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Scripture Reading: 1 Cor. 2:2; Rom. 9:5; Heb. 1:8, 10; 2 Cor. 4:5; Rom. 10:12; Eph. 4:5; Rom. 8:3, 32; 1 Cor. 15:45; 2 Cor. 3:17; Col. 2:9; Heb. 1:3; Col. 1:15; Titus 2:13; Heb. 4:14; 7:26
In this chapter we come to God’s dispensation in the ministry of Paul. Paul has presented us many items of what Christ is. Thirty-four items are covered in this chapter, all of which are concerning Christ in God’s dispensation. In Paul’s ministry Christ is ministered solely (1 Cor. 2:2):
First, Paul ministered Christ as God the Creator (Rom. 9:5; Heb. 1:8, 10). God the Creator is not just for creation. His creation has a goal, that of dispensing Himself into His created man. Let us read Romans 9:5: “Whose are the fathers, and out of whom, as regards what is according to flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.” This verse tells us that Christ came out of the fathers according to the flesh. In the flesh He came out of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, David, and eventually Mary. So He was a man in the flesh. Yet the last part says, “Who is God over all, blessed forever.” This One who was in the flesh was not only a man but also God who is over all and blessed forever. The same expression is used in Romans 1:25, where it says that the Creator is blessed forever.
Our Christ is the very God, the very Creator, who is blessed forever, yet for the purpose of dispensing God into us, He became a man.
Hebrews 1:8 tells us that He is the Son of God, yet He is God Himself. He was not only God but also the Creator (v. 10). He created all things for the purpose of dispensing Himself into man. The heavens were created for the earth, the earth was created for man, and man was created for God’s dispensing. Man is at the center of the universe to be a vessel to contain God. God’s intention is just to infuse, or dispense, Himself into man, His human vessel. If we human beings do not have God within us, we are empty, and the universe is empty. Everything is vain if it does not have God in it. But God has dispensed Himself into us so that we may be filled with God. We do have the reality, and we make the universe real. If we did not have God as the reality within us, the entire universe would be empty. But today the universe is not empty, because we, the center of the universe, are full of reality.
Paul ministered Christ as the Lord of all (2 Cor. 4:5; Rom. 10:12; Eph. 4:5). Romans 10:12 says, “The same Lord is Lord of all and rich to all who call upon Him.” The Lord of all does not mean the Lord of all things but the Lord of all men. How can He, as the Lord of all, be rich to you? He has to be dispensed into you. If the Lord Jesus has not been dispensed into you, and you do not have Him within you, He cannot be rich to you for your enjoyment. The Lord who is within you is the Lord of all, who is rich to you.
Romans 8:3 says, “That which the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending His own Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin and concerning sin, condemned sin in the flesh.” Because the law could not work out God’s purpose, God sent His Son to fulfill His purpose. Never forget that the purpose of God is to dispense Himself into us. The law cannot give us life (Gal. 3:21) for the dispensing of God into us. The law can only require us to do good. The law could not dispense anything into our being, so God sent His Son to dispense God into us. The main purpose of Christ’s coming was to dispense Himself into us.
Romans 8:32 says, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not also with Him freely give us all things?” This verse tells us that God did not spare His Son but that He delivered Him up so that through Him God could dispense Himself into our being. Since God did not spare His own Son, neither would He spare anything else from us. He gives us His Son that He may give us everything that He has. The first thing that He has to give us is life (1 John 5:12-13), and the second thing is His nature (2 Pet. 1:4). The third thing is the divine glory (1 Pet. 5:10). God has given us His Son in order that He can dispense His life, His nature, and His glory into us.
Christ as the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b; 2 Cor. 3:17). We could also substitute the word dispensing for the word giving. He became the life-dispensing Spirit. Our Christ is the Spirit who dispenses life into us. If Christ had not become the Spirit, He could not get into us. Spirit in Greek is pneuma, which also means “air” or “wind.” Christ is the Spirit, the air, and the wind for getting into us. Nothing can get into us so easily and thoroughly and continuously as the air. While I am speaking and you are listening, we are unconsciously getting air into us. This is a picture of Christ. We have our life in Him just like we have our life in the air. If we were in a room without air, we would die. To die is to stop breathing. When I stop breathing, I die. We have to breathe Christ into us. A. B. Simpson, the founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance wrote a number of good hymns that are very deep. One of these hymns is concerning breathing Christ into us (Hymns, #255).
Why do we call upon the Lord’s name? This is our breathing. Even this is our deep breathing. Physically speaking, deep breathing is very healthy. To cry, O Lord Jesus! is deep breathing. If you practice this, you will see how healthy you will be. Sometimes it may seem that you cannot bear the murmuring and the long face of your wife. Then you need to call upon the name of the Lord. Do not forget that you are Enosh, a fragile man, who calls upon the name of the eternal One (Gen. 4:26). If you call upon the name of the Lord Jesus, you will be energized. For example, you should not drive a car with a flat tire. That means it is short of air. Too many Christians today are short of the spiritual air. They have a “flat tire.” Some do not come to the meetings because they have a “flat tire.” They may say that they have problems with their wife or problems with a certain brother or problems with the elders. This is a flat tire. Do not blame your wife or that certain brother or the elders. Blame your flat tire. You have to go to the “gas station” and get some air for your flat tire. Where is the gas station? It is the church! Come to the church, and you will get the air. You will be filled up with the living air. Call on the Lord’s name to be filled with air. This is the Spirit who dispenses life.
Christ is the embodiment of the Triune God (Col. 2:9). Whatever God the Father is, whatever God the Son is, and whatever God the Spirit is, is all embodied in this one person. Within Him are all the divine riches for dispensing God into us.
The Lord Jesus is the effulgence, the expression, of God’s glory, and He is the very image, the expression, of God’s substance (Heb. 1:3; Col. 1:15). He is the very expression of what God is. Again this is for the purpose of dispensing and infusing God into our being.
Christ is the Apostle sent by God to minister God Himself to us (Heb. 3:1). A sent one, an apostle, is one who brings something to others. Christ was the first Apostle in God’s New Testament economy sent by God and from God to bring God to us.
He is not only the Apostle but also the Author, or Captain, of salvation (2:10). God’s salvation is a fighting, a battle. For fighting there is the need of an army, and for the army there is the need of the captain. Christ is the Captain of God’s salvation for dispensing the life of God into us.
Christ is also the Savior (Titus 2:13). By reading Titus 2:13 carefully, you can see that our Savior is the great God. Jesus Christ is both the Savior and the great God to us. He is the great God becoming our Savior for the purpose of dispensing God into us, His saved ones.
Hebrews 6:20 tells us that Christ is the Forerunner. We are all runners, running from all the things outside of God. We run into God. The first One who was running into God was the man Jesus Christ, the Nazarene. He was the Forerunner, running from anything other than God into God. He is now within the veil in the Holy of Holies where God is. He was the first to get there. He was the Forerunner, and we also are running the same race. We are running into God. Christ took the lead to run this race, and He is bringing us into God.
As our High Priest, He prays for us and takes care of our case (4:14; 7:26). He sustains us and supplies all our needs for the purpose of dispensing God into us.
Christ is also the offerings for sin and sins (9:26, 28; 10:12). First, He is the sin offering. He is the offering for sin in the singular number, referring to our sinful nature. He is also the offering for sins in the plural number. These are our trespasses and offenses and wrongdoings. Christ is the offering both for sin and sins. Sin is the biggest obstacle that frustrates God from dispensing Himself into us. Christ has solved this problem, taking away our sin, to remove the obstacle so that God can have a free way to dispense Himself into us. He “offered one sacrifice for sins,” dealing with all our trespasses and wrongdoings. Hallelujah! Today the way is fully cleared up for us to contact God and for God to dispense Himself into us. There is a free way and a free course for God to dispense Himself into us.
Christ is also our Passover (1 Cor. 5:7). Because we have Christ, nothing can condemn us (Rom. 8:1). Even God cannot condemn us (v. 33). We have such a Passover. On the day of the passover the blood of the lamb was shed for all the children of Israel, and God’s condemnation passed over them. That was the passover so that the children of Israel might eat the meat of the lamb to receive life. Christ as the Passover is for the dispensing of life into the redeemed ones.
First Timothy 2:5 says that Christ is our Mediator. A mediator is a middle man. When there are problems between two parties, there is the need of a mediator. There were problems between us and God, but Christ is our Mediator to make everything right so that God can dispense Himself into us. For example, in my home we use electricity for light, for heating, for cooling, and for power. Sometimes there is a problem with the air conditioner or with the heater or with the lights, so we always need a mediator. We call a dear brother who lives in Anaheim to come and look at the problem. With God there is no problem, but with us there are many problems. Just a little unhappiness with your wife becomes a problem, and the heavenly “electricity” does not work so well. Then you have to call upon the Mediator. When you call upon Him, He is very present. He clears up your problem, and right away God flows once again. Just a little wrong attitude hinders God’s flowing within you. Again you have to call upon the Mediator: O Lord Jesus! Then the flow is restored. This is Christ as your Mediator for the dispensing of God into you.
Christ is the surety of a better covenant (Heb. 7:22). With an agreement or contract there is the need of a guarantee or a guarantor. Jesus Christ is both the guarantee and the guarantor for dispensing God into us. In order for God to dispense Himself into us, He made a covenant with us. To assure us of His dispensing Himself into us, God signed the contract. Christ is the guarantee and the guarantor, the surety, of this contract.
Christ is the Mediator between God and us, and He is also the Mediator of a new covenant, the new contract (8:6; 9:15; 12:24). This means that Christ is like an attorney who is always pleading our case before God. The Lord Jesus always wins our case before God. We have a good Attorney. He wins the case for us, and He also protects God so that God can continue to flow into us. Our Attorney has fully taken care of the case according to the contract that was sealed by His blood (10:29).
Faith is the way to enjoy God, but we do not have faith in ourselves. Our faith can only last a short time. But Christ is the Author, the Originator, and the Perfecter of our faith (12:2). This means that He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the ending, of our faith. In other words, He is our faith, and this faith lasts forever. If we feel that our faith is weak, we should call on the Lord’s name: Lord Jesus! O Lord Jesus! After calling a few times, we will have faith within us. Faith is nothing less than Christ Himself. He is the Author and Perfecter of our faith. When we have Him, we have faith, and this faith is for God to dispense Himself into us for our enjoyment.
Christ is the great Shepherd of the sheep (13:20). What is the difference between a shepherd and a priest or between a shepherd and a forerunner? None of the other titles is so tender as shepherd. The shepherd is very tender toward the sheep. We are God’s flock, and this flock needs the shepherd. A shepherd takes care of all the needs of the flock. His main goal is to feed the flock. He does everything for the flock so that the flock may eat properly. This is the dispensing of life. The feeding on the grass is to receive the life supply, so the shepherd’s business is to dispense life into the sheep. Our great Shepherd, Christ, feeds us with God as the green pasture. This is to dispense God’s divine life into our being. Many Christians are familiar with Psalm 23, which says that the Lord is our Shepherd, but they may not realize that Christ is our Shepherd to dispense God into us as our nourishment so that we may have more of the divine life. This point has been neglected among Christians. Our burden is to tell all the Christians today that the Lord Jesus shepherds us to feed us with God as our nourishment so that we may have more and more of the divine life dispensed into us.
The next item is the divine riches, the unsearchable riches, of Christ (Eph. 3:8). Paul says that he preached the unsearchable riches of Christ. Paul was not preaching mere doctrine. He preached the unsearchable riches of Christ so that all the believers might receive more of God, more of the divine life.
By enjoying the divine riches, you have the divine life (Col. 3:4). The divine life is the first item of the divine riches that God dispenses into us.
Whenever the divine life is dispensed into us, we have the power and wisdom, the righteousness, sanctification, and redemption (1 Cor. 1:24, 30). Christ is God’s power and wisdom. When He is dispensed into us, He becomes our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
Christ is also the foundation (3:11). We are not a floating people. We are a people founded on the solid foundation. I am not afraid of all the attacks of the opposing ones, because I am solidly founded. I have a solid foundation — my Lord Jesus Christ. The more they attack, the more I enjoy the dispensing of God, because I am on a solid foundation. Our standing is not sinking sand; our foundation is the solid rock. The Lord Jesus Christ is our foundation so that God may dispense Himself into us all the time in a solid way.
Our Lord Jesus is our food, our drink, and our clothing (10:3-4; Gal. 3:27). We eat of Him, we drink of Him, and we put Him on as our clothing. In the wilderness the Israelites ate the spiritual food, the manna, and drank of a spiritual rock which followed them. Paul tells us that the rock was Christ (1 Cor. 10:4). Paul also tells us that “as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal. 3:27). This means that we put Him on as our spiritual clothing. Hallelujah! He surely is the reality of all our daily necessities.
The Lord Jesus is also our treasure within us (2 Cor. 4:7). As we enjoy Him by eating of Him and drinking of Him and putting Him on as our clothing, He becomes our treasure. Such a treasure within us is God dispensed into us.
He is also our savor, a fragrant smell outside of us (2:14). Christ has infused us with God, and this infused God becomes a sweet fragrance for others to enjoy. This is the issue of God’s dispensing Himself into us.
He is also our dwelling place. Christ is our home. We are living and dwelling in Him. Paul aspired to be found in Christ (Phil. 3:9a). When we stay in a house a long time, that house becomes our dwelling place. Christ is our dwelling place so that God can dispense Himself into us.
According to Colossians 1:27, Christ is our hope of glory. We have a hope waiting for us. We are going into glory. Glory is our goal. We can arrive at our goal by being infused with God all the day. God infuses us and dispenses Himself into us, and this dispensing brings us into glory. This is our hope.
Christ is the firstborn Son of God (v. 18; Rom. 8:29; Heb. 1:5-6). According to Colossians 1:18, the Lord Jesus is the Firstborn from the dead. This means that He is the Firstborn in resurrection, in the new creation. Romans 8:29 says that “whom He foreknew, He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers.” Through His resurrection He has brought forth many sons of God, many brothers of the Firstborn. Hebrews 1:6 says, “When He brings again the Firstborn into the inhabited earth, He says, ‘And let all the angels of God worship Him.’” In His first coming He was God’s only begotten Son (John 1:18; 3:16). Through the process of death and resurrection the only begotten Son became the Firstborn among many brothers (Rom. 8:29). So at His second coming He will not be the only Begotten but the Firstborn among many brothers.
Ephesians 1:22 says that “He subjected all things under His feet and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church.” God’s great power that operated in Christ gave Him to be Head over all things to the church. The headship of Christ over all things is a gift from God to Him. It was through God’s surpassingly great power that Christ received the headship over the whole universe. He is the Head of all things so that God might be dispensed into us.
Christ is the Head of the Body (Col. 1:18; Eph. 1:22-23). Christ is not only the Head of all things in a general way but also the Head of the Body, the church. Whatever Christ, the Head, attained and obtained is transmitted to the church, His Body. In this transmission the church shares with Christ all His attainments: the resurrection from the dead, being seated in His transcendency, the subjection of all things under His feet, and the headship over all things.
Second Corinthians 11:2 says, “I am jealous over you with a jealousy of God; for I betrothed you to one husband to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.” He is our Husband so that He might dispense all the riches of God, which are embodied in Him (Col. 2:9), into our being.
First Corinthians 15:20 says, “Now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” Verse 23 says, “Each one in his own order: the firstfruits, Christ; then those who are Christ’s at His coming.” Christ was the first one raised from the dead as the firstfruits of resurrection. Since He, the Head of the Body, has been resurrected, we, the Body, will also be resurrected. This is also to enjoy the dispensing of the divine life.
Christ is the last Adam. First Corinthians 15:45 says, “So also it is written, ‘The first man, Adam, became a living soul’; the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.” As the last Adam, Christ, on the one hand, terminated the old man, and on the other hand, He became the life-giving Spirit so that God could be dispensed into us to be our life in order that we may be God’s new creation.
First Corinthians 15:47 says, “The first man is out of the earth, earthy; the second man is out of heaven.” Christ is not only the last Adam but also the second man. The first Adam is the beginning of the old man in the old creation; the last Adam is the ending, the termination, of the old man in the old creation.
As the first man, Adam was the head of the old creation, representing it in creation. As the second man, Christ is Head of the new creation, representing it in resurrection. In the entire universe there are these two men: the first man, Adam, including all his descendants, and the second man, Christ, comprised of all His believers. We believers were included in the first man by birth, and we became a part of the second man by regeneration. Our belief has transferred us out of the first man into the second. As a part of the first man, our origin is the earth, and our nature is earthy. As a part of the second man, our origin is God, and our nature is heavenly. This is also for the dispensing of the divine life.
All these points indicate that Christ is everything to us so that God can dispense Himself into us. What a wonderful Christ! He is so rich for the dispensing of God into our being.
