No matter how old or young we may be, we all have been deeply rooted in our culture with the many factors and elements which make up our daily living. Just as we have been rooted in our culture, we should now be rooted in Christ. Being rooted is a matter of life. For a plant to be rooted in the soil involves an organic process. Apart from such a process, no plant can become rooted. The deeper a plant’s roots extend into the earth, the more far-reaching is the organic process. As a plant’s root system develops, the life of the plant spreads and develops. To be rooted in Christ is to experience such a development, spreading, and activity of life.
Using once again the illustration of grafting, we may say that we, branches from a wild olive tree, have been grafted into Christ as the cultivated olive tree. Grafting also involves the process of organic growth. Without such a process, the two trees cannot grow together. Through grafting, the trees are knit together and their lives are mingled. This mingling produces organic growth. In this growth the grafted branch, the branch from the wild olive tree, becomes deeply rooted in the cultivated olive tree.
The principle is the same with both grafting and planting. In order to transplant a tree successfully, there must be room in the soil for the tree’s roots to grow and develop. If the roots are watered and have room to grow, they will spread deep into the earth. The principle is the same in our relationship with Christ. On the one hand, we have been grafted into Christ; on the other hand, we have been planted into Christ, even transplanted into Him. Whether we speak from the standpoint of grafting or planting, there is the need for growth that is inward and downward. The downward growth of the roots may take place very slowly, whereas the upward growth may occur quickly. Some saints grow like mushrooms. A great deal appears above the earth. However, they lack the downward growth of the roots beneath the soil.
If we have been rooted in Christ, we shall spontaneously walk in Christ. For example, if a sister becomes deeply rooted in Christ, eventually the way she does her shopping will be affected. But if a sister undergoes a sudden change in her way of shopping, I would not have much confidence in that change. It may indicate a mushrooming type of growth, not the growth which comes from being deeply rooted in Christ and walking in Him. Remember, being rooted in Christ is the condition for walking in Him.
If the saints contact the Lord and spend time in the Word with much prayer, they will become deeply rooted in Christ. If a sister does this for a period of time, her shopping will be done in Christ, not in something other than Christ. I do not have any confidence in a change of behavior which results from making a decision after hearing a message. My confidence is in what issues from becoming deeply rooted in Christ through contacting the Lord and spending time in the Word with much prayer. When we are rooted in Christ, there is no need for us to make up our minds about certain things, for spontaneously we shall walk in Him.
In a previous message we raised the question of how plants can walk. Colossians 2:7 speaks of being rooted. This refers to plants. But 2:6 speaks of walking. This refers to persons. Then are we considered plants or persons? The answer is that for our daily living, we are persons, but for our being rooted in Christ, we are plants. In 1 Corinthians 3 Paul says that we are God’s farm, God’s husbandry (v. 9, Gk.). Furthermore, Paul says that he planted and Apollos watered, but God gives the growth (v. 6, Gk.). Thus, in the matter of growth, we are like plants. But in our daily walk we, of course, are not like plants; we are people. We may say that we are people-plants: people in walking and plants in being rooted in Christ.
The only way to become deeply rooted in Christ as the soil is to contact Him as the soil and to daily absorb the water in the Word. The more we contact the soil and absorb the water, the more we shall grow. First we grow downward, then upward. After we have grown downward for a period of time, we shall automatically cease to walk in things other than Christ. Instead, because we have been deeply rooted in Christ, we shall live, walk, act, and have our being in Christ.
As we walk in Christ, we are built up in Him. We have already been rooted in our culture and built up in it. Even children are deeply rooted in their culture. But as they walk in their culture, something of this culture is built up within them. Everyone is built up in certain things. On the one hand, we are rooted in our culture; on the other hand, we are built up in certain aspects of our culture.
Paul’s concept is that Christ, the all-inclusive and extensive One, must become the replacement for every factor and element in our human living. Therefore, we must walk in Christ. But walking in Him requires that we be rooted in Him. Just as we have been rooted in culture, we must now become rooted in Christ. Having been rooted in Him, we shall spontaneously walk in Him. While we walk in Him, the expression of Christ will be built up in us. Eventually, this expression will become the Body, the corporate church life, the habitation of God in spirit on earth today. If we claim to be walking in Christ but lack the expression of Christ, our claim is false. Walking in Christ requires that we be in the process of being built up in Christ. This means that while we are walking in Him, the expression of Christ must be built up in us.
According to our experience, we know that when we contact the Lord and daily get into the Word with much prayer, we fulfill the condition of walking in Christ, for we are rooted in Him. Then as we walk in Him, daily the expression of Christ is built up in us. This makes it possible for others to see Christ lived out of us. Eventually this living out of Christ will produce the corporate expression of Christ, the church life. This is the proper way to have the Christian life.
Our living should not be according to anything other than Christ. The most subtle substitutes of Christ are the various elements of our culture. Now Christ must come in to replace all these substitutes with Himself. If this is our experience, we shall not have anything other than Christ in our daily living. We shall live, move, act, and have our being in Christ. For this, there are two conditions: being rooted in Christ and being built up in Christ to become the expression of Christ. The expression of Christ, Christ lived out of us, will eventually become corporate. This is the church as the Body and the new man. When the church becomes in reality such a new man, that will be the time for Christ to come back. May the Lord have mercy on us and grant us His grace that we may live Him in the church in this way.