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We have seen that the Triune God desires that man, as His vessel, would contain Him; He desires to enter into man to be man’s life and content (Gen. 1:26; 2:8-9; Rom. 9:23-24). This is the deep mystery in the Bible. A person who does not contain God is an empty vessel, having an appearance of a vessel but no genuine content. God’s intention is to enter into man to be man’s life, to live in man, and to be lived out from man. Thus, God and man are not only joined but also mingled. God and man have become one; God is the content, and man is the expression. This is glorious and meaningful.
The human race is corrupt and society is dark because people are empty within and do not know the meaning of their human life. They lack a stabilizing force and a rich content. However, as genuine Christians, we are different because we have God within us. Hence, we can declare, “Hallelujah, we have God in us!”
I was saved when I was nineteen years old. Before my salvation I was an empty vessel. When I consider those nineteen years, I can only sigh (Psa. 90:9). Because I was born and raised in a Christian home and educated in Christian schools, I constantly heard Christian doctrine. Once, a few classmates entered a Buddhist temple, and I told my classmates, “This god is an idol, a false god. Only the God in whom we Christians believe is true. He is the unique Creator and the source of all things. We need to worship Him.” Even though I testified for God in such a way, He had not yet entered into me; I was an empty man. I knew that God is true, but for me He only existed in the heavens; He was not in me. He filled the universe, but He did not fill me. Because I was still empty, I was happy to accompany my classmates or colleagues to Chinese operas, and I found playing cards interesting.
Nineteen years of emptiness is a long time, but it is merely a quarter of my present age. A quarter of my life was empty, without God, without content, and without power, but three-quarters of my life has been filled with glory, sweetness, and joy. Some people say that I am always full of energy and that I do not look like an old man. It is obvious that I am an old man, but while I am outwardly getting older, I am getting younger within. Our God is evergreen. He is from eternity (93:2), but He is not old. He is like a green fir tree (Hosea 14:8). Because such a God has become my content, I am becoming younger even while I am physically getting older. I am full of joy.
The younger saints are blessed because they can be filled with God in their youth. However, in addition to being filled with God, we also need to be saturated with God and allow Him to be expressed through us. One of our hymns says, “Thy Spirit will me saturate, / Every part will God permeate” (Hymns, #501). I hope that the younger saints will be saturated and permeated with God until God can be seen in every part of their being, that is, until God is in their tongue, eyes, shoulders, walk, and words. Then they will be young persons who truly belong to God.
The God who has entered into us is a mystery. Every intelligent person knows that there must be a Sovereign Being in the universe. This Sovereign Being must not be simple and must possess complete wisdom and the highest virtues. We know this from looking at the man whom God created. The man whom God created is lovely in his appearance and wonderful in his makeup. Why does the nose not point upward? Why do the eyebrows not grow under the eyes? Man would be ugly if the nose pointed upward and the eyebrows grew under the eyes. Not only so, dust would fall into the nostrils, and sweat would flow into the eyes. Just by looking at a mirror we know that man is the most beautiful creature. No one can improve the human face that God designed. Architecture and clothing are always changing and improving, but the structure of the human body cannot be changed or improved. It is not good to have three shoulders or four ears. Who created our hands, which are capable and very beautiful? Our parents gave birth to us, but they did not determine our appearance. Our appearance was designed by God. Just by looking at ourselves, we can prove the existence of God.
God is not simple, but where is He? Some people say that He is in heaven, because the Bible says so (Amos 9:6; Matt. 5:34). However, He is not only in heaven; He is also with and in us (28:20; 2 Tim. 4:22). God is a mystery, and this mystery is Christ. Paul speaks of the “full knowledge of the mystery of God, Christ” (Col. 2:2). This means that everything of God’s being is wonderful and mysterious, but this mystery is embodied in Christ (v. 9). As the embodiment of God, Christ explains the mystery of God and expresses the wonderful God (John 1:18). Apart from Christ, no one can see God (14:7-9). God is in Christ (v. 10), and Christ is the practical God, the manifested God, and the explained God.
How is Christ the mystery of God? In the book of Colossians Paul reveals many points concerning Christ. Every point in this book is mysterious and incomprehensible, but we can receive and enjoy these points.
Christ is a mystery, and He is the “portion of the saints” (1:12). The word portion is like the family inheritance that is divided among a few brothers. Christ is our portion; our portion before God is Christ Himself.
Verse 13 says that Christ is the Son of God’s love. This means that Christ is the treasure of God’s heart and His delight. Christ is the treasure of God’s heart, the beloved Son of God. God gave His heart’s treasure to us to be our portion. Unbelievers often ask what they will gain by believing in Jesus. They do not understand when I say that by believing in Jesus we gain Him as our portion. Not only do unbelievers not understand this statement; even many Christians do not understand it. Our portion is God’s heart’s treasure and His greatest delight. As an illustration, an old lady may have treasured a large diamond ring her whole life. Even though she is willing to give up her life, she will not give up her ring, because it is the treasure of her heart. Before she dies, she will leave her heart’s treasure, her ring, to the daughter she loves the most so that the ring becomes her daughter’s portion. Likewise, God gave us what He loves the most so that His treasure would be our portion.
Verse 15 says that Christ is “the image of the invisible God.” God is invisible. For this reason, John says, “No one has ever seen God; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him” (John 1:18). The beloved Son is the image of the Father, the declaration of the Father. Colossians 1:15 also says that the Son is “the Firstborn of all creation.” According to Greek grammar, “the image of...God” in this verse is “the Firstborn of all creation.” The word Firstborn implies the birth of someone who did not exist. A person who exists does not need to be born. Only a person who does not exist can be born. As the beloved Son of God, Christ exists from eternity. Since Christ exists from eternity, why does He need to be born? In the universe God is self-existing and ever-existing; He is without beginning and without end. The self-existing and ever-existing God does not need to be born. Only a creature needs to be born. Everything created by God comes into being through birth. Being born does not refer to regeneration. Thus, the word Firstborn in this verse means that the self-existing and ever-existing God produced a creature.
This verse poses a problem to theologians. They do not understand how Christ, who is self-existing and ever-existing, could become a creature. Hence, they do not believe that Christ is a creature. It is true that Christ is the self-existing and ever-existing God; He is without beginning and without end, thus having no need to be born. However, one day Christ became a man and put on a body of flesh and blood. The Bible says that He “became flesh” (John 1:14). Is man a creature? Was the body of flesh and blood a created body? Is Christ a genuine man? Was the body of flesh and blood that He partook of genuine? We must acknowledge that Christ is a genuine man, possessing the flesh of a genuine man. He partook of genuine flesh and blood. Therefore, He is a creature. He possessed a created body of flesh and blood.
If Christ had remained merely as God and had never become a man, He would have been merely the Creator and not have become a creature. However, because He became flesh, partaking of flesh and blood, He is a genuine man, and man is a creature. Therefore, Christ is not only the Creator; He is also a creature. There are two aspects of Christ’s person: He is God the Creator, and He is man a creature.
Colossians 1:15 says that Christ is the Firstborn of all creation. The word Firstborn has been the source of much debate among theologians. They say that although Christ became a man, He was not the first man, because mankind existed for four thousand years before Christ; millions of people precede Christ. According to the genealogy in Matthew 1, beginning with Abraham, there were forty-one generations before Christ. If we include Adam, there were more than seventy generations before Christ. Christ is the descendant of more than seventy generations of people. How can He be the Firstborn? The human mind is unable to understand this. Therefore, theologians, in an attempt to reconcile this truth, say that Christ was a man but that He was not the first man. Hence, it is not right to say that He is the Firstborn. They say it is correct only to say that He came after the seventieth generation of mankind. For this reason the translators of the Chinese Union Version did not dare to translate Colossians 1:15 accurately. They translated this verse as “the Firstborn, before all creation.” However, in the original text Paul clearly says “the Firstborn of all creation.” Christ has the first place in all things because He is a creature in God’s creation and the Firstborn of all creation.
In January 1934 Brother Watchman Nee held an overcomer conference in Shanghai. For ten days he gave two messages a day on two subjects: Christ as the centrality and universality of God and God’s overcomers. Brother Nee asked me to compile the notes of the messages and publish them in Issue No. 34 of The Present Testimony in March and April of 1934 (see The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 11). In these messages Brother Nee spoke concerning Christ in creation. He said that in creation, the Son is the Firstborn of creation: “Christ was incarnated to be a man in order to come from the position of the Creator to the position of the creature. He had to take on a created body before He could die for man and for all things. There must first be Bethlehem before there can be Golgotha. There must first be the manger before there can be the cross.” Forty-seven years ago Brother Nee saw this light and spoke clearly concerning this truth.
The Christ who is our life is not only God but also a man. He is not only the Creator but also a creature. On the one hand, Christ in us is our life today, but on the other hand, He is our hope for the future (Col. 3:4; 1:27). Christ is God and also a man. He is the Creator and also a creature. Christ is mysterious.
Because Christ is the Creator and a creature, when He becomes our life, He gives us His humility as well as His dignity. Christ in us is not simple. Concerning His dignity, He is the Creator; concerning His humility, He is a creature. Because we have His life, we are dignified when dignity is needed, and we are humble when humility is needed. When we are low, He uplifts us, and when we are high, He brings us down. He makes us neither high nor low. We are noble when dignity is required, and we are humble when humility is required. We can be dignified because the indwelling Christ is the Creator who has the element of dignity, and we can be humble because He is also a creature with the element of humility.
Some people say that Christ did not become a man until He was born in Bethlehem two thousand years ago. According to the Gospel of Matthew, it is correct to say this. However, Genesis 18:1-22 speaks of an incident that transpired with Abraham two thousand years before Christ was born. In other words, although Christ did not become a man until two thousand years later, Jehovah appeared to Abraham in the form of a man.
Genesis 18:1-15 says, “Jehovah appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre as he was sitting at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. And he lifted up his eyes and looked, and there were three men standing opposite him. And when he saw them, he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them. And he bowed down to the earth and said, My Lord, if I have found favor in Your sight, please do not pass on from Your servant. Please let a little water be fetched, and do wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. And let me fetch a morsel of bread that you may sustain yourselves. After that you may pass on, since you have come to your servant. So they said, Do as you have said. And Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, Quickly prepare three measures of fine flour, knead it, and make cakes. And Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, and he hurried to prepare it. And he took curds and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set them before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate. And they said to him, Where is Sarah your wife? And he said, There, in the tent. And He said, I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and then Sarah your wife shall have a son. And Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent, which was behind Him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old and advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah according to the manner of women. And Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also? And Jehovah said to Abraham, Why did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I indeed bear a child, when I am old? Is anything too marvelous for Jehovah? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son. Then Sarah denied it, saying, I did not laugh; for she was afraid. And He said, No, but you did laugh.” Verse 1 speaks of the appearing of Jehovah, and verses 2 through 9 speak of three men. But in verses 10 through 15 one of the three men spoke to Abraham just as a man speaks with another man.
Verses 16 through 22 say, “And the men rose up from there and looked down upon Sodom. And Abraham walked with them to send them away. And Jehovah said, Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, since Abraham will indeed become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed in him? For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him to keep the way of Jehovah by doing righteousness and justice, that Jehovah may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken concerning him. And Jehovah said, The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah, how great it is; and their sin, how very heavy it is! I shall go down and see whether they have done altogether according to its outcry, which has come to Me; and if not, I will know. And the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham remained standing before Jehovah.” In the Chinese Union Version verse 16 mentions three men, but verse 22 mentions two men, referring to two of the three men. The two men “turned from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham remained standing before Jehovah.” Therefore, the third man was Jehovah. Jehovah appeared to Abraham in the form of a man. Abraham fetched water to wash His feet and prepared a feast for Him, and Jehovah ate. Was Jehovah a man? It seems that He did not become a man until He was born in Bethlehem two thousand years later, but two thousand years before His birth He appeared as a man by the oaks of Mamre; His feet could be washed with water, and He could eat food. How can we explain this? From man’s perspective, there is the element of time, but from the perspective of the eternal God, there is no time element. With God there are only facts; there is no time issue.
Furthermore, Revelation 13:8 says that Christ is “the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world.” From God’s perspective, Christ was slain from the foundation of the world. From the human perspective, Christ was slain over one thousand and nine hundred years ago, because the human perspective includes the element of time. However, there is no time element in God’s perspective.
Hence, in eternity past God determined that His Son would become a man as the Firstborn of creation. From that point onward, Christ was viewed as a creature. In eternity God also determined that His Son would go to the cross to shed His blood for the redemption of man’s sins. Therefore, from the human perspective Christ died on the cross over one thousand and nine hundred years ago, but from God’s perspective Christ was slain from the foundation of the world.
Christ is the all-inclusive Lord: He is both God and man, and He is both the Creator and a creature. Christ is everything to us. This Christ is our life today, and He is also our hope of glory for the future.
