«　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