Scripture Reading: Eph. 3:8b, Eph. 3:17a; 2 Cor. 2:10; 10:1; 11:10; 8:9; 12:9; 13:14
Ephesians 3:8 speaks of the unsearchable riches of Christ, and 3:17, of Christ making His home in our hearts. This indicates that the very Christ who is making His home in us is the Christ with the unsearchable riches. The unsearchable riches of Christ are for our enjoyment. Day by day and even hour by hour we need to enjoy these marvelous, wonderful, immeasurable, unlimited, and all-inclusive riches.
It is difficult to list all the items of the riches of Christ. If these items were few in number, it would be easy for us to point them out. But Christ’s riches are beyond our ability to speak of them or to enumerate them. In order to get into the riches of Christ in Ephesians, it will be helpful to consider Paul’s experience of these riches as revealed in the book of 2 Corinthians.
The book of 2 Corinthians deals with grace, in contrast to 1 Corinthians, which deals with gifts. Paul concludes 2 Corinthians with the words, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all” (13:14, Gk.). Because 2 Corinthians is a book of grace, in the concluding verse Paul mentions grace first. Grace is deeper and more subjective than gifts. Gifts are outward, but grace is inward. Furthermore, gifts are related to what we do, but grace is related to inward enjoyment.
It is significant that it is in 2 Corinthians, not in 1 Corinthians, that Paul says that we are transformed as we behold the glory of the Lord with an unveiled face (2 Cor. 3:18). To be gifted is one thing, but to be transformed is another. Although many Christians pay attention to gifts, not many concentrate on transformation.
Do you prefer to be gifted or to be transformed? Before you answer this question, consider the example of Balaam’s donkey (Num. 22:23-33). Suddenly this donkey spoke to Balaam. How miraculous for a donkey to speak a human language! However, the donkey was not transformed into a human being. There was the gift of speaking, but there was not any transformation.
Transformation takes place slowly through the growth in life. It transpires so slowly that it may seem as if nothing is happening. For example, to a mother, her young child may look the same every day. Actually, the child is gradually growing.
In 2 Corinthians 4:7 Paul says, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” The treasure in the earthen vessels does not refer to gifts. Rather, it denotes something precious that is hidden. The vessel is outward, but the treasure is inward. Through the process of transformation over a period of time, the treasure takes over the vessel and swallows it up.
Another difference between 2 Corinthians and 1 Corinthians is that 2 Corinthians speaks a great deal about suffering, but there is no need for suffering in order to have spiritual gifts. It was not necessary for Balaam’s donkey to suffer to have the ability to speak a human language. Transformation, on the contrary, requires a certain amount of suffering. For this reason, 2 Corinthians speaks not only of the grace of Christ, but also of the sufferings of Christ. In 2 Corinthians 1:5 Paul says that “the sufferings of Christ abound in us.” The grace of Christ with the sufferings of Christ produces transformation. Transformation is not a matter of our gifts or abilities; it is a matter of what we are in our inward being.
In 2 Corinthians 4:5 Paul declared, “For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord.” Although Paul did not preach himself or write an autobiography, occasionally he found it necessary to disclose certain aspects of his experience of Christ. In 2 Corinthians there are a number of such disclosures by which we can see how Paul enjoyed particular aspects of the riches of Christ. Later on in this message we shall consider these particular aspects.
Certain aspects of the riches of Christ are very great. Some of these are the fact that Christ is God, the Creator, the Son of God, the Redeemer, the Savior, the Father, and the life-giving Spirit. Other major aspects are related to incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, descension, and indwelling. Furthermore, there are the aspects of Christ as life, love, power, holiness, and righteousness. All these are great items, and, to some degree at least. Christians do know them. However, Christians may have just a doctrinal knowledge of these riches of Christ without the experience of them. May the Lord have mercy on us so that we may not only know the various aspects of the riches of Christ, but also experience them and enjoy them.
Romans 10:12 gives us a clue as to how we may enjoy the unsearchable riches of Christ. In this verse Paul says, “The same Lord of all is rich to all who call upon Him.” The riches of Christ should not just be studied — they should be enjoyed. We do not enjoy them by meditating upon them. To meditate is to exercise the mind. In the New Testament we are not told to meditate. (The use of the word meditate by the King James Version in 1 Timothy 4:15 is not an accurate translation; the Greek word is better rendered “attend to.”) If we desire to experience the riches of Christ, we should call on the name of the Lord Jesus. Many of us can testify that such calling is much sweeter and more enjoyable than meditating. The more we call on the name of the Lord Jesus, the more we taste His sweetness.
Some criticize our practice of calling on the name of the Lord Jesus. According to them, it is merely a psychological phenomenon with no spiritual value. If calling on the Lord’s name simply produces a temporary psychological experience, then the same experience could be achieved by calling on the name of some other person. However, such is not the case. When we call on the dear name of the Lord Jesus, we enjoy His reality and taste His sweetness. Remember, the Lord’s name is backed up by His Person. Thus, when we call on the name, we contact the Person, the reality of whom is the Spirit. For this reason, when we call on the name of the Lord Jesus, we receive the Spirit.
The name of the Lord Jesus is often associated with the Spirit in the Bible. For example, 1 Corinthians 6:11 says, “But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” Jesus is the name, and the Spirit is the Person. Whenever we call on the name of Jesus, we experience the Person of the Spirit. Because this Person is real, living, near, and available, we experience Him and enjoy Him when we call on Him. The Lord Jesus is rich to all who call upon Him. What a wonderful way to enjoy the unsearchable riches of Christ!
The book of 2 Corinthians reveals the kind of life lived by the Apostle Paul. Paul lived by taking Christ as his life and person. He was constantly enjoying Christ and experiencing Him. In 2 Corinthians 2:10 he says that he forgave “in the person of Christ.” Paul did not forgive in himself, that is, in his own person. When he forgave something, he forgave it in the person of Christ. This reveals that Paul lived in the person of Christ.
Everything we do should be done in the person of Christ. This means that when a brother loves his wife, he should love her in the person of Christ. Moreover, when a sister goes shopping, she should shop in the person of Christ. As long as we do a particular thing in the person of Christ, there is no problem.
It is rather difficult to render accurately the Greek word for person in 2 Corinthians 2:10. It may be rendered face or presence. The Greek signifies the area of the face around the eyes. This part of a person’s face is the index of his feeling and inward being. By looking at this part of a person’s face, we know how he feels about a certain thing. When Paul said that he forgave in the person of Christ, he was saying that he forgave in the index of the Lord’s inward being.
We may experience something of this with our husband or wife. For example, someone may invite me to his home for dinner. By looking at my wife’s eyes, I can tell by the expression through the index of her eyes whether or not she agrees with accepting this invitation. At other times, my wife may check the expression that I convey through my eyes. This is what the Apostle Paul was doing in 2 Corinthians 2:10 as he forgave in the index of the Lord’s inner being. He did not care for himself or for his own feeling. He cared only for the Lord’s thought and feeling as made known through the index of His eyes. What a living the Apostle Paul had! He was a person always living in the presence of the Lord, always looking at the index of His eyes. Hence, whatever he did was the Lord’s doing, and whatever he said was the Lord’s speaking. Paul was a person who lived by taking Christ as his person. Paul’s old person had been nullified. It was no longer he who lived — Christ was the person living in him. This was the reason Paul said he forgave in the person of Christ.
Many Christians talk about spiritual gifts, but they know nothing about living in the person of Christ. How different are these Christians from the Apostle Paul! In 2 Corinthians 2:10 Paul seemed to be saying, “I do not forgive according to my personal feeling or preference. I forgive according to the index of Christ’s inner being. I know that the Lord wants me to forgive. By looking at the index of His eyes I know what is in His heart. Therefore, I forgive in the person of Christ.”
This is the kind of life that builds up the Body of Christ. We may do some great work, but we may not accomplish anything as far as the building up of the Body is concerned. Only those who live in the person of Christ can build up the Body. Such a living is not a matter of power or behavior. It is altogether a matter of life, of living in the person of Christ. This is one way in which Paul experienced the riches of Christ.
In 2 Corinthians 10:1 Paul says, “Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ.” Paul did not say that he imitated the meekness and gentleness of Christ. To imitate Christ is one thing, but to live in Christ’s meekness and gentleness is another. Paul enjoyed these aspects of Christ’s unsearchable riches and they also should be our enjoyment today. As we contact others, we should not try to imitate Christ. Rather, we should contact them in the meekness and gentleness of Christ.
In order to enjoy the meekness and gentleness of Christ, we need to be in the Spirit, for all the riches of Christ are in the all-inclusive Spirit. When we turn to our spirit, contact Christ as the all-inclusive Spirit, and take Him as our person, His meekness and gentleness become our food, nourishment, strength, and satisfaction. There is no need for us to desperately attempt to restrain ourselves or to manufacture meekness or gentleness. The meekness and gentleness of Christ are our spontaneous enjoyment. We can actually feed on these aspects of Christ’s riches. When we take Him as our person, we spontaneously enjoy His meekness and gentleness. Instead of self-effort, we simply enjoy whatever Christ is. This was the living of the Apostle Paul.
In 2 Corinthians 11:10 Paul says, “The truth of Christ is in me.” Within Paul there was something true and real of Christ. Because he enjoyed the truth of Christ, His reality, he knew that what he was relating to the Corinthians was of the truth of Christ. This is a further indication that Paul lived not by the self, but by taking Christ as his person.
Paul did not boast that he had any truth of himself. On the contrary, he boasted of the truth of Christ. We should learn from this never to boast of ourselves. We need to forget what we are and not speak of ourselves. Instead, we need to live according to Christ and behave by the truth of Christ. As we contact others in the meekness and gentleness of Christ, we need to speak as the truth of Christ is in us.
In 2 Corinthians a number of verses speak of the grace of Christ. For example, 2 Corinthians 8:9 says, “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.” By grace, Christ lowered Himself and left His position for our sake. He gave up His riches so that we may become rich. We can do such a thing only through the grace of Christ. If we take His grace as our enjoyment, spontaneously we shall do the same thing Christ did. Actually, we shall not be the ones who do this, but it will be Christ living in us.
In chapter twelve Paul asked the Lord three times that the “thorn in the flesh” might depart from him (vv. 7-8). However, the Lord said, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness” (v. 9). Therefore, Paul could say, “Most gladly therefore will I rather boast in my weaknesses so that the power of Christ might overshadow me” (v. 9, Gk.). The Lord told Paul not to care about the thorn or about his sufferings, but to enjoy His sufficient grace. Paul realized in his experience that Christ’s strength was made perfect in his weakness.
Today many complain of their weakness or lack of ability. However, they need to see that in their weakness Christ’s strength is made perfect. Their weakness gives them an opportunity to enjoy the strength of Christ.
In 2 Corinthians 12:10 Paul went on to say, “Therefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong” (Gk.). Paul was strong because Christ’s strength was made perfect in his weakness.
We have pointed out that the book of 2 Corinthians ends with a blessing: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all” (13:14, Gk.). Today many pastors pronounce these words as a formal benediction. Paul here was not giving such a benediction. Rather, he was telling the saints that they could partake of the riches of Christ and enjoy them.
The grace of Christ issues out of the love of God. This means that the love of God is the source of the grace of Christ, and that the grace of Christ is the expression of the love of God. Furthermore, this grace is in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Through the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, the grace of Christ with the love of God becomes our enjoyment. This enjoyment is just what we need today.
If we all experience and enjoy the riches of Christ, we shall have much to speak concerning Christ whenever we come together. As we fellowship with others in the Lord, we shall speak of what Christ is to us. We shall not speak about doctrine or gifts, but about the genuine experience of Christ and the real enjoyment of the riches of Christ. The more the riches of Christ are dispensed into us, the more we shall be sanctified and metabolically transformed. As a new element discharges the old element, we shall be nourished, cherished, and, eventually, glorified. The goal of the Lord in His recovery is to bring His people into this experience. After the time of Paul, the enjoyment of the unsearchable riches of Christ was lost to a large extent. Praise the Lord that this experience is being recovered!
