In 3:10 and 11 Paul speaks of the new man, “where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, freeman, but Christ is all and in all.” This indicates that Christ is the constituent of the new man. The new man is constituted with Christ as his essence and his very element. There was no need for the Colossians to be occupied with natural or cultural differences among the various peoples. In the new man there is room only for Christ. Because Christ is all and in all in the new man, there is no room for the natural man in any way. Christ is every member, and He is in every member. The Christ who indwells us is such a constituent of the new man.
What a Christ we have within us! The Christ who in- dwells us has all the aspects covered in this message. He is the portion of the saints, the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, the firstborn from among the dead, the One in whom God’s fullness dwells, the mystery of God’s economy, the mystery of God, the reality of all positive things, and the constituent of the new man. Although all these aspects of Christ are revealed in the book of Colossians, we did not see most of them because they are not according to our natural concept. What corresponds to our concept is Paul’s teaching about wives submitting to their husbands, and husbands loving their wives. Even without reading the Scriptures, we have concepts about these matters. Instead of taking Paul’s word in Colossians for granted, we should dig into this book in order to discover for ourselves all these aspects of Christ. Then we need to praise the Lord and worship Him according to these aspects. We should say, “Lord, I worship You that You are the portion of the saints. I praise You that You are the image of the invisible God.” How good to worship the Lord in this way!
If we know Christ in all these aspects, the praise we offer at the Lord’s table meeting will be uplifted. I have been attending the meeting for the Lord’s table for more than forty-seven years, and in all these meetings I have listened to the saints praising the Lord. Most of the praises have been on an elementary level. For example, in meeting after meeting the saints may praise the Lord for the blood. This certainly is not wrong. But if we remain on this level, our praise will be shallow. We need to remember the Lord and to praise Him according to the revelation contained in the book of Colossians. We need to use expressions such as those in this stanza from hymn #189 in the hymnal:
Thou art the Son beloved,
The image of our God;
Thou art the saints’ dear portion,
Imparted through Thy blood.
Among all God’s creation
Thou art the firstborn One;
By thee all was created,
All for thyself to own.
At the Lord’s table we need to remember the Lord as the portion of the saints, as the image of God, as the mystery of God’s economy, and as the reality of all positive things. May the Lord enrich our praise!
The all-inclusive Christ who indwells us is the processed God (John 14:8-11, 16-20; Matt. 28:19). He has been processed through incarnation, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection, and now He is in ascension.
As we have pointed out repeatedly, the indwelling Christ is also the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). This Spirit, the all-inclusive Spirit with the bountiful supply (Phil. 1:19), is also the compound Spirit. In Exodus 30:23-30 we have a picture of this compound Spirit. According to this portion of the Word, the holy anointing oil was made by blending four spices with olive oil. Together the spices and the oil formed a compound, an ointment used to anoint the priests, the tabernacle, and everything related to the tabernacle. The oil typifies the Spirit of God, and the four spices typify Christ in His divinity and His humanity with the effectiveness of His death and the power of His resurrection. The compound Spirit typified by the ointment is the very Spirit spoken of in John 7:39. At the time of John 7:39, the compound Spirit was “not yet” because Jesus had not yet been glorified. Now, after the glorification of Christ, the Spirit is no longer simply the Spirit of God; He is the compound Spirit, the Spirit of God compounded with Christ’s humanity, the effectiveness of His death, and the power of His resurrection. As the processed God, Christ is such a compound, all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit.
Christ now dwells in our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22) to be one spirit with us (1 Cor. 6:17). As the life-giving Spirit mingled with our spirit, He is our life and our person (Col. 3:4; Eph. 3:17).
In 1:27 Paul says not only that Christ dwells within us, but also that He dwells within us as our hope of glory. Christ can be our hope of glory because He dwells in our spirit to be our life and our person. According to 3:4, when Christ our life is manifested, we also shall be manifested with Him in glory. He will appear to be glorified in our redeemed and transfigured body (Rom. 8:23; Phil. 3:21; 2 Thes. 1:10). When Christ comes, we shall be glorified in Him, and He will be glorified in us. This indicates that the indwelling Christ will saturate our entire being, including our physical body. This will cause our body to be transfigured and to become like His glorious body. At that time Christ will be glorified in us. This is Christ in us as the hope of glory.