Speaking of Christ, Philippians 2:6 says, “Who subsisting in the form of God did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped.” The Greek word translated “subsisting” denotes existing from the beginning; it implies Christ’s eternal preexistence. The word “form” refers to the expression, not the fashion, of God’s being. It is identified with the essence and nature of God’s person and thus expresses His essence and nature. This refers to Christ’s deity. According to this verse, Christ is equal with God.
In Colossians 2:2 Paul speaks of “the mystery of God, Christ.” Here we see that Christ is the mystery of God. Embodied in Christ is all that God is and has. As the mystery of God, Christ is the embodiment, definition, and explanation of God. All that God intends to do is related to Christ.
The word “mystery” in Colossians 2:2 may be interpreted as meaning story. As the mystery of God Christ is the story of God. As the embodiment of God, the effulgence of God’s glory, and the express image of God’s substance, Christ, the mystery of God, His story, defines, explains, and expresses God.
God is a mystery. Furthermore, God has a history, a story. Although God is eternal, He also has a history. Of course, to say that God has a history is to speak in human terms for our understanding. What is the history of God, the story of God? God is infinite and eternal, without beginning or ending. In the beginning, in eternity past, God had a good pleasure, the desire of His heart. Based on this good pleasure, which is the desire of His heart, God made a plan. The biblical term for this plan is purpose. God is purposeful; He has an eternal purpose based on His good pleasure. This purpose is to have a group of living beings to be His corporate expression. According to His good pleasure, God created the heavens and the earth and all the billions of items in the universe. Therefore, God accomplished the work of creation. Christ is the story, the history, of God. This means that Christ is not only God Himself—He is also God’s history. God’s history refers to the process through which He has passed so that He may dispense Himself into His chosen people.
The fact that Christ is the mystery of God indicates that He is not simple. On the contrary, He is immeasurable and mysterious. To be sure, God is not simple. He is unlimited, infinite, eternal. How, then, could Christ, the mystery of God, be simple? As the mystery of God, Christ is the immeasurable, infinite, and eternal God.
God Himself is a mystery, and Christ is the mystery of this mystery. Since Christ is the mystery of God, if we know Christ, we know God. But if we do not know Christ, we do not have the way to know God. We may say that Christ is the key that opens up the way into God. When we have Christ, God is open to us. Christ as the mystery of God is the explanation, interpretation, and definition of God. Through Him we know God and even are brought into God.
Christ is the Son of God. His being the Son of God implies the expression of God, the issue, or the coming out, of God. Concerning God’s existence, Christ is the complete God as God’s embodiment. This means that as far as existence is concerned, Christ is the very God. But concerning God’s issue, His coming out, Christ is the Son of God. There is an important difference between Christ as the embodiment of God and as the issue of God. Christ as the embodiment of God is related to His existence, whereas Christ as the Son of God is related to the coming out, the issue, the expression, of God.
John 20:31 says, “These have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.” This verse indicates that the purpose of the Gospel of John is to testify that Jesus is the Christ (1:41; 4:25, 29; 7:41-42) and the Son of God (1:34, 49; 9:35; 10:36). Christ is the title of the Lord according to His office, His mission. The Son of God is His title according to His person. His person is a matter of God’s life, and His mission is a matter of God’s work. He is the Son of God to be the Christ of God.
In Matthew 16:16 Peter, receiving a revelation from the Father, declared, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” We have seen that the Christ, the anointed One of God, refers to the Lord’s commission, whereas the Son of the living God, as the second of the Triune God, refers to His person. His commission is to accomplish God’s eternal purpose through His crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, and second advent, whereas His person embodies the Father and issues in the Spirit for a full expression of the Triune God.