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Scripture Reading: 1 Cor. 1:10-13
In the foregoing message we pointed out that Christ and His cross are the unique solution to all problems in the church. In this message we shall consider this unique solution in a fuller way.
Christ is the center of God’s economy. Among the thousands of verses in the Bible, one verse is extremely crucial regarding this matter, and this verse is Colossians 3:11. Speaking of the new man, Paul says, “Where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, freeman, but Christ is all and in all.” In the light of this verse none of us should boast in matters of race or nationality. During my travels around the world, I have observed that everyone is proud of his country and race. But as believers in Christ, we should not pride ourselves in our race or nationality. According to Colossians 3:10 and 11, the church, the Body of Christ, is the new man. In the new man there are no distinctions of race or nationality. As Paul says, in the new man there cannot be Greek and Jew. The Jews are known for their religion, and the Greeks, for their culture, especially for their philosophy. However, there is room for neither Greek nor Jew in the new man. Paul goes on to say that there cannot be circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or freeman. This indicates that in the new man there is no place for religion or culture, no matter what a particular culture may be. Rather, Christ is all and in all.
Colossians 3:11 gives us a strong basis for saying that in God’s economy Christ is everything. He is every person, every matter, and every thing. Christ must be our race and nationality. If someone asks you to what race you belong, you should reply, “I belong to the race of Christ.” We should have the realization within that we are not Chinese, Germans, French, New Zealanders, Americans, or any other nationality, but are members of Christ. If all Christians knew that Christ is the center of God’s economy, all divisions would disappear.
Not long ago I read that in a certain country members of a particular racial group held a meeting in a cathedral to celebrate an event which they regarded as a victory for their cause. During this meeting, some things were said negatively about another racial group. Afterwards, directly in front of the cathedral there was a clash between members of these different racial groups. What a shame that such a confrontation could take place after a meeting which was supposedly held in the name of Christ! Such a thing is utterly contrary to the nature of the new man. In the church as the new man there are no distinctions on the basis of color; there is no white, black, red, brown, or yellow. To repeat, in the new man Christ is everything; He is all and in all.
In his preaching to the Corinthians, Paul testified to them of the all-inclusive Christ, of the Christ who is the center of God’s economy and everything in God’s economy. According to his background, Paul was an authentic and typical Jew. As such, he should have avoided all social contact with Greeks. But because Paul realized that in the new man there is no Jew or Greek but that Christ is everything, he could testify to the Greeks in Corinth concerning Christ. He could say, “I wish to testify that Christ is everything and that in the new man there cannot be Jew and Greek. In the new man, I am not a Jew — I am a person constituted of Christ. But although I have testified concerning this, you insist on remaining in your old social status. You have not taken Christ as the unique, all-inclusive center. Although I declare to you that I have dropped my religion and that I now uplift Christ, you still hold to your Greek culture and philosophy. You know that I was deeply involved with Judaism. I advanced in Judaism beyond many others. But I have abandoned all this. When I came to you, I decided not to know anything among you but Christ and Him crucified. God does not care for Jewish religion or Greek philosophy. He cares only for Christ, because in His economy Christ is the center and everything to us.”
Colossians 1:12 says, “Giving thanks to the Father, Who qualified you for a share of the portion of the saints in the light.” All Christians know that God has redeemed us, but not many realize that He has also qualified us to partake of Christ as the portion of the saints. The word portion in Colossians 1:12 indicates enjoyment. Christ is the unique enjoyment for all the saints. Nothing should be allowed to replace Him as our portion. Things such as baptism, speaking in tongues, or healing must not replace Christ Himself. Only the living Person of Christ, not any doctrine or practice, is our portion.
Sometimes we say that we enjoy the meetings of the church. However, instead of saying that we enjoy the meetings, we should testify that we enjoy Christ in the meetings. There is a great difference between enjoying a meeting itself and enjoying Christ in a particular meeting. Certain saints may boast that the meetings in their locality are better than the meetings elsewhere. We must be very careful concerning this. Do not say that you enjoy the meetings in your place. Instead, tell others that you enjoy Christ. We should not be proud of our locality or any other place. In a sense, every locality should be lowered down in our estimation so that we may uplift Christ, our unique portion. The unique portion of the saints is not the church in any particular locality. Our unique portion is Christ.
Christ is the all-inclusive One to be our all. In his Gospel John indicates that Christ is many things. For example, He is the living bread, the door, the Shepherd, and the true vine. Moreover, in Colossians we see that Christ is not only all-inclusive, but also all-extensive. But neither in the Gospel of John nor in the Epistle to the Colossians do we have the aspects of Christ which are itemized in 1 Corinthians. In this Epistle Paul mentions nineteen aspects of the all-inclusive Christ. In this message we shall simply list them and refer to them briefly.
In 1:24 Paul says, “But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, God’s power and God’s wisdom.” The crucified Christ preached by Paul is God’s power. This power is for carrying out and accomplishing what God has planned and purposed.
According to 1:24, Christ is also God’s wisdom. Wisdom is for planning, purposing. In God’s economy Christ is both wisdom for planning and power for accomplishing what has been planned.
In 1:30 Paul says that Christ is our righteousness. In particular, this righteousness is for our past and enables us to be justified by God.
Verse 30 also reveals that Christ is our sanctification. This is for the present and is related to being sanctified in the soul.
According to 1:30, Christ is also our redemption. This is for the future and is related in particular to the redemption of our body (Rom. 8:23).
In 2:7 Paul says, “But we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the wisdom which has been hidden, which God predestined before the ages for our glory.” Christ, the Lord of glory (2:8), is our life today (Col. 3:4) and will be our glory in the future (Col. 1:27). To this glory God has called us (1 Pet. 5:10), and into it He will bring us (Heb. 2:10). This is the goal of God’s salvation. How marvelous that Christ is our glory for our glorification!
In 2:10 Paul says, “The Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.” Christ is the depths of God. This aspect of Christ is far beyond our experience and apprehension. It refers to the deep things of God, to Christ in many aspects as our eternal portion.
In 3:11 Paul says, “For other foundation no one is able to lay besides that which is being laid, which is Jesus Christ.” As the Christ and the Son of the living God, the Lord Jesus Christ is the unique foundation laid by God for the building of the church (Matt. 16:16-18). No one can lay any other foundation.
In 5:7 Paul says, “For indeed our Passover, Christ, has been sacrificed.” To say that Christ is our Passover means not only that He is the Passover lamb, but also the entire Passover.
In 5:8 Paul goes on to say, “Let us therefore keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with leaven of malice and evil, but with unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” Christ Himself is this unleavened bread.
First Corinthians 10:3 says, “And all ate the same spiritual food.” Christ is the spiritual food as our daily life supply.
In 10:4 Paul says, “And all drank the same spiritual drink.” Christ today is our spiritual drink.
In 10:4 Paul also says, “They drank of a spiritual rock which followed them, and the rock was Christ.” The rock smitten in Exodus 17:6 is a type of Christ smitten and cleft by God to flow out the water of life and to satisfy our thirst (John 19:34).
In 11:3 we see that Christ is the Head. He is the Head of every man.
According to 12:12, Christ is also the Body. This means that He is not only the Head, but that He is constituted in us to actually become us. Hence, He is both the Head and the Body. It is difficult to explain how Christ can be the Body. Nevertheless, the Bible reveals this, and we believe it.
In 15:20 Paul says, “But now hath Christ been raised from the dead, the firstfruit of them that are asleep.” In verse 23 he again refers to “Christ the firstfruit.” Thus, Christ Himself is the firstfruit.
In 15:47 Paul speaks of the second man. This second man is also Christ.
In 15:45 Paul refers to Christ as the last Adam. As the firstfruit, the second Man, and the last Adam, Christ is the first, the second, and the last. As such, He is everything.
In 15:45 Paul says that as the last Adam Christ became a life-giving Spirit. If Christ were not the life-giving Spirit, He could not be power and wisdom to us. Neither could He be our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Those who claim that it is heretical to teach that Christ is the Spirit have no way to experience Christ. Because they do not know Him as the Spirit, they do not experience Him as these nineteen items. Although Christ has been installed in them, they do not experience Him. We may use electricity once again as an illustration. Although electricity may be installed in a building, if there is no flow of electricity the installation does not mean anything in a practical way. Likewise, even though we have Christ in us, if we do not experience Him as the Spirit, there is no way for us to experience Christ. If Christ were not the life-giving Spirit, how could He be the Head and the Body? How could He be our food, our drink, and the rock which follows us? The key to experiencing Christ in all these aspects consists in the fact that He, the last Adam, became a life-giving Spirit.
We have pointed out again and again that in 1:9 Paul says that God has called us into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. This fellowship is actually carried on by the Spirit. In 2 Corinthians 13:14 Paul says, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.” This fellowship is a wonderful, excellent mutuality. Since it is carried out by the Spirit, if we do not have the Spirit, we do not have the fellowship. This fellowship is called not only the fellowship of the Son, but also the fellowship of the Spirit, because after passing through a marvelous process, the Son has become the life-giving Spirit. Therefore, in our experience the fellowship of the Son eventually becomes the fellowship of the Spirit. If we are one spirit with this Spirit, we may have the enjoyment of this fellowship.
According to 1 Corinthians we have Christ in nineteen aspects, including the aspect of His being the all-inclusive Spirit. The first eighteen items of Christ’s riches are embodied in the life-giving Spirit. In our study of this Epistle, we need to pay our attention to these crucial matters. Do not spend too much time studying the details of the various negative things. Rather, concentrate on the many aspects of Christ. Pray concerning them and have fellowship about them. Christ is the unique center of God’s economy, He is the unique portion of all the saints, and He is the all-inclusive One to be our all.
After pointing out many aspects of His riches, Paul declares that this Christ has become the life-giving Spirit. Now the Spirit makes all the aspects of Christ’s riches real, applicable, and prevailing in our experience. When we touch Christ as the Spirit and are one spirit with Him, we apply all the aspects of His riches.
Whenever I consider the pitiful situation among Christians today, my heart is broken. Instead of the riches of the all-inclusive Christ, most believers have only husks or lumps of clay. Yes, they have Christ in name, but they do not have Christ as their enjoyment in their experience. Because I daily experience Christ and enjoy Him, my heart aches for all the believers who do not have Christ in this way.
We in the Lord’s recovery need to consider our situation with respect to the enjoyment of Christ. How much do you enjoy Christ daily? Do you enjoy Him in all the nineteen aspects revealed in 1 Corinthians? I hope that more and more the saints will be able to declare, “Lord Jesus, I enjoy You and I am very happy in You. Lord, You are everything to me. You are God’s power and wisdom. You are my righteousness, sanctification, redemption, and even glory for my glorification. Lord, you are the depths of God. I pray that You will bring me further into the enjoyment of Yourself as these depths.”
Some have asked me how I receive light from the Word. Others wonder how I am able to give so many messages. I am able to receive light and give messages because I daily enjoy Christ. Not even the members of my family know how much I enjoy Him. I fellowship with Him, I pray to Him, and I ask Him to reveal Himself to me in the Word. I have prayed, “Lord, show me how You Yourself are the depths of God.” I can testify that He did answer my prayer and show Himself to me in this way. Actually, this kind of experience is not unusual. As a result, when it is necessary for me to give a message, I have something fresh to say. Furthermore, it is not unusual for new light to come even while I am speaking. I am not the source myself — the source is the very Christ I enjoy day by day.
In the first message in this Life-study, we saw that 1 Corinthians is an illustration of the Christian life, the church life, and the Body life. The light regarding this came not when I was writing the notes on 1 Corinthians, but when I was resting during the afternoon of the very day I gave that message. Spontaneously I prayed, “Lord, what should I say in the message tonight?” Then I began to sense that I should open the message with the word about 1 Corinthians being an illustration of the Christian life, the church life, and the Body life. I had the impression from the Lord that I should tell the saints that Paul, after presenting a full sketch of the Christian life and the church life in Romans, gives us an illustration in 1 Corinthians. This realization did not come as an accident; it came as a result of my past experience of the Lord and my present enjoyment of Him.
I encourage all the saints to concentrate on Christ in their reading of the Bible. For example, when you come to the book of Revelation, do not be preoccupied with things such as the ten horns and seven heads. Instead, focus your attention on the Christ revealed in this book and on such matters as the golden lampstands, the enjoyment of the tree of life, and the drinking of the water of life. In this way you will enjoy the many aspects of the riches of Christ.
We have seen from 1:9 that God has called us into the fellowship of His Son, into the participation of Christ. This means that we have been called into the enjoyment of Christ. As we have pointed out, the way to enjoy this fellowship is to call upon the name of the Lord Jesus. Again I say, we have been called by God to call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. God has called us to call upon this unique name, the name which is above every other name. We should turn from considering the names of persons and places and concentrate on the unique name, the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The cross of Christ is also part of the unique solution to the problems in the church. The first work the cross does in our experience is to terminate us. According to my observation, brothers are usually more willing than sisters to be terminated. Throughout all my years in the Lord’s recovery, I have seen few sisters who were willing to be terminated by the cross. Do you realize that every wedding is a termination? When a sister gets married, she puts a covering on her head. This covering is a sign of termination and burial. If a sister is not willing for such a termination, she should not cover her head at the time of her wedding. Furthermore, a married sister loses her maiden name and takes another last name, the name of her husband.
The cross works in us to terminate us. On the one hand, Christ is our enjoyment; on the other hand, the cross is our termination. From experience we know that the more we enjoy Christ, the more we are terminated. When the cross works to terminate us, what should we do? We should not do anything except remain restfully in the place of termination.
It is a wonderful fact that whatever is terminated by the cross is redeemed. How encouraging this is! The enjoyment of redemption depends on the experience of termination. Certain saints have little enjoyment of redemption because they are not willing to be terminated.
The cross solves all the entanglements we face in the church life and especially in our married life. According to my experience, married life can be very entangling, bothersome, and puzzling. What can untangle all the complications and solve the problems? We need an instrument to cut through the entanglement, and this instrument, this cutting knife, is the cross. Only the cross can save us from the entanglements of married life. When we are cut by the cross, we are not entangled by anything.
Human life is filled with problems and entanglements. Simply to be alive is to encounter problems and troubles. This is true not only in the married life and family life, but also in the church life. According to the human way, negotiation is the means of solving problems or resolving entanglements. A brother and his wife may attempt to solve problems in this way. However, this is not the divine way. God’s way is to supply you with Christ and terminate you by the cross. Whenever there is a problem in the family life or in the church life, the natural man may immediately try to negotiate and solve the problem through conversation. By the Lord’s mercy I can testify that whenever I face this temptation, deep within I have the sense that there is no need for me to talk or negotiate. My only need is to go to the cross and be terminated. Then Christ comes in with the supply to solve every problem. This is God’s way to solve all the problems in the church life.
We should pay our full attention to Christ. He is our unique preference and choice. Furthermore, we need to have a proper understanding concerning the cross, realizing that the purpose of the cross is to terminate whatever we are. We need to take this cross and enjoy Christ. This is the unique solution to all problems in the church. To the Jews the cross is an offense, and to the nations it is foolishness. But to us, God’s called ones, it is truly God’s power and God’s wisdom (1:24). According to our natural, cultural mentality, it is foolishness to be crossed out. But as called ones we know that the cross is God’s wisdom and His power.
