weekly we have completion and rest in Him, monthly we experience a new beginning in Him, and throughout the year He is our joy and enjoyment. Daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly Christ is to us the reality of every positive thing.
All these items of the ceremonial law are a shadow of the spiritual things in Christ, which are the things to come. The body in Colossians 2:17, like a man’s physical body, is the substance. The rituals in the law are a shadow of the real things in the gospel, like the shadow of a man’s body. Christ is the reality of the gospel. All the good things in the gospel belong to Him. This all-inclusive Christ is the focus of God’s economy. Hence, there is no room for Jewish religion or Greek philosophy — there is room only for the all-inclusive Christ. Although Paul was once very strong in Judaism, when he received the revelation concerning Christ, he realized that both Greek philosophy and Jewish tradition were nothing. In God’s economy only Christ counts for anything.
As the body of shadows, the all-inclusive Christ is the reality of all the positive things in the universe (cf. Rom. 1:20; Eph. 3:18). Because the universe with the billions of things and persons in it was created for the purpose of describing Christ, He, in revealing Himself to His disciples, could easily find in any environment something or someone to serve as an illustration of Himself (Col. 1:15-17; John 1:51; 10:9-11; 12:24; Matt. 12:41-42). The Old Testament uses six major categories of things as types to describe Christ: human beings, animals, plants, minerals, offerings, and foods. Christ is typified by human beings, such as Adam (Rom. 5:14), Melchizedek (Heb. 7:1-3), Isaac (Matt. 1:1), Jonah (12:41), and Solomon (v. 42). Christ is typified by animals, such as a lamb (John 1:29), a lion, an ox, an eagle (Ezek. 1:10), and a gazelle (S. S. 2:9). Christ, who is the tree of life (Gen. 2:9), is typified by plants, such as the vine tree (John 15:1), the apple tree (S. S. 2:3), the fig tree, the pomegranate tree, and the olive tree (Deut. 8:8); the different parts of a tree are also types of Christ, such as the sprout, the stump, the branch, the root, the shoot, and the fruit (Isa. 11:1, 10; 4:2; Luke 1:42; Rev. 5:5).
Christ is also typified by minerals, such as iron, copper, silver, and gold (Deut. 8:9b, 13), and different kinds of stone: the living stone (1 Pet. 2:4), the rock (1 Cor. 10:4), the cornerstone (Matt. 21:42), the topstone (Zech. 4:7), the foundation stone, and precious stone (1 Cor. 3:11-12). The offerings that typify Christ include the burnt offering, meal offering, peace offering, sin offering, trespass offering, heave offering, wave offering, and drink offering (Lev. 1—7; Exo. 29:26-28; Num. 28:7-10; cf. John 4:24). Christ is typified by foods, such as bread, wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, milk, and honey (6:35; Deut. 8:8-9a; 26:9). In the New Testament Christ is the Spirit of reality who makes the untraceable riches of all that He is real to us, guiding us into Himself as the divine reality (John 14:6a; 1 John 5:6; John 14:17; 16:13). The elements of the reality of all the types are in the Spirit, and the Spirit transfuses and dispenses all these riches into us through the Lord’s words (Phil. 1:19; John 6:63; Col. 3:16; Eph. 6:17-18; Rev. 2:7).
We need to experience Christ as the reality of every positive thing in every part of our daily life. We who believe in Christ should consider all things and evaluate all things according to Christ, who is everything to us in a practical way. Christ, the mystery of God and the substance of every positive thing, is everything to us: our breath, drink, food, light, clothing, and our dwelling place (John 20:22; 4:10, 14; 7:37-39a; 6:35, 57; 1:4; 8:12; Gal. 3:27; John 15:5, 7a). As we consider all the positive things in the universe, we should evaluate them according to Christ. If we consider all things according to Christ, our daily living will be changed. What a tremendous revelation this is! The Christ whom we have received is not a narrow Christ. On the contrary, He is full, rich, unlimited, and all-inclusive. He is not only our Redeemer, Savior, and life — He is everything to us.
According to the principle in the Bible, the first in a certain category often includes all the other items in that category. The book of Revelation says that Christ is the Alpha and the Omega (22:13). This does not mean, however, that Christ is only these two letters and not all the letters in between. Because He is the first letter, He is also all the other letters. The principle is the same with respect to the slaughter of the firstborn in the book of Exodus (12:29). The firstborn of the Egyptians represented all the Egyptians. Likewise, when the Bible says that Christ is the Firstborn of all creation, it implies that Christ includes every item of the creation. This concept is confirmed in Colossians 2, where Paul says that such things as eating, drinking, feasts, new moons, and Sabbaths are shadows and that Christ is the body, the substance, of these shadows.
Christ, who is superior to all things in Greek philosophy and Jewish religion, is the body, the reality, of all the shadows in the Old Testament, such as feasts, Sabbaths, new moons, eating, and drinking. This is, however, altogether different from pantheism, the satanic belief which identifies God with material things in the universe. According to the Bible, we can say that Christ is the reality of all the positive things in the universe; He is the reality of our food, our drink, and the new moon, a new beginning with light in darkness. But we cannot turn this around and say that our literal food, clothing, and houses are Christ. That would be the grossly heretical doctrine of pantheism. This is devilish, and we repudiate it without reservation. Nevertheless, we have the biblical ground to say that Christ is the reality of every positive thing in the universe: He is the door, the pasture, the Shepherd, the light, and the life (John 10:9, 14; 8:12; 14:6). Therefore, we can say that Christ is everything to us, the reality of all positive things.
Many things in the environment of our daily living are also shadows of Christ. For example, the food that we eat is a shadow, not the real food. The real food is Christ. Christ is also the real drink. The clothing that we wear to cover us, to beautify us, and to keep us warm is also a shadow of Christ. Christ is the One who truly covers our nakedness, who keeps us warm, and who imparts beauty to us. Christ is also our true dwelling place and real rest. The houses in which we live are a shadow of Christ as our dwelling place. The rest that we enjoy at night is also a figure of Christ as our rest. Even the satisfaction that we enjoy after a good meal is not the real satisfaction but a shadow of Christ as the reality of satisfaction.
Every day, week, month, and year we need Christ. All the positive things in our daily life, weekly life, monthly life, and yearly life must be Christ. Christ must become everything to us, not merely in a doctrinal way but in the way of experience. Christ should be our completion, rest, new beginning, enjoyment, joy, food, drink, and satisfaction. Although Christ is universally vast, He is also all the detailed aspects of our practical daily living.
Whatever we do day by day should remind us of Christ as the reality of that thing. As we eat our meals, we should take Christ as the real food and pray to Him in this way: “Lord Jesus, I do not simply thank You for this food and take it into me. Lord, I take You as the reality of this food.” When we drink some beverage, we should also drink Christ. As we put on our clothing, we should be reminded that Christ is the real clothing, and we should experience Him as such. As we put on our material clothing, we should also put on Christ. It is easy to enjoy Christ in this way. Even our breathing should remind us of the necessity of breathing Christ spiritually.
If we follow the practice of taking Christ as the reality of all the material things in our daily life, our daily walk will be revolutionized and transformed. It will be full of Christ. When we eat and drink, we shall take Christ as our spiritual food and drink. Everything that we do will remind us to contact Christ, to enjoy Christ, to experience Christ, and to have Christ as our everything. To practice this day by day is truly to enjoy Christ.
According to God’s mathematics, only Christ has value. Doctrines and opinions do not matter. What matters is the Christ who is for our daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly life. If Christ is truly everything to us in our daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly life, there will be no need for us to express our opinion. We have Christ as our unique factor, reason, element, and source.
It is significant that after speaking of Christ as the body of the shadows, Paul goes on to say, “Let no one defraud you by judging you unworthy of your prize” (Col. 3:18). According to the context, the prize is the enjoyment of Christ as the body of all the shadows. The enjoyment of Christ is truly a prize. Today we may enjoy Christ as our reward, our prize. This prize is not only the objective Christ but particularly the subjective enjoyment of Christ. According to verses 16 through 18, to be defrauded of our prize is to be defrauded of the subjective enjoyment of Christ daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly. The Jewish believers were distracted from Christ by the Judaizers, whereas the Gentile believers were carried off by certain philosophical concepts. Both were defrauded of the subjective experience and enjoyment of Christ. We need to check whether we experience and enjoy Christ in a practical way daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly. It is very possible that we, like the Colossians, have also been defrauded of our prize. We should not allow anyone to defraud us of this prize, and we need to enjoy Christ in all the small details of our daily living.
According to 1:26, the word of God completed through the ministry of Paul was “the mystery which has been hidden from the ages and from the generations but now has been manifested to His saints.” This mystery is Christ in us, the hope of glory (v. 27). Although we may have considerable knowledge of the Bible, we do not have the completion of the divine revelation unless we adequately experience Christ daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly. Our need is for the subjective Christ to become our enjoyment to complete the divine revelation within us. If we are short in the experience and enjoyment of Christ, we are also short concerning God’s revelation. His revelation needs the experiential Christ as its completion.
In 2:19 Paul speaks of “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 heresy of angel worship distracted the believers in Colossae from holding Christ as the Head. God’s economy is to head up all things in Christ through His Body, the church, thereby making Christ the center of all things (Eph. 1:10, 22-23). The device of the subtle one is to carry the saints away and to cause the Body to collapse. The heresy at Colossae caused the saints to be severed from the Head. This damaged the Body. Paul’s revelation was to uplift Christ and to safeguard and build up the Body. We need to be preserved in Christ for the church life.
To be preserved in Christ for the church life is to hold Him as the Head, out from whom the Body grows with the growth of God. Growth is a matter of life, which is God Himself. As the Body of Christ, the church should not be deprived of Christ, who is the embodiment of God as the source of life. By holding Christ, the church grows with the growth of God, with the increase of God as life.
This growth takes place as all the Body is being richly supplied and knit together by means of the joints and sinews. Joints are for the supply of the Body, whereas sinews are for the knitting together of the members of the Body. In the church some members are joints and others are sinews. By means of the joints and sinews, the Body grows. This indicates that we cannot grow with the growth of God individualistically; we need to be in the church.
To understand properly what it means to hold the Head, we need to consider Colossians 2:16 and 17, where Paul tells us that Christ is the body, the substance, the reality, of all the shadows, such as eating, drinking, Sabbaths, new moons, and feasts. Based upon this fact, Paul warns us not to allow anyone to purposely defraud us of our prize, the subjective enjoyment of Christ. Those who seek to defraud us are the ones who stand on things which they have seen and who do not hold the Head. Thus, there is a connection between Christ as the body of the shadows and holding the Head. In other words, the Christ who is the reality of all positive things is the One who is the Head of the Body. If we would know what it means to hold the Head, we must know what it is to enjoy Christ as the reality of all positive things. Without enjoying Christ in this way, we cannot experientially hold Him as the Head. Therefore, we can say that to hold the Head is simply to enjoy Christ as the reality of all positive things.
The genuine Christian life is a life of enjoying Christ. We need to enjoy the Lord all day long. Whenever we enjoy Christ continually, we automatically hold Him as the Head. Thus, the best way to hold Christ as the Head is to enjoy Him. There is no better way to hold Christ than to eat Him. Just as we hold food by taking it into us and eating it, so we hold Christ by eating Him.
In 2:16-19 Paul takes a great leap from Christ as everything for our enjoyment to Christ as the Head. As we enjoy Christ as our food, drink, air, and everything, we are uplifted to the height of our experience of holding Christ as the Head. But if we stop enjoying Christ, we immediately stop holding Him as the Head. Only when we enjoy Him do we also hold Him. This is not a doctrine learned from theology books; it is a fact of Christian experience. To hold the Head is to enjoy Christ continually. We are vessels made to contain Him, and we hold Him by eating, drinking, and breathing Him.
Holding the Head is also equal to abiding in Christ (John 15:4). To hold the Head implies that we are not detached, or severed, from Him. At the time that Paul wrote to the Colossians, they had been somewhat detached from Christ by their culture. Culture can be a form of insulation which keeps us from Christ. To hold the Head is to remain in Christ without any insulation between us and Him.
For the Body to hold the Head means that the Body does not allow itself to be separated from the Head. If we truly hold Christ as the Head, we will not be separated from Him by anything. When we live by our culture instead of by Christ, we separate ourselves from Christ as the Head and are defrauded of our prize, which is the enjoyment of Christ.
Furthermore, because Christ’s headship is in resurrection, the enjoyment of Christ spontaneously brings us into resurrection and saves us from our natural being. We all are natural. If we are not brought into resurrection through the enjoyment of Christ, we will remain in our natural person. The more we enjoy Him, the less natural we are.
The enjoyment of Christ also brings us into the ascension. The more we enjoy Him, the more we are in the heavenlies experientially. This means that through the enjoyment of Christ, we become heavenly. We are not only no longer natural but also no longer earthly. The enjoyment of Christ causes us to be both in resurrection and in ascension. The more we enjoy Christ, the more we are in the heavens. Therefore, to hold Christ as the Head is to be in the heavens in our experience. It is also true to say that to be in the heavens is to hold the Head. Experientially, holding the Head and being in the heavens are one and the same.
If in our experience we temporarily abandon Christ and do not continue holding Him as the Head, we will sense that we are earthly. Whenever we are earthly, we are not holding the Head, but if in our daily life we consistently enjoy Christ, we will hold Him as the Head and be in the heavens in our experience. Then we will be a heavenly people.
According to Colossians 3:1-4, our living should be in the heavens, where God’s throne is. On the one hand, Christ as our Head is in our spirit (1:27; 2 Tim. 4:22); on the other hand, He is in the heavens, not on earth (Col. 3:1). Only when we are in the heavens do we hold Him as the Head. To enjoy Christ is to hold the Head, and to hold the Head is to be in the heavens.
We can be experientially in the heavens only by enjoying Christ, the Head, as the life-giving Spirit in our spirit. Second Corinthians 3:17 says, “The Lord is the Spirit.” If Christ were only the Head and not the Spirit, there would be no way for us to contact Him or hold Him experientially. But although Christ’s position is that of the Head, in our experience He is the life-giving Spirit. According to 2 Timothy 4:22, the Lord, who is the Spirit, is now with our spirit. In the heavens Christ is the Head, but in our spirit He is the Spirit. Therefore, to hold Christ as the Head is not only to enjoy Him and to be in the heavens; it is also to be in our spirit. If we would hold the Head, we must be in spirit.
In Colossians 2:18 Paul uses the expression vainly puffed up by his mind set on the flesh. The mind is part of the soul, and the flesh is related to the physical body. Anyone who is puffed up by the mind of the flesh does not hold Christ as the Head, for he is in his fleshly mind, not in the spirit. Whenever we are in the mind or in the flesh, we are not holding the Head. But when we turn from the flesh and from the mind to the spirit, we automatically hold Christ as the Head. If we linger in our fleshly mind, we will not be able to touch Christ or hold Him. But if we turn to the spirit, we will hold the Head, who is the life-giving Spirit in our spirit.
Therefore, in order to hold Christ as the Head, we should enjoy Christ, be in the heavens, and be in our spirit. From our experience we know that these three matters go together. When we enjoy Christ, we are in the heavens and in our spirit, not in the mind or in the flesh. To be in the spirit is experientially to be in the third heaven. According to the Bible, the Holy of Holies is both in the third heaven and in our spirit (Heb. 10:19; 4:14, 16). Whenever we turn to the spirit, we are in the heavens enjoying the Lord. This is the way to hold the Head.
In Colossians 2:17 Paul says that the body, the reality, of all the shadows is of Christ, but in verse 19 he speaks not of Christ but of holding the Head. The reason for the change in terminology from Christ to the Head is that our enjoyment of the Lord causes us to become conscious of the Body. If we enjoy Christ continually, we will not continue to be individualistic. The saints who are individualistic are those who do not consistently enjoy the Lord. The more we enjoy Christ, the more we become Body-conscious. We should touch the Lord in the morning, but in the evening we should come to the church meetings. It is not normal to enjoy the Lord during the day and neglect the meetings of the church, which is His Body. Even if our environment does not allow us to attend all the meetings, inwardly we should have the sense that our whole inner being is with the saints in the church meeting. This consciousness of the Body comes from the enjoyment of Christ.
What we enjoy of Christ day by day is actually something of Him as the Head. This is the reason that when we enjoy Christ, He causes us to become conscious of the Body. The more we enjoy Christ, the more intense is our desire for the Body. However, if we fail to contact the Lord for a period of time, we will automatically neglect the church life or lose interest in the meetings. The less we contact the Lord, the more we become critical of the church or the saints. We have an eye for the faults and shortcomings of others. This shortage of the enjoyment of Christ opens the door for the enemy, Satan, to come in to make us critical of other members of the Body. But if we begin again to enjoy the Lord, the door will gradually close. Eventually, if we continually enjoy Christ, the door will be completely shut. Then, instead of criticizing the church, we will praise the Lord for the church life, and we will testify how much we love it. What brings about such a change is not admonition or correction but the recovery of the enjoyment of Christ.
The dear, precious One whom we enjoy as our food, drink, and breath is the Head of the Body. Because Paul had a thorough realization of this, he could leap from Christ as the reality of all positive things for our enjoyment to the matter of Christ as the Head. Since the Christ we enjoy as our everything is the Head of the Body, the more we enjoy Him, the more we become Body-conscious. This indicates that the enjoyment of Christ is not an individualistic matter. It is a Body matter. We need to enjoy Christ as members of the Body in a corporate way.
In 2:19 Paul speaks of “all the Body.” The enjoyment of Christ keeps us one as members of the Body. The more we enjoy Christ, the more we love the other members of the Body. The enjoyment of Christ causes us to love everyone in the church life. Even those whom we find difficult to love become dear and precious to us. However, if we do not continue to enjoy Christ, we will despise certain ones in the church. Actually, the church and the saints remain the same; it is our attitude that changes. But if the supply of Christ is ministered to us and we begin to enjoy Him again, all the members of the Body will once again become lovable to us. We will have the pleasant realization that, as members of the Body, we love all the other members.
It is the enjoyment of Christ which causes Him to be the Head in our experience. Christ cannot be our Head subjectively and experientially unless we enjoy Him. We may be told again and again that Christ is the Head of the Body, but we will not have any consciousness of Him as the Head unless we enjoy Him regularly. The more we enjoy Christ, the more we will realize experientially that the Christ whom we enjoy is the Head of the Body. This realization will make us conscious of the Body and cause us to love all the members of the Body.
Colossians 2:19 speaks of the supply and of the Body being knit together. When the Body is supplied and knit together by holding the Head, the Body grows with the growth of God. The phrase out from whom in this verse indicates that the Body grows out from the Head, for all the supply comes from the Head. In one sense, Christ is the Head; in another sense, He is the soil (v. 7). As we absorb the riches of the soil, we hold the Head. Likewise, to receive the supply from the Head is to absorb the riches from the soil.
When we enjoy Christ in the heavens and in our spirit, we hold the Head and absorb His riches. Then out from the Head something will proceed to produce the growth of God in us. This means that more of the element of God is added into our being and thereby into the Body. This causes the Body to grow with the growth, the increase, of God.
In order to have genuine growth, we must first be rooted in Christ, our good land. We are plants rooted in Christ as the soil. As a tree grows, it absorbs water and nourishing elements from the soil in which it is rooted. As these riches are absorbed by the tree, they become the increase of the tree. The tree grows with the increase of the riches from the soil. In like manner, we are living plants rooted in Christ as our soil. What we absorb of Christ into us — the element of the riches of Himself as the soil — becomes the increase of God within us. Our land is Christ, and Christ is the embodiment of the Triune God. Therefore, the land is the Triune God. This means that when we absorb the riches of the soil, we absorb the riches of the Triune God. Actually, we absorb the Triune God Himself. Through this absorption, we take more of God into us. This increase of God within us is what we mean by the growth of God.
The genuine growth in life is to grow with the growth of God, that is, to grow with the increase of God, the addition of God. In Himself, God cannot and does not need to grow. He is eternal, perfect, and complete. However, there is the need for God to grow in us. We all need more of the increase, the addition, of God within us. We need to grow with the growth of God; that is, we need God to increase, to grow, in us.
God is rich in every way. He is rich in glory and in all the divine attributes. He is rich in love, kindness, mercy, light, life, power, and strength. God’s riches are endless. Now this rich God is adding Himself into us. God’s riches are the element and substance by which we grow. God is real, rich, and substantial, and we need to absorb Him.
Our God today is the processed, all-inclusive Spirit, and we have a spirit with which to absorb Him. Thus, we must exercise our spirit to stay in His presence to absorb Him. This takes time. Although we all have experienced absorbing the riches of God, our experience is not yet adequate. For this reason, we must spend more time to absorb Him. We should not spend so much time in our mind, emotion, and will, but spend more time in our spirit to adore the Lord, to praise Him, to offer thanks to Him, and to speak to Him freely. As we fellowship with Him in this way, we will absorb His riches, and He will add more of Himself into us. The more God is added into us, the more growth He gives to us. This is the way God causes the growth.
In summary, to hold Christ as the Head is to enjoy Him as the body of all the shadows continually, to be in the heavens, and to remain in our spirit. Through holding Christ as the Head, we become conscious of the Body because the Christ whom we enjoy as our real food, drink, Sabbaths, new moons, and feasts is the Head who causes us to become conscious of the Body. Experiencing the Body life, we absorb the riches out from the Head. These riches are the elements of God, which become in the members of the Body the increase of God by which the whole Body grows. Therefore, the growth of the Body is the product of enjoying Christ, holding Him as the Head and absorbing His riches.
