KNOWING AND EXPERIENCING THE ALL-INCLUSIVE, EXTENSIVE CHRIST
Message Two
Knowing and Experiencing the All-inclusive, Extensive Christ as the Good Land—Our Allotted Portion
Scripture Reading: Col. 1:12; 2:6-15, 19; Exo. 3:8; Deut. 8:8-9; 26:9
I. Christ as the preeminent and all-inclusive One is the allotted portion of the saints—Col. 1:12:
A. The allotted portion refers to the lot of the inheritance, as illustrated by the allotment of the good land of Canaan given to the children of Israel for their inheritance—Josh. 14:1.
B. The New Testament believers' allotted portion is not a physical land; it is the all-inclusive Christ as the life-giving Spirit—Col. 2:6-7; Gal. 3:14:
1. The riches of the good land typify the unsearchable riches of Christ in different aspects as the bountiful supply to His believers in His Spirit—Deut. 8:7-10; Eph. 3:8; Phil. 1:19.
2. By enjoying the riches of the land, the believers in Christ are built up to be His Body as the house of God and the kingdom of God—Eph. 1:22-23; 2:21-22; 1 Tim. 3:15; Matt. 16:18-19; Rom. 14:17.
II. The purpose of God's calling is to bring God's chosen people into the enjoyment of the all-inclusive, extensive Christ, typified by the good land flowing with milk and honey—Exo. 3:8; cf. 1 Cor. 1:9:
A. Milk and honey, which are the mingling of both the animal life and the vegetable life, are two aspects of the life of Christ—the redeeming aspect and the generating aspect—Deut. 8:8; 26:9; cf. John 1:29; 12:24:
1. The redeeming aspect of Christ's life is for our judicial redemption, and the generating aspect of Christ's life is for our organic salvation—1:29; 12:24; Rev. 2:7; Rom. 5:10.
2. The symbols of the Lord's table signify the redeeming and generating aspects of Christ's life for God's complete salvation; thus, the good land has become a table, a feast for our enjoyment—Matt. 26:26-28; 1 Cor. 10:17.
B. We must be "in the light" in order to enjoy the all-inclusive Christ as the good land in His redeeming and generating aspects—Col. 1:12; 1 Pet. 2:9; Isa. 2:5:
1. God is light—1 John 1:5.
2. The word of God is light—Psa. 119:105, 130.
3. Christ is light—John 8:12; 9:5.
4. The life of Christ is light—1:4.
5. The believers are light—Matt. 5:14; Phil. 2:15.
6. The church is a lampstand shining with light—Rev. 1:20; Psa. 73:16-17.
C. We must eat God's words to enjoy the all-inclusive Christ as the good land in His redeeming and generating aspects; God's word is milk for us to drink and honey for us to eat—John 6:57, 63, 68; 1 Pet. 2:2; Psa. 119:103; Ezek. 3:3.
D. By enjoying Christ as the land of milk and honey, we will be constituted with Him as milk and honey—"Your lips drip fresh honey, my bride; / Honey and milk are under your tongue"—S. S. 4:11a:
1. Honey restores the stricken ones, whereas milk feeds the new ones.
2. The seeker has stored so many riches within her that food is under her tongue, and she can dispense the riches of Christ to the needy ones at any time—Isa. 50:4; Matt. 12:35-36; Luke 4:22; Eph. 4:29-30.
3. This sweetness is not produced overnight but comes from a long period of gathering, inward activity, and careful storage—S. S. 4:16; 2 Cor. 12:7-9.
III. We can walk in Christ as our living land and absorb Christ as our rich soil, in which we have been rooted, so that we may grow with the elein which we do not lack anything; as we take time to absorb Him as the allments that we absorb from the soil—Col. 2:6-7; cf. 1 Cor. 3:6, 9; Col. 2:19:
A. Colossians 2:8-15 presents a full description and definition of Christ as the soil inclusive land, the facts in these verses become our experience:
1. Christ as the soil is the One in whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily—v. 9:
a. Fullness refers not to the riches of God but to the expression of the riches of God; what dwells in Christ is not only the riches of the Godhead but also the expression of the riches of what God is—v. 9; 1:15, 19; 3:10-11.
b. When we are rooted in Christ as the soil, we are made full in Him; we are filled up with all the divine riches to become His expression—Eph. 3:8, 17, 19.
c. In Christ as the soil we are filled, completed, perfected, satisfied, and thoroughly supplied; we do not lack anything—cf. Phil. 1:19.
d. Christ as the soil is the history and mystery of God with all the riches of His person and processes—Col. 2:2.
2. Christ as the soil is the Head of all rule and authority—v. 10.
3. In Christ as the soil there is the killing power, which puts the flesh to v. 12a. death—v. 11.
4. In Christ as the soil there is an element that causes us to be buried—
5. In Christ as the soil there is an element that causes us to be raised up—v. 12b.
6. In Christ as the soil there is an element that vivifies us—v. 13.
7. In Christ as the soil there is the wiping out of the handwriting in ordinances—v. 14.
8. In Christ as the soil there is the victory over the evil spirits in the atmosphere—v. 15.
B. We must take time to enjoy the Lord as the all-inclusive land so that all the elements of Christ as the rich soil may be absorbed into us for us to be made full in Him in our experience—v. 10a; 4:2:
1. If we would absorb the riches of Christ as the soil, we need to have tender, new roots—cf. 2 Cor. 4:16.
2. We need to forget our situation, our condition, our failures, and our weaknesses and simply take time to absorb the Lord; as we take time to absorb Him, we grow with the growth of God in us for the building up of the Body of Christ—Luke 8:13; Matt. 14:22-23; 6:6; Col. 2:7a, 19.