To pursue Christ that we may gain Him as the excellent Christ (Phil. 3:8-14) is another way to receive, experience, and enjoy Christ. Christ is not only the all-inclusive Christ but also the excellent Christ. Sometimes our living and behavior is good but not excellent. We must be excellent by enjoying the excellent Christ. The way to have the excellent Christ and live the excellent Christ is to pursue Him. Paul said that he pursued Christ (v. 12). The Greek word for pursue is the same word as for persecute. When he was Saul, Paul persecuted Christ, but after being saved, Paul pursued Christ.
We need to "persecute" Christ, to force Him to do something and not let Him go. Jacob wrestled with God (Gen. 32:24-30). He forced God to bless him, so God did it, and Jacob became Israel, the prince of God. It is true that we must always be submissive, believing that everything is under God's sovereignty and that all things work together for our good. In this sense we do not need to force God to do anything for us. However, every truth has more than one side. This is illustrated by the four Gospels. The four biographies of Christ present Him in four different ways, as the King (Matthew), the Slave (Mark), the man (Luke), and God (John). On the one hand, we need to learn how to be submissive, suffering whatever happens to us and worshipping the sovereign Lord. On the other hand, we must exercise our spirit to command the Lord. We may say, "Lord, we are too barren. We command You to produce some fruit for us." This is one of many ways to experience and enjoy Christ.
The way to receive, experience, and enjoy Christ is also by being empowered in Christ that we may be able to do all things. In Philippians 4:12-13 Paul said, "I know also how to be abased, and I know how to abound; in everything and in all things I have learned the secret both to be filled and to hunger, both to abound and to lack. I am able to do all things in Him who empowers me." All things in verse 13 refers to the six items in verse 8—the things that are true, the things that are dignified, the things that are righteous, the things that are pure, the things that are lovely, and the things that are well spoken of. Paul could carry out the high virtues in human life not merely by the One who empowered him but in the One who empowered him. To do all things in Christ is to enjoy Christ and experience the dispensing of Christ into us.
To partake of Christ as the God-allotted portion of the saints (Col. 1:12) is a rich way to receive, experience, and enjoy Christ. Colossians tells us that Christ is our God-allotted portion. When the Israelites entered the good land, each family was allotted a portion of the land. We, the New Testament Israelites, have all received the all-inclusive Christ as an allotted portion from God. This portion is the image of God, the Firstborn of all creation, the One in whom, through whom, and unto whom all things were created, and the One in whom all things cohere (vv. 15-17). He is also the Head of the Body, the beginning, Firstborn from the dead, and the One in whom all the fullness was pleased to dwell (vv. 18-19). Such a One is our portion. Like the Colossian believers, we must learn to forget about the angels and all the "isms," such as Judaism, Gnosticism, and asceticism, and partake of the central and universal Christ as our portion.