Colossians 3:10-11 says, “The new man...where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all and in all.” In the old man there are many different races, nationalities, cultures, and statuses. To consider that we or others in the church are of a certain race or nationality is to have the concept of the old man. Ephesians 4:23 says, “Be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” We need the new mind of the new man rather than the old mind of the old man.
Ephesians 2:15 says, “Abolishing in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances, that He might create the two in Himself into one new man, so making peace.” This verse reveals that on the cross Christ created one new man of two peoples, the Jews and the Gentiles. Thus, the new man is not individual but corporate. In the whole universe there is only one new man, not many new men. This one new man is the church, the Body of Christ.
In the one, unique, corporate new man there is no race, nationality, culture, religion, or anything natural. In the new man Christ is all persons. Therefore, as members of the new man, we are Christ. The apostle Paul said, “To me, to live is Christ” (Phil. 1:21). Paul lived Christ, because in the new man Christ is all. The word all in Colossians 3:11 refers not to all things but to all persons, for the first part of the verse does not name different kinds of things but different kinds of persons. Christ is the one person in the new man.
In the new man there are no persons other than Christ. The new man is one man, and it is impossible for one man to have many persons. Therefore, in the new man there is only one person. This person is Christ. Our old man has been buried (Col. 2:12). Our old man cannot be in the new man and should remain in the grave. Only one person can be in the church—Christ. This is difficult for the natural mind to comprehend, but it is the clear revelation of the Bible.
Christ is so much. Many items of Christ are revealed in the Bible, and most Christians lack a full vision of Christ. He is our portion, the image of the invisible God, the One in whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily, the reality of all positive things, and the unique person in the new man. We should never think that we fully know Christ. No matter how many years we have been a Christian, we need to know more of Christ.
This Christ who is so much is also our life (3:4). Christ is our life today and our hope for the future. Colossians 1:27 says, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Christ as our glory is our hope for the future. This Christ is wonderful. He is many items, yet He is our life.
The Bible reveals that Christ is our life, but we need to consider what life is. Our words and actions prove that we have a physical life. We are living persons. The function of all the parts of our body shows that we have life. Nevertheless, life is abstract and difficult to define. The spiritual life, the divine, eternal life of God, is altogether mysterious, abstract, intangible, and invisible yet real and living. Life may be compared to electricity. Electricity is real and powerful, yet we cannot see it. Electricity is transmitted into buildings through wires. Without these wires, electricity could not be realized and applied. The current of electricity flows by the transmission of the wires. Spiritually, there are two “wires” that transmit Christ as the heavenly electricity to us. These wires are the Bible and the Spirit. In order to have electricity in a house, we must first install the wires, which make the electricity real and practical. In order for Christ to be transmitted into our being, we need the wires of the Word and the Spirit. The Word without and the Spirit within transmit Christ into us.
Regrettably, many Christians do not read the Bible for weeks or even months at a time. If we do not touch the Word and the Spirit, we cannot touch Christ, and we will be spiritually weak and poor. Christ is God’s rich provision. However, no matter how rich Christ is, if we do not “switch on” the heavenly transmission by touching the Word and the Spirit, we will remain apart from Christ. We need to worship God that He has made us the partakers of Christ as our rich portion and that He has given us two means of transmission to receive this rich portion.
Our great heritage is the Bible without and the Spirit within. This inheritance is much more valuable than any material possession. We have the Word and the Spirit, and we need to use them every day.