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.” The portion of the saints here is the all-inclusive Christ for our enjoyment. The Father has qualified us not to inherit some heavenly mansion, but to have a share in Christ as the all-inclusive portion of the saints. We can boldly declare that Christ is now our all-inclusive portion.
The Greek word rendered “portion” in Colossians 1:12 may also be translated “allotment.” The Greek word here corresponds to the Hebrew word used for the allotment of the good land. After the children of Israel entered into the land of Canaan, the land became their lot, their portion. Each of the tribes was given an allotment of the land. Of course, our portion, our allotment, today is not a physical land in Palestine; it is the all-inclusive Christ. The good land flowing with milk and honey is an all-inclusive type of Christ. As our good land, Christ is our portion, the portion of the saints. How we must thank the Father for giving us Christ as our divine allotment!
Each of the tribes had an allotment of the good land, and the members of each tribe had a share of this allotment. In the same principle, we have a share of the portion of the saints. This means that we all have a share in Christ as the all-inclusive One for our enjoyment.
God’s promise to Abraham with respect to the good land is of great significance (Gen. 12:1). When Paul was writing the Epistle to the Colossians and was speaking of the portion of the saints, he no doubt had in mind the picture of the allotting of the good land to the children of Israel in the Old Testament. Paul used the word “portion” with the Old Testament record concerning the land as the background. God gave His chosen people, the children of Israel, the good land for their inheritance and enjoyment. The land meant everything to them. Today Christ is our portion, our allotment, our everything, just as the land was all things to the children of Israel. The land provided whatever the children of Israel needed: milk, honey, water, cattle, grain, minerals. In writing to the Colossians Paul employed the concept of the all-inclusive land to help us see that today Christ alone is our all-inclusive portion.
As our portion, Christ includes all the other aspects of His person in the divine economy: God’s Anointed, the One having the preeminence in all things, the Head and center of all things, the One who fills all in all, the First and the Last, the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega. Such a Christ is our portion, and we are enjoying Him. All the aspects of Christ in the divine economy are meaningful in and applicable to our daily life, and they all should become our subjective experience and enjoyment.
In God’s economy Christ is not only the portion of the saints; He is also the glory of Israel, God’s chosen people (Luke 2:32). When He was presented to God as a child in the temple at Jerusalem, the old, righteous and devout man, Simeon, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, extolled Him, not only as the light of the Gentiles but also as the glory of God’s people, Israel. In the Old Testament Jehovah God considered Himself the glory of Israel (Jer. 2:11). In His incarnation He was extolled by a Spirit-inspired man as the same One. This indicates that the newborn Christ, as the very Jehovah God, should have been recognized and honored as God expressed among them to be their glory.
Luke 2:25 tells us that the old, righteous and devout Simeon was looking for the consolation of Israel. Christ is not only the glory of Israel outwardly; He is also the consolation of Israel inwardly. Without Him even God’s chosen people do not have the outward glory or the inward consolation. The incarnated Christ is both their glory that uplifts them and their consolation that comforts them. This is all under God’s arrangement in His economy.