Christ’s
One Life is All and in All
By
Arthur J Licursi
Col.
3:10-11 And have put
on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image
of him that created him: 11Where there is
neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian,
Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.
1
Cor. 12:27 Now ye are the
body of Christ, and members in particular.
Have
you ever noticed that the Apostle to the Gentiles, Paul, is the only
Bible writer who speaks of “the body of Christ” (Romans
7:4; 1 Cor. 10:16; 1 Cor. 12:27; Ephes. 4:12). This paper concerns
Christ indwelling His body on earth, even today. For this, we must see
what Paul has to say.
Paul
is telling us here in Colossians 3:10-11 that there are no natural
born persons, of whatever heritage, who are in the new man
– which is the body of Christ. Christ indwelling His body members on
earth today makes the body of Christ the incarnation of
Christ on earth today. “Christ in you” is the
focal point of the “mystery” Gospel (musterion, secret gospel)
given to Paul (Rom 16:25), by revelation from Jesus Christ, for us.
Ephes.
3:1-3 For this cause I
Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, 2If
ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given
me to youward: 3How that by revelation he
made known unto me the mystery…
Col.
1:25-27 Whereof I am
made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given
to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; 26Even the
mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but
now is made manifest to his saints: 27To whom God would
make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among
the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory…
Read
Galatians 2:20 carefully (below), noting that all who are in Christ have
been crucified, died in Christ (Rom
6:3), and they have received Christ’s life (Zoë,
spirit life, the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus Rom
8:2, 1John 4:13), in place of their life as their ONLY
life. One life, less one life, plus His One
life = One new life
Gal.
2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live
in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and
gave himself for me.
This
statement that Christ is the “only life” of the believer
sounds radical at first, until you think it through, in accord with
the Scriptures. We must always allow Scripture to interpret Scripture
for us. The matter of spirit life is the real you. Your life is not
your body; your spirit gives life to your body (James 2:26) and your
soul. So, your spirit (Zechar. 12:1b), which is in the midst of your
body (Dan 7:15) is your real life – it’s your
eternal part. This life of Christ indwelling the spirit of each of his
body members is the very make-up of the new man.
The
word “where” in Col 3:11 above refers to “the new
man” in Col 3:10, meaning in the new man there
is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian,
Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.” In
the strictest sense, in the “new man” of Christ’s body
there are no natural born Christians or natural born non-Christians.
There cannot be Greeks, who are for philosophical wisdom, thereby
distracting the Colossians from Christ. There are no Jews, who
promoted religious ritual and law, thereby distracting the Colossians
and Galatians from Christ. There cannot be circumcision and
uncircumcision. Circumcision refers to the observers of the Jewish
religious rituals; uncircumcision refers to those who do not care for
the Jewish religious practices. Galatians 5:6 For in
Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor
uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.
Among
other examples, we can deduce from Paul’s writing that there is no
such thing as “Messianic Jews” (Jews who have become Christians
and calling themselves “Messianic Jews”) – since "in
Christ” a Jew is no a longer Jew. To claim such would be an affront
to the blood of Christ that bought us and freed us from the shackles
of the old creation and made it possible for us to be of the new
creation – “the body of Christ”. 2 Cor. 5:17
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old
things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Individually,
we are new creatures in Christ and we are Christ’s by His swallowing
up our human spirit, making us one with Him (1Cor 6:17). In the
new man there cannot be barbarian, Scythian, slave, or freeman.
A barbarian is an uncultured person, the Scythians were considered the
most barbarous people; slaves were those sold into slavery, and the
freemen were those who had been freed from slavery. No matter what
kind of person we may be, as far as the new man is concerned, we must
regard ourselves as nobody distinctive – In Christ there is no
distinction.
God
had originally purposely made the Jews very distinctive, by
implementing the many unique ritual requirements, plus circumcision,
and dietary limitations, just to name a few.
Israel
was to “stick out like a sore thumb” in the world, among the
heathen. This “distinction” made
Israel
a peculiar people. In Christ we are sanctified (1Cor 1:30), but not a
peculiar or distinctive people – the Jews are the peculiar people. Exodus
19:5 Now therefore, if ye (
Israel
) will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be
a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is
mine:
In
the new man there is room only for Christ, not for any kind of natural
person. Therefore, in “the church, which is His body” we
are without distinction. In fact Christ has broken down the “middle
wall of partition” that put distinction between natural Jews and
Gentiles. In the new man "Christ is all and in all”. Ephes.
2:14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken
down the middle wall of partition between us… In the new man
there is room only for Christ, and He is all the members of the
new man and in all the members. He is everything
in the new man.
Philip.
2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to
do of his good pleasure.
In
the new man Christ is both the centrality and universality
of the new man. The word “all” in Colossians 3:11 is
referring to all the members who make up the new man. Christ
Himself is the new man, His Body. 1 Cor. 12:13
by one Spirit are we all baptized (placed) into one
body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we
be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one
Spirit (Christ’s Spirit of life, Rom 8:2a).
“Christ
is All and in All” means Christ is all these members with
regard to their inner life, and He is in all the members. Note that it
is “the church, which is His (Christ’s)
body” (Eph 1:22-23) we speak of. There’s no room
for us as independent, self-governing, members of Christ’s body.
There’s no room for self-seeking. As those who are part of the new
man, we should not principally regard ourselves as Americans, Germans,
Irish, or any other nationality. I may be Italian, but spiritually,
I’ve had a change of race, I’m a member of Christ’s body – by
a literal spiritual birth, having received the spiritual genetics of
God my Father via His Seed, “which
seed (sperma) is Christ” Gal 3:16),
1Pet 1:23
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible,
by the word of God…
The
Christ Seed is all and in all in the new
man, and we are part of the new man. 1 Cor. 12:27 Now
ye are the body of Christ, and members in
particular (meros, members by individual share). We
are part of Christ while He is our all. Each member,
each part, of the new man is the incarnation of Christ by having
Christ’s resurrection life and divine nature (2Pet 1:4). Do
not misunderstand, we are NOT Christ, but we have Him in us as
our life, we are as containers bearing His life; just as a “cup of
coffee” is one, but the cup and content are two. The coffee in the
cup is the issue. Of the body, Paul says we are “members in
particular” – we’re still also individuals, governed
containers bearing His indwelling life. We have no life in and of
ourselves, but Christ has life “life in himself” (John
5:26), thus we do not live unto ourselves. We are dependent individual
members of His body. Only Christ is the independent one. Thus, Christ
is independent of His surroundings and situations; and we also may be
independent of our circumstances as we depend on the only independent
One in us.
No doubt, the new
man here in Colossians 3:10 is a corporate man,
which is “the church, which is Christ's Body” (Eph 1:22b,
23a). Although many different kinds of people make up the church, all
are part of the One Christ. They are no longer the natural,
independent, person. Christ is the governing innermost life in every
member of the new man, and He is in every member of the body; in the
new man – our independence is gone. We are freed former slaves of
Sin as our fallen nature. Rather, we now are willing slaves of Him who
died for us, as we yield to His inner promptings. Romans 6:13
Neither yield ye your members as instruments of
unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as
those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of
righteousness unto God. It is a tremendous vision it is to see Christ
who is all and in us all. <END>