Paul has written at least thirteen epistles. The first group of these epistles starts with Romans and ends with Colossians. Following this section, there is a supplementary group containing 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, and Hebrews.
The first main section of Romans through Colossians deals with Christ and the church. In these epistles we see how Christ must be wrought into us as our life; then we will learn to live by Him, taking Him as our person. It is by this kind of living experience that the church comes into being.
Colossians is the closing book of this section. Actually, it seems that this book should follow Ephesians. Ephesians speaks of the Body, and Colossians speaks of the Head. But in between we have Philippians, which shows us the practical way to have the church life. Then we have Colossians to close out this section about Christ and the church.
Since Colossians speaks about Christ as the Head of the Body, we would expect the book to begin in this way. But first of all, it tells us that Christ is the portion of all the saints. “Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the portion of the saints in light” (Col. 1:12). Praise the Lord that Christ is our portion! This word “portion” in Greek means lot. God did not allocate to us anything but Christ. He is our lot, He is our portion.
I would say that very few Christians realize that Christ is their portion. But we must see that this indwelling Christ is our practical portion. Day by day we must enjoy Him and participate in Him. This verse speaks about partaking. We are not the students, studying about Christ. We are the partakers of the enjoyment of Christ as our portion. This is something of God. God has made us meet to be partakers of the portion of Christ. Do not listen to the lies of the enemy. He would tell us that we are not worthy of Christ. But this verse strongly tells us that we are fully qualified to be the partakers of Christ. This is our portion, and this is our lot.
Following this, Colossians tells us who Christ is. But it does not say that Christ is our Savior. Rather, it says that Christ must be the One that has first place. “And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell” (Col. 1:18-19). Christ is the beginning, Christ is the ending, and Christ must have the preeminence.
All the fulness of God dwells in Him. “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Col. 2:9). We must realize that Christ in the book of Colossians is very much deeper than in the Gospel of Luke. In the Gospel of Luke, Christ is our Savior. But in Colossians we see One who contains all the fulness of the Godhead, and One who must have the preeminence in everything. He is even the mystery of God. “To the acknowledgment of the mystery of God, even Christ” (Col. 2:2b, Gk.). The Christ revealed in this book of Colossians is the mystery of God.
Then we see that we have received such a Christ. “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him” (Col. 2:6). This book does not say that we have received a Savior, but rather that we have received the mystery of God, the One that contains all the fullness of the Godhead. We have received the One who is first in everything. He is our portion.
Chapter three then tells us that this One is our life. “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear” (Col. 3:4a). We could never imagine that our life could be such a person. He is the mystery of God, He holds all the fulness of God, He has the preeminence in everything, and He is our life. This is indeed wonderful!