Scripture Reading: Gal. 1:4, 15-16; 2:20; 4:19; Col. 1:12-19; 2:2, 9, 16-17, 19; 3:4, 10-11
Ⅰ
We have been rescued out of the present evil age to have Christ wrought into our being-Gal. 1:4, 15-16; 2:20; 4:19:
A
Jesus Christ "gave Himself for our sins that He might rescue us out of the present evil age according to the will of our God and Father"-1:4:
１
An age refers to the present or modern appearance of the world as the satanic system, which is used by Satan to usurp and occupy God's people to keep them away from God and His purpose-Eph. 2:2; 1 John 2:15-16.
２
According to the context of the book of Galatians, the present evil age in 1:4 refers to the religious world, the religious course of the world, the Jewish religion-6:14-15.
３
The purpose of Christ's giving Himself for our sins was to rescue us out of the Jewish religion, the present evil age; this was to release God's people from the custody of the law, to bring them out of the sheepfold, according to the will of God-3:23; John 10:1, 3, 16; 1 Tim. 1:3-4.
４
The will of God is to have the church as the Body of Christ-Rom. 12:1-5.
B
To have Christ wrought into our being is to have Christ the Son revealed in us, live in us, and be formed in us-Gal. 1:15-16; 2:20; 4:19:
１
The desire of God's heart is to reveal His Son in us so that we may know Him, receive Him as our life, and become sons of God-1:12, 15-16; 4:5-6:
ａ
Nothing is more pleasing to God than the unveiling, the revelation, of the living person of the Son of God in us-1:15-16.
ｂ
The focal point of the Bible is the living person of the Son of God, who is the embodiment of the Triune God realized as the all-inclusive Spirit in our spirit-Col. 2:9; 1 Cor. 15:45b; 6:17; 2 Cor. 3:17; Phil. 1:19.
２
1n Galatians 2:20 we have the most basic truth of God's New Testament economy-no longer 1 but Christ living in me:
ａ
God's economy is that "1" be crucified and that Christ live in me in His resurrection-John 14:19.
ｂ
1n His economy God's intention is for the processed and consummated Triune God to be wrought into our being to make us a new person, a new "1"-Gal. 2:20.
ｃ
We and Christ have one life and one living-John 6:57.
３
To have Christ formed in us is to have Christ fully grown in us so that we may mature in the divine sonship-Gal. 4:19.
Ⅱ
We have been delivered out of the authority of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of the Son of God's love to experience, enjoy, and be constituted with the all-inclusive, extensive, preeminent Christ for the consummate jubilee-Col. 1:12-19; 2:2, 9-10, 16-17, 19; 3:4, 10-11:
A
The Father delivered us out of the authority of darkness, the authority of Satan, and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love-1:13-14:
１
We have been delivered from the devil, Satan, by the death of Christ and by the life of Christ in resurrection-v. 13; 2:14-15; John 5:24.
２
The kingdom of the Son is the authority of Christ-Col. 1:13; Rev. 12:10:
ａ
The Son of God is the embodiment and expression of the divine life-John 1:4; 1 John 5:11-12.
ｂ
To be transferred into the kingdom of the Son of the Father's love is to be transferred into the Son, who is life-John 11:25; Col. 3:4.
ｃ
The Son of the Father's love is the object of the Father's love to be the embodiment of life to us in the divine love with the authority of resurrection-Matt. 3:17; 17:5.
ｄ
The kingdom into which we have been transferred is the kingdom of the Son of God's love; this realm of life is in love, not in fear-Col. 1:13.
ｅ
The kingdom in which we find ourselves today is a realm full of life, light, and love-1 Pet. 2:9.
３
Because the Father delights in the Son, the kingdom of the Son of the Father's love is a pleasant thing, a matter of delight-Matt. 3:17; 17:5.
４
The church life today is the kingdom of the Son of the Father's love, which is as delightful to God the Father as the Son is-Col. 1:13; 4:15-16.
B
The Christ unveiled in Colossians is the all-inclusive and extensive One-the centrality and universality of God's economy-1:15-19, 27; 2:16-17:
１
The will of God is that the all-inclusive, extensive Christ be our portion- 1:9, 12, 18-19.
２
We need to be infused, saturated, and permeated with the all-inclusive, extensive Christ until He is everything to us-v. 27; 2:16-17; 3:4, 10-11.
C
1n the kingdom of the Son of God's love, Christ has the first place, the pre-eminence, in all things; if we see the vision of the preeminence of Christ, our Christian life and our church life will be revolutionized, for we will realize that in all things Christ must be first-1:18; Rev. 2:4.
D
The Christian life in the kingdom of the Son of God's love is a life of faith and love and a life in union with Christ-Col. 1:4, 8; 2:2, 5, 7; 3:12-4:6.
E
1n the kingdom of the Son of God's love, we practice the local church life, we have the reality and practicality of the Body of Christ, and we have the reality and practicality of the one new man-1:2; 2:19; 3:10-11, 15; 4:15-16.