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In the previous chapter we saw that Christ is the center and the content of the Word of God. In this chapter we will use twelve points to show that as the center and the content of the Word of God, Christ is everything.
God and man are the positive items in the universe. Christ is both God and man. We cannot know God unless we know Christ, and we cannot see a proper man unless we see Christ. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word...and the Word was God.” This verse speaks of Christ as the Word and as God. Romans 9:5 speaks of “Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever,” and 1 Timothy 2:5 says, “The man Christ Jesus.” These verses show that Christ is both God and man. The Lord Jesus is the eternal God. At a certain point in time, He, the eternal God, became flesh; that is, God entered into man (John 1:14). This person was both God and man. He then passed through death and resurrection and ascended into heaven. To this day, He is still a man in heaven. When Stephen was martyred, “he looked intently into heaven and saw...Jesus standing at the right hand of God; and he said, Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:55-56). According to 1 Timothy 3:16, God was manifested in the flesh. The word flesh refers to man. Hence, God’s being manifested in the flesh is His being manifested in the man Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is God yet man, and He is man yet God. In Him God and man are joined together.
Christ is both God the Father and God the Son (John 14:9-10). The Father and the Son are not two separate persons. The Father is the source of the Son, and the Son is the expression of the Father. God hidden is the Father, and God expressed is the Son (1 Tim. 6:16; John 1:18); the two are in fact one. With human beings, a father and a son are two persons, but with Christ, He is both the Father and the Son. Therefore, He said that He and the Father are one (10:30). Isaiah 9:6 says that the Son who has been given to us is called the Eternal Father. The Son is the Eternal Father. This is exceedingly mysterious. It is incomprehensible and inexplicable.
Colossians 1:15 says that Christ “is the image of the invisible God.” This means that when we see Christ, we see God. Apart from Christ we cannot know or even see God. Philippians 2:6-7 says, “Who, existing in the form of God...emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, becoming in the likeness of men.” This means that Christ also has the likeness of man. In Christ we see the condition of a normal man. In order to know Christ, we must see Him as the image of God and as the image of man.
Christ is both the Creator and a creature. Colossians 1:15-16 says that He is “the Firstborn of all creation, 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.” Verse 16 says that Christ is the Creator, but verse 15 says that He is the Firstborn of all creation; that is, He is the first in creation, the first of all creatures. To become flesh is to become a man, and man is a creature. We cannot comprehend how Christ is not only a creature but also the Firstborn of all creation. He is the first creature. He existed first, and then God created man according to His image and likeness. This truth has caused many theological disputes. It is beyond what the human mind can comprehend, but we must accept Christ as both the Creator and a creature, according to the explicit words of the Bible.
If God were not for our enjoyment, there would not be a need for Him to be incarnated. God is in Christ. In order to be our enjoyment, that is, to have a relationship with us, His creatures, God was incarnated to be a man. He took the position of a creature. Hence, He is no longer only the Creator but also a creature. The person of Christ is very complicated. By Himself God is only the Creator; He is not a creature. However, when God was incarnated, He was still the Creator, but He became a creature. God in Christ has all the details related to being a creature as well as being the Firstborn of all creation.
Christ did not come into being after God created heaven and earth, the angels, and man. Before heaven and earth were, Christ is. Christ existed before heaven and earth were created. Therefore, Christ precedes all creation. He is the Firstborn, the first One, of all creation. As such, He has the first place in all creation.
Colossians 1:18 says, “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.” First, Christ is the Head of the Body; He has the first place in the church. Second, He is the beginning of all things. Third, He is the Firstborn from the dead; He is the first to have resurrected from the dead. Therefore, He can have the first place in all things.
First Corinthians 15:20 says, “Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” The word firstfruits shows that Christ was the first to resurrect from the dead. It is one thing for Christ to be the Firstborn of all creation, and it is another for Him to be the Firstborn from the dead. The word creation refers to that which was created. Christ is the first among God’s creation. To resurrect from the dead means that the original creation died, was destroyed, and has come out of death, out of destruction. Christ is the first to have been raised out of death. Thus, Christ is the first in the original creation, and He is the first among those who have died and resurrected. Christ is the first in the old creation, and He is the first in the new creation. Christ is the first. There are only these two creations in the universe, and Christ is the first, the Firstborn, in both.
Colossians 1:18 says, “He [Christ] is the Head of the Body.” Since He is the Head, the church as His Body belongs to Him. Therefore, the church is upheld by Christ.
Christ is not only the Head of the church but also the Head over all things. All creation takes Him as the Head. Ephesians 1:22 says that God “gave Him to be Head over all things to the church.”
Jesus is Lord of the universe. None of the founders of various religions have dared to call themselves Lord. Only Jesus, in whom Christians believe, is Lord. In the whole universe, only Christ is Lord. First Corinthians 8:6 says, “To us there is...one Lord, Jesus Christ.” Verse 3 of chapter 12 also says, “No one can say, Jesus is Lord! except in the Holy Spirit.” Second Corinthians 4:5 says, “We...preach...Christ Jesus as Lord.” These verses declare that Christ is Lord.
Colossians 3:11 says, “Christ is all and in all.” In this verse the word all can also be rendered “all things.” Since Christ is all things, He is all, and He is in all things. The sun speaks of Christ as our light, shining on us. Our need for food and drink speaks of Christ supplying us as our food and drink. Every positive thing in the universe speaks of Christ and declares the significance of Christ. Clothing speaks of Christ as our covering, and sleep speaks of Christ as our rest. We can comprehend the significance of Christ even by hearing birds sing and seeing flowers bloom. Every positive thing that we contact should turn us to Christ. Christ is in all things, and He is all things.
When a sister puts on her clothing, she should be able to say, “Lord, I thank and praise You because You are my clothing. You cover my shame, and You are my beauty and glory.” Every young sister likes to wear beautiful clothes. However, no matter what she wears, she should always say, “Lord, You are my beauty and my adornment. You cover me more than these clothes do.” This should be the prayer of every Christian.
When a brother eats a rich meal, he should say, “Lord, You are my delicacy. May I enjoy You more than I enjoy food.” Even when he goes boating, he should say, “Lord, You are more secure than this boat; I will let You carry me through every wave.” If we would know the Lord, we will discover that He is all things.
Christ is all things, and He is also in all things (v. 11). This means that Christ is the reality of all things and that He is in all things. We can see Him in all things. We should appreciate this.
Christ is not only in all things, but He also fills all things. Ephesians 1:23 says that Christ is “the One who fills all in all.” It is one thing for Christ to be in all things and another for Him to fill all things. Christ is the One who fills all in all, and the church is His fullness, His expression.
There are some common elements in all things that signify aspects of Christ. The first common element is energy; there is energy in all things. For example, everything has atomic energy. The second common element involves principles; there are principles in all things. The third common element is an operating law; everything operates according to a law. The fourth common element is light; there is light in all things. These elements signify aspects of Christ. Christ is the energy, the principle, the law, and the light in all things. As the reality of all these elements, Christ fills all things.
All positive persons, matters, and things in the Bible either symbolize or denote Christ. We will illustrate this with Genesis 1. Verse 1 says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” We should see Christ in this verse. When God created the heavens and the earth, Christ created the heavens and the earth, for Christ is God (Heb. 1:2).
“The earth became waste and emptiness, and darkness was on the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was brooding upon the surface of the waters” (Gen. 1:2). The first half of this verse does not refer to Christ, because it describes a negative situation. The second half of the verse refers to Christ. The Spirit of God brooding upon the surface of the waters refers to Christ as the Spirit of life coming to produce life.
“God said, Let there be light; and there was light” (v. 3). God’s speaking is equal to Christ’s speaking. What God spoke is the Word of God, and Christ is the Word of God. The speaker in this verse is God and Christ, and the words that were spoken are Christ. Light also signifies Christ (Matt. 4:16; John 8:12; 9:5).
“God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day” (Gen. 1:4-5). These verses speak of the separation of light from darkness. This refers to Christ separating the things of light from the things of darkness. The day is Christ, but the night is not Christ. Christ is light, and He is the day. Whoever has Christ has light and lives in the day. Whoever does not have Christ is in darkness and gropes in the night.
“God said, Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters. And God made the expanse and separated the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse, and it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day” (vv. 6-8). The expanse in verse 6 is not positive. God saw things as good on every day of creation except for the second day. The expanse refers to the atmosphere, that is, the air that surrounds the earth. The air is not positive, because it is full of fallen angels; hence, the air does not refer to Christ. When Christ came, He separated the waters which were above the expanse from the waters which were under the expanse; that is, He separated the heavenly from the earthly.
“God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear; and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas; and God saw that it was good” (vv. 9-10). The earth refers to Christ. A portion of the earth became the land of Canaan, which typifies Christ. The seas do not refer to Christ, for they are the dwelling place of demons and are therefore negative. According to Daniel 7:3 and Revelation 13:1, persons and matters that oppose God come up out of the sea. Therefore, God will eventually remove the sea, and it will be no more (21:1).
Seas and the expanse are negative places, but the earth is a positive place. Dry land signifies Christ. Water in these verses represents death, but the earth represents life. The separation of the waters from the earth signifies the separation of death from life. This was a third separation. The first separation was the separation of light from darkness, the second was the separation of that which was above from that which was below, and the third was the separation of the waters from the earth. When the word of Christ reaches man, the Spirit operates within man to separate darkness from light, the earthly from the heavenly, and death from life. Then Christ will become the good land within man, and He will bring forth the riches of life.
The earth emerging from the waters also signifies Christ resurrecting from death to bring forth the riches of life. The earth came out of the waters on the third day, and Christ resurrected on the third day.
“God said, Let the earth sprout grass, herbs yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit according to their kind with their seed in them upon the earth; and it was so...And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, a third day” (Gen. 1:11-13). The earth refers to Christ, so the grass, herbs, and fruit trees that sprouted forth from the earth refer to the various riches of the divine life that issue from Christ. Therefore, we should see Christ in herbs and fruit trees. Christ is the grain of wheat that fell into the ground and died so as to bear much fruit (John 12:24). Christ is typified by the plant life.
“God said, Let there be light-bearers in the expanse of heaven to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; and let them be light-bearers in the expanse of heaven to give light on the earth; and it was so. And God made the two great light-bearers, the greater light-bearer to rule the day and the lesser light-bearer to rule the night, and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of heaven to give light on the earth and to rule over the day and over the night and to separate the light from the darkness, and God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day” (Gen. 1:14-19). We can see Christ in these verses. The sun denotes Christ. He is the Sun of righteousness and the rising sun (Mal. 4:2; Luke 1:78). The moon reflects the sun and refers to the church, for the church reflects Christ. The stars refer to those who are saved (Dan. 12:3; Rev. 1:20).
The light-bearers are heavenly. They are set in the expanse of heaven to give light to the earth. They are for signs and for seasons, for separating light from darkness, and for ruling over the day and the night. Christ and the church with the saints are heavenly light-bearers in a heavenly position, giving light to the whole earth, being for signs and for seasons, and separating day from night and light from darkness. This means that without Christ, the church, and the believers, everything in the universe is dark and confused. The Gregorian calendar is the Lord’s calendar. Even those who oppose God and resist Christ have adopted the Gregorian calendar. Christ is the great light who establishes the days and the years. Only the church and the saints can bring seasons and feasts to the human race.
“God said, Let the waters swarm with swarms of living animals, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of heaven” (Gen. 1:20). This also refers to Christ. Since water in this verse signifies death, letting the waters swarm with living animals is to bring forth life from death. This certainly refers to Christ’s resurrection life. The birds that fly in the expanse refer to Christ in His ascended and transcendent life.
“God created the great sea creatures and every living animal that moves, with which the waters swarmed, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind; and God saw that it was good” (v. 21). The creatures in the water signify the life of Christ that overcomes death, and the birds signify the life of Christ that transcends the earth.
“God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth. And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day” (vv. 22-23). This refers to the resurrection life of Christ filling man and filling the earth. When we preach the gospel, the divine life is brought forth from death waters. According to God’s view, people in the world are dead, but they are brought into life when they receive the gospel, just like the fish that swim in the sea. After they are saved, they are edified and grow in the church, just like birds that fly in the expanse and live in the heavenly realm. At this point the life that overcomes death becomes the transcendent life.
“God said, Let the earth bring forth living animals according to their kind, cattle and creeping things and animals of the earth according to their kind; and it was so. And God made the animals of the earth according to their kind and the cattle according to their kind and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind, and God saw that it was good” (vv. 24-25). Among the four living creatures in Ezekiel 1:10, the ox represents the cattle, and the eagle represents the birds. Creeping things, such as serpents and scorpions, are negative and refer to the devil and those who belong to him. The Lord Jesus gave His disciples “authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions” (Luke 10:19). To tread upon serpents and scorpions is to tread upon the devil and those who belong to him. None of the four living creatures have the face of a scorpion or a serpent, that is, of a creeping thing, because the creeping things are negative and do not denote Christ. Some animals are positive, and some animals are negative. The lion as the king of the beasts is positive and represents Christ (Rev. 5:5). Therefore, one of the four living creatures has the face of a lion, denoting Christ as the majestic and victorious King.
“God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of heaven and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth” (Gen. 1:26). Christ is the image of God (Col. 1:15; Heb. 1:3). Hence, for God to make man according to His image was for Him to make man according to Christ. The Maker is Christ, God’s image is Christ, and the man who was made signifies Christ. The man who was created was the first Adam, and Christ is the last Adam (1 Cor. 15:45). Adam was the first man, and Christ is the second man (v. 47). God wanted man to have dominion over everything that He had created. This is spoken of in Psalm 8:4-8: “What is mortal man, that You remember him, / And the son of man, that You visit him? / You have made Him a little lower than angels / And have crowned Him with glory and honor. / For You have caused Him to rule over the works of Your hands; / You have put all things under His feet: / All sheep and oxen, / As well as the beasts of the field, / The birds of heaven and the fish of the sea.” Hebrews 2:6-8 applies this word to Christ’s becoming a man and receiving all authority in heaven and on earth in order to exercise God’s dominion in the universe.
“God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Gen. 1:27). The male life refers to Christ, and the female life refers to the church with the saints.
“God blessed them; and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of heaven and over every living thing that moves upon the earth” (v. 28). We can see Christ and the church in this verse. Christ and the church will fill the earth and have dominion over the earth. God has not set the angels over the coming inhabited earth, but He has set Christ and those who are of Christ to fill the earth (Heb. 2:5-9; Eph. 1:22-23; Rom. 16:20).
“God said, Behold, I have given you every herb that produces seed that is on the surface of all the earth and every tree which has fruit that produces seed; they shall be for you as food” (Gen. 1:29). This verse refers to Christ and the riches in Christ. God has given all the riches in Christ to us as our food.
“To every animal of the earth and to every bird of heaven and to everything that creeps upon the earth, in which is a living soul, I have given every green herb for food; and it was so. And God saw everything that He had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day” (vv. 30-31). This verse also refers to Christ. Everything God created in Christ was very good, and everything that was outside Christ was not good.
Genesis 1 shows that the Bible is full of the revelation of Christ and that Christ is the center of the Bible. If we read the Bible with this view, we will see that there are at least two hundred persons, matters, and things that denote Christ.
