In the church Christ is every member of the new man. Colossians 3:11 says, “Where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, freeman, but Christ is all and in all.” The word “where” referring to the new man in Colossians 3:10 means in the new man. There is no natural person in the new man. Furthermore, there is no possibility, no room, for any natural person. There cannot be Greeks, who are for philosophical wisdom, and Jews, who are for miraculous signs (1 Cor. 1:22). There cannot be circumcision, those who observe Jewish religious rituals, and uncircumcision, those who do not care for Jewish religion. Furthermore, in the new man there cannot be barbarian, Scythian, slave, or freeman. A barbarian is an uncultured person, the Scythians were considered the most barbarous people, the slaves were those sold into slavery, and the freemen were those who had been freed from slavery. No matter what kind of person we may be, as far as the new man is concerned, we must regard ourselves as nobodies. In the new man there is room only for Christ, not for any kind of natural person, because Christ replaces with Himself the natural life of every member of the new man.
According to Colossians 3:10 and 11, in the new man Christ is all and in all. He is all the members of the new man and in all the members. He is everything in the new man. He is every part of the new man and in every part. Actually, He is the new man. In the new man Christ is the centrality and universality.
The word “all” in verse 11 refers to all the members who make up the new man. Christ is all the members and He is in all the members. For this reason, in the church there is no room for us. There is no room for any nationality. Because Christ is all and in all in the new man and we are parts of the new man, then we are parts of Christ. Each member, each part, of the new man is Christ. No doubt, the new man is a corporate man, the church, Christ’s Body. Although many different kinds of people make up the church, all are parts of Christ. They are no longer the natural person. Christ ieveryone in the new man, and He is in everyone in the new man. It is crucial for us to see that in the new man Christ is all and in all.
In the new man Christ is every member. Concerning this, Paul says that Christ is all. This means that in the new man there is no place for any natural person. There is no place for regional, cultural, or national distinctions. There is no room for any race, nationality, culture, or social status. In the new man there is room only for Christ. Christ surely is all the members of the new man. For this to be a reality, we must take Christ as our life and live Him, not ourselves. If Christ is the living of all the believers, then only He will be in the new man. All the members, whatever their nationality may be, will live Christ. Then in a way that is real and practical Christ will be all the members of the new man. Because we all live Christ, not ourselves, Christ will be all of us, every member of the new man.
In Colossians 3:11 Paul says not only that Christ is all but also that He is in all. On the one hand, Christ is all the members, and on the other hand, He is in all the members. Since Paul says that Christ is all, why is there the need for him to add that Christ is in all? If Paul had not said that Christ is in all, only that He is all, we might think that in the new man Christ is needed and that we are not needed. We should not think that, because Christ is all the members in the new man, we are not needed. The Bible does say that in the new man there is no place for the natural person, because Christ is all the members. Nevertheless, Paul says that Christ is in the members. The fact that Christ is in the members of the new man indicates that the members still exist. When we take Christ as our life and live together with Him, we are one with Christ and Christ is us. Simultaneously, Christ is in us. Therefore, it is true to say that Christ is both in us and that He is us. We are parts of the new man with Christ in us. We continue to exist, but we do not exist without Christ; we are indwelt by Christ. Therefore, in the new man Christ is both all the members and is in all the members.
The desire of God’s heart is to have the new man, which is constituted of the Christ who is our life (Col. 3:4). If we take Christ as our life and live Him, the new man will be expressed to satisfy God’s desire. Ultimately, the Christ we experience and enjoy becomes the constituent of the new man. In this new man, the Body, the church, Christ is all and in all.
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