西一12 感谢父，叫你们够资格在光中同得所分给众圣徒的分。

　　　二6~7 你们既然接受了基督，就是主耶稣，在祂里面已经生根，并正被建造，……就要在祂里面行事为人。

　　保罗写歌罗西二章时，乃是想到旧约中美地的图画，这美地就是包罗万有之基督的预表。一章十二节含示这点，保罗在这节说到基督是众圣徒的分。然后，保罗在二章七节告诉我们，要在基督里面行事为人。这含示基督是我们能在其中行事为人的美地，领域，范围。不仅如此，他在七节说到在基督里生根，这也指明他想到那美地。我们要在基督里生根，祂就必须成为我们的地土、我们的土壤（歌罗西书生命读经，一九九至二○○页）。

　　Col. 1:12 Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you for a share of the allotted portion of the saints in the light.

　　2:6-7 As therefore you have received the Christ, Jesus the Lord, walk in Him, having been rooted and being built up in Him...

　　As Paul was writing...chapter 2 of Colossians, he was considering the picture of the good land in the Old Testament as a type of the all-inclusive Christ. There is a suggestion of this in 1:12, where Paul says that Christ is the portion of the saints. Then in 2:6 Paul tells us to walk in Christ. This implies that Christ is the land, the territory, the realm, in which we may walk. Furthermore, his reference to being rooted in Christ in 2:7 also indicates that he was thinking of the good land. In order to be rooted in Christ, He must be our land, our soil. (Life-study of Colossians, p. 162)

　　保罗……知道神的选民在旧约时代享受美地作他们的分。……借着美地，他们才能敬拜神，并且建造圣殿，作神的见证，并作神独一的居所。借着美地，以色列人才能完成神的定旨。保罗十分清楚美地对神的选民有什么意义，所以他写信给歌罗西人时，乃是想着美地的这幅图画。因此，我们若要经历这卷书中所启示之包罗万有的基督，我们就需要看见，这样一位基督乃是迦南美地所预表的。这位由美地所预表的基督，乃是经过过程的三一神成了赐生命的灵。

　　在约书亚五章十一至十二节，我们看到一个提示，美地接续吗哪作基督的预表。十一节说到以色列的百姓吃美地的出产。……吗哪预表基督是神百姓生命的供应。正如约书亚记中这二节所指明，美地的出产乃是吗哪的延续。因此，吗哪若是预表基督，美地的出产必定也是预表祂。借着旷野中吗哪的供应，神的百姓就能建立会幕作神的居所。同样的原则，因着那地丰富出产的供应，他们就能建造圣殿作神更稳固的居所。毫无疑问，以色列子民所享受的美地，乃是基督一个重大的预表，因为乃是借着享受美地，圣殿才得以建立。

　　地是旧约圣经的紧要中心，这就是为什么神在旧约中一再说到那地的原因。神呼召亚伯拉罕出来，告诉他要把他带到一个地方，那个地方就是迦南美地。想想看，从创世记十二章到旧约末了，有多少次神提到那地。事实上，旧约的中心乃是在美地上所建造之城里的圣殿。我们若认识圣经，也有从神来的亮光，我们就明白，神永远计划的中心，按预表说，乃是美地连同殿和城。……美地乃是包罗万有之基督的图画，预表基督之于我们乃是一切（歌罗西书生命读经，二○○、二○二至二○四页）。

　　以色列人在美地上的经历，预表今天我们对基督的享受。基督是我们的美地，基督丰富的各方面由那地的出产所预表。我们若享受基督丰富的供应，就能活基督。这一切事—过基督徒生活、击败仇敌、建立神的国并建造神的居所—都出于对基督丰富的享受（哥林多前书生命读经，五三二页）。

　　参读：歌罗西书生命读经，第六、二十至二十一篇；基督是我们的分，第一章。

　　Paul...was aware that God’s chosen people in Old Testament times enjoyed the good land as their portion.... It was through the good land that they could worship God and build the temple for God’s testimony and for His unique dwelling place. It was through the good land that God’s purpose could be fulfilled through the children of Israel. Fully realizing what the good land meant to God’s chosen people, Paul composed the Epistle to the Colossians with the portrait of the good land in mind. Therefore, if we would experience the all-inclusive Christ as revealed in this book, we need to realize that such a Christ is typified by the land of Canaan. The Christ who is typified by the good land is the processed Triune God as the life-giving Spirit.

　　In Joshua 5:11 and 12 we see a hint that the good land typifies Christ as the continuation of the manna. Verse 11 says that the children of Israel ate of the produce of the land.... Manna was a type of Christ as the life supply for God’s people. As these verses in Joshua point out, the produce of the good land is the continuation of the manna. Therefore, if the manna typified Christ, the produce of the good land must also typify Him. By means of the supply of manna in the wilderness, God’s people were able to build the tabernacle as God’s dwelling place. In the same principle, through the supply of the rich produce of the land they were able to build the temple as a more solid dwelling place for God. No doubt, the good land enjoyed by the children of Israel is a significant type of Christ, for through the enjoyment of it the temple was built.

　　The land is the crucial focus of the Old Testament. This is the reason that in the Old Testament the Lord speaks of the land again and again. He called out Abraham and told him that He would bring him into a certain land, which was the land of Canaan. Consider how many times from Genesis 12 to the end of the Old Testament the Lord referred to the land. Actually, the center of the Old Testament is the temple within the city built in the good land. If we know the Scriptures and have light from God, we shall realize that the center of God’s eternal plan, speaking according to the type, is the land with its temple and city....The land is the figure of the all-inclusive Christ, a type of Christ as everything to us. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 162-165)

　　The experience of the children of Israel in the good land typifies our enjoyment of Christ today. Christ is our good land, and the various aspects of the riches of Christ are typified by the produce of the land. If we enjoy the rich supply of Christ, we shall be able to live Christ.... All these matters—living the Christian life, defeating the enemies, establishing the kingdom of God, and building the house of God—issue out from the enjoyment of the riches of Christ. (Life-study of 1 Corinthians, p. 449)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Colossians, msgs. 6, 20-21; CWWL, 1966, vol. 1, “Christ Our Portion,” ch. 1