Four books in the New Testament—Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians—may be considered the heart of the divine revelation. In recent years the Lord has shown us vision after vision and given us revelation upon revelation from these books. However, we are still short of adequate spiritual experience. This has caused me to seek a way to have more experience of Christ. Little by little, the Lord has unveiled the secret of experiencing Himself as found in these books. My burden in these chapters is not related to doctrine or even to revelation. Rather, my burden is on the secret of experiencing Christ.
In order to see the secret of experiencing Christ, we need to consider the negative things Paul deals with in these books. These negative things are related to Paul's purpose in writing these Epistles.
The negative things in the book of Galatians are all part of one thing—"the present evil age." In 1:4 Paul says that Christ "gave Himself for our sins, that He might rescue us out of the present evil age." What Paul terms the present evil age is the most serious negative matter covered in Galatians. In 6:14 Paul refers to this evil age as the world: "But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been crucified to me and I to the world." As the context of 6:14 makes clear, the world here is the religious world. Hence, the religious world in 6:14 is the present evil age in 1:4.
This religious world, the present evil age, includes Judaism, the law, circumcision, and tradition as four of its basic constituents. The major roles in the religious world are portrayed by the "I" and the flesh. The "I" is the fallen man, and the flesh is the expression of "I." Actually, "I" and the flesh are one. In 2:20 Paul says that the "I" has been crucified, but in 5:24 he speaks of the flesh being crucified. The cross, therefore, is the termination both of the "I" and of the flesh. The four constituents of the religious world plus the "I" and the flesh are the negative things found in the book of Galatians.
All these negative things are substitutes for Christ. In this book Paul reveals to us that Christ must now replace Judaism, the law, circumcision, and tradition. Furthermore, Christ must replace the "I" and the flesh.
According to this book, Christ is the embodiment of the Triune God. Having accomplished redemption to fulfill God's economy, Christ has become the all-inclusive Spirit, the blessing promised by God to Abraham. Such a Christ must replace all the negative things. He must be the all-inclusive replacement; He must replace our religion, law, ritual, and tradition. He must also replace our "I" and our flesh.