Colossians 1:12 says, “Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you for a share of the allotted portion of the saints in the light.” What is the portion of the saints spoken of in this verse? Since we have been qualified to partake of this portion, we should consider what it is. If we read the book of Colossians carefully, we will realize that the portion of the saints is Christ Himself. Christ is our portion, and we partake of Him. We need to be clear that in eternity past God the Father predestinated us to partake of Christ and Christ alone. It is God’s intention that we would partake of nothing other than Christ Himself.
It was in keeping with this intention that Paul wrote his Epistle to the Colossians. At the time of his writing, Paul realized that many things other than Christ had come into the churches. Thus, Paul wrote this letter to the believers to reveal to them God’s thought that Christ was meant to be our unique portion and that God has nothing for us other than Christ Himself.
If we carefully read the book of Colossians along with the rest of the Scriptures, we will see that the Christ who is our portion is everything; He is the image and embodiment of God and the center of the entire universe. Colossians 1:15 reveals that Christ is the image of the invisible God. God is invisible; no one can see Him. As the image of God, Christ is the manifestation and declaration of God, the One through whom we are able to see and know God (John 1:18). Christ is also the One in whom all the fullness of the Godhead was pleased to dwell bodily (Col. 1:19; 2:9). All that God is and has is in Christ. He is the expression and embodiment of God. Without Christ and apart from Christ, we cannot meet God, touch God, or contact God. If we desire to have God, we must have Christ, because God is in Christ, and Christ embodies God. In addition to being the image of the invisible God and the One in whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells, Christ is the One through whom and for whom the entire universe was created (1:16). All things were made by Christ and for Christ. Christ is also the One in whom all things cohere (v. 17). He is the holding center of the entire universe. The whole universe is like a wheel, and Christ is the hub. A wheel subsists in its hub. If you take away the hub from a wheel, the wheel will simply fall apart. In the same way, if there were no Christ in this universe, everything would fall apart. Christ is the cohering power and center that holds together every human being and the entire universe. Thus, we can see that Christ is everything. To God He is the image and embodiment, and to the universe He is the center. This is the Christ who has been given to us by God to be our portion.
In addition to seeing God’s intention that Christ would be our portion, we need to consider why God desires this. For what reason is Christ our portion? In the book of Colossians Paul reveals that Christ is our portion so that He can be our life and everything. In chapter 3 Paul uses the expression Christ our life (v. 4). We know that everything related to life is quite mysterious. No one, not even today’s scientists, are able to explain what life is. After a person dies, his body appears the same as when he was alive. The only difference is that this body no longer has life within it. No one can explain what life is, but we know that there is such a reality. We also know that our physical life is not the real life, because our physical life is not an eternal life; it lasts for only a short time. Thus, we need the real life, which is Christ Himself. Christ is our life.