The Christ who is the intrinsic constituent of the Body of Christ is the embodiment of the processed Triune God (Col. 2:9), with His unsearchable riches (Eph. 3:8). Colossians 2:9 says, “In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” According to biblical usage, the significance of the word “fullness” surpasses that of the word “riches.” The fullness in 2:9 refers not to the riches of God but to the expression of the riches of God. What dwells in Christ is not only the riches of the Godhead but the expression of the riches of what God is.
“The fullness of the Godhead” refers to the entire Godhead, to the complete God, including the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Because the Godhead comprises the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, the fullness of the Godhead must be the fullness of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. As the embodiment of the fullness of the Godhead, Christ is not only the Son of God but also the entire God. The fact that all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ bodily means that the Triune God is fully embodied in Him. Furthermore, the fact that all the fullness dwells in Christ bodily implies the physical body which Christ put on in His humanity. It indicates that all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ as the One who has a human body. Before His incarnation, the fullness of the Godhead dwelt in Him as the eternal Word, but it did not dwell in Him bodily. After He became incarnate, clothed with a human body, the fullness of the Godhead began to dwell in a bodily way, and in His glorified body (Phil. 3:21) now and forever it dwells.
As the embodiment of the processed Triune God, Christ is the all-inclusive One with the unsearchable riches. In Ephesians 3:8 Paul says, “To me, less than the least of all saints, was this grace given, to preach to the nations the unsearchable riches of Christ as the gospel.” Paul preached not the doctrines but the 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. The riches of Christ also include both human virtues and divine attributes. Therefore, Christ is the real love, patience, and forgiveness.
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 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 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. 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 Body is the result, the issue, of the experience and enjoyment of the riches of Christ.
The unsearchable riches of Christ are actually the fullness of the Godhead. With the Godhead there is the fullness; with Christ the fullness becomes the unsearchable riches. How all-inclusive and extensive these riches are! The fullness of the Godhead has become the unsearchable riches of Christ to be dispensed into us for our experience and enjoyment.
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