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In this lesson we will continue to see the experience and enjoyment of Christ as the Son in the grace of the Triune God to be the portion of the believers.
Christ as our portion for our enjoyment is also our feast. Colossians 2:16-17 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." The various items of the ceremonial law mentioned here are a shadow of the spiritual things in Christ, which are the things to come, but the body is of Christ and is Christ. The body, like a man's physical body, is the substance, something solid. The rituals in the law are a shadow of the real things in the gospel. Christ is the reality of the gospel. All the good things in the gospel belong to Christ and are Christ.
Paul's word here indicates that to the believers Christ is the feast. This is typified by the yearly feasts of the Jews, such as the Passover, the Feast of Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles. Three times a year the Jews went up to Jerusalem to keep the feasts, to eat, drink, and rejoice together with God before Him. Therefore, the feasts signify joy, enjoyment, and satisfaction. Although the feasts were enjoyable, they were simply shadows of Christ. Christ is our real joy, enjoyment, and satisfaction. Christ is the reality of all the feasts.
Colossians 2:16-17 also indicates that Christ is the new moon. The new moon signifies a new beginning with light in darkness. As such a new moon to us, Christ affords us a new beginning with light in this dark age. This is also what we experience and enjoy of Christ as our portion. In the process of our growth, again and again we need Christ to be our fresh start, our new beginning, which is signified by the new moon.
Colossians 2:16-17 also shows us that Christ is the real Sabbath. The Sabbath signifies completion and rest. After God completed His work of creation on the sixth day, He enjoyed rest on the seventh day. God blessed the seventh day and made it the Sabbath (Gen. 2:2-3). Therefore, after man was created, man did not work first; instead, man first enjoyed rest. To enjoy rest before work—this is the gospel. The significance of Christ's being our Sabbath is that we do not work but enter into what He has accomplished and rest in Him. Christ has accomplished all His work and is sitting on the right hand of God in the heavenlies. Now He is in our spirit to be our rest.
Feasts are yearly, new moons monthly, Sabbaths weekly, and eating and drinking daily. Daily we eat and drink Christ, weekly we have completion and rest in Him, monthly we experience a new beginning in Him, and throughout the year we experience Him as our joy and enjoyment. Therefore, daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly Christ is to us the reality of every positive thing and is for our enjoyment and experience.
Christ is also our armor. Ephesians 6:11 says, "Put on the whole armor of God." To defeat God's enemy, the devil, the believers need to put on the whole armor of God. To fight the spiritual warfare, we need not only the power of the Lord but also the armor of God. Our weapons do not avail, but God's armor, even the whole armor of God, does avail. The whole armor of God is for the entire Body of Christ, the church. The church is a corporate warrior, and the believers are parts of this unique warrior. Only the corporate warrior, not an individual believer, can wear the whole armor of God. Hence, we must fight the spiritual warfare in the Body of Christ, not individually.
Ephesians 6:14-17 shows us six aspects of Christ as our armor: the girdle of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the firm foundation of the gospel of peace (the shoes), the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit. Of these six items of Christ as our armor, only the sword is for offensive warfare against the enemy; all the other items are for defense.
We must put on Christ as the whole armor of God that we may be able to stand against the stratagems of the devil (v. 11). These stratagems are the devil's evil plan. Not only does the devil have an evil will, but he also has subtle stratagems to work out his will. If we want to stand against these stratagems, we must put on Christ as our armor. To us the armor has six aspects:
Ephesians 6:14 says, "Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth." For us to gird our loins with truth is to strengthen our entire being. For the purpose of standing, our whole being needs to be strengthened with truth. Truth here refers to God in Christ as reality in our living, that is, God realized and experienced by us as our living (John 14:6). This is actually Christ Himself lived out by us. Such truth, such reality, is the girdle that strengthens our whole being for spiritual warfare.
Ephesians 6:14 also speaks of the putting on of the breastplate of righteousness. The breastplate of righteousness covers our conscience, signified by the breast. Satan is our accuser. Therefore, in fighting against him we need a conscience void of offense. No matter how good we may feel our conscience is, we still need to have it covered with the breastplate of righteousness. Righteousness is a matter of being right with both God and man. If we have a little problem with either God or man, Satan will accuse us, and there will be holes in our conscience through which all of our faith and boldness will leak out. Hence, we need the covering of righteousness to protect us from the enemy's accusation. Such righteousness is Christ (1 Cor. 1:30). He is the breastplate of righteousness that covers our conscience. Hence, we are covered not by our own righteousness but by Christ as our righteousness. Furthermore, the breastplate of righteousness is related to the blood of Christ. In experience we cannot separate the blood from Christ. Apart from His blood, Christ cannot cover us. Under the cleansing of His blood, He becomes our righteousness as our breastplate of righteousness to cover our conscience.
Ephesians 6:15 says, "And having shod your feet with the firm foundation of the gospel of peace." Our feet must be shod in order to strengthen our stand in the battle. The firm foundation of the gospel of peace means the establishment of the gospel of peace. Christ made peace for us on the cross both with God and with man, and this peace has become our gospel (Eph. 2:13-17). This gospel of peace has been established as a firm foundation, as a readiness with which our feet may be shod. Thus, we will have a firm footing that we may stand to fight the spiritual warfare. The peace for such a firm foundation also is Christ (v. 14).
As we fight against the evil powers, the peace which Christ has accomplished is a firm foundation for our feet. If we would take part in the spiritual warfare, our feet must be shod with this firm foundation. We fight in peace and with peace. Christ is the peace for us to be one with God and with the saints. This peace is the firm foundation that enables us to stand against the enemy.
Ephesians 6:16 continues, "Besides all these, having taken up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming darts of the evil one." We need truth to gird our loins, righteousness to cover our conscience, peace as shoes to cover our feet, and faith as a shield to protect our entire being. If we live by God as reality (truth), we have righteousness (4:24), and righteousness issues in peace (Heb. 12:11; Isa. 32:17). Having all these, we can easily have faith as a shield against the flaming darts of the evil one. Christ is the Author and Perfecter of such faith (Heb. 12:2).
The shield of faith is not something that we put on, but something that we take up in order to protect ourselves against the attacks of the enemy. Faith comes after truth, righteousness, and peace. If we have truth in our living, righteousness as our covering, and peace as our standing, we will spontaneously have faith. This faith is a safeguard against the fiery darts, the attacks, of the enemy.
In Ephesians 6:17 Paul said, "And receive the helmet of salvation." This is for covering our mind against the negative thoughts directed at us by the evil one. Such a helmet, such a covering, is God's salvation. Satan injects into our mind threats, worries, anxieties, and other weakening thoughts. God's salvation is the shield that we put on to cover our mentality against all these. Such a salvation is the saving Christ whom we experience in our daily life (John 16:33).
Satan's darts come to us through our mind. Therefore, just as our conscience needs the breastplate of righteousness and our will needs the shield of faith, so our mind needs the helmet of salvation. We need truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation. Righteousness issues in peace, and peace gives us the ground to have faith. Then faith brings in salvation.
In Ephesians 6:17 Paul also told us to receive "the sword of the Spirit, which Spirit is the word of God." In God's armor, the sword is the one item that is used for attacking the enemy. After we put on the girdle of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, and the shoes of the gospel of peace, and we take up the shield of faith and receive the helmet of salvation, we are entirely protected, and we may then receive the sword of the Spirit. The Spirit is the sword itself. Furthermore, the Spirit is the word of God; hence, the word of God is also a sword. Therefore, in our Christian experience, these three—the sword, the Spirit, and the word—are one. Without the word, we have neither the Spirit nor the sword. When we contact the word of God in a living way, the word becomes the Spirit to us, and the Spirit is the sword for our offensive attack against the enemy that we may kill him.
When we have the whole armor mentioned above, we are able to stand against the stratagems of the devil, and having done all, to stand.
As our portion for our enjoyment, Christ is also our feast, new moon, and Sabbath. As our feast, Christ brings us real joy, enjoyment, and satisfaction. As our new moon, Christ brings us light in this dark age for us to have a new beginning. As our Sabbath, Christ has accomplished everything for us that we may enjoy real rest in Him. Christ is also the armor that we put on, enabling us to stand against the stratagems of the devil. This armor comprises the girdle of truth for the strengthening of our entire being, the breastplate of righteousness for the covering of our conscience to protect us from the accusation of the enemy, the shoes of the gospel of peace as our firm foundation for us to stand, the shield of faith that protects our will against the attacks of the enemy's fiery darts, the helmet of salvation that covers our mind against the negative thoughts injected into us by the evil one, and the sword of the Spirit for us to kill the enemy. When we put on the whole armor of God, we are able to stand against the stratagems of the devil, and having done all, to stand.
