Scripture Reading: Col. 2:2-3, 9-10; John 1:1, 14, 16; Eph. 3:8, 17

DAY 1 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 2 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 3 & DAY 4 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 5 & DAY 6 Outline　MorningRevival

«　WEEK 5　DAY 1　»

　　Col. 2:2 That their hearts may be comforted, they being knit together in love and unto all the riches of the full assurance of understanding, unto the full knowledge of the mystery of God, Christ.

　　John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

　　Colossians 2:2-23 reveals that we may experience and enjoy Christ as the mystery of God. In verse 2 Paul speaks of the “full knowledge of the mystery of God, Christ.” This means that, as God’s story and God’s everything, Christ declares God in full. As the mystery of God, Christ is the Word of God (John 1:1; Rev. 19:13); Christ is the definition, explanation, and expression of God. Moreover, as the mystery of God, the mysterious story of God, the all-inclusive Christ is the history of God; the whole story of God is in Christ and is Christ (John 1:14; 1 Cor. 15:45b; Rev. 4:5). God is a mystery. Although God is infinite and eternal, without beginning or ending, He also has a history, a story. God’s history refers to the process through which He passed so that He may come into man and that man may be brought into Him. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 3555)

　　Today the processed Triune God is the Spirit. At the time of John 7:39, the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified. He had not yet passed through death and entered into resurrection. Now that Christ has passed through death and has entered into resurrection, the Spirit is here. This Spirit is Christ, and Christ is the story of God, the mystery of God. As the story of God, Christ is the processed God, God processed to become the all-inclusive Spirit, who now dwells in our spirit and is one with our spirit.

　　The Christ whom we have received is the mystery of God and the history of God. The Christ whom we have received is God with His wonderful history—God who passed through the process of incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, glorification, and enthronement. As the history of God, Christ is the mystery of God. Because the Jews do not have Christ, the God in whom they believe does not have such a history. Apart from Christ, there is neither the history of God nor the mystery of God.

　　As the mystery of God, Christ also is both the embodiment of God (Col. 2:9) and the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b; 2 Cor. 3:17). In order to know Christ in reality as the embodiment of God, we need to experience Him as the life-giving Spirit. The reality of Christ as the embodiment of God is in Christ as the life-giving Spirit. As the mystery of God, Christ is not only the embodiment of the fullness of God but also the life-giving Spirit dwelling in our spirit to be one spirit with us. We should tell the Lord, “I care only for You as the embodiment of God and as the life-giving Spirit in my spirit. Because You are so real, living, and practical in my spirit, I can live by You and with You. Lord, my only desire is to experience You in this way.”

　　We need to focus our attention upon Christ as the mystery of God and the church as the mystery of Christ (Eph. 3:4-6). As the mystery of God, the all-inclusive Christ is the embodiment of God and the life-giving Spirit. As the mystery of Christ, the church is the Body of Christ, His fullness, and the new man to be the full expression of Christ (1:23; Col. 3:10-11). As Christ is the history of God, so the church is the history of Christ. As the history of Christ, the church is the mystery of Christ. In the church we are a continuation of this history. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3556-3557)

　　Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msgs. 22, 354-355; CWWL, 1961-1962, vol. 4, “The Mystery of God and the Mystery of Christ,” chs. 1-4; CWWL, 1979, vol. 1, “Life Messages, Volume 2,” chs. 54, 65

«　WEEK 5　DAY 2　»

　　Col. 2:3 In whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden.

　　Eph. 1:8 Which He caused to abound to us in all wisdom and prudence.

　　17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him.

　　Before we were saved, we were not wise. However, once we are saved, we can experience Christ as our wisdom. All believers should be wise. This is practical. We need to experience Christ as our wisdom in how we spend our time and our money. Christ is real wisdom. When we live by Christ, He is our wisdom. We are not wise when we do not live by Christ or when Christ is unable to live in us. Christ is always in us, but we often do not allow Him to live in us. When Christ lives in us, He becomes our wisdom. (CWWL, 1978, vol. 3, “The Recovery of Christ as Everything in the Church,” p. 229)

　　In writing Colossians Paul was fighting against the Gnostic philosophy by declaring that Christ, as the totality of all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, is far better, higher, and more profound than the Gnostic philosophy. According to history, the influence of Gnostic teaching, which is a mixture of Jewish religion and Greek philosophy, invaded the Gentile churches in Paul’s time. Those who were influenced by such teaching considered themselves as having much wisdom and knowledge, but they spoke many things concerning God and Christ that were not according to the truth. Hence, Paul told the Colossian believers that all the treasures of genuine wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ. This is the spiritual wisdom and knowledge of the divine economy concerning Christ and the church. Wisdom is related to our spirit, and knowledge is related to our mind (Eph. 1:8, 17).

　　Moreover, wisdom and knowledge refer to all the “stories” of God.... All the wisdom and knowledge pertaining to God’s stories are hidden in this Christ who is the mystery of God. Therefore, Colossians 2:6-7 indicates that we who have received Christ Jesus the Lord should walk in Him and be rooted and built up in Him and should not listen to the empty words of philosophy and philosophical doctrines of the Gnostics. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3557-3558)

　　God is the unique source of wisdom and knowledge. All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in the very Christ who is the mystery of God. Because the church at Colossae had been invaded by pagan philosophy, Paul was helping the Colossians trace wisdom and knowledge to their true source in God. Christ is the mystery of God, who alone is the source of all wisdom and knowledge.

　　The fact that wisdom and knowledge are embodied in Christ is proved by His spoken words, especially those recorded in the Gospels of Matthew and John. In these books, the Lord spoke about the kingdom and about life.... None of the teachings of the philosophers, including the ethical teachings of Confucius, compare to them. The concept in the Lord’s words is too deep and profound. Anyone who makes a thorough study of philosophy will have to admit that the highest philosophy is that found in the teachings of Jesus Christ. Truly all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are in Him.

　　If we exercise our being to contact the Lord, Christ as the life-giving Spirit will saturate our spirit and our mind. Then we also shall have in our experience the wisdom and knowledge that are hidden in Christ. In this way we experience Him as the mystery of God. We should not be like the Colossians, who allowed pagan philosophy to defraud them of the wisdom and knowledge hidden in Christ. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 150-151)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1978, vol. 3, “The Recovery of Christ as Everything in the Church,” ch. 1; Life-study of Colossians, msg. 18

«　WEEK 5　DAY 3　»

　　Col. 2:9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

　　John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us (and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only Begotten from the Father), full of grace and reality.

　　Phil. 3:21 Who will transfigure the body of our humiliation to be conformed to the body of His glory...

　　[In Colossians 2:9] the word dwells indicates that the fullness of the Godhead must be a person; the fullness of the Godhead is personified. The fullness of the Godhead dwells as a person in the incarnated Christ bodily, that is, in Christ with a human body. Hence, the word bodily in verse 9 points to the physical body that Christ put on in His humanity, indicating that all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ as One who has a human body.

　　Before Christ’s incarnation, the fullness of the Godhead dwelt in Him as the eternal Word, but not bodily. From the time that Christ became incarnate, clothed with a human body, the fullness of the Godhead began to dwell in Him in a bodily way, and in His glorified body (Phil. 3:21) now and forever it dwells. The fact that the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ bodily means that it dwells in Him in a way that is both real and practical. Now that the fullness of the Godhead dwells as a divine person in Christ bodily, it is visible, touchable, and receivable. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 3569)

　　According to Colossians 2:9, Christ is the embodiment of the fullness of the Godhead. Fullness here 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 the expression of the riches of what God is. The Godhead is expressed both in the old creation, the universe, and in the new creation, the church. We should note that in both 1:19 and 2:9 Paul uses the word all to describe fullness. All the fullness, all the expression, is in the old creation and in the new creation.

　　The Godhead in verse 9 refers to deity, which is different from the divine characteristics manifested by the created things (Rom. 1:20). This strongly indicates the deity of Christ. The fullness of the Godhead is versus the tradition of men and the elements of the world. The world’s tradition and elements simply cannot be compared with the fullness of the Godhead.

　　All the fullness of the Godhead in Colossians 2:9 refers not only to the entire Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—but also to all that the entire Triune God is, has, does, knows, can do, has done, has obtained, has accomplished, and has attained; all this fullness dwells in the Son bodily. The Divine Trinity is the fullness of the Godhead, and this fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ. Therefore, Christ is the embodiment of the Triune God. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are all embodied in Christ. The fullness of the Godhead is threefold: the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. The Father is rich, the Son is unlimited, and the Spirit is without measure. Because the Triune God is altogether embodied in Christ, outside of Christ there is no God, and outside of Christ we cannot find God or contact God. Christ is God’s dwelling place, God’s address, and God’s home. If we want God yet do not want Christ, we cannot have God. When we receive, experience, and enjoy Christ, we receive, experience, and enjoy the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 3570)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1983, vol. 1, “The Subjective Experience of the Indwelling Christ,” ch. 1; CWWL, 1983, vol. 1, “The Five Great Mysteries in the Bible,” ch. 3; CWWL, 1990, vol. 2, “The Mysteries in God’s New Testament Economy,” ch. 1

«　WEEK 5　DAY 4　»

　　John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us (and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only Begotten from the Father), full of grace and reality.

　　16 For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.

　　We should never consider the riches as the fullness. These two things are absolutely different. The riches are the quantity of an object, whereas the fullness is the flowing out, the overflow, of the object to become the expression of the object. God’s fullness is the overflow of His riches, and this overflow is God’s expression. God is abundantly rich. He is so rich that His riches overflow. This overflow is the expression of God. (CWWL, 1985, vol. 2, “The Fullness of God,” p. 144)

　　It is not easy to understand [John 1:16]. A teacher of the Greek language once said that grace upon grace can be compared to the waves of the sea, which roll in wave upon wave without interruption. In this verse grace does not refer to the riches of grace but to the fullness of grace. The riches of grace are in God, but the fullness of grace is in Christ Jesus. Hence, the grace that we receive is the fullness of grace. The Jews do not know the Lord Jesus, and they do not receive Him. They only have the Father but not the Son. Hence, the most that they can enjoy is the rich love of God. They cannot enjoy the fullness of the love of God as Christians can.

　　Now we can understand John 1:16. This verse says that we have received “of His fullness,” not “of His riches.” Fullness, not riches, is used in this verse. This can be compared to water within a cup being the riches and to the water that overflows the cup being the fullness. The Lord Jesus is the overflow of God; the Son is the overflow of the Father. Here is an illustration. Before I was married in 1928, I was a bachelor. Even though I was young and strong, I did not have an “overflow.” Today, however, my eight children, their spouses, and my third generation add up to more than thirty people. This is my overflow. The riches are seen in the father, and the fullness is seen in the children.

　　In God the Father love is rich, light is rich, and grace is also rich, but we cannot see the fullness of these items in the Father. When the Son came and walked on the earth, people saw the overflow, something that surpassed the riches. Based on this light, when we read the record of the Lord Jesus in the four Gospels, we need to see that His life and walk were not merely rich in life, love, and power; His life and walk were the fullness of life, love, and power. When we describe the Father, we use the word rich. God is rich in this, and He is rich in that. However, when we describe the Son, we need to change rich to full. Christ is full of this, and He is full of that. The Lord is not only rich, but He is also full. The Lord Jesus is the fullness of God, and fullness is expression. Hymns, #501 says, “O glorious Christ, Savior mine, / Thou art truly radiance divine.” When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He was full of grace, full of reality, full of light, and full of life. He was full of the attributes of God; He was full of all that God is. This is God’s manifestation, God’s expression.

　　We are now clear concerning the fullness of God dwelling in Christ bodily. In Christ is the fullness of God’s grace and reality, and we have all received of Christ’s fullness, and grace upon grace. This is like wave upon wave of grace coming upon us. This surely is fullness. The grace we receive from the Lord is the expression of God. Hence, the more grace we receive, the more we express God. (CWWL, 1985, vol. 2, “The Fullness of God,” pp. 163-164)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1985, vol. 2, “The Fullness of God,” chs. 1, 3; CWWL, 1983, vol. 2, “Christ in His Excellency,” chs. 4-5

«　WEEK 5　DAY 5　»

　　Col. 2:10 And you have been made full in Him, who is the Head of all rule and authority.

　　1 Cor. 1:30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom to us from God: both righteousness and sanctification and redemption.

　　Because all the fullness of the Godhead is in Christ and because we have been placed in Him (1 Cor. 1:30), we have been made full in Him....All those who believe in Christ have been put into Christ [Gal. 3:27]. Therefore, we are identified with Him and one with Him. The result is that all He is and all He has belongs to us, and all that He has experienced is our history....Furthermore, because we are one with Him, we partake of all that He has accomplished, obtained, and attained. (Life-study of Colossians, p. 178)

　　We are members of the all-inclusive Christ. We have been put into Him, identified with Him, truly “married” to Him. Hence, we are one with Him. All that He has passed through is now our history, and all that He has obtained and attained is our inheritance. We are in such a Christ, and He is in us. We have been placed into Him, we are one with Him, and we receive all that He is and has. Although some Christians have a doctrinal knowledge of this, a mere mental understanding of our union with Christ is not adequate. We need to exercise faith in order to partake of all that is ours in Christ. We should not consider ourselves poor, just as a poor woman who has married a rich man should no longer think of herself as poor. Even though she may feel poor, she must practice applying the fact that the riches of her husband belong to her. In like manner, because we are one with Christ, we should not regard ourselves as in poverty. To the contrary, we need to have a full realization of what we have in Christ.

　　In their prayers, some Christians like to declare how poor, pitiful, and low they are. This kind of prayer is without faith or assurance. We need to believe with full assurance that we are one with the rich, all-inclusive Christ, with the One who is the embodiment of all the fullness of the Triune God. If we realize this with full assurance, we shall never consider ourselves poor.

　　Do not believe your feelings about yourself, but look away to Christ. Exercise your faith to realize what He is, what He has passed through, what He has obtained and attained, and where He is today. Since He is in the third heaven and we are one with Him, we are in the third heaven also....We have been placed into the Christ who is unsearchably rich. In this Christ we are made perfect, complete. In Him we do not lack anything. Do not talk about how much you lack. Because you are in Christ, you lack nothing. In Him is the fullness, the perfection, the completion. Actually, He Himself is the fullness, perfection, and completion. Because we are in Him, we are complete and perfect; we lack nothing. We are those who possess the riches of Christ.

　　In Ephesians 3:8 Paul speaks of the unsearchable riches of Christ. We are more than billionaires because the riches we have are greater than can be counted. We simply have no idea what vast riches we possess in Christ. Often we have prayed, “Lord, I am poor and pitiful.” But not many have prayed in this way: “Lord, I thank You that I am rich, complete, and full. Lord Jesus, because I am in You, I am richer than the wealthiest billionaire. I am short of nothing.” I hope that after reading this message, you will begin to pray in this way. Tell the Lord, the angels, and even the demons that you are richer than any earthly billionaire because you are in the Christ whose riches are unsearchable. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 178-179)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Colossians, msg. 22; CWWL, 1973-1974, vol. 1, “The Indwelling Christ in the Canon of the New Testament,” ch. 16

«　WEEK 5　DAY 6　»

　　Eph. 3:8 To me, less than the least of all saints, was this grace given to announce to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ as the gospel.

　　Col. 3:1 If therefore you were raised together with Christ, seek the things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.

　　1 Cor. 6:17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.

　　Before we were rooted in Christ as the good land, we did not have anything positive. Instead, we were involved with the flesh, the ordinances, and the power of darkness. But now that we have been rooted in the good land, the fullness has become ours, and we are supplied with every positive thing. In this all-inclusive and extensive fullness, we have everything. We have God, we have an uplifted humanity, and we have divine attributes and human virtues. Do you need life? It is found in this fullness. Do you need love or patience? They also are included in the fullness.... How rich is the soil in which we have been rooted! It supplies us with everything, and we have no lack. We have the all-inclusive, inexhaustible fullness....This fullness dwells in Christ bodily. In Him, the embodiment of the fullness of the Godhead, we are made full. (Life-study of Colossians, p. 465)

　　If we take time to enjoy the Lord, we shall take adequate time to absorb Him. We have heard a number of messages concerning who the Lord is, what He is, and where He is. We have also learned how to exercise our spirit to contact Him. But now we must take sufficient time to absorb Him. We should not be lazy or indolent in this matter. From my experience I can testify strongly that when we take time to enjoy the Lord, all the elements of the rich soil are absorbed into us.

　　If you fail to absorb the Lord in the morning, you are apt to be troubled by “flies” and “scorpions.” Many saints can testify that absorbing the Lord in the morning supplies them with the best insect repellent. However, we should spend time with the Lord not only in the morning but also throughout the day.... If we are not faithful to take time to absorb the Lord, our condition will gradually deteriorate. Our experience confirms this. Let us turn from our thought, emotion, and intention and open ourselves to the Lord, exercising our spirit to say, “O Lord Jesus, I love You, I worship You, and I adore You. Lord, I give myself to You. I give You my heart and everything concerning this day.” As you contact the Lord in this way, do not be hurried. Take time, the more the better. As you spend time contacting the Lord, spontaneously you will absorb into you the riches of the soil. The fullness, the circumcision, the burial, the raising up, the imparting of life, the wiping out of the ordinances, and the stripping off of the authorities will be yours. All these facts in the book of Colossians will become your experience.

　　Whereas the facts are in Christ, the experience is by Christ. We experience these things as we contact the Lord and are one with Him in a practical way. Recently I have been praying to the Lord every morning, “Lord, grant me the grace to live one spirit with You. Lord, I have no doubt that You are one spirit with me. But, Lord, I ask You to remind me that I am one spirit with You.” The more we live one spirit with the Lord, the more we experience the all-inclusive and extensive Christ revealed in Colossians. All those things that are facts in Christ thus become our experience by Him and with Him. Oh, let us absorb Him, enjoy Him and experience Him! Praise Him that we have been rooted in a rich, fertile soil filled with the divine attributes and uplifted human virtues! Everything we need is in this soil, in this good land in which we have been rooted. For the practice of the church life, let us stay rooted in this soil and absorb all its riches. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 467-469)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Colossians, msg. 53