In eternity past God made a plan concerning what He would do in the times and generations of the ages. He planned to make Christ the center and Head of all creation. Christ is the mystery of God (Col. 2:2). As such, He is the faithful image of the invisible God and the Firstborn of all creation (1:15), the Firstborn from the dead and the Head of the Body, which is the church (v. 18), the portion from God to us (v. 12), and even the kingdom (v. 13). We can share Christ, receive Christ, and walk in Christ. God also intends that Christ would be something to us that is more subjective than all of the above items. God intends that Christ would be our very life and element (3:4; cf. Eph. 2:5). God desires that Christ would come into our spirit as the Spirit to mingle together with us and to be our element (1 Cor. 6:17). In God’s plan Christ is meant to be our life, our element, and everything to us.
Not only has God planned that Christ would be our life and everything, but He has also made Christ to be the reality of all positive things in the universe. All the physical things that we see are merely figures and shadows of the reality, which is Christ (Col. 2:17). All physical things are not real. Only Christ is real. The food we eat is not the real food; it is just a figure. Christ is our real food (John 6:35, 57). The house that we live in is not our real dwelling place. Our real dwelling place is Christ (cf. 15:4). The Lord is our dwelling place forever (Psa. 90:1). He is our eternal habitation, our eternal dwelling place (cf. Rev. 21:22). The physical life that we inherited from our parents is not the real life; it is merely a shadow, a figure. Christ is the real life (John 14:6). Thus, in the eyes of God if you do not have Christ, you do not have life. First John 5:12 says, “He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.” Christ is also our real light and our real way (John 1:4; 1 John 1:5; John 14:6). All visible physical things are not real; they are simply figures and shadows of the reality, which is Christ Himself.
God intends that Christ would be everything to you. What do you desire? Do you desire the good land with its springs? Christ is the good land and its springs (cf. Deut. 8:7). Do you desire hope and peace? Christ is both hope and peace to us (Eph. 1:12; 2:14). Do you desire wealth? If so, Christ is our real wealth (cf. Eph. 3:8; Phil. 4:19) and our real treasure (2 Cor. 4:7). Do you need food to eat or a home in which to live? Christ is both of these things. Do you wish to receive a letter? Christ is even our letter (2 Cor. 3:3). Do you need clothing? Colossians 3:10-14 reveals that we can put on Christ as our real clothing. Do you need a head? Christ is our Head (Eph. 1:22). In fact, if you do not have Christ, you are a person without a head. Do you desire philosophy? Christ is much more than philosophy (Col. 2:3). We can never exhaust all the items of what Christ is to us. Christ is truly everything.
Although Christ is everything, there is a problem. The problem is that although we have Christ within us, we do not apply Him in our daily life. We have Christ, but when we are thinking about something, we do not think by Christ. We have Christ, but when we are going to do something, we do not do it by Christ. We have Christ, but when we speak with people, we do not speak by Christ. This can be likened to owning a nice car but not knowing how to drive it. We have received Christ into us, but we do not apply Christ to our daily living.
Christians today often speak about doing what is right as Christians. Day by day they seek the Lord for His will so that they can know what they should or should not do. This kind of seeking, however, is short. Rather than seeking simply to know whether or not we should do a particular thing, we need to ask, “If I do this particular thing, will I be doing it alone, or will Christ be doing it with me?” This is what we must endeavor to know. When we are engaged in a particular activity, we must check to determine who it is that is acting. Are we acting alone, or is Christ acting in us and through us? In Galatians the apostle Paul testified, saying, “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (2:20). We may often inquire, “Lord, is this right for me to do?” but we should also check to see whether we are acting by ourselves or whether it is Christ who is living in us.
One day a young brother asked me, “Brother Lee, why do some say that Christians should not go to movies?” In response to his question, I did not give him a long answer; I simply asked him, “When you go to a movie, does Christ go with you?” The young brother answered me, “Of course, Christ does not go with me to the movie.” Let alone going to movies, I would also ask, when we go to preach the gospel, who is the person who is going to preach? Do we go by ourselves to preach the gospel, or is Christ within us the One who is going to preach? When we visit another saint, do we visit that saint alone, or does Christ within us do it in us and with us? In other words, when we are doing all the things that we do in our daily life, do we truly apply Christ in what we are doing? If we have the revelation that Christ is everything to us, we will check. Day by day, moment by moment, and in whatever we are doing, we will check to see whether or not what we are doing is Christ living within us. We will check to see whether or not we are applying Christ in everything we do.