It is very difficult for the believers to be completely emptied in order to give the indwelling Spirit all the room in our spirit and in our mind, emotion, and will. The Spirit as the consummation of the processed Triune God indwells us and desires to fill us. However, we give Him too much restriction and limitation. He does not have the freedom to occupy every part of our inner being. Therefore, if we would be filled in our spirit with the Spirit, we need to clear away all preoccupations from our spirit and allow the indwelling Spirit as the consummation of the Triune God to occupy us in full. If we are filled in our spirit with the Spirit, the issue will be a proper Christian life, church life, individual life, and family life.
As believers, we should not only be filled in our spirit with the processed Triune God but should also let the word of Christ dwell in us richly. In Colossians 3:16a Paul says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” The word of Christ is the word spoken by Christ. In His New Testament economy, God speaks in the Son, and the Son speaks not only directly in the Gospels but also through His members, the apostles and prophets, in Acts, in the Epistles, and in Revelation. All these may be considered His word.
The word of Christ includes the entire New Testament. We need to be filled with this word. This means that we should allow the word of Christ to dwell in us, to inhabit us, to make home in us.
The Greek word rendered “dwell” in Colossians 3:16a means to be in a house, to inhabit. The word of the Lord must have adequate room within us so that it may operate and minister the riches of Christ into our inner being. Furthermore, the word of Christ must dwell in us richly. The riches of Christ (Eph. 3:8) are in His word. When such a rich word inhabits us, it must inhabit us richly. The word of Christ should have free course within us. We should not simply receive it and then confine it to a small area of our being. On the contrary, the word of Christ should be given a free course to operate within us. In this way the word will inhabit us and make home in us.
The verb “dwell” in Colossians 3:16a indicates that the word of Christ is actually a person-Christ Himself. Because the word can dwell in us, make home in us, it must be a living person, for it is not possible for something that is not living to dwell in a place or make its home there. We would never say, for example, that a table dwells in our home. Rather, we, as living persons, dwell in our home. Therefore, to let the word of Christ dwell in us indicates that we should let a living person-Christ Himself-dwell in us.
As we come to the written word day by day, we should sense that Christ as the living, personified Word is waiting for us and desires to dwell in us richly. Whenever we come to the written word we should have the conviction deep within that we are contacting the Lord Himself as the living Word.
As we receive the word of Christ, even Christ Himself, we should give the word the freedom to make its home in us. If a certain place is to become our home, we must have the freedom to make all necessary arrangements. If we want to keep a certain item, we may do so. But if we want to throw something else away, we are free to do that as well. If we do not have this kind of freedom, it is not possible for us to make that place our home. In like manner, if the word of Christ is to make home in us, we must give it the full liberty, freedom, and right. We need to pray, “Lord, I offer my whole being to You and Your word. I give You access to every part of my inner being. Lord, make my inner being a home for Yourself and Your word.”
In Ephesians 5:18 we have the charge to be filled in our spirit with the Triune God, and in Colossians 3:16, the charge to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly. Colossians is focused on Christ as our Head and life. The way for Him to exercise His headship and to minister His riches to us is through His word. Hence, the emphasis is on the word of Christ. Ephesians is concerned with the church as the Body of Christ. The way for us to live a normal church life is to be filled in our spirit unto all the fullness of God. Hence, the emphasis is on the Spirit. In Ephesians both the Holy Spirit and our spirit are emphasized again and again. Even the word is counted as the Spirit (Eph. 6:17). In Colossians the Holy Spirit is mentioned only once (1:8), and the human spirit is also mentioned once (2:5). In Ephesians the word is for washing away our natural life (5:26) and for fighting against the enemy (6:17), whereas in Colossians the word is for revealing Christ (1:25-27) in His preeminence, centrality, and universality. This word, like the Spirit, is ready to dwell in us, occupy us, and fill us, but we need to let the word dwell in us richly.
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