In this book we want to consider one thing: how to enjoy the Lord. There is nothing as vital or as basic to our Christian life and to the church life as the real, practical enjoyment of Christ. This enjoyment is not Christ in doctrine or in knowledge, but Christ in life, in the Spirit, and in reality. He is a living Person for us to deal with.
Colossians 1:12 says, “Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you for a share of the portion of the saints in the light.” In the King James Version the word “portion” is translated as inheritance, but portion is the proper meaning of the Greek word. Christ Himself is the portion of the saints. God has given Christ to us as a gift (John 3:16), and this gift is our portion. After I had been a Christian for several years, I knew that Christ was my Savior (Acts 5:31), Lord (Acts 2:36), and life (Col. 3:4). However, I did not realize that Christ was the portion of the saints. Christ as the portion of the saints is not so simple or small. As our portion He is related to God, the creation, and the new creation. The new creation is the church as the Body of Christ. Christ is the image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15). God is invisible (John 1:18; 1 Tim. 1:14-17; 6:16), yet Christ is the image, the very expression, the explanation, and definition, of the invisible God. Without Him, we cannot know God or see God.
Christ is not only the image of the invisible God, but also the Firstborn of all creation (Col. 1:15). This means that He is the first item of all creation. As the Firstborn, He has the first place, the preeminence, in all of the creation. Verse 16 says, “Because in Him were all things created in the heavens and on the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or lordships or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and unto Him.” “In Him” means in the power of Christ’s Person. All things were created in the power of what Christ is. All creation bears the characteristics of Christ’s intrinsic power. “Through Him” indicates that Christ is the active instrument through which the creation of all things was processed. Finally, “unto Him” indicates that Christ is the end of all creation. All things were created for His possession. The entire creation now subsists together in Christ (v. 17) and it will be His inheritance.
The portion of the saints includes Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God. Colossians 1:19 reads, “For in Him all the fullness was pleased to dwell.” The fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him bodily (Col. 2:9). He is the very embodiment of God, thus, God is embodied within Him and expressed through Him. At this point, we must check with ourselves: How much do we daily enjoy Christ as such a portion? How much do we enjoy Him as a portion with God embodied in Him or as a portion with God expressed through Him? Do we enjoy Him to such an extent?
Christ as our portion is many other items in the book of Colossians such as the Head of the Body, the Firstborn from among the dead (1:18), and all in all in the new man (3:11). As the Firstborn from among the dead, He is the first one resurrected from among the dead. Thus, He is the first one in God’s new creation, in resurrection. He is not only the Head of the Body, but He is also everything within the new man. He is the life of the saints today and their hope of glory for the future (3:4). Colossians 3:3 also says that our life is hidden with Christ in God.
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