第四週■週一

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晨興餧養

西一18『祂也是召會身體的頭；祂是元始，是從死人中復活的首生者，使祂可以在萬有中居首位。』

      27『神願意叫他們知道，這奧祕的榮耀在外邦人中是何等的豐富，就是基督在你們裏面成了榮耀的盼望。』

〔保羅〕在加拉太三章十四節說，『爲叫亞伯拉罕的福，在基督耶穌裏可以臨到外邦人，使我們藉着信，可以接受所應許的那靈。』…根據上下文來看，這福必是指美地。在創世記十二章，神應許賜給亞伯拉罕的福乃是那地。在加拉太三章十四節，保羅將亞伯拉罕的福，與那靈的應許聯在一起。這指明亞伯拉罕所得的應許，美地的應許，就是那靈。因此，那靈就是美地。

這靈一點不差就是包羅萬有的基督。美地旣是基督包羅萬有的豫表，並且基督旣成了那靈，所以那靈，也就是包羅萬有之靈作爲經過過程的神，至終對我們新約的信徒就是美地，應驗了神給亞伯拉罕的應許：地上的萬國都要因他得福。（創十二3。）（歌羅西書生命讀經，五八至五九頁。）

信息選讀

神有兩個創造：舊造與新造。歌羅西一章十八節所指的是新造。…基督乃是身體的頭；這身體就是召會，神的新造。基督不僅是舊造的首生者，〔參15 ～ 17，〕也是在新造裏從死人中復活的首生者。在舊造裏、在新造裏，基督都是元首。…我們作爲召會乃是新造，是在基督裏、藉着基督、並歸於基督；我們更是時時刻刻在基督裏得以維繫。你是在舊造裏還是在新造裏？我們外面是舊造，裏面卻是新造。

在舊造裏並在新造裏，基督都是首生者，爲着彰顯神。保羅說過神的兩個創造之後，在一章十九節說，『因爲一切的豐滿，樂意居住在祂裏面。』…基督是神的像也是神的豐滿，爲要彰顯神。『像』就是彰顯，彰顯就是豐滿。這彰顯乃是透過舊造和新造而有的。藉着這兩個創造，我們就有豐滿。這豐滿就是彰顯，而這彰顯就是『像』。

十五至十九節實際上是一個長句子的一部分。這句子啓示基督包羅萬有的頭一面，就是祂是那不能看見之神的像。在舊造裏並在新造裏，基督都是神的豐滿，神的彰顯。

我們也許不懂，關於基督這樣的啓示與我們有甚麼實際上的關係。在二十六至二十七節裏，保羅說到一個奧祕。這奧祕就是前幾節的『像』、『豐滿』。按照二十七節來看，在外邦人中的奧祕，就是基督在我們裏面成了榮耀的盼望。你知不知道，在你裏面的基督是那不能看見之神的像，是神的豐滿，是受造之物的首生者，也是從死人中復活的首生者？…在二十八至二十九節我們看見，保羅勞苦並竭力奮鬭，好將各人在基督裏成熟的獻上。…這位基督乃是在我們裏面。但是現今我們需要長大，直到我們在基督裏成熟。這種長大受了文化的攔阻。

頂要緊的是，我們要領悟，我們能在各式各樣的造物中看到基督。我們需要放下我們對天、地、以及物質東西的觀念；我們需要看見，基督是舊造的首生者，也是新造的首生者。因此，基督是一切；祂是包羅萬有的。我們旣看見基督是一切，就需要有一種體會，這位基督在我們裏面乃是我們榮耀的盼望。我們今天所需要的，乃是在祂裏面長大，達到成熟。（歌羅西書生命讀經，三五五至三五八頁。）

參讀： 歌羅西書生命讀經， 第六、二十四、
三十四篇。

WEEK 4 — DAY 1

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Morning Nourishment

Col. 1:18 And He is the Head of the Body, the church; He is the beginning, the Firstborn from the dead, that He Himself might have the first place in all things.

         27 To whom God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

In Galatians 3:14 [Paul] says, “In order that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”…According to the context,…this blessing must refer to the good land. In Genesis 12 the blessing God promised to give Abraham was the land. In Galatians 3:14 Paul links the blessing of Abraham to the promise of the Spirit. This indicates that the promise of Abraham, the promise of the good land, is the Spirit. Hence, the Spirit is the good land.

This Spirit is nothing less than the all-inclusive Christ. As the good land is an all-inclusive type of Christ, and as Christ has become the Spirit, so the Spirit, the all-inclusive Spirit as the processed God, is eventually the good land to us, the New Testament believers, as a fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham that all the families of the earth would be blessed in him (Gen. 12:3). (Life-study of Colossians, second edition, pp. 49-50)

Today’s Reading

God has two creations: the old creation and the new creation. Colossians 1:18 refers to the new creation…Christ is the Head of the Body, the church, which is God’s new creation. Christ is not only the Firstborn of the old creation [cf. vv. 15-17] but also the Firstborn from the dead in the new creation. Both in the old creation and in the new creation, Christ is the first…As the new creation, we, the church, are in Christ, through Christ, and unto Christ. Moreover, we are moment by moment cohering in Christ. Are you in the old creation or in the new creation? Outwardly, we are the old creation, but inwardly, we are the new creation.

Both in the old creation and in the new creation Christ is the Firstborn for the purpose
of expressing God. After Paul speaks of God’s two creations, he says in 1:19, “For in Him all the fullness was pleased to dwell.” The word fullness in this verse is equal to the image in verse 15…Christ is the image of God and the fullness of God in order to express God. The image is the expression, and the expression is the fullness. This expression is through both the old creation and the new creation. Through these two creations we have the fullness. This fullness is the expression, and the expression is the image.

Verses 15 through 19 reveal that the first aspect of Christ’s all-inclusiveness is that He is the image of the invisible God. In the old creation and in the new creation, Christ is the fullness of God, His expression.

We may wonder what such a revelation of Christ has to do with us in a practical way. In 1:26 and 27 Paul speaks of the mystery. This mystery is the image, the fullness, in the foregoing verses. According to verse 27, the mystery  among the Gentiles is Christ in us, the hope of glory. Have you ever realized that the Christ who is in you is the image of the invisible God, the fullness of God, the Firstborn of creation, and the Firstborn from the dead?…In 1:28 and 29 we see that Paul labored and struggled in order to present every man full-grown in Christ. Christ is in us. But now we need to grow until we are full-grown in Christ. This growth is hindered by culture.

It is crucial for us to realize that we can see Christ in all the items of creation. We need to drop our concept of the heavens, the earth, and the physical things; we need to see that Christ is the Firstborn of the old creation and the Firstborn of the new creation. Hence, Christ is everything; He is all-inclusive. Seeing that Christ is everything, we need to have the realization that this Christ is in us to be our hope of glory. What we need today is to grow in Him unto maturity. (Life-study of Colossians, second edition, pp. 286-288)

Further Reading: Life-study of Colossians, msgs. 6, 24, 34