In 2:7 Paul speaks of being rooted in Christ. We are plants rooted in Christ as the real soil. Christ is the earth in which we grow. Furthermore, Christ is all that we need for growth. He is our fertilizer, our water, and our life supply.
In 2:10 Paul goes on to say that in Christ we are made full. However, I doubt that any one of us dares to say that we are full, for we do not yet have the full experience of Christ. The fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ bodily, and we are made full in Him. In our experience, we need to receive Him, walk in Him, be rooted in Him, and then be made full in Him. I hope that in the church meetings there will be many testimonies of how we have been made full in Christ. There should be testimonies of how we have been made full in knowledge, wisdom, patience, kindness, lowliness, humility, love, discernment. We are short of such testimonies because we are short in our experience of Christ. Day by day we are not being made full in Him. Instead of being full in so many things, we are short of those things. For example, instead of being full of discernment in handling situations, we are lacking in discernment. As you listen to the testimonies of the saints, you can realize that most of us are short in the daily experience of Christ. Many of us still do not realize adequately that the Christ we have received is the all-inclusive One in whom we should walk. But if we walk in such a Christ, having been rooted in Him, we shall be made full in Him.
We have pointed out that Christ is the reality, the substance, of all shadows. Seeing this, we should no longer care for the shadows—we should care for the all-inclusive Christ. Our concern should not be simply to become holy, spiritual, and victorious; it should be to possess and experience the all-inclusive Christ. We need to look to the Lord for mercy and grace to experience such a Christ.
In chapter three we see that Christ is our life and the constituent of the new man. The new man, which is the church, the Body of Christ, is constituted of the Christ who is our life. He lives in us, and we live in Him. Apart from such a Christ, what else do we want? I can testify that I want nothing other than the all-inclusive Christ who is my life and the constituent of the new man.
In 3:15 Paul says, “Let the peace of Christ arbitrate in your hearts, to which also you were called in one Body.” In Ephesians 2 we are told that on the cross Christ has made peace. We should allow this very peace to arbitrate in us. This implies that we set aside our opinions. The Greeks must forget their philosophy, and the Jews must forget their observances. Instead of paying attention to philosophy and observances, we should take heed to the indwelling peace of Christ. On the cross, Christ nullified the ordinances and abolished the philosophical concepts. Christ abolished the differences among peoples in order to create in Himself the one new man. The peace produced through the abolishing of cultural differences should now arbitrate in our hearts. We should let this peace be the referee, the arbitrator, within us. When the peace of Christ arbitrates in us, all opinions will be subdued.
We expect that the churches in the Lord’s recovery will gradually increase in number. No doubt, people with different backgrounds will come into the church life. Different people have different opinions. Instead of arguing over these opinions, we should let the peace of Christ arbitrate in us. Let us all say, “Lord Jesus, I love You. Lord, I care not for my opinion or judgment; I care for Your peace. I am not for my preference. I want Your peace to arbitrate in me, to rule in me, and to make all the decisions.”
In 3:16 Paul continues, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” We need to allow the word of Christ to inhabit us. We should not be filled with Jewish tradition or Greek philosophy, but with the word of Christ. We are containers of the word of Christ, not of philosophy or religion. We need to be emptied of all such things in order to be filled with the word of Christ. If we allow the peace of Christ to arbitrate in us and if we are filled with the word of Christ, we shall have the new man in a practical way. All the saints in all the churches throughout the Lord’s recovery will be living Christ in the one new man. One day the Christ who is our life will appear in glory, and we shall appear in glory with Him (3:4). But today we need to live by Him. We care for Him as our life and as the constituent of the new man, not for our background, culture, opinion, and judgment. We want His peace to arbitrate in us and His word to fill us.
We have pointed out again and again that in the new man there is no room for Jews or Greeks, circumcision or uncircumcision, cultured or uncultured, slaves or masters (3:11). In the new man there is room only for Christ. Therefore, in the new man Christ is all and in all. He is every part of the new man, and He is in every part. This should not simply be a teaching, but our experience in a practical way day by day. May we all have a full experience of the all-inclusive Christ, the Christ who is everything to us.