God’s economy is to work a wonderful Person into our being. This Person is the all-inclusive Christ, the One who is the reality of every positive thing in the universe. Christ is the firstborn of all creation. He is both God and man, for the One who was the eternal God became incarnated at a point in time. Hence, Christ is the real God and the real man. He possesses all the divine attributes and human virtues. He is the reality of love, life, light, grace, humility, patience, power, mercy, wisdom, righteousness, and holiness.
Christ has much to do with creation. Colossians 1:16 says, “In Him were all things created in the heavens and on the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or lordships or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him.” Furthermore, 1:17 says, “All things subsist together in Him.” Just as the spokes of a wheel subsist together in the hub, so all of creation subsists in Christ.
First the work of creation was accomplished, then Christ became a man, the first step of the long process through which He passed. As a man, He lived on earth for thirty-three and a half years. How marvelous that the infinite God lived in a carpenter’s home in a small town! God was confined and limited in this way. After passing through human living with its sufferings, trials, and temptations, Christ was crucified on the cross. His death was a wonderful, all-inclusive death. After His burial in a tomb, He took a tour of the region of death, and then came forth in resurrection. After His resurrection, Christ ascended to the heavens, where He was enthroned, crowned, and made the Lord and the Head of all.
In His resurrection Christ became the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b). All that Christ has passed through, all that He is, and all that He has accomplished, obtained, and attained are the ingredients which have been compounded into Him as the all-inclusive Spirit. As this all-inclusive Spirit, He descended upon His Body on the day of Pentecost. In this Spirit, we have God, man, incarnation, human living, redemption, the effectiveness of Christ’s death, the power of His resurrection, resurrection life, ascension, enthronement, headship, and lordship. This is the all-inclusive One whom God desires to work into us for the fulfillment of His economy. This dispensation of the all-inclusive Christ into us is for God’s purpose and eternal plan. This is our Christ, the One we love and enjoy.
The Bible reveals that God is triune: He is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. If we read the Bible carefully, we shall see that the Father is in the Son (John 14:10) and that the Son is even called the Father (Isa. 9:6). Those who have seen the Son have also seen the Father. Furthermore, the Son has become the Spirit of reality. This indicates that the Son is realized as the Spirit. When the Triune God reaches us, He is the all-inclusive Spirit. Our Christ is such a Spirit for our experience and enjoyment today.
First Corinthians 1:30 tells us that of God we are in Christ Jesus. Formerly, by birth, we were in Adam. But God, the Father, has transferred us out of Adam into Christ. When we believed in the Lord Jesus and called on His name, we were transferred from Adam into Christ. This is the reason that after we believed into Christ, we were baptized. In the words of Romans 6:3, we have been baptized into Christ Jesus.