Colossians 3:4 says, “When Christ our life is manifested, then you also will be manifested with Him in glory.” Galatians 2:20a says, “I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” Then 4:19 says, “My children, with whom I travail again in birth until Christ is formed in you.” Philippians 1:20b says, “But with all boldness, as always, even now Christ will be magnified in my body, whether through life or through death.” Verse 10 of chapter three says, “To know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” All these verses show us that Christ is our life and our living.
The reality of the church is Christ, and spiritual reality is also Christ. Without Christ, a person has neither the reality of the church nor spiritual reality. Through all our spiritual experiences-whether believing in the Lord and being saved, being baptized into the Lord, or breaking bread in remembrance of the Lord-we contact and gain Christ Himself. If a person believes in the Lord yet does not gain Christ, his believing is in vain. If a person is baptized yet is not united with Christ, his baptism also is empty. If a person breaks bread in remembrance of the Lord yet does not gain and enjoy the Lord once again, his remembrance is worthless in the eyes of the Lord. This is because true remembrance of the Lord is to receive the Lord into us that we may gain Him and enjoy Him. When we render worship and service to the Lord, we should gain and enjoy the Lord Himself.
The entire spiritual living and work of a Christian must be the experience of Christ Himself. On the surface it seems that Christ wants us to worship Him, serve Him, and work for Him. In other words, it seems as if He wants us to do something for Him. In actuality, however, He wants us to enjoy Him, experience Him, and gain Him. If a person really knows what it means to preach the gospel, while he is preaching, he will be experiencing Christ, gaining Christ, and enjoying Christ. Although he is preaching the gospel to others, and although his gospel preaching is for the Lord, in the process of his preaching he will be enjoying, experiencing, and gaining Christ.
Colossians 3:4 says, “Christ our life.” This reveals how intimate the relationship between Christ and us is. When we say that a certain thing equals our life, it means that we regard that thing as something important, something closely related to us. Christ is our life. He is not only the object of our believing, the reality of our baptism, and the content of our bread breaking, but He is our life. Our life before God is Christ Himself.
However, most Christians’ knowledge concerning Christ as life is far off. Many Christians think that after a person is saved, all his problems before God are related to the matter of improving his behavior. Since he is saved, all his problems before God would be dealt with if he could improve his behavior after his salvation. For example, before a certain person is saved, his living may be loose, his conduct poor, his morality below standard, his character questionable, and his reputation bad. After this person is saved, however, he naturally thinks that since he has become a Christian, his responsibility before God is to improve his behavior, conduct, and character. Therefore, he begins to focus on improving his behavior.
We absolutely acknowledge that after a person is saved, his character should be noble, his behavior should be proper, and his conduct should be upright. Please remember, however, that after a person is saved and becomes a Christian, God’s demand on him is much higher than these things. After a person is saved, what God wants is not to improve his behavior nor to uplift his morality but to change his life. This means that God does not demand a mere improvement in morality from a formerly poor one to a good one. God requires not only a change in the outward living but also a change of the inner life.
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