Scripture Reading: Col. 1:27-29; 2:2-4, 6-8, 16-18; 3:10-11
The book of Colossians reveals Christ in a very extensive way. This extensive revelation is much greater than all that most Christians have seen of Christ. Christians realize that Christ is God and that He became a man, lived on earth, died on the cross for our sins as our Redeemer, was buried, was resurrected on the third day, ascended to heaven, and has been enthroned as the Lord and Head of all. Now Christ is the sovereign Lord of lords and King of kings. One day He will come back to rule over the earth and to set up His kingdom. A great many books have been written concerning all these points. Of course, such a general revelation of Christ is true, but it is narrow. It does not match the extensive revelation of Christ found in Colossians.
According to the Bible, Christ is extensive, and the revelation of Christ is also extensive. Like the universe, Christ is immeasurable. For this reason, the revelation regarding Christ is without limit. In Ephesians 3 Paul speaks of the breadth, length, height, and depth. Christ is the breadth, length, height, and depth of the universe. Since He is so extensive, how could we be content with a narrow revelation of Him? We are foolish if we limit ourselves to a narrow revelation of Christ.
Certain people have advised me not to go beyond the general theology of today’s Christianity. They recommend that I simply preach and teach in a general way. More than thirty years ago, I saw that Christ is the life-giving Spirit, and I was burdened to minister this to others. Some intimate friends were offended and began to warn me in love and eventually to oppose me. Some admitted that the Bible reveals that Christ is the Spirit. Nevertheless, they told me that I should not teach this, in order to keep from offending other Christians. I replied, “Since you admit that the Bible reveals that Christ is the Spirit, please give me the liberty to minister on this matter. You may be afraid of Christianity, but I am not. If Martin Luther had maintained an attitude like yours, how could the Reformation have taken place? The Catholic Church held the concept of salvation by works. Luther, however, saw that salvation is not by works, but by faith. And he was bold to declare this according to the Bible.”
We should not be held back by the narrow view of Christ held by many Christians. Christ is exceedingly extensive; He is unlimited. The Bible even speaks of “the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Eph. 3:8). Although Christ’s riches are unsearchable, many Christians limit Him by their theology and teachings. They have only an elementary understanding of Him. Christ, the Savior in whom we believe, is not limited. He is inexhaustible, all-inclusive, limitless. No one can say how great He is. Since He is without limitation, the revelation concerning Him must also be without limit. In this matter the book of Colossians is crucial. Without this book, it would be difficult to realize that the revelation of Christ is unlimited and extensive.
In 1970 some opposing ones in Hong Kong rose up to declare that the Christ in whom we believe is the Creator, but to deny that He is also a creature. They were confident that they were right, and they condemned us for saying that Christ is both the Creator and the first among the creatures. I asked them how Christ could be a man if He were not a creature. Is man not a creature? If Christ were not a creature, how could He have a body of flesh and blood? How could He have been nailed to the cross if He were only the divine, spiritual Creator? It is very dangerous to have just a little knowledge. It keeps us from seeing the extensive revelation of Christ in the Scriptures. One reason the book of Colossians was written was to present such an extensive revelation of Christ.
When the book of Colossians was written, Asia Minor was a cultural melting pot. In Asia Minor there was a blending of Greek culture and Jewish culture, in particular of Greek philosophy and Jewish religion. Through Paul’s ministry, churches had been established in that region. It was very difficult for these churches to withstand the invasion of Jewish religion and Greek philosophy. The church in Colosse was like an island in the ocean of Jewish and Greek culture. Eventually, the cultural tide swept into the church and pervaded the church life. Hence, the church was permeated with Jewish concepts and Greek philosophical ideas. In particular, a form of Gnosticism was brought into the church life. According to Gnosticism, material things are intrinsically evil. There were various regulations concerning the handling of material things. Because the church in Colosse was pervaded by such philosophical ideas, Christ was replaced, and the saints did not live by Him. Instead, they lived by their philosophical concepts.
To confront the Gnostic concept that matter is evil, Paul put forth a most extensive revelation of Christ. Whereas the Gnostics claim that material things are inherently evil, Paul pointed out that all things were created in Christ, through Christ, and unto Christ and that they are now subsisting in Christ. Paul was bold, and his teaching meant the death of Gnostic philosophy. He boldly pointed out that all things, including animals and reptiles regarded by Jews as unclean, were created in Christ, through Christ, and unto Christ. Furthermore, all these things are now subsisting in Christ. What a shock this must have been to the Jewish mentality, which had been trained to distinguish the clean from the unclean. Remember Peter’s reaction to the vision that he saw in Acts 10. When Peter saw the sheet containing all manner of wild beasts and creeping things and heard the voice telling him to kill and eat, he said, “Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” Nevertheless, according to Paul’s word in Colossians, all these things were created unto Christ and subsist in Christ.
Many scientists recognize that in the universe there is some kind of power that holds all things together. This holding power, which is the hub, the center, of the universe, is Christ. Because Christ is this holding power, all things, including snakes, scorpions, and frogs, subsist in Christ. Without Christ, the universe and everything in it would collapse. We are upheld, not by the earth, but by Christ. Our existence is maintained by Christ in whom all things are held together.
Paul presented such an extensive revelation of Christ in order to help the saints to be free from their cultural concepts. According to Acts 10, in the eyes of God there is no difference between animals and reptiles that are clean and those that are unclean. In his reluctance to obey the voice to kill and eat, Peter was still acting according to his cultural preference. Such preferences cause us to be divisive and make it impossible for us to realize the one new man. In the new man there is no room for Jew or Greek, for circumcision or uncircumcision. There is no room for barbarian or Scythian. In the new man, all the room is for Christ. Christ is all and in all. This means that Christ is every part of the new man and is in every part. The goal of this extensive revelation of Christ is that we would all live Christ. If we live Christ, it will make no difference what kind of food we are served. We would not say, when visiting certain places, that because we are Christians we cannot eat certain things. Such preferences are apart from the living of the new man.
The book of Colossians reveals Christ in an extensive way in order to deal with our culture. Culture is a very subtle and hidden substitute for Christ. We all condemn sin, but we do not condemn culture. Recently the Lord showed me that whereas 1 Corinthians deals with sinful things and Galatians deals with religion and the law, Colossians deals with culture. Philosophy, tradition, and the elements of the world are all aspects of culture. Likewise, the various isms such as asceticism and Gnosticism are aspects of culture. Then I began to pay more attention to the parallel between 1 Corinthians 12:12 and 13, Galatians 3:27 and 28, and Colossians 3:10 and 11. If you read these verses carefully, you will notice that in 1 Corinthians 12:12 and 13 and Galatians 3:27 and 28 there is no mention of barbarians or Scythians. But Colossians 3:11 mentions the circumcision, the uncircumcision, the barbarians, and the Scythians. This is an indication that in Colossians Paul is dealing with culture. The Scythians were the most barbarous of people. According to M. R. Vincent’s comments on 3:11 in his Word Studies in the New Testament, the Scythians offered human sacrifices, scalped and sometimes flayed slain enemies, and even used the skulls of their victims for drinking cups. The barbarians spoken of in this verse included all those other than Greeks and Jews. This is a strong indication that in Colossians Paul is concerned with man’s culture. Even circumcision and uncircumcision, although related to religion, are also related to culture.
Not many Christians throughout the centuries have been able to get fully into the book of Colossians. On the one hand, they have not seen the extensiveness of the revelation of Christ in this book. On the other hand, they have not seen that this book was written to deal with culture. It is important for us to realize that within us the ultimate substitute for Christ is our culture.
By the Lord’s mercy and grace, we in the Lord’s recovery do not care for our culture. Some may think that they are free from culture. But without exception every one of us has his personal and individual culture, a self-made and self-imposed culture. Furthermore, those who have been in the church life for a number of years may have a local church culture. After they came into the recovery and began to meet with the saints in the church, some spontaneously began to conform to the church life. Some refrained from using makeup or going to movies, not because they were living Christ, but because they were conforming to the church life. Some may cut their hair in a certain way for the same reason. Others may testify that they do certain things because they love Christ and the church. However, it is one thing to love Christ and another thing to live Christ. It is possible to cut your hair because you love Christ without living Christ in this matter. Probably very few saints in the Lord’s recovery attend movies. Why is it that they do not go to movies? Is it because they love Christ and the church, or is it because they live Christ? We should be able to say, “The reason I do not go to movies is that I live Christ. Because Christ does not do this, I do not do it either. Christ is my life within and my living without. I live by Christ, not by conforming to the church life.” We all should be able to declare that we do not have any regulation or conformity — we only have Christ. We should contact Him unceasingly and live in oneness with Him. He lives in us, and we live in Him. In this way we and Christ are one. We do certain things or refrain from doing certain things not merely because we love the Lord, but because we are living Him.
Even those who love the Lord very much and seek Him live much more by culture than by Christ. If you analyze your daily living, you will probably discover that most of the time you live not by Christ, but by culture. Some may not pray at all for a period of weeks. However, because they love Christ and the church, they still come to the meetings. Is this a kind of living that is the living by Christ? Surely not. Such a living is according to culture, perhaps even local church culture, but not according to Christ.
It is quite possible that the most cultured and refined people are those in the local churches. Many have become very refined through their years in the church life. The church life is the best cultural refinery. I have no doubt that the best husbands and wives are to be found in the local churches. Many can testify that their married life has been greatly helped by their years in the church life. However, even our good married life may be due much more to the church life than to living Christ.
The matter of losing our temper may be used to illustrate how the church life may refine us. Perhaps you are a person with a quick temper. But after you have been in the church for a number of years, you may find it much more difficult to lose your temper. The reason is that the atmosphere of the church does not encourage anyone to lose his temper. Thus, you are kept from losing your temper by the atmosphere of the church life, not by your living Christ.
The Lord Jesus now wants to confront the hidden frustration caused by our culture. We must admit that we do not live Christ very much. We are frustrated from living Christ not mainly by sin or the world, but by our virtues and our refined human living. The very refinement of our human life hinders us from living Christ. Day by day we live much more by our refinement than by Christ. The Apostle Paul could say, “To me to live is Christ” (Phil. 1:21). We, however, cannot say this as long as we live mainly by our culture, including the culture of the church life, and not by Christ. The church life culture has pervaded the local churches.
My purpose in pointing out the culture in the church life is not to give ground to dissenting ones to criticize the church life. I appreciate the church life very much, and I can testify that there is no better place to live Christ. Nevertheless, in these days the Lord is speaking to us about culture so that we may be delivered out from even the highest culture in order to live Christ in an absolute way.
In this message I am especially burdened to point out the fact that we all have a self-made and self-imposed culture. This culture is a substitute for Christ. Probably you do not realize how strong your self-made culture is. This culture separates us from others and keeps us from being built up with them. Our culture may be like a steel cell, in which we are confined. We all have such a strong self-made and self-imposed culture. Certain saints may be excellent and very precious. Nevertheless, they are full of self-made culture. For example, a certain brother may be frank and not at all political. This frankness, however, may be a matter of culture, not of Christ. Others may be very kind and gentle; they never offend anyone. This also may be an aspect of their culture. We all have our own culture. If others live according to our culture, we are happy. But if they do not live according to our culture, we may be offended.
A brother and his wife may have difficulty living in oneness because they have different cultures. The brother expects his wife to live according to his culture, and the wife hopes that her husband will live according to her culture. This difference of cultures becomes a source of trouble in their married life. As one with more than fifty years’ experience in married life, I can testify that the happiest married life comes about when neither one expects the other to live according to his culture. But when each party makes demands on the other, there will be difficulty. Thus, the problem is that we all have our own culture and expect others to live by it. This self-made culture is a great frustration to the experience of Christ. The most hidden and subtle substitute for Christ is our culture.
In the past I have often spoken of the problems caused in the church life by opinions. Recently I heard that in a certain place some sisters were strongly opposed to the piano, but equally strong in favor of guitars. Such opinions come from our culture. Culture is the source of opinion. If our culture has been dealt with, we shall not have opinions about pianos or guitars. We shall care only for Christ. To be without opinion means to be without culture. If you hold on to your culture, it will be very difficult not to be opinionated. Your culture causes you to be opinionated. I am one very strong in my opinion. But throughout the years I have been dealt with by the Lord. Now it does not matter to me whether we have a piano, guitars, neither, or both. Likewise, it does not matter to me what kind of food the saints eat. However, if we have culture instead of Christ, surely we shall care much about this kind of thing. How we need the Lord’s salvation! The most hidden and subtle frustration to living Christ is our culture. This stronghold of culture within us must be torn down by the Lord. Then we shall have no culture, only Christ. In various situations and circumstances we shall no longer have opinions according to our culture; we shall care only for Christ. If others want to play the piano or guitar, we shall not have any feeling about it. If they do not use any instruments, we shall have no feeling about that either. Because we have been rescued from our culture, we shall care only for Christ and for living Christ.
The way to be free from our self-made and self-imposed culture is not to deliberately try to drop our culture. If we do this, our efforts to drop our culture will become another kind of culture, an anti-culture culture. We need to see that the way to be free from culture is simply to continually live Christ in spirit. We all have been constituted with culture according to our race and nationality and even according to the church life. The church life now plays an important role in our culture. We must condemn any culture that replaces Christ. Our need is to live Christ, to live by this all-inclusive Person in our spirit.
