In this message we shall see more concerning what Christ is in His person to the believers.
To the believers Christ is the all-inclusive One with the unsearchable riches. In Ephesians 3:8 Paul speaks of the unsearchable riches of Christ. The riches of Christ are what Christ is to us. As God, He is the Father, the Son, the Spirit, the Lord, the Christ. As man He is the Apostle, the Shepherd, the Forerunner, the Captain of our salvation. There are countless aspects of the riches of Christ, for He is the reality of every positive thing in the universe. For example, Christ is the real gravity. Without Him, we would drift away. As the One with the true holding power, Christ upholds the entire universe (Heb. 1:3). Because all positive things signify Christ, when He was on earth He could use so many things as illustrations of Himself. Using a door as a picture of Himself, He could say, “I am the door” (John 10:9). He is also the real light, life, breath, water, food, clothing, and dwelling place.
The riches of Christ also include both human virtues and divine attributes. Christ is the real love, patience, and forgiveness. Apart from Christ we cannot love, be patient, or forgive. But when we have Christ, we have the uplifted human virtues and also certain of the divine attributes.
As believers, we need to know and experience the unsearchable riches of Christ, which are for the producing of the church as His expression. This takes place through the divine dispensing of Christ into the believers. The church is produced not by teaching nor by organizing but by the dispensing of Christ. The more Christ is dispensed into us, the more life we have, the stronger life we have, the richer life we have, and the more uplifted the church life becomes. The riches of Christ produce the church through our experience and enjoyment of Christ. On Christ’s side it is a matter of dispensing; on our side it is a matter of experience and enjoyment. When we experience and enjoy the Christ who is dispensed into us, we become part of the proper church life. By absorbing the riches of Christ we become the Body of Christ as His fullness to express Him. Therefore, the Body of Christ is constituted of the riches of Christ that have been enjoyed and assimilated by us.
The unsearchable riches are the fullness of the Godhead (Col. 2:9). How all-inclusive and extensive these riches are! The very fullness of the Godhead has become the unsearchable riches of Christ to be dispensed into us for our experience and enjoyment.
It is significant that Paul’s word concerning the unsearchable riches of Christ is found in the book of Ephesians. If we are to know the real significance of these unsearchable riches, we need to consider the context of the whole book of Ephesians. We may regard these riches merely as things such as peace, joy, and rest. However, if we touch the depths of Ephesians, we shall see that the unsearchable riches of the all-inclusive Christ are much more profound than joy, peace, and rest. We certainly do not despise these things. However, we may consider them too much according to our human understanding and need, not realizing that the unsearchable riches of Christ refer to something much more profound. We cannot say that joy, peace, and rest are unsearchable. The word “unsearchable” in Ephesians 3:8 should cause us to realize that the unsearchable riches of Christ must refer to matters that are profound, far beyond our understanding.
Home | First | Prev | Next