第三週 • 週三

晨興餧養

西三 4『基督是我們的生命，祂顯現的時候，你們也要與祂一同顯現在榮耀裏。』
10~11『並且穿上了新人；這新人照着創造他者的形像漸漸更新，以致有充足的知識；在此並沒有希利尼
             人和猶太人、受割禮的和未受割禮的、化外人、西古提人、爲奴的、自主的，惟有基督是一切，又
              在一切之內。』

    基督對我們是客觀的，也是主觀的。我們照着道理，同時也照着經歷來認識基督。一面，我們的基督是在諸天之上的寶座上；另一面，祂是在我們的靈裏。我們敬拜在諸天之上登寶座的基督，但我們經歷、享受並有分於我們靈裏內住的基督。…基督對我們主觀到一個地步，祂與我們，我們與祂，已經成爲一靈〔林前六 17〕。與主成爲一靈，比得着恩賜和神蹟更大。我們旣與主成了一靈，在我們日常生活中，就必須經歷與祂是一靈（歌羅西書生命讀經，五五一頁）。

信息選讀

    歌羅西一章二十七節保羅說，『基督在你們裏面成了榮耀的盼望。』基督不僅住在我們裏面，更在我們裏面作我們榮耀的盼望。基督能成爲我們榮耀的盼望，是因爲祂住在我們的靈裏，作我們的生命和我們的人位。三章四節說，當祂顯現的時候，我們也要與祂一同顯現在榮耀裏。這指明內住的基督要浸透我們全人，叫我們的身體改變形狀，同形於祂榮耀的身體（羅八 23，腓三21）。那時基督就要在我們身上得榮耀。這就是基督在我們裏面作榮耀的盼望（真理課程二級卷三，九二頁）。

    在我們的日常生活中，基督必須成爲我們的一切。基督是神的彰顯，是神經綸的奧祕，現今活在我們裏面。那住在我們裏面的基督，不是小的、有限的基督。祂乃是那位不能看見之神的像、神豐滿的具體化身以及神經綸的中心點。這樣一位基督，現今就住在我們裏面，等候機會把祂自己擴展到我們全人裏。我們需要時時刻刻憑祂而活。

    歌羅西書把基督完全的啓示出來，比加拉太書所啓示的還要極致。在加拉太書裏，保羅說到基督啓示在我們裏面，基督活在我們裏面，以及基督成形在我們裏面。但在歌羅西書中，他用了許多特殊的辭句來說到基督：眾聖徒的分、那不能看見之神的像、一切受造之物的首生者。在這短短的一卷書中，把基督一面又一面的揭示出來。因此，歌羅西書所啓示的基督是奧祕的，又是包羅萬有的。這位包羅萬有的基督，遠超過我們所能領會的。我們需要被祂注入、浸透、充滿，直到我們經歷基督是我們的一切。

    另一方面是在二章十六至十七節，保羅在那裏說，飲食、節期、月朔、安息日都是『要來之事的影兒，那實體卻屬於基督』。保羅的話指明，基督是一切正面事物的實際。祂是我們的真食物、真飲料、真衣服、真住處、真交通工具、真太陽、真月亮、真地球。所以，保羅在這兩節中簡單的話，…含示包羅萬有之基督的延展無限。

    然後保羅在三章四節繼續告訴我們，這位延展無限的基督乃是我們的生命。雖然基督是宇宙般的延展無限，然而祂卻以專特、特別的方式作了我們的生命。讚美主，這位延展無限的基督成了我們個人的生命！就宇宙一面說，祂是延展無限的；但在我們個人的經歷中，祂是我們的生命。

    不僅如此，在十至十一節我們看見，在召會中，就是在作神新造的新人裏，這位延展無限的基督乃是一切，又在一切之內。祂是新人一切的肢體，也在一切的肢體之內。基於十一節，我們可以說，基督就是我們眾人。歌羅西書所啓示的，是何等一位延展無限、包羅萬有的基督！（歌羅西書生命讀經，三八三、一一、四八二至四八三頁）。

    參讀：內住的基督，第十一至十二篇；歌羅西書生命讀經，第三十六、四十五、五十一篇。


WEEK 3 — DAY 3

Morning Nourishment

Col.  3:4  "When  Christ  our  life  is  manifested,  then  you  also  will  be manifested with Him in
                    glory."
10-11 "And have 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."

    To us, Christ is both objective and subjective. We know Christ both according to doctrine and according to experience. On the one hand, our Christ is on the throne in the heavens. On the other hand, He is in our spirit. We worship the enthroned Christ in the heavens, but we experience, enjoy, and partake of the indwelling Christ in our spirit....Christ is subjective to
us to such a degree that He and we, we and He, have become one spirit [1 Cor. 6:17]. To be one spirit with the Lord is greater than to have gifts and miracles. Now that we have become one spirit with the Lord, in our daily life we need to experience being one spirit with Him. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 443-444)

Today's Reading

    In Colossians 1:27 Paul speaks of"Christ in you, the hope of glory." Christ not only dwells within us; He dwells within us as our hope of glory. Christ can be our hope of glory because He dwells in our spirit to be our life and our person. Colossians 3:4 says that when Christ is manifested, we also will be manifested with Him in glory. This indicates that the indwelling Christ will saturate our entire being and cause our body to be transfigured and conformed to the body of His glory (Rom. 8:23; Phil. 3:21). At that time Christ will be glorified in us. This is Christ in us as the hope of glory. (Truth Lessons—Level Two, vol. 3, p. 84)

    Christ must become everything to us in our daily living. The Christ who is the expression of God and the mystery of God's economy now lives in us. The Christ who indwells us is not a small, limited Christ. He is the One who is the image of the invisible God, the embodiment of the fullness of God, and the focal point of God's economy. Such a Christ now dwells in us and is waiting for the opportunity to spread Himself throughout our being. We need to live by Him moment by moment.

    In Colossians Christ is revealed to the uttermost, much more than in Galatians. In Galatians Paul speaks of Christ being revealed in us, of Christ living in us, and of Christ being formed in us. But in Colossians he uses a number of special terms for Christ: the portion of the saints, the image of the invisible God, the Firstborn of all creation. In this short book, one aspect of Christ after another is unfolded. Therefore, Colossians reveals that Christ is profound and all-inclusive.
The all-inclusive Christ transcends our understanding. Our need is to be infused, saturated, and permeated with Him until in our experience Christ is everything to us.

    Another aspect is found in Colossians 2:16 and 17, where Paul says that eating, drinking, feasts, new moons, and Sabbaths are"a shadow of the things to come, but the body is of Christ." Paul's word indicates that Christ is the reality of all positive things. He is our real food, drink, clothing, dwelling place, transportation, sun, moon, and earth. Hence, Paul's simple word in
these verses...implies the extensiveness of the all-inclusive Christ.

    Then in 3:4 Paul goes on to tell us that this extensive Christ is our life. Although Christ is universally extensive, He is nonetheless our life in a specific and particular way. Praise the Lord that the extensive Christ has become our personal life! Universally, He is extensive. But in our personal experience, He is our life.

    Furthermore, in 3:10 and 11 we see that in the church, the new man as God's new creation, the extensive Christ is all and in all. He is all the members of the new man, and He is in all the members. With 3:11 as our basis, we can say that Christ is all of us. What an extensive, all-inclusive Christ is revealed in the book of Colossians! (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 309, 9, 389)

    Further  Reading:  The  Indwelling  Christ  in  the  Canon  of  the  New Testament, chs. 11-12; Life-study of Colossians, msgs. 36, 45, 51