«　WEEK 1　DAY 1　»

　　Rev. 4:11 ...You have created all things, and because of Your will they were, and were created.

　　Eph. 1:9 Making known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Himself.

　　11 In whom also we..., having been predestinated according to the purpose of the One who works all things according to the counsel of His will.

　　God is a God of purpose, having a will of His own pleasure. He created all things for His will that He might accomplish and fulfill His purpose. The book of Revelation, which unveils God’s universal administration, shows us the purpose of God.... His creation is related to His will. (Rev. 4:11, footnote 2)

　　In eternity God planned a will. This will was hidden in Him; hence, it was a mystery. In His wisdom and prudence He has made this hidden mystery known to us through His revelation in Christ, that is, through Christ’s incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. (Eph. 1:9, footnote 2)

　　God’s will is His intention; God’s counsel is His consideration of the way to accomplish His will, or intention. (Eph. 1:11, footnote 4)

　　In God’s plan Christ is the Head to head up all things (Eph. 1:10). The whole universe is for Christ. Whatever God has planned, whatever God has done, and whatever God is doing are to make Christ the Head, the center, and everything. This is God’s eternal purpose. The phrase to head up all things in Christ (v. 10) indicates the divine economy.

　　In God’s creation Christ is the first, the One who has preeminence among all creatures. In the old creation all things were created in Christ, through Christ, and unto Christ (Col. 1:15b-16). Furthermore, all things cohere, subsist together, and are compacted as one in Christ (v. 17b). We can see the beauty of the universe and the oneness of all things in this universe.... Christ is the power by which and in which all things cohere. Christ is the center of God’s creation, and He has the first place in all creation.

　　The new creation is something of the old creation that has died and resurrected into life to have a fresh start in newness. Christ is the Firstborn from the dead (Col. 1:18); He is the first in resurrection. As such, He has the first place in the church as God’s new creation (2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15). Christ is not only the Firstborn of the new creation but also the Head of the church, the Body. Moreover, He is the constituent of the Body. He is all the members of the Body and in all the members (Col. 3:11). Even the Body itself is Christ (1 Cor. 12:12). Everything of the Body, the church, in a positive way and in the proper condition, must be Christ Himself. Christ is the Head, Christ is the life, and Christ is the constituent of the church. Hence, in the new creation, the church, Christ is everything.

　　One day in 1933 the Lord opened my eyes to see that Christ is everything to us. Many times the saints came to me to praise someone by saying that he was humble or lovely. But after 1933 whenever I heard this kind of praise about a person, I always had a question within me. What do you mean by being humble? What do you mean by being lovely? Do you mean that here is a part of the old Adam that is so humble? Or here is a man in Adam who is so lovely? The real humility and loveliness of a Christian must be Christ Himself. Our love toward others must be Christ. Our patience, our humility, our wisdom, our knowledge, and our insight must be Christ. (CWWL, 1964, vol. 1, “The Centrality and Universality of Christ,” pp. 174-175)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1964, vol. 1, “The Centrality and Universality of Christ,” ch. 1; CWWL, 1985, vol. 3, “Elders’ Training, Book 6: The Crucial Points of the Truth in Paul’s Epistles,” ch. 7; Life-study of Colossians, msgs. 1, 3