Some of the saints in Colosse were Jews, and others were Greeks. Both paid a price in turning to Christ. Having paid a price, they could receive the enjoyment of Christ as their prize. Both the Jewish and Gentile believers had suffered much because of their faith in Christ. Therefore, they could have the subjective enjoyment of Christ as their prize. The same is true of us today. Many saints have suffered persecution because they have turned to Christ and to the way of the Lord’s recovery. But now they may enjoy Christ as their reward, as their prize. This prize is not only the objective Christ, but in particular it is the subjective enjoyment of Christ. Colossians 2:16 and 17 indicate this. These verses reveal that Christ is not only objective, but that He is also the One for us to enjoy daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly. The Christ we experience daily in matters of eating and drinking is a very subjective Christ. The same is true of the Christ we experience as our weekly completion and rest (the Sabbath), as a new beginning in darkness (the new moon), and as our yearly enjoyment (the feasts). Therefore, according to verse 18, to be defrauded of our prize is to be deprived of the subjective enjoyment of Christ. Daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly we should enjoy Christ. We should not allow anyone to defraud us of this prize.
The Colossian believers, however, were being defrauded of their prize of the enjoyment of Christ. The Jewish believers were distracted from Christ by the Judaizers, whereas the Gentile believers were carried off by certain philosophical concepts. Both were defrauded of the daily experience and enjoyment of Christ. Furthermore, they had lost the weekly, monthly, and yearly enjoyment of Him. This indicates that the Jewish and Gentile believers alike had been led astray, deprived of the very prize for which they had paid such a price. As we have indicated again and again, this prize is the subjective experience of Christ daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly.
We need to check whether we experience and enjoy Christ in a practical way daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly. It is very possible that we, like the Colossians, have also been defrauded of our prize. Satan, the Devil, may defraud us of Christ, and we may not even realize it. Once I had my briefcase, which contained my passport, stolen from beside my chair while I was talking to someone in an airline company office. However, at the time of the theft I did not realize what was happening. I was defrauded of my briefcase, but I was totally unconscious of the fact. In like manner, we may not be conscious of the fact that the enemy has deprived us of the enjoyment of Christ. We may have lost the daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly enjoyment of Christ and not even realize it.
In His recovery the Lord is bringing us back from religion and everything other than Christ to Himself. God’s economy is to dispense Himself into us for our enjoyment. God wants Christ to be not only our Savior and not even just our life, but also to be our daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly enjoyment. But as we consider the situation among the vast majority of Christians today, we see that this enjoyment has been lost. Instead of enjoying Christ, believers are occupied with religion, so-called worship services, and theological teaching. There is very little enjoyment of Christ in a practical and living way. No doubt it is necessary for the Lord to have a recovery. We need to be brought back to Christ Himself. In particular, we need to be recovered to the continual enjoyment of Christ in a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly way.
My burden is not to give more messages on doctrine. My concern is that the saints experience Christ in a practical way. If such is not our situation, then we have subtly been defrauded of Christ as our prize by the enemy. We need to enjoy Christ in all the small details of our daily living.