The tabernacle in the Old Testament was a full and complete type of Christ (Exo. 25:8-9; John 1:14). When the children of Israel were right with the tabernacle, everything was all right with them. Whenever they were not right with the tabernacle, there were problems, troubles, and defeat. This shows that when the church today is right with Christ, everything is all right. However, when we do not pay our full attention to Christ, we have trouble. Difficult, trying situations arise among the churches mainly due to our attention deviating from Christ, the center of God’s economy. Our intention, our attention, and every part of our being should be fully occupied with Christ. We should not care for anything else.
The enemy is subtle. If he were to use idols or obviously worldly things, we would not be distracted from Christ. Therefore, the enemy instead uses things that are apparently good and even seemingly for God’s interests yet are not Christ Himself. For instance, we may begin to be concerned for gaining more increase. It seems right to try to find a way to gain a larger increase for the churches. We may begin to talk much about this matter and at some point make a decision concerning how we will carry something out. This could be the opening of a gate for many subtle distractions, which will bring in questions, stir up disputations, and eventually lead to divisions. A tide of things other than Christ may begin to occupy the saints’ thoughts, hearts, and conversations, thus leading many saints and even churches away from Christ.
The churches in the Lord’s recovery will be in peace and harmony as long as we stay on the central lane of Christ as life. We should care only for the experience of Christ. If we stray from this central lane and problems come in, our rescue is simply to come back to Christ. Nothing but Christ can rescue us from deviations and distractions and keep us in a proper condition.
Christ is the portion of the saints. Colossians 1:12 says, “Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you for a share of the allotted portion of the saints in the light.” Christ is not only our inheritance to enjoy in the future but also our portion to partake of today. What God has allotted to us is an all-inclusive person, the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is not only our Redeemer, Savior, Master, and Lord but also our portion.
A portion is for enjoyment. Christ as our portion is for us to enjoy; He is our enjoyment. God has qualified us to enjoy Christ. In Luke 15, when the prodigal son returned, he was unqualified to enter into the father’s house to partake of a feast because he was dressed in poor clothing. Therefore, the father told the servants, “Bring out quickly the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet” (v. 22). By putting these three things on his son, the father qualified him to enter into the house to partake of the feast. In verse 23 the father said, “Bring the fattened calf; slaughter it, and let us eat and be merry.” The fattened calf, which was the son’s portion to enjoy, is a type of Christ.
Our portion from God is not heaven or merely salvation but the all-inclusive Christ. We need to drop all the considerations and concepts that distract us, and we must come back to Christ. Christ is the only answer to any kind of doctrinal disputation. We need to pay our full attention to Christ. We have been qualified for one thing—the enjoyment of Christ. When we are fully occupied by Christ, we have no room for other things. Christ is our eternal, divine, all-inclusive portion. God’s economy, His eternal purpose, and His heart’s desire are for Christ to be our portion. We need to care only for this portion. Different opinions and teachings may creep into the church life to subtly corrupt the thoughts and feelings of the saints, causing them to lose their absoluteness for the Lord’s recovery and their hunger for the ministry. The way to close the gate to different opinions is to drop our concepts and come back to Christ to enjoy Him as our unique portion from God.
Many aspects of Christ as our portion are revealed in Colossians. In 1:15 Paul says that Christ is the image of the invisible God. God is invisible, yet Christ is His image, His expression. Paul goes on in verse 15 to tell us that Christ is the Firstborn of all creation. Christ is God the Creator, yet He is also the first item of all creation, and in Him all things were created (v. 16). Moreover, all things cohere in Him. To cohere in Christ means to subsist together in Him, much like the spokes of a wheel are held together by a hub. Without the hub, the spokes fall apart. The hub is the center by which and in which all the spokes subsist. Scientists recognize that there is something in the universe that holds all things together. All things cohere in and by this holding center. The Bible reveals that Christ is this holding center. Creation came into being through Christ, and all creation exists in Christ.
Our life is our personal universe, and this universe needs a holding center. Christ is the holding center of the universe, and He should also be the center of our life. We need to worship Him, praying, “Lord, You are the center of my life. My whole life coheres in You. Without You, love, light, life, holiness, righteousness, kindness, and submission all fall apart. But with You and in You all virtues subsist.” Our marriage needs Christ as its holding center. If a husband and wife cohere in Christ, they will never fall apart. Christ should be the center of our personal life, family life, and Christian life.
In order for the harmony to be kept among the churches, the saints must never neglect Christ as the holding center. The strategy of the enemy is to subtly replace Christ in the churches. When we do not pay sufficient attention to Christ, the door is open for many problems to come into the church life. We must not be distracted by seemingly good things such as trying to find a way to gain a great increase or have fully released meetings. A meeting may appear to be released yet lack anything of light, truth, or Christ. We must not be deceived or distracted to deviate from Christ. We need to be alert for anything that may replace Christ.
The Lord’s purpose in His recovery is to recover Christ as everything to the believers. Therefore, we need to forget about everything else and come back to Christ, the all-inclusive One. He is the image of the invisible God, the Firstborn of all creation, and the One in whom all things were created and in whom all things cohere. Colossians 1:18-19 says, “He is the Head of the Body, the church; He is the beginning, the Firstborn from the dead, that He Himself might have the first place in all things; for in Him all the fullness was pleased to dwell.”
Colossians 2:2 reveals that Christ is the mystery of God. God’s mystery is Christ, who is our portion. In Him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden (v. 3). Verse 9 says, “In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” Christ is also the reality of every positive thing in the universe. Verses 16 through 17 say, “Let no one therefore judge you in eating and in drinking or in respect of a feast or of a new moon or of the Sabbath, which are a shadow of the things to come, but the body is of Christ.” Christ is the reality of food, water, air, light, and all material enjoyment. We need to realize that Christ is everything to us. Verse 6 says, “As therefore you have received the Christ, Jesus the Lord, walk in Him.” We need to learn what it means to walk in Christ in a practical way.
Chapter 3 reveals that Christ is the reality of the church life. Verses 10 through 11 say, “Put on the new man, which is being renewed unto full knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all and in all.” The new man is the Body, the church. Christ is all persons in the new man. In the church life in the Lord’s recovery, every natural person is annulled, including every race, nationality, religion, and status, and Christ is all. We need to see that Christ is the unique constituent of the church.
We can see from the many items in Colossians that Christ is all-inclusive. Such a Christ is our portion. We need to enjoy Him, participate in Him, and partake of Him daily and hourly. Colossians 3:4 says that Christ is our life, and 1:27 says that Christ in us is the hope of glory. Today Christ is our life. In the future He will be our glory. This is our hope.
The only way to have genuine oneness is by taking the all-inclusive Christ as our life and our person. When we enjoy Christ, we spontaneously drop our opinions, concepts, ways, movements, and activities. Oneness comes not from a kind of coordination or mutual understanding but from the Christ whom we experience. Actually, genuine oneness is Christ Himself. We should reject any kind of organization, which leads to hierarchy and therefore insults the headship of Christ. All the local churches are on the same level. There should be no organization among the churches, elders, or apostles. According to the New Testament, there is no permanent, official, or organizational leader among the elders or apostles. Rather, there is always a plurality among the apostles and elders, because the leadership and the headship in God’s New Testament economy are ascribed absolutely to Christ. Activities and movements may lead saints and even churches away from Christ and do much damage. We need to come back to the beginning to care only for Christ.
The proper way to preach the gospel and gain the increase is through fruit-bearing. The Lord said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). As branches in the vine, if we simply live Christ, grow Christ, and produce Christ, fruit will spontaneously come forth from the life within. Fruit is the outflow of life. Our living should be our preaching.
The proper Christian meeting is a display of our daily life. If we argue with our spouse just before attending a meeting, anything we do to function in the meeting will be a performance. We should daily live Christ and then come together to exhibit Christ. We need to drop our concepts and come back to Christ. As we live Christ, speak Christ, grow Christ, and produce Christ, we will spontaneously bear fruit. This is the way of life. We should care not for numbers, movements, or gimmicks but only for living Christ as branches in the vine.