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“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly”—Col. 3:16:
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The word of Christ is the word spoken by Christ—John 6:63:
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In His New Testament economy God speaks in the Son—Heb. 1:1-2.
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The Son speaks not only by Himself in the Gospels but also through His members, the apostles and prophets, in Acts, in the Epistles, and in Revelation; all these speakings can be considered His word.
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The word of Christ includes the entire New Testament, and we need to be filled with this word—Col. 3:16.
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The word of Christ is actually the person of Christ—v. 16; John 15:4, 7:
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Paul almost personifies the word of Christ; he tells us to let this word dwell in us, as if it were a living person—Col. 3:16; cf. Eph. 3:17.
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First, we have Christ as our life; then we have His living word personified as His person dwelling in us—Col. 3:4, 16.
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Since the word of Christ can dwell in us, it must be a living person; therefore, to let the word of Christ dwell in us indicates that we allow a living person—Christ Himself—to dwell in us—v. 16; 1:27.
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We need to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly and have the first place in our being—3:16:
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The word let is important; the word of Christ is already present, but we need to allow it to operate within us.
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For the word of Christ to dwell in us richly means that it inhabits us, indwells us, in a rich way—v. 16.
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The Greek word rendered “dwell” literally means “to be in a house,” “to indwell,” “to inhabit”:
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This indicates that we should allow the word of Christ to dwell in us, to inhabit us, to make home in us—v. 16.
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The word of the Lord must have adequate room within us so that it may operate and minister the riches of Christ into us—Eph. 3:8.
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The word of Christ should be given the freedom to operate within us, inhabit us, and make home in us—Col. 3:16.
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We need to let the word of Christ dwell in us so that we may experience the functions of the word of God operating within us, ministering the riches of Christ into our being—Eph. 3:8:
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The word of God enlightens (Psa. 119:105, 130), nourishes (Matt. 4:4; 1 Tim. 4:6), and waters us to quench our thirst (Isa. 55:1, 8-11).
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The word of God strengthens (1 John 2:14; Prov. 4:20-22), washes (Eph. 5:26), and builds us up (Acts 20:32).
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The word of God completes, perfects (2 Tim. 3:15-17), and edifies us by sanctifying us (John 17:17).
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By allowing the word of Christ to inhabit us, we can become a God-man filled with Christ as the reality of the attributes of God—Col. 3:16-25; Phil. 4:5-8.
Morning Nourishment
Eph. 3:16-17 Be strengthened with power through His Spirit into the inner man, that Christ may make His home in your hearts through faith…6:17-18 …Receive…the sword of the Spirit, which Spirit is the word of God, by means of all prayer and petition, praying at every time in spirit and watching unto this in all perseverance and petition concerning all the saints.
In Colossians 3:16 Paul charges us to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly,…make its home in us. If a certain place is to become our home, we must have the freedom to make all necessary arrangements. If we want to keep a certain item, we may do so. But if we want to throw something else away, we are free to do that as well. If we do not have this kind of freedom, it is not possible for us to make that place our home. In like manner, if the word of Christ is to make its home in us, we must give it the full liberty, freedom, and right. We need to pray, “Lord, I offer my whole being to You and Your word. I give You access to every part of my inner being. Lord, make my inner being a home for Yourself and Your word.” (Life-study of Colossians, p. 574)
Today’s Reading
We all must confess that many times the Lord’s word has come to us, but we did not give it adequate room within us. Instead, we limited the word of God and restricted it. Sometimes we do receive God’s word, but we do not give it the freedom to make its home in us. Let me ask you, in your experience is the word of Christ first, or are you first? I do not believe that anyone can say that first place is always given to God’s word. Sometimes we may give preeminence to the word of Christ and allow it to be first. However, much more often we ourselves are first. In a secret way we keep the first place for the self. Outwardly we may act as if the first place is reserved for the word of God. But secretly the first place is for us.We need the arbitrating peace of Christ to preserve us in oneness that the Lord may speak to us. Then we need to give first place to the word of God. If we do this, we shall experience the functions of the word of God: enlightening, nourishing, quenching our thirst, strengthening, washing, building, perfecting, and edifying. What benefit we receive from the word of God! (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 574-575)
If we do not feed on the Word daily, it will not be possible for us to live Christ. I am healthy spiritually because daily I eat, digest, and assimilate the Word and am nourished by it. God has made Christ to be our life and our everything, and He has destined us to live Christ. If we live Christ, we shall be the most blessed people on earth. We shall have joy, satisfaction, and every blessing. As we have pointed out, the way to live Christ is to receive His word into us and be filled with it.
In order to receive the Word into our being, we should not merely read the Word, but should mingle our reading with prayer, singing, psalming, and calling on the name of the Lord. Whenever I open the Word of God, either for the work or for my own nourishment, I am immersed in the atmosphere and aspiration of prayer. Often I converse with the Lord by means of the verse I am reading. In this way I am infused and nourished, filled in my spirit with the living Word, which is actually Christ Himself as the Spirit.
Someone may hear a message on living Christ and then pray, “Lord, I want to live You. I make up my mind to live Christ from now on. Please help me do this.” This kind of prayer, however, is not effective. It can be compared to asking the Lord to make you healthy when you do not eat properly….Likewise, if we are not nourished by the Word, it will be to no avail to make up our minds to live Christ. Only by eating the Word can we live Christ. (Life-study of Philippians, pp. 364-365)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1978, vol. 2, “Crucial Principles for the Christian Life and the Church Life,” ch. 2; Life-study of Colossians, msg. 64