Scripture Reading: Col. 2:2-3, 9; 1:19
At the end of 2:2 Paul speaks of the “full knowledge of the mystery of God, Christ.” The book of Ephesians is on the mystery of Christ, which is the church, the Body (Eph. 3:4). This book is on the mystery of God, which is Christ, the Head. It is crucial that we know Christ not only as our Savior and Lord, but also as the mystery of God.
All Christians love the Lord Jesus. The only difference among them in this matter is the degree of their love for Him. Even a backsliding believer loves the Lord to a certain extent. How much we love the Lord depends on how much we know Him and how much we realize concerning Him. For example, a child may appreciate a little box made to contain a diamond ring more than the ring itself. This shows that the degree of love is determined by the degree of appreciation. The more we know the Lord Jesus and appreciate Him, the more we shall love Him. Hence, we need to go on to know the Lord Jesus not only as our Savior and Lord, but also as the mystery of God.
If we would know Christ as the mystery of God, we need to have the full experience of everything covered in 2:2. In this verse Paul says, “That their hearts may be comforted, being knit together in love and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, unto the full knowledge of the mystery of God, Christ.” The word “unto” means “resulting in.” If the hearts of the Colossians were comforted and knit together in love, the result would be all the riches of the full assurance of understanding, an understanding no doubt related to the mystery of God, Christ.
We cannot contact the Lord or know Him as God’s mystery without exercising our spirit. As we shall see, our whole being needs to be exercised. Every aspect of man’s being — spirit, soul, and body — is complicated. If you spend time examining your face in a mirror, you will be impressed with the complexity of your physical body. Human beings are not simple organisms. In our soul we have the mind, the emotion, and the will. Furthermore, in our spirit we have the conscience, the intuition, and the fellowship. Every part of our complex being must be exercised to receive the revelation of Christ as the mystery of God.
God Himself is a mystery, and Christ is the mystery of this mystery. Surely we cannot fathom such a mystery simply by reading the letter of the Scriptures. Since Christ dwells in our spirit, we need to exercise our spirit in order to know Him as the mystery of God. Never regard Christ as a mere object to be known in an outward way. As the crucified and resurrected One, He is living both on the throne in the heavens and in our spirit as well. Hence, it is of utmost importance that we exercise our spirit to contact Him. This means that we must open up from the depths of our being and call on Him. Our spirit is our deepest part, deeper than the heart and all the parts of the soul. There fore, to exercise our spirit is to open the deepest part of our being to call on the name of the Lord Jesus and to contact Him as the living One within us.
We are complex, but Christ is far more complex. To know Him, we must not only exercise our spirit, but also have our heart comforted. This means that our heart must be cherished, warmed. Moreover, our mind must be sober, our emotion must be regulated, and our will must be subdued. Every part of our inner being must be proper and function in a normal way. This is the reason Paul speaks of the hearts being comforted in relation to having the full knowledge of Christ as the mystery of God.
In 2:2 Paul goes on to speak of all the riches of the full assurance of understanding. The comforting of the heart must have a result. In this case the result is having all the riches of the full assurance of understanding. We need to have such an assurance, for example, concerning the ground of the church. Some saints claim to know the church ground and to be committed to it. However, they are actually quite wishy-washy and have no certainty related to the ground of the church. They have faith, but they do not have the certainty which gives us full assurance.
Allow me to testify of my experience about becoming assured regarding the ground of the church. In 1932 we began to practice the church life in Chefoo, my hometown. After several months, opposition rose up against us. Before we began to practice the church life, I was loved and respected by the Christian leaders in that city. They regarded me as one who was for the Lord Jesus in an absolute way. However, the attitude of those leaders toward me began to change when more and more of the promising ones began to come into the church. This troubled those Christian leaders, and negative rumors were circulated about us. Furthermore, those who once respected me no longer greeted me when they saw me on the street. Deeply concerned about this, I went to the Lord and inquired about the situation. I asked Him to show me what was wrong. I spent more than a month thoroughly considering the matter before the Lord. Eventually I concluded that if I were to be a man, I had to believe in the Lord Jesus; that if I were to believe in the Lord, I had to love Him; and that if I were to love Him, I had to take the way of the church. As a result, I received the full assurance concerning the ground of the church. I had not only faith, but also the knowledge which caused me to have certainty. For more than forty-six years I have not changed my position with respect to the church ground, no matter how much I have suffered because of the stand I have taken. Some co-workers who used to be close to me betrayed me because they were afraid to face opposition regarding the church ground. Some of them had even given messages on the ground of the church. But actually they were wishy-washy. They did not have the full assurance of understanding that Paul speaks of in 2:2. Paul realized that concerning the mystery of God, Christ, the believers needed certainty, the assurance that comes from faith and knowledge. Those who have such an assurance are not wishy-washy in this matter.
After making my decision about the ground of the church, I spent some time with Brother Nee in Shanghai during a period of turmoil. Attempting to comfort him, I said, “Brother Nee, I am one with you because you are taking the Lord’s way. I assure you, even if you turn from this way, I will not change my mind. I have the full assurance concerning the Lord’s way in the church.” This is the full assurance of understanding that Paul speaks of in 2:2. Concerning Christ as the mystery of God, we need faith, knowledge, certainty, and thorough understanding.
The Colossians did not have the full assurance concerning Christ. Otherwise, they would not have turned to the worship of angels or taken in such things as observances, ordinances, and philosophies. On the one hand, they had received Christ and knew something about Him. On the other hand, their knowledge of Christ was not with the full assurance of understanding. The Colossians definitely believed in the Lord Jesus and held to the faith. But they did not have all the riches of the full assurance of understanding. They knew that Christ was the Son of God, and they had received Him. However, because they were rather wishy-washy, they also accepted various observances, ordinances, and philosophies.
If we would have all the riches of the full assurance of understanding concerning Christ as the mystery of God, every part of our being must be exercised. We should not be wishy-washy in any way. I am concerned for those in the Lord’s recovery who have never exercised themselves in a full way. Due to this lack of exercise, they may not have the full assurance of understanding concerning the recovery.
Certain ones were with us for years. While they were with us, they praised the Lord for His recovery and declared that they were absolutely for the church life. But they eventually turned against the recovery and even condemned it. The reason for such a change is that they never had a thorough exercise concerning the Lord’s recovery and never received the full assurance of understanding regarding it.
How much we need to be exercised to know Christ as the mystery of God! We should be able to say, “Lord Jesus, apart from You I have no heart for anything. Lord, my mind, will, and emotion are absolutely for You. I know what I believe, and I know what I am doing in Your recovery. I am willing to lay down my life for You. If I had ten lives, I would give every one of them for the recovery. Every fiber of my being, Lord, is for You.” If you exercise your whole being in this way, you will have the full assurance of understanding. You will not have any doubt about what you are doing or about the way you are taking. You will have the kind of assurance martyrs have when they lay down their lives for the Lord.
In 2:2 Paul speaks not only of the full assurance, but of all the riches of the full assurance of understanding. As we consider this, let us once again use the ground of the church as an example. Some saints may have the full assurance concerning the church ground, but they may not have the riches in their understanding. When they speak about the ground of the church, they have little to say. The reason for this is the lack of the riches in their understanding. If we have the riches of the full assurance of understanding with respect to the truth of the ground of oneness, we shall have much to say concerning it. Regarding the ground of the church, we need to be exercised until we have all the riches of the full assurance of understanding.
The principle is the same with knowing Christ as the mystery of God. We need to be exercised to such an extent that we always have something to say about Christ as the mystery of God. How inexhaustible Christ is! If we have all the riches of the full assurance of understanding concerning Him, we shall never be short of things to say about Him. The riches of understanding will give us rich utterance.
I wish to emphasize again and again that such riches only come through the exercise of our inner being. In particular, we need to exercise our understanding in studying the Bible. Do not study the Word in a superficial way, and do not take things for granted. Instead, exercise yourself over every phrase, sometimes even over every word. For example, in 1:12 Paul speaks of the portion of the saints in the light. We need to ask why he uses the phrase “in the light.” We need to inquire of the Lord and dig into the Word until we have the riches of the full assurance of understanding. To know Christ as the embodiment of God requires such an exercise of our being.
As we exercise over the Word, we shall receive light. For instance, we may exercise over the matter of the comforting of the hearts in 2:2. Eventually, we shall be enlightened. I repeat, our whole being — our spirit, heart, soul, mind, emotion, and will — must be exercised in the Word. Then we shall love the Lord with our whole being and have all the riches of the full assurance of understanding concerning Christ as the mystery of God.
Concerning Christ as the mystery of God, Paul says, “In Whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden” (2:3). According to history, the influence of Gnostic teaching, implying Greek philosophy, invaded the Gentile churches in Paul’s time. Hence, Paul told the Colossians that all the treasures of real wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ. This is the spiritual wisdom and knowledge of the divine economy concerning Christ and the church. Wisdom is related to our spirit, and knowledge is related to our mind (Eph. 1:8, 17).
God is the unique source of wisdom and knowledge. All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in the very Christ who is the mystery of God. Because the church at Colosse had been invaded by pagan philosophy, Paul was helping the Colossians trace wisdom and knowledge to their true source in God. Christ is the mystery of God, who alone is the source of all wisdom and knowledge. It seems as if Paul wanted to say, “Colossians, since you have received the Christ in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden, why do you still need philosophy? Why do you accept the teaching of Gnosticism? You do this because you do not have the full assurance concerning what you believe. You have faith, but you don’t have certainty.” Paul knew that the hearts of the Colossians needed to be comforted and knit together in love so that they could have all the riches of the full assurance of understanding. If they had such an assurance, they would know all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge that are hidden in Christ.
The fact that wisdom and knowledge are embodied in Christ is proved by His spoken words, especially those recorded in the Gospels of Matthew and John. In these books, the Lord spoke about the kingdom and about life. The Lord’s words recorded in these books contain the highest philosophy. None of the teachings of the philosophers, including the ethical teachings of Confucius, compare to them. The concept in the Lord’s words is too deep and profound. Anyone who makes a thorough study of philosophy will have to admit that the highest philosophy is that found in the teachings of Jesus Christ. Truly all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are in Him.
If we exercise our being to contact the Lord, Christ as the life-giving Spirit will saturate our spirit and our mind. Then we also shall have in our experience the wisdom and knowledge that are hidden in Christ. In this way we experience Him as the mystery of God. We should not be like the Colossians, who allowed pagan philosophy to defraud them of the wisdom and knowledge hidden in Christ.
As the mystery of God, Christ is also the embodiment of the fullness of the Godhead. In 1:19 Paul says, “For in Him all the fullness was pleased to dwell.” Then in 2:9 he says, “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” Fullness in these verses refers not to the riches of God, but to the expression of the riches of God. What dwells in Christ is not only the riches of the Godhead, but the expression of the riches of what God is. It is crucial for us to see that the fullness of the Godhead is the expression of the Godhead, that is, the expression of what God is. The Godhead is expressed both in the old creation, the universe, and in the new creation, the church. Notice that both in 1:19 and 2:9 Paul uses the word “all” to describe fullness. All the fullness, all the expression, is in the old creation and in the new creation.
The word Godhead in 2:9 refers to deity, which is different from divinity in Romans 1:20. This reference to deity strongly indicates the deity of Christ. Such a deity is with the fullness of the Godhead versus the tradition of man and the elements of the world.
In 1:19 and in 2:9 we see two aspects of all the fullness. According to 1:19, all the fullness was pleased to dwell in Christ. According to 2:9, all the fullness dwells in Christ bodily. This implies the physical body which Christ put on in His humanity. It indicates that all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ as the One who has a human body. Before His incarnation, the fullness of the Godhead dwelt in Him as the eternal Word, but it did not dwell in Him bodily. After He became incarnate, clothed with a human body, the fullness of the Godhead began to dwell in a bodily way, and in His glorified body (Phil. 3:21) now and forever it dwells.
