In this message we come to the matter of the experience of Christ as the mystery of God. We shall consider a number of points which help us experience Christ in this way.
If we would experience Christ as the mystery of God, we need to have the full knowledge of Him as God’s mystery. We have pointed out that Paul struggled for the Colossians that their hearts would be comforted “unto the full knowledge of the mystery of God, Christ” (2:2). In order to have the full knowledge of such a mystery, our whole being needs to be exercised. If we simply believe in Christ without loving Him, we cannot have this knowledge. Likewise, if we love Him partially but not wholly, we cannot have the full knowledge of Him. We need to love the Lord Jesus with our whole being. For this reason, Mark 12:30, quoting Deuteronomy 6:5, says, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.” When our entire being is exercised to love the Lord Jesus, we shall gain the full knowledge of Him.
Some Christians are fond of the hymn, “Oh, how I love Jesus.” However, this hymn may be sung in a superficial way; it is not according to the full knowledge of Christ as the mystery of God. Only by exercising our entire being can we know Christ in this way.
I recommend that all the saints in the Lord’s recovery study three crucial books in the New Testament: Matthew, John, and Hebrews. A number of helpful Life-study Messages have been given on these books. The studies on John and Hebrews are especially thorough. If you spend adequate time on these three books, you will gain a considerable amount of knowledge concerning Christ.
In 2:6 Paul says that the Colossians “have received Christ Jesus the Lord.” Christ is the portion of the saints (1:12) for our enjoyment. To believe in Him is to receive Him. As the all-inclusive Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17), He enters into us and dwells in our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22) to be everything to us.
Once we have received Christ Jesus, we need not receive Him again. But we must apply what we have received. However, only a very small percentage of those who have received Christ apply Him. We all must practice to apply the living Christ in a practical way day by day. To employ a common term, we need to use Christ. For more than fifty years, I have been learning how to use Christ. I can testify that this is difficult because by birth it is not natural for us to use Christ, nor does our training condition us to use Him. Recently, most of my confession to the Lord has been related to my failure to apply Him. The hardest lesson for us to learn as Christians is to apply Christ and to use Him. We have heard a number of messages on living Christ, growing Christ, and producing Christ. Nevertheless, in our daily living we spontaneously use the self instead of Christ. There is no need for us to try to use the self; we use it automatically and spontaneously.
In the Gospels the Lord charges us to “watch and pray.” I have spent a number of years considering this word. At first I thought that this command was not necessary. But eventually I learned that I certainly need to watch and pray, especially in the matter of applying Christ. As we are waking up in the morning, we need to be watchful not to do anything without applying Christ. Often as we wake up early in the morning, it seems that demons are swarming around the headboard of the bed. Although we are protected by the Lord and covered with His prevailing blood, we still need to be watchful and resist the evil thoughts injected into us by the enemy. Do not think about anything without applying Christ. We certainly need to be on the alert; that is, we need to be watchful and to pray. But very few Christians watch and pray in order to apply Christ.
Although we have all received the Lord Jesus, we are very short in using Him, in applying Him. If we fail to apply Him, then in a practical way in our daily living there is little significance to having received Him. Our experience of Christ should not be so superficial, and we should not take so many things for granted. We are thankful for God’s salvation in Christ, and we are grateful that we have received Him. But now we must go on to apply the very One we have received.
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