«　WEEK 2　DAY 5　»

　　Col. 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the Firstborn of all creation.

　　2:2 …Unto the full knowledge of the mystery of God, Christ.

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

　　3:4 When Christ our life is manifested, then you also will be manifested with Him in glory.

　　As we sing and praise the Lord in the church meetings, we may conform to the atmosphere of the meetings. But at home we live according to our culture. For this reason, we are heavily burdened by the Lord that all the saints in the Lord’s recovery may learn in a practical way how to take Christ as their life and person to replace their culture. Once again I say that the point is not that we drop our culture. It is that we take Christ as our life and as our person to replace our culture day by day, hour by hour, and even moment by moment. If we do this, we shall truly live by Christ, not by our culture. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 307-308)

　　Perhaps you are wondering what the difference is between living according to culture and living according to Christ. In the church we have those from different cultural backgrounds. According to their culture, some saints are open, frank, and quick. It is very difficult for them to keep anything secret. However, they are lacking in patience. Other saints, with a different background, are reserved and hidden. It is very difficult for anyone to tell what is taking place within them or how they feel about things. Others, with still a different cultural background, may be virtually expressionless. You cannot tell whether such a person is happy with you or displeased with you. Even after those from these different cultures are saved and have begun to seek the Lord, they retain their cultural characteristics and even bring them into the church life. The problem is that in the church they all live much more according to their culture than according to Christ. They love the Lord Jesus, but they still live by their culture. No matter what their cultural background may be, they do not give Christ very much ground within them. Therefore, the daily church life is occupied by culture instead of by Christ.

　　It is vital for us all to see a vision concerning the all-inclusiveness of Christ. 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. We should not give any ground in our living to culture. Instead, all the room within us should be given over to the all-inclusive Christ who dwells in us to be our hope of glory. If we see such a vision of the indwelling, all-inclusive Christ, we shall spontaneously drop our culture. Formerly, Christ was replaced by culture. But once we see this vision, the culture within us will be replaced by Christ.

　　We should not be deluded by persuasive speech or carried off by man’s philosophy, tradition, or culture. We should care only for Christ. Christ should occupy us, possess us, and take us over. In our inner being there should be no room for philosophy or for the rudimentary principles of the world. Every part of our inward being should be occupied by Christ and with Christ. To us Christ is the real God, the real food, the real drink, the real clothing, and the real Sabbath. He is the reality of every positive thing. Therefore, we would not give ground in our being to anything other than Christ. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 308-310)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 2, “The Christian Life, ” chs. 1-2