Col. 2:6 As therefore you have received the Christ, Jesus the Lord, walk in Him
19…Holding the Head, out from whom all the Body, being richly supplied and knit together by means of the joints and sinews, grows with the growth of God
In the book of Colossians a number of important phrases or expressions point to our experience of Christ. Some of these phrases are Christ in you (1:27), full-grown in Christ (v. 28), walk in Him (2:6), according to Christ (v
8), made alive together with Him (v. 13), died with Christ (v. 20), holding the Head (v. 19), out from whom (v. 19), and grows with the growth of God (v. 19)
These nine expressions give us a complete picture of the proper experience of Christ. In this regard, we need to pay special attention to the prepositions in, according to, with, and out from. Furthermore, it would be a great help to pray-read all the verses related to these points. (Life-study of Colossians, second edition, p. 355)
Today’s Reading
The Christ who is in us is the extensive, immeasurable, unsearchable One
How marvelous that such a Christ dwells in us! We need to become full-grown in such a Christ, to walk in Him, and to be according to Him. Having died with Christ and having been made alive with Him, we should hold Him as the Head out from whom the whole Body grows with the growth of God. [These nine expressions] indicate that Christ is near, available, and applicable…Unless Christ were applicable, we could not walk in Him, be according to Him, or die and be made alive together with Him. Neither could we hold Him as the Head out from whom the Body grows with the growth of God. All these points are related to the subjective experience of Christ. Furthermore, these points are neglected or altogether lacking among today’s Christians, where there is little emphasis on walking in Christ, being according to Christ, or holding Christ as the Head. If Christ were merely objective to us, He could not be in us, and we could not be full-grown in Him…The unique person qualified for all these nine points is the Spirit
Through incarnation God was brought into man, and through Christ’s resurrection man was brought into God. Through Christ’s resurrection the Triune God, mingled with man, became the Spirit. This Spirit includes God, incarnation, humanity, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection. Redeemed and uplifted humanity is in this Spirit. The all-inclusive life-giving Spirit is the Triune God reaching us in a final and ultimate way. This is the Spirit
Furthermore, the very Christ today is this Spirit. Therefore, it is easy for Christ to be in us and for us to be in Him. It is also possible for us to become fullgrown in Him, to walk in Him, and to be according to Him
On the one hand, Christ is in us; on the other hand, we are in Christ…Today the processed Triune God as the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit is our air. This air is in us, and we are in this air and even walk in this air. Moreover, we can be people according to this air who grow in this air with the growth of God. The all-inclusive Christ is, therefore, the experiential Christ. He is a Christ who can be in us, and a Christ in whom we can walk. We can live, walk, move, and have our being in Him
We should not be according to philosophy, ethics, culture, or religion. We should not in any way be according to the old man. Rather, we are here to be according to the processed, all-inclusive, life-giving Triune God. This, however, should not be a mere doctrine. For example, a brother should not deal with his wife according to culture; he should deal with her according to Christ, according to the processed Triune God. If we would live, behave, and have our being according to the all-inclusive, life-giving, processed Triune God, we would all be like Paul the apostle. (Life-study of Colossians, second edition, pp. 356-358)