Scripture Reading: Col. 3:11, 15-16
In this message we shall give a general word regarding the extensive revelation of the all-inclusive Christ. Many of us have seen the all-inclusiveness of Christ, but have not seen the extensiveness of Christ. The book of Colossians emphasizes Christ’s extensiveness. Paul’s purpose in writing this book was to show the extensive revelation of Christ.
Christ is universally extensive. No scientist can tell us the dimensions of the universe. In Ephesians 3 Paul speaks of the dimensions of Christ as the breadth, length, height, and depth. Like the universe, Christ is immeasurable. Such a Christ is our universe. The immeasurable Christ spoken of in Eph. 3 is not only the all-inclusive Christ; He is also the extensive Christ, the One who is universally extensive.
In presenting a revelation of the extensiveness of Christ, the book of Colossians uses a number of unique expressions. For example, in 1:12 we see that Christ is the portion of the saints. The Greek word rendered portion means an allotment. After the children of Israel entered into the good land, the land became their lot, their portion. The good land flowing with milk and honey was an all-inclusive type of Christ. As our good land, Christ is our portion, the portion of the saints.
This portion is also the image of the invisible God (1:15). In 2 Corinthians 4:4 Paul uses the term “the image of God”; however, in that verse he does not say that Christ is the image of the invisible God. According to 1:15, the invisible God has a visible image.
In verse 15 the term “Firstborn of all creation” stands in apposition to “image of the invisible God.” That there is no conjunction connecting these terms indicates that these terms are synonymous. The image of the invisible God is the Firstborn of all creation, and the Firstborn of all creation is the image of the invisible God.
According to the principle in the Bible, the first in a certain category often includes all the other items in that category. The book of Revelation says that Christ is the Alpha and the Omega. This does not mean, however, that Christ is only these two letters and not all the letters in between. Because He is the first letter, He is also all the other letters. The principle is the same with respect to the slaughter of the firstborn in the book of Exodus. The firstborn of the Egyptians represented all the Egyptians. Likewise, when the Bible says that Christ is the Firstborn of all creation, it implies that Christ includes every item of the creation. This concept is confirmed in Colossians 2, where Paul says that such things as eating, drinking, feasts, new moons, and Sabbaths are shadows and that Christ is the body, the substance, of these shadows. Based upon this illustration, we may go on to say that Christ is our clothing, transportation, housing, and everything to us. But this is altogether different from equating every material thing with Christ. That is pantheism. According to the Bible, we can say that Christ is our food, drink, clothing, and dwelling place. But we cannot turn this around and say that our literal food, clothing, and houses are Christ. That would be the grossly heretical doctrine of pantheism. Nevertheless, we have the biblical ground to say that Christ is the reality of every positive thing in the universe: He is the door, the light, the life, the Shepherd, the pasture. All these aspects of Christ are either mentioned or alluded to in the Gospel of John. Therefore, we can say that Christ is everything to us, the reality of all positive things.
In 1:16 and 17 Paul says, “Because in Him were all things 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. And He is before all things, and all things subsist together in Him.” Here we see that all things were created in Christ, through Christ, and unto Christ. Furthermore, all things are now subsisting together in Christ. The One in whom, through whom, and unto whom all things were created and in whom they subsist is the image, the expression, of God. Thus, God is expressed in the creation of all things in Christ.
In 1:18 we see that Christ is not only the Firstborn of all creation, but is also the Firstborn from among the dead. This refers to God’s new creation. The old creation came into being by God’s creating activity, whereas the new creation came into being through the resurrection of Christ. Christ is the first both of the old creation and of the new creation, which is the church, the Body of Christ. In the church as God’s new creation, Christ is everything. According to 3:10 and 11, Christ is in all the members of the new man and is all the members.
In 1:19 and 20 Paul continues, “For in Him all the fullness was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile all things to Him, making peace through the blood of His cross — through Him, whether things on the earth or things in the heavens.” The fullness of God was pleased to dwell in Christ and to reconcile all things to Him. Elsewhere in the New Testament we see that reconciliation involves God’s chosen people, but here we see the reconciliation of all things to God. All things were created in Christ, through Christ, and unto Christ. But through man’s fall, all these things were lost. Therefore, there is the need for all things to be reconciled to God in Christ. Through Christ’s redemption, the reconciliation of all things has taken place.
Notice that verse 20 does not say “all people,” but says “all things,” referring to all things which, according to verses 16 and 17, were created in Christ and now subsist in Him. Through Christ’s redemption, all these things were reconciled to God. These things include not only human beings, but also all the creatures.
When the book of Colossians was written, the Gnostic concept of the intrinsic evil of matter had a strong influence in Colosse. According to this concept, some thought that everything related to the material world was evil. But Paul pointed out that the very things the Gnostics regarded as evil were among those created in Christ. Furthermore, they are included in the things which have been reconciled to God through the death of Christ. All things have been reconciled to God, “whether things on the earth or things in the heavens.” What an extensive Redeemer Christ is, and what an extensive reconciliation He has accomplished!
In speaking of reconciliation here, Paul’s intention is to emphasize the fact that Christ is the Redeemer not only of mankind, but of all things. Consider the picture of the ark built by Noah. The ark not only saved the eight members of Noah’s family, but also saved animals of every kind. In Acts 10 Peter’s concept of God’s salvation was narrow because of the influence of Judaism. Likewise, our concept of Christ’s work of reconciliation has been limited by the influence of traditional teachings. When I was young, I learned that Christ is our Redeemer. But one day I was troubled by these verses in Colossians which speak of the reconciliation of all things. I asked myself if this included the creatures. Yes, Christ’s extensive reconciliation includes all such things.
In 1:17 Paul says that all things subsist together in Christ. Scientists recognize the fact that there is some kind of power in the universe which holds everything together. This scientific fact fits Paul’s concept of all things subsisting in Christ. Christ is the center that holds everything together, the hub that holds all the spokes. Everything in the universe, living and non-living, subsists in Christ as this hub. If we did not have Christ as the holding center, everything in the universe would collapse. Apparently we exist on this globe, the earth, but actually we are existing in Christ. All things subsist in Him. This is a further aspect of the extensiveness of Christ.
Another aspect is found in 2:16 and 17, where Paul says that eating, drinking, feasts, new moons, and Sabbaths are “a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ.” Paul’s word indicates that Christ is the reality of all positive things. He is our real food, drink, clothing, dwelling place, transportation, sun, moon, and earth. Hence, Paul’s simple word in these verses has tremendous implications. It implies the extensiveness of the all-inclusive Christ.
Then in 3:4 Paul goes on to tell us that this extensive Christ is our life. Although Christ is universally extensive, He is nonetheless our life in a specific and particular way. Praise the Lord that the extensive Christ has become our personal life! Universally, He is extensive. But in our personal experience, He is our life.
Furthermore, in 3:10 and 11 we see that in the church, the new man as God’s new creation, the extensive Christ is all and in all. He is all the members of the new man, and He is in all the members. With 3:11 as our basis, we can say that Christ is all of us. What an extensive, all-inclusive Christ is revealed in the book of Colossians!
In the various books of the New Testament, Christ is revealed for definite purposes. In 1 Corinthians the revelation of Christ is to deal with the problems in the church, problems which included fornication and divisiveness. In the book of Galatians Christ is revealed in contrast to Judaism with the law. Because the Galatians had been distracted to the law and circumcision, Paul showed them that Christ replaces the law, that God’s Son is versus man’s religion. Now in the book of Colossians Christ is revealed as the extensive, all-inclusive One because the saints had been carried away with a cultural blend of Jewish religion and Greek philosophy. This mixture had become very prevailing in Asia Minor and had even invaded the church life and pervaded it. Thus, the revelation of the all-inclusive, extensive Christ is given in order to deal with the problem of culture.
Colossians 3:11, 1 Corinthians 12:13, and Galatians 3:28 are parallel verses. But Colossians 3:11 specifically mentions the circumcision, the uncircumcision, the barbarian, and the Scythian. The terms circumcision and uncircumcision are related to religion, whereas barbarian and Scythian are related to culture. In ancient times those who were uncultured were regarded as barbarians. The Scythians were the most savage of the barbarians. Colossians 3:11 indicates that the purpose of the extensive revelation of Christ in this book is to deal not with sin or with the law, but with culture.
God’s intention is that we as His chosen people become saturated, permeated, filled, and clothed with Christ so that we may live Christ. God wants Christ to be our life and our living, to be everything to us in our daily walk. This is God’s eternal plan and His present economy. However, culture replaces Christ. In His creation of man, God intended to be everything to man: his life, joy, entertainment, provision, protection. But through the fall man lost God and thereby lost the factor which gave meaning and purpose to his life. Therefore, today people live on earth without any sense of meaning or purpose. They have lost God as the factor which gives life its meaning and purpose. Having lost God, man turned to culture as a replacement for God in his living. Every aspect of man’s culture is a replacement for God. Of course, culture, in actuality, is a substitute for Christ. According to God’s ordination, man cannot truly live without Christ. Without Christ, our existence on earth is meaningless and purposeless. Today millions of people are living not by Christ, but by their culture. If they were deprived of their culture, they would have no way to live.
In His salvation God saves us not only from sin, judgment, the lake of fire, the world, and the self; He also saves us from everything which replaces Christ, including our culture. Because culture replaces Christ in a practical way in our daily living, it is hateful in the eyes of God.
What kind of Christ can replace our culture? The Christ who replaces culture is the extensive Christ, not the limited Christ known by most Christians. All real Christians believe that Christ is God incarnated as a man, that He died on the cross for our sins, that He was resurrected, that He ascended to the heavens where He is now sitting as the Lord of lords and King of kings, and that He will return to earth and establish His kingdom with the believers as co-kings. Although all this is true, it is a narrow, limited view of Christ. Such a limited Christ will not in actual experience become the replacement for our culture. Can such a Christ become our food, clothing, and dwelling? The Christ who can replace our culture and become everything to us is the all-inclusive, extensive Christ.
Although we had lost God, Christ has brought us back, reconciled us, to Him. Now we once again have God as the factor which gives meaning and purpose to our existence. As we have pointed out repeatedly, the book of Colossians was written in order to reveal the extensive, all-inclusive Christ who deals with our culture and even replaces our culture. There is no need for us to observe ordinances about eating — we are eating Christ. We do not need to keep certain days, feasts, or new moons — Christ is our new moon, feast, and Sabbath. Since Christ is ever the same and since He is the reality of every day of the week to us, every day is the same. But if we insist on having ordinances concerning food and days, others will judge us with respect to these things. If we care only for the all-inclusive Christ and live according to Him instead of according to culture, no one will have ground to judge us. Christ is the meaning and purpose of life. We all need to see an extensive revelation of such an all-inclusive Christ.
Recently, after hearing a message on how culture replaces Christ in our experience, a brother testified strongly that he wanted to drop all his culture. However, it is not possible for us to do this. If we try to do it, we shall simply develop another type of culture, a culture-dropping culture. But should someone say that there is no need to drop culture, this concept will lead to yet another type of culture. Instead of trying to deal with our culture, we should simply live Christ.
Just as culture has become the replacement for God, so Christ can become the replacement for culture. We have seen that after man lost God through the fall, man’s culture replaced God in his life. Christ’s redemption not only redeems us from so many negative things, but also redeems us from culture. Instead of trying to be free from our culture, we should simply be reconciled to Christ and take Him as the factor which gives our life meaning and purpose. We should pray, “Lord Jesus, from now on I will take nothing other than You as my goal and purpose. Lord, You only are my standard and the factor which gives my existence meaning and purpose. I don’t want to live out anything other than Yourself. Lord, I want to live You and You alone.” When we live Christ, we are spontaneously delivered from culture, and automatically the Christ by whom we live replaces culture. This is the revelation in the book of Colossians.
We must admit that even we in the Lord’s recovery, who love the Lord very much and seek Him, actually live much more by our culture than by Christ. For example, certain sisters may refrain from using makeup not because they are living Christ, but because they are conforming to the common practice in the church life. Some may claim that they do not use makeup because of their love for Christ and the church. This may be true. However, to love the Lord Jesus is one thing, and to live Christ is another. We may do many things because we love the Lord and yet, in those very things, we may not actually live Him.
In the church life it is possible to live by certain habits or customs, in other words, by a certain culture developed in the church, instead of by Christ. For example, a certain brother may feel that he should not attend movies. However, what keeps him from going to the movie theater is not that he is living Christ; it is that he is living according to a certain practice common in the church life. We need to have the assurance that our reason for not doing certain things is that we live Christ. We need not have a rule about staying away from movies. We should simply have the experience of living Christ in the church. If we truly live Christ in the church, then when we refrain from doing a certain thing, it will not be because we regard that thing as wrong; it will be because we are living Christ. Our need today is not only to love Him, but also to live Him.
It is common for husbands and wives to exchange words with each other. When a brother’s wife expresses a concept different from his, he may begin to argue immediately and refuse to give in. In the early years of my married life, my attitude was to never give in when my wife expressed a concept different from mine. My practice was to take my position as the head and expect my wife to be submissive. Although I did not put this into words outwardly, it was nonetheless my attitude and practice.
Later I learned that, as a leading one in the church and as a minister of the Word, it was not right for me to argue with my wife. Therefore, I tried to suppress my anger and not to argue. Because I loved the Lord, I tried my best not to quarrel with my wife. However, I was not living by Christ. Instead, I exerted a tremendous amount of self-effort.
Today I can testify that, through the Lord’s grace, I no longer try to suppress myself. I simply live Christ. As Paul said, “To me to live is Christ” (Phil. 1:21). Christ is my culture, my goal, and the meaning and purpose of my human life. In my daily walk all the room is for Christ. For this reason, there is no room for sin, the world, the flesh, or the self. Since my whole being is for Christ, there is also no room for culture. I simply live Christ, and not a limited Christ, but an extensive Christ, the One who fills all and is in all.
Christ descended from the heavens to the earth and then, in the interval between His death and resurrection, He descended into Hades. In resurrection He ascended from Hades to earth and then, in His ascension, from the earth to the heavens. As a result of such a universal traveling, Christ fills all things. Thus, He is the extensive One. As such an extensive One, He is our life, and we may live Him. In the book of Colossians Paul presents such an extensive Christ in order to impress us with the fact that this Christ should replace our culture. Do not try to drop your culture. All your efforts to do so will be in vain. Simply live Christ, and Christ will replace your culture with Himself.
We should not treasure any type of ism, for all isms have to do with culture. Instead of living according to an ism, we should live Christ, a living Person, who is the portion of the saints, the image of the invisible God, the Firstborn of both the old creation and the new creation, the One in whom and unto whom all things were created, and the One who is our life in the new man. Such an extensive Christ is the replacement for our culture.
In the book of Colossians, Paul’s concern is not mainly with sin, the world, or even with the self. His concern is with culture, which becomes the factor that replaces God to give meaning and purpose to life. Now that Christ has reconciled us to Himself, we should live Him and allow Him to replace every aspect of our culture. Therefore, in Colossians we see the revelation of the extensive Christ. We need to take this Christ as the meaning, purpose, and goal of our life; we need to live by Him.
