Plants also portray the riches of Christ. Grass, flowers, grains, and trees all depict Christ’s riches.
Christ is typified not only by trees and plants, but also by animals. The lamb, the cow, the eagle, the lion, and the dove are all types of Christ.
In the Bible, a number of minerals also show forth the riches of Christ. Gold, silver, brass, and precious stones, for example, typify Him.
We have pointed out that a number of persons in the Bible typify Christ. All these depict different aspects of Christ’s riches. We see certain riches of Christ in Adam, others in Abel, and others in Joseph. Throughout the Bible, many other persons portray different aspects of the riches of Christ.
All the positive things in the universe point to Christ. For example, Christ is the real gravity. Without Him, we would drift away. If Christ did not hold us in place, we would not be able to stand. Christ is the One with the true holding power. According to Hebrews 1:3, He upholds the entire universe.
Because all the positive things in the universe signify Christ, Christ could use so many things as illustrations of Himself when He was on earth. For instance, He could use the door as a picture of Himself and say, “I am the door.” Christ is the reality of every positive thing. He is not only the gravity, but also the air, the light, and every positive thing.
The riches of Christ also include both human virtues and divine attributes. Christ is the real love, patience, and forgiveness. Apart from Christ, we cannot love, be patient, or forgive, not even in relation to our wife or husband. But when we have Christ, we have all the human virtues and divine attributes.
All the riches of Christ are for the producing of the church. This takes place through the divine dispensation of Christ into the believers. The church is produced not by teaching, nor by organizing, but by the dispensation of Christ. The more Christ is dispensed into us, the more life we have, the stronger life we have, the richer life we have, and the more uplifted the church life becomes. I love the ministry that dispenses the riches of Christ into the believers. By means of such a ministry, we have a proper, strong, uplifted church life.
The riches of Christ produce the church through the believers’ experience and enjoyment of Christ. On Christ’s side, it is a matter of dispensation, but on our side, it is a matter of experience and enjoyment. When we experience and enjoy the very Christ who is dispensed into us, we become part of the proper church life.
The riches of Christ also express God’s multifarious wisdom (3:10). God’s wisdom is manifold; it has many aspects in many directions. This wisdom is expressed before the rulers and authorities in the heavenlies, mainly before the evil powers of Satan. God desires to demonstrate to the powers of Satan how wise He is. Thus, the riches of Christ display His wisdom in a multifarious way. This is according to God’s eternal purpose (3:11).
The experience of the riches of Christ results in the fullness of Christ, the Body as Christ’s expression (1:23). The book of Ephesians speaks both of the riches of Christ and of the fullness of Christ. A tall, husky man is the fullness of America because he has enjoyed the riches of American foodstuffs. Throughout the years of his growth and development, he has consumed a great deal of meat, poultry, vegetables, and fruit. Therefore, as a full-grown man, he becomes the fullness of America. The riches of American foodstuffs did not make him this fullness until he ate them, digested them, and assimilated them. By absorbing the riches in this way, the riches became part of him. Likewise all the aspects of the riches of Christ do not become the fullness of Christ until they are eaten, enjoyed, digested, and assimilated by us. By absorbing these riches in such a way, we become the Body of Christ as His fullness to express Him. Thus, the Body of Christ is constituted of the riches of Christ that have been enjoyed and assimilated by us. Therefore, the Body is the result, the issue, of the experience and enjoyment of the riches of Christ.