God’s goal is Christ, and Christ is also God’s means. God uses Christ as the means to reach the goal, which is Christ. We can know and see God’s goal particularly from the books of Ephesians and Colossians. In this message we would like to consider God’s goal from these two books. There is one difference between these two books: Ephesians shows us that according to the economy of the fullness of the times, God wants to head up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth (1:10); Colossians shows us that God has not only made Christ to be Head over all things, but God has made Him all and in all (1:18; 3:11b). Colossians shows us that God’s goal is Christ, and His means is also Christ. God’s goal is for Christ to be Head over all things. In order to arrive at this, God must make Christ to be all. He must be all and, at the same time, He must be in all. Only then will all things be headed up, for if Christ is all and if Christ is in all, all things will be headed up spontaneously.
Please remember that in God’s eyes, there are not many things. In God’s eyes, there is only Christ. In God’s eyes there is no matter and no thing; in God’s eyes there is only Christ. What we ordinarily think of as matters and things do not exist in God’s eyes. We may consider that there are many matters and things in this world. According to our worldly view, there are matters and there are things. But in God’s eyes, Christ is everything. There is no matter, and there is no thing. Christ is all the matters, and Christ is all the things. When the day comes that Christ is in all matters and in all things, God’s eternal purpose will be fulfilled.
I hope that you can see that Christ has headed up all things in Himself. This does not begin in the future when God’s eternal purpose is fulfilled; it begins today through the church.
Tonight I will not go too deep; I will only touch this matter briefly. God has ordained that all matters and things will be headed up in Christ in the future. How can all things be headed up? God says that Christ is all things. He is all, and at the same time, He is in all. When this happens, we will only see Christ in the world; we will not see matters and things anymore, because all matters and all things will have passed away.
Today in the church, God is starting to show us that Christ is all matters and things. When the church sees this, it will begin to live in the realm of the spirit. If the eyes of the church are set only on matters and things, it has not seen Christ yet.
The matters I am referring to are not the matters of the world, and the things I am referring to are not the things of the world. The matters and things I am referring to are spiritual matters and things.
I would like to point out a very interesting thing here. The Gospel of John is the deepest Gospel; it is also the last Gospel written. It is the last book written in the New Testament. Many Epistles and books were written before the Gospel of John was written. John wrote his Gospel last. He wrote many things which are not found in the other Gospels. At the end he said that our understanding of Christ should be the same as God’s understanding of Christ.
What we see in this book is not God’s requirement for a lamb, or His gift of the bread of life. What we see is not just God’s provision of a way, a truth, or a life. It is not a matter of the Lord having the power to restore man’s life; it is not a matter of resurrection. It is not a matter of the Lord Jesus being able to give light, restore sight, and lead those who follow Him out of darkness. In the whole Gospel, we see only one great fact. This fact is that Christ is all things. The Gospel of John says that He is the light of the world; it does not say that He gives us light. It says that He is the bread of life; it does not say that He gives the bread of life. It says that He is the way; it does not say that He can show us the way. It says that He is the truth; it does not say that He can teach us a truth. It says that He is the life; it does not say that He can give us life. After Lazarus died, the Lord did not tell Martha and Mary that He had the power to resurrect their brother. Rather, He said that He is the resurrection.
Please remember that the bread of life is a thing, light is a thing, the way is a thing, truth is a thing, and life, resurrection, and the lamb are all things. But in Christianity, we do not find individual things. In Christianity, there is only Christ! Christ is what it is all about.
Today we have to see one thing before the Lord. We have to realize that in our experience there are not many matters and things. In our experience, there is only Christ. He does not give us the light; He is our light. He does not lead us to a way; He is our way. He does not give us life; He is our life. He does not teach us to understand a truth; He is the truth. Brothers, do you see the difference? All that God has given us is Christ Himself.
One day I told a group of people a spiritual fact. As I was speaking, many eyes began to stare at me. I said, “Let me tell you one crucial fact: God’s Christ is God’s matters. God does not have matters; God only has Christ! He has not given us light; He has given us Christ. He has not given us food; He has given us Christ. He has not given us a way, a truth, and a life; He has given us Christ. God’s Christ is all things. Apart from Christ, God does not have any thing.”