Scripture Reading: Col. 1:15, 18; 3:11
In His dealings with the Jewish religionists, the Lord Jesus declared that they were blind (Matt. 15:14; 23:16, 17, 19, 24, 26). In John 12:46 the Lord Jesus said, “I have come a light into the world, that every one who believes in Me may not remain in darkness.” The Lord let the people know that without Him they were in darkness. Furthermore, in John 8:12 He declared, “I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall by no means walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” The Lord’s word here indicates that anyone who does not receive Him as life will not have any light, but will walk in darkness.
The Gospels indicate clearly that the Jewish religion which was formed and constituted according to God’s Word had become darkness. With this darkness there was an authority, the authority identified by Paul in Colossians 1:13 as the authority of darkness. The Pharisees and priests were under this authority of darkness. In fact, this satanic authority of darkness controlled all of Judaism; it controlled the temple, the priesthood, and even the understanding of the Scriptures. Judaism was altogether under the control of the authority of darkness. In the Gospels this darkness is related not to the Gentile world, but to the Jewish religion, to the religion formed according to the Scriptures.
Even more than the four Gospels, the book of Acts reveals that the Jewish religion had become altogether the authority of darkness under which people were controlled. The Jewish religionists were responsible for casting the apostles into prison and for killing Stephen. Saul of Tarsus was one of these religionists under the control of the authority of darkness. As he was carrying out the will of the authority of darkness through aggressively persecuting those who called on the name of the Lord Jesus, he was confronted by the Lord on the way to Damascus. As Paul testified later, he “saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun” shining round about him (Acts 26:13). Furthermore, the Lord spoke to him, saying, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” (Acts 26:14). Through the shining of this light and the Lord’s speaking, Saul of Tarsus was delivered out of the authority of darkness and was transferred into another realm, a realm of light, which is the kingdom of the Son of God’s love.
According to the New Testament, the Son of God is the expression of the divine life and its embodiment. This means that the kingdom of the Son is a realm of life. The fact that the kingdom into which we have been transferred is the kingdom of the Son of God’s love indicates that this realm of life is in love, not in fear. The kingdom in which we find ourselves today is a realm full of life, light, and love.
Just as the Jewish religion has become a part of the authority of darkness, so the church also has fallen under the prevailing authority of darkness. Degradation began to take place not long after the church had come into existence. In 1 Corinthians we see evil things such as division, fornication, and lawsuits. Colossians, on the contrary, deals not with sinful things, but with religion, observances, ordinances, and philosophy. Although the saints in Colosse did not fall into evil things, they did come under the authority of darkness by allowing the highest products of culture to invade the church.
As he was writing the Epistle to the Colossians, Paul seemed to be saying, “Dear saints at Colosse, before I believed in Christ, I spent years under the authority of darkness in Judaism. But one day I was delivered out of that authority and transferred into the kingdom of the Son of God’s love. Through the preaching of the gospel, you also have been delivered out of the authority of darkness and transferred into the same wonderful realm that I am in. Why then have you gone back to the very things from which you have been delivered? You have returned to the Jewish religion and Greek philosophy. You have once again come under those concepts that used to control your thought and life in the past. This means you are now under the very authority of darkness from which you have been delivered. You have been carried off as a spoil, as a prey. Why do you still observe new moons, Sabbaths, and regulations concerning eating and drinking? Don’t you know all that is the authority of darkness?” Paul knew that the saints in Colosse had again fallen under the satanic authority of darkness.
In the same principle, the Catholic Church, the Protestant denominations, and the various independent Christian groups are to a certain extent under the authority of darkness today. They are in darkness because for the most part they have Christ in name, but not in reality. Christ is the unique light. Apart from Him, there is no light. The reason so many Christians are in darkness is that they do not have Christ in an experiential way. Those in the seminaries may study theology and Christology, but they may not have the genuine experience of God and of Christ. Therefore, they are without light.
Many believers insist that the Bible is full of light. This, of course, is true. But if we do not read the Word in the Lord’s presence, even our reading of the Scriptures will be in darkness. We shall be like the Pharisees addressed by the Lord Jesus in John 5:39 and 40: “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life, and it is these that testify concerning Me; and you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.” It is possible to have the Bible in our hand and yet still be blind and in darkness. The religionists were offended when Christ told them they were blind (John 9:39-41). They thought they were in light because they had the Scriptures in an outward way. But actually they were blind because they did not have Christ, who alone is the light of the world. Any place where the Lord Jesus is not present is under the authority of darkness.
We need to apply this principle to ourselves. Any part of our being or of our daily life that is without Christ is in darkness. If we in the Lord’s recovery do not have Christ experientially and in a practical way in our daily walk, we are in darkness. Do not think simply because you hear so many messages and teachings you are in the light. It is very possible that you are still in darkness.
For example, we may still be under the authority of darkness in our married life. When a brother is exchanging words with his wife, both he and his wife are in darkness. Because they are in darkness, they accuse and blame each other. The same is true when there are arguments between brothers or between sisters. Our experience testifies that whenever we live, walk, and behave in the self, we are in darkness. There is no need to commit some gross sin in order to be in darkness. Simply living according to the self puts us in darkness, for it causes us to be separated from Christ.
We should never think that darkness prevails only in Judaism, in Catholicism, or in the denominations and divisions, but not in us. It is possible that we ourselves may still be under the authority of darkness. Whenever we are in the natural man, not taking Christ as our person and living by Him, we are in darkness. We must remember that He alone is light. He must saturate and prevail in every aspect of our daily living. Otherwise, at least certain parts of our daily walk will not be filled with Christ, and those parts of our life will be in darkness.
Our homes have many rooms. Some rooms may be in the light, whereas others may be dark. The same may be true of our inner being and of our daily living. In certain respects, our life and our walk may be bright, full of light, because Christ occupies the prevailing position there. However, in other parts of our being or in other aspects of our living, we may be closed to the Lord and not allow Him to touch us. Those parts of our life and living that are closed off from Christ are spontaneously in darkness because Christ, the One who is the very light, has no place. Only when Christ occupies every part of us and every aspect of our daily walk can we be wholly in the light and altogether be delivered from the control of the authority of darkness.
The mistake the Colossians were making was that of receiving and following something other than Christ. To accept something in place of Christ is not only to be in darkness, but also to be under the controlling authority of darkness. Anything that is a substitute for Christ — philosophy, religion, character, virtues, concepts, opinions — becomes the authority of darkness to control us. At Colosse, the authority of darkness was Jewish religious observances, pagan ordinances, philosophy, mysticism, and asceticism. Although these things seemed to be good, they were actually the authority of darkness because they replaced Christ. They caused Christ, the light, to be set aside. Therefore, darkness became prevailing once again and controlled the saints in the church. This was the situation in Colosse, and may also be the situation today.
With this as the background, we need to see that Christ is the preeminent and all-inclusive One, the centrality and universality of God. The book of Colossians reveals that Christ is preeminent, that He has the first place in everything. Both in the first creation and in the new creation Christ occupies the first place. In 1:15 we are told that Christ is the “firstborn of all creation,” and in 1:18, that He is the “firstborn from among the dead.” The new creation of God is by resurrection. For Christ to be preeminent in the new creation means that He is the first in resurrection. He is the first both in creation and in resurrection. This means that He is the first in the old creation, the universe, and in the new creation, the church. The universe is the environment in which the church exists as the Body of Christ to express Christ in full. Christ is not only first in the church, the Body, but also first in the environment, the universe. This means that He is first in everything.
Colossians 1:19 says, “For in Him all the fullness was pleased to dwell.” What is the fullness spoken of in this verse? Many would answer that it is the fullness of the Godhead. Although this is correct, here Paul does not modify the word fullness by a phrase such as “of the Godhead” or “of God.” He simply says that all the fullness was pleased, was happy, to dwell in Christ. There is something in this universe known as the fullness, and this fullness is pleased to dwell in the preeminent, all-inclusive Christ.
Many Christians fail to distinguish between the fullness and the riches. When they speak of the fullness of the Spirit, they mean the riches of the Spirit. In 1:19 fullness does not denote the riches of what God is, but the expression of those riches. All the expression of the rich being of God, both in creation and in the church, dwells in Christ. All creation and all the church are filled with Christ as such an expression of God’s riches. Such a fullness is pleased with this. This is pleasant to Christ.
Fullness here means expression. If something has no fullness, it cannot be expressed. But if a thing has fullness, it can be expressed. For example, if I have very little love, my love cannot be expressed. But if my love is full, the fullness of my love will be its expression. In the same principle, the fullness is the expression of all that God is.
In 1:19 Paul speaks of the fullness as the fullness, using no word to modify it. This indicates that he is speaking of the unique fullness. To modify the fullness in any way would imply that it is not unique. In order to preserve the uniqueness of the fullness, Paul did not use a modifier. Hence, the fullness here is simply the fullness.
The fullness, the expression of God, is a person. Many of the personal pronouns in the verses following 1:19 refer to the fullness as a person. This indicates that the fullness is the expression of God, even God Himself. In this fullness the Son is preeminent, for all the fullness is pleased to dwell in Him. Therefore, He must have the first place in the environment and in the church. He is the preeminent One.
He is also the all-inclusive One. Christ is the reality of all the positive things in the universe. If we know the Bible and God’s economy, we shall realize that Christ is the heavens, the earth, the sun, life, light, the star, trees, flowers, water, air, and food. The material things are pictures of what He is to us. Furthermore, Christ is all the divine attributes, such as power, holiness, righteousness, kindness, and love. He is also the human virtues, such as humility and patience. Moreover, He is the church and every member of the church, God’s building and every stone in the building. This means that Christ is you and me.
Some twist our words and falsely accuse us of teaching pantheism. Pantheism is the satanic belief that identifies God with the universe. This is devilish, and we repudiate it without reservation. But according to the revelation of the Bible, we must testify that Christ, the all-inclusive One, is the reality of all positive things. When we say that Christ is you and me, we do not mean that we are God or that we shall ever become God. Likewise, when we say that Christ is the real food (see John 6:55), we do not mean that physical food is God. Such a concept is not only absurd, but also satanic. Those who accuse us of teaching pantheism have never seen the all-inclusiveness of Christ.
As the all-inclusive One, Christ is the centrality and universality of God. This expression was first used by Brother Nee in 1934, at the third overcomer conference held in Shanghai. He pointed out from the book of Colossians that the all-inclusive Christ is the center and the circumference of God’s purpose. Christ is both the centrality and universality of God’s purpose. He is the hub and also the rim. In other words, Christ is all. Again I say that this is not pantheism. It is simply a statement of the fact that Christ is both the center and the circumference of God’s economy.
When I first heard Brother Nee speak of the centrality and universality of Christ, I was greatly surprised. Never before had I heard such a thing. From my experience in the years since 1934 I can testify that Christ truly is the center and the circumference, the centrality and universality of God’s economy. In God’s economy Christ is everything.
The saints in Colosse were wrong in turning to religion and philosophy. Such things are against God’s economy, where there is room only for Christ, the One who is all and in all.
Let us now, in the way of an overall survey, look at Christ in the Gospels, in the Acts, in the Epistles, in Revelation, and then in Colossians. In the Gospels we see that Christ was incarnated to put on the old creation. John 1:14 says that the Word became flesh. Flesh here denotes man of the old creation. Strictly speaking, God did not create the flesh; He created a body for man. But through the fall, sin entered into man’s body and caused it to become flesh. Hence, the flesh in John 1:14 refers to man as part of the old creation. Man, the head of creation, had become flesh. By incarnation Christ became a man and thereby put on the old creation.
Throughout His human living, Christ expressed God. John 1:18 says that no one has ever seen God, but the Son has declared Him. During the thirty-three and a half years of His life on earth, Christ declared God and expressed Him.
When Christ was crucified, He terminated the old creation. If a Jew were asked what happened when Jesus was crucified, he would probably answer that a man named Jesus of Nazareth died on the cross. A new Christian may say that it was his Savior who was crucified. A more advanced Christian may reply that not only was Christ crucified as his Savior, but that he himself also was crucified with Christ. An even more advanced Christian may answer that Christ, the self, Satan, and the world were all dealt with on the cross. However, not even this answer is sufficient. On the cross, Christ crucified sin, Satan, the world, the old man, and the entire creation. Moreover, the law of commandments in ordinances was also crucified there. Therefore, the death of Christ terminated the entire old creation.
According to the Gospels, Christ was resurrected to produce the church, the new creation. He was the one grain of wheat that fell into the ground and produced many grains in resurrection to form the church (John 12:24).
In the Acts we see that Christ has been exalted to be the Head over all things to the church. Acts also reveals that after His exaltation Christ descended as the Spirit to carry out God’s intention. Furthermore, the book of Acts reveals that Christ has been propagated to bring the church into existence.
In the Epistles we see that Christ is our righteousness (1 Cor. 1:30), our life (1 John 5:12), our life supply (Phil. 1:19), our holiness (1 Cor. 1:30), our redemption (1 Cor. 1:30), and our glory (1 Tim. 1:1). All these aspects of Christ indicate that we shall experience a full transformation resulting in glorification.
In the book of Revelation we see that Christ is the testimony of the churches. In the churches we testify only to Christ. Furthermore, in Revelation we see that Christ is the King in the coming kingdom and, ultimately, the center of the New Jerusalem in eternity.
We have seen that in the Book of Colossians Christ is the preeminent One (1:15, 18) and the all-inclusive One (3:11). He is the centrality and universality of God’s economy. In Colossians Paul uses a number of unique expressions to describe Christ, expressions that are not found elsewhere in the Scriptures. This indicates that in Colossians we have the highest revelation of Christ found in the Bible. This book is like Mount Zion, the highest peak among the mountains. We appreciate this Book because, in a unique way, it presents Christ as the preeminent and all-inclusive One, the centrality and universality of God.
