We have spoken about the surpassingness of Christ, the transcendence of Christ, and the glory of Christ. Now we come to the riches of Christ. In the New Testament this is a central subject and an important revelation. Many of today’s Christians, however, have never seen this revelation. Many people have been Christians for years, but they have never heard the term the riches of Christ. However, Ephesians 3 clearly speaks about this matter.
I have treasured the book of Ephesians since I was young, and I have read commentaries on this book which were written by others, but I never saw that anyone pointed out the central subject of “the riches of Christ.” In the past, because no one saw this or led us to see this, I was like a blind man who saw nothing and gained nothing. It was not until many years later that one day the phrase in Ephesians 3:8, the unsearchable riches of Christ, shone on me and jumped up at me. This phrase is not only the riches of Christ; it is even more the unsearchable riches, the immeasurable riches, of Christ. The emphasis on the word unsearchable here is not on the mysteriousness but on the quantity or measure. The riches of Christ are unsearchable and immeasurable.
What are the riches of Christ? First, the riches of Christ are the reality and contents of the gospel. Ephesians 3:8 says, “To me...was this grace given to announce to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ as the gospel.” According to this verse, we see that the riches of Christ are the reality and contents of the gospel. Without the riches of Christ, the gospel is empty. The reality of the gospel hinges on the riches of Christ. The riches of Christ are the contents of the gospel. Paul did not say that God gave him this grace to announce to the Gentiles Christ’s forgiveness of sins as the gospel. The forgiveness of sins is only one item of the unsearchable riches of Christ. The gospel which many people preach today is just one item out of the thousands of items, and that item is the forgiveness of sins. That by itself is not the unsearchable riches; the reality and contents of the gospel make up the riches of Christ.
Today our gospel preaching is the preaching of Christ. To preach Christ is to tell people who and what Christ is. From stanzas 2 and 3 of the Chinese Hymns, #403, we can find at least fourteen items of the riches of Christ. [The English version of this hymn, Hymns, #542, contains twelve items.] First it says, “O the riches of my Savior, / All-embracing....” Then it goes on to list these riches: life, light, wisdom, power, healing, peace, joy, complete redemption, full salvation, justification, sanctification, release, resurrection power, and transcendence, for a total of fourteen items. The Chinese Hymns, #388 [an abridged version of the English Hymns, #510] speaks even more of Christ’s riches. Christ is the Lamb of God, the Sun of Righteousness, the tree of life, the fountain of life, the Priest, the Prophet, the King, the Savior, the Mediator, the Physician, the Shepherd, the Counselor, the Head, our Brother, our Father, our God, our Lord, our Teacher, our Beloved, our Friend, life, power, wisdom, righteousness, holiness, redemption, peace, joy, hope, comfort, glory, light, and way, for a total of thirty-three items. Never think that this Jesus Christ whom you have heard, believed in, and received is that simple. He is too marvelous and very rich. His riches are the reality and contents of the gospel.
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