In Colossians Paul reveals that Christ is not only our life but also our everything. Christ is all and in all (v. 11), and He is the reality of every positive thing in the universe. Paul says that food, drink, the feasts, the new moon, and the Sabbath are all shadows, the body of which is Christ (2:16-17). The shadow is not what is real; the body of the shadow is what is real. Thus, as the body of all the shadows, Christ is the reality of every positive thing in the universe. In a sense, the food we eat and the water we drink are not real. These things are merely shadows of the reality, which is simply Christ. Thus, if we do not have Christ, we are hungry and thirsty and have nothing (John 4:13-14; 7:37; 6:33, 35). Daily we are surrounded by light, but the light we see is a shadow, pointing to the One who is the real light and reminding us that we need the real light. Christ is the real light (9:5); if we do not have Him, we are in darkness (8:12). We may have many articles of clothing and may dress very well, but we must realize that our clothing is not our real covering. Our real covering and clothing are Christ Himself. We need to put on Christ; otherwise, we are naked in the eyes of God (Rom. 13:14; Gal. 3:27; Rev. 3:17; cf. Col. 3:10-11). If we do not have Christ, outwardly we may appear healthy and well-dressed, but in reality we are poor, hungry, naked, and in darkness. God’s intention in making Christ our portion is that Christ would be everything to us.
Since Christ is the reality of every positive thing, and since it is God’s desire that Christ would be everything to us, we need to experience Christ in every way. For example, we need to experience Christ as our clothing. I can illustrate this with an experience that some of my co-workers and I had. One time a number of us were invited to a feast. When we arrived at the feast, we noticed that everyone was dressed in a very fancy way except for us. As servants of the Lord, we did not like to dress in a worldly way, but everyone around us was dressed in such a way. At that time I had an inward feeling, and I said within myself, “All of you here think that you are dressed in a fancy way, but you must realize that my clothing is much better than yours. My clothing is much better because I am covered with Christ. While I am here among you, I am clothed with Christ, and I am expressing Christ.” This was a practical experience of Christ as my clothing.
Since Christ is our portion, we must apply Him and experience Him practically in every way. How can we do this? How can we experience Christ as everything to us? Nearly every Christian knows that Jesus said that He is the bread of life (John 6:35, 48), but how many Christians know how to experience Christ as the bread of life in a practical way? Some may say that the way to experience Christ as the bread of life is to read and study the Word. This is very close, but we need something further. Others may say that they have experienced Christ as their bread by experiencing a particular verse in the Bible. A sister once told me that several times she had experienced Psalm 23:4, which says, “Even though I walk / Through the valley of the shadow of death, / I do not fear evil, / For You are with me; / Your rod and Your staff, / They comfort me.” This is good, but we need to learn to experience Christ not only in an extraordinary way but also in a very ordinary way.
Most Christians today like to hear things that sound wonderful to them. They like to hear how great the Lord is. However, most do not realize that the Lord desires us to experience Him in a very practical and ordinary way. We can see this desire in His statement in John 6:48, which says, “I am the bread of life.” The day before making this statement, the Lord fed five thousand people with only a few pieces of bread and some fish. After performing this miracle, the people came to Him, thinking, “This One is so wonderful. Let us make Him king.” Faced with such a situation, the Lord seemed to say to them, “I do not want to be a king. I want to be a piece of bread. I want to be the bread of life for you to take. He who eats Me shall live because of Me.” The people viewed the Lord as being very great, but the Lord likened Himself to something very ordinary—bread. From this we can see that the Lord’s desire is that we would experience Him in a very practical and even ordinary way in our daily living. It is precious that the Lord does wonderful things in our lives, but it is even more precious that we can experience Him in a very practical way. Day by day we can take Christ as our food and live by Him.