Now we come to a crucial question: What is our life? Probably we all would answer this question by saying that our life is Christ. What, then, is Christ? The life that grows in the church and which is needed for the growth of the church is Christ. But what is this Christ? The answer to this question is found in Colossians. According to this book, Christ is the fullness of God, the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, the firstborn from among the dead, the One in whom all the fullness is pleased to dwell, the mystery of God’s economy, the mystery of God, the reality of all positive things, and the constituent of the new man. For years we have pointed out that Christ is life, but perhaps we have not adequately paid our attention to what Christ is. In short, the Christ who is our life is everything, the reality of every positive thing in the universe. This is the revelation in the book of Colossians.
Colossians contains the highest revelation of Christ in the New Testament. No other book tells us that Christ is the firstborn of all creation or that He is the mystery of God. Colossians reveals that Christ is the mystery of God’s economy and the mystery of God Himself. According to this book, Christ is everything to us.
If we see that Christ is everything, we shall spontaneously realize that we are nothing and nobody. In the words of Galatians 2:20, we have been crucified with Christ and Christ lives in us. He is the One who is patient, kind, loving, and full of life.
However, instead of living Christ, many of us unconsciously strive to improve ourselves. For example, a young brother who is about to get married may make up his mind to be an ideal husband. To do this is to live either according to our self-made culture or according to the culture we have inherited. Sometimes in conferences saints may testify that after that conference they will never be the same. Because such a statement is according to culture, a few days after the conference that person is the same as before. How easy it is to impose a cultural standard on ourselves!
The culture we impose on ourselves is actually a form of asceticism. Suppose a certain brother finds his wife difficult to bear, even though she is a dear sister in the Lord. This brother vows that, whatever the cost, he will be a good husband to his wife. He will bear with her, even if it is with gnashing of his teeth. This brother is living according to asceticism. Every time we make a decision to improve or to be different, we are living according to culture instead of according to Christ.
God’s intention is to dispense Christ into us so that He may be our life and our everything. God wants Christ to be our righteousness, holiness, humility, and patience. Since Christ is everything, there is no need for us to decide to do anything or to be anything. Instead, we should simply turn to the Lord and say, “Lord, thank You. You are my life and my everything. You are the real God and the real man. When I need love, You are love. When I need humility, You, Lord, are humility. Whatever I need, You are.”
God does not want us to try to be good husbands or wives, parents or children. God only wants one person—Christ. However, we should not preach this to our children prematurely. Instead, we should first preach to ourselves, telling ourselves that God does not want our self-improvement, but that He only wants Christ. He has dispensed Christ into us to be our life and our everything so that we may live Him and that He may dwell in us. There is no need for us to strive to be loving. Our love is limited. But Christ is love, unlimited love, and He lives in us.