“Let no one therefore judge you
in eating and in drinking
or in respect of a feast
or of a new moon
or of the Sabbath,
which are a shadow of the things to come,
but the body is of Christ.
Let no one defraud you
by judging you unworthy of your prize”
(Col. 2:16-18a):
As with a man’s physical body,
the body in Colossians 2:17
is the substance,
and like the shadow of a man’s body,
the rituals in the law
are a shadow of Christ,
who is the substance and reality of the gospel;
Colossians unveils
such an all-inclusive Christ
as the focus of God’s economy.
Daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly
Christ is the reality of every positive thing,
implying the universal extensiveness
of the all-inclusive Christ:
Daily
Christ is
our food and drink
for our satisfaction and strengthening.
Weekly
Christ is
our Sabbath
for our completion and rest in Him.
Monthly
Christ is
our new moon
as a new beginning with light in darkness.
Yearly
Christ is
our feast
for our joy and enjoyment.
The extensive Christ,
who is full of attractiveness
and rich in magnetism,
is the essence of the Bible.
According to the context,
the “prize” in Colossians 2:18
is the enjoyment of Christ
as the body of the shadows;
to be defrauded of our prize
is to be defrauded of the subjective enjoyment of Christ.
Our need is
for the subjective Christ
to become our enjoyment
to complete the divine revelation within us;
if we are short
in the experience and enjoyment of Christ,
we are also short
concerning God’s revelation.
Whatever we do day by day
should remind us of Christ
as the reality of that thing;
if we follow
the practice of taking Christ
as the reality of all the material things in our daily life,
our daily walk
will be revolutionized and transformed,
and we will be full of Christ.
We need to enjoy Christ day by day
as the reality of all our necessities:
Christ is our breath.
Christ is our drink.
Christ is our food.
Christ is our light.
Christ is our clothing.
Christ is our dwelling place.
The all-inclusive Christ
is the reality of all the positive things
in the universe.
Because the universe
with the billions of things and persons in it
was created for the purpose of describing Christ,
He, in revealing Himself to His disciples,
could easily find in any environment
something or someone to serve
as an illustration of Himself.
The Old Testament uses
six major categories of things as types
to describe Christ
—human beings, animals, plants,
minerals, offerings, and foods:
Human beings typify Christ,
such as Adam (Rom. 5:14),
Melchizedek (Heb. 7:1),
Isaac (Matt. 1:1),
Jonah (12:41),
and Solomon (v. 42).
Animals typify Christ,
such as a lamb (John 1:29),
a lion, an ox, an eagle (Ezek. 1:10),
and a gazelle (S.S. 2:9).
Plants typify Christ
(who is the tree of life—Gen. 2:9),
such as the vine tree (John 15:1),
the apple tree (S.S. 2:3),
the fig tree, the pomegranate tree, and the olive tree (Deut. 8:8);
the different parts of a tree
are also types of Christ,
such as the root, the stump, the sprout,
the shoot, the branch, and the fruit
(Isa. 11:1, 10; 4:2; Luke 1:42; Rev. 5:5).
Minerals typify Christ,
such as gold, silver, copper, and iron (Deut. 8:9, 13),
and different kinds of stone:
the living stone (1 Pet. 2:4),
the rock (1 Cor. 10:4),
the cornerstone (Matt. 21:42),
the topstone (Zech. 4:7),
the foundation stone (1 Cor. 3:11),
and precious stone (v. 12).
Offerings typify Christ,
such as the burnt offering, meal offering, peace offering,
sin offering, trespass offering, wave offering,
heave offering, and drink offering
(Lev. 1—7; Exo. 29:26-28; Num. 28:7-10; cf. John 4:24).
Foods typify Christ,
such as bread, wheat, barley,
grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives,
milk, and honey
(6:35; Deut. 8:8-9; 26:9).
In the New Testament
Christ is the Spirit of reality
who makes the untraceable riches
of all that He is
real to us,
guiding us into Himself
as the divine reality.
The elements of the reality of all the types
are in the Spirit,
and the Spirit transfuses and dispenses
all these riches
into us
through the Lord’s words.
The very Christ
who is the reality of all positive things
is the One
who is the Head of the Body;
thus, to hold the Head
is simply to enjoy Christ
as the reality of all positive things :
Since the Christ we enjoy as our everything
is the Head of the Body,
the more we enjoy Him,
the more we become Body-conscious:
This indicates
that the enjoyment of Christ
is not an individualistic matter
but a Body matter.
The more we enjoy Christ,
the more we love the other members of the Body.
Because Christ’s headship is in resurrection,
the enjoyment of Christ
spontaneously brings us into resurrection
and saves us from our natural being.
The enjoyment of Christ
brings us into the heavenlies in ascension;
we can be experientially in the heavens
only by enjoying Christ, the Head,
as the life-giving Spirit in our spirit.
As we enjoy Christ
and hold Him as the Head,
we absorb the riches
of the extensive, all-inclusive Christ;
these riches become in us
the increase of God
by which the Body grows for its building up.
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Prophecy note, 31 August 2014
The more we remain in the soul,
the more we will be choked,
the more we will sense
the shortage of air.
On the other hand,
when we turn ourselves to the spirit,
right away
we sense the freshness of air.
Through my experiences
I have learned
one vital lesson:
to turn to the spirit.
Instead of caring for so many outward things,
we must learn
to turn to the spirit all the time.
We need to forget about our environment.
When we are in spirit,
we often have the sense
that we are not on earth.
Everything is so fresh and new
in our spirit.
This freshness and newness
is Christ
as our air.
We Christians
think, consider, and worry too much.
Many times
we will not turn to the spirit
until we are forced to.
If our business runs well,
we do not turn to the Lord.
Therefore, we often need
troubles, trials, and painful sufferings,
things we cannot get through,
to force us
to give up and turn back to the Lord.
We must learn
to be willing to turn to our spirit.
Even if we could get through in some area
outside of the spirit,
we should still come back to the spirit.
When we turn to our spirit,
we sense the fresh air within us;
we are refreshed, strengthened, and uplifted.
To pray
is the best way
to exercise our spirit.
In the morning
while we are dressing or washing,
we can say something to the Lord
from our spirit.
We must learn
to turn ourselves to the Lord
at all times.
As we turn to our spirit,
we sense
enlightenment, refreshment, and nourishment.
While we are reading the Word,
we must learn
not to exercise our mind too much.
If we exercise our mind too much
when we read,
we will be exhausted
instead of being satisfied.
We must learn
to exercise our spirit
to contact the Lord,
praying more than we read.
As we do this,
we will sense
that we are being nourished, satisfied, and strengthened,
having something of Christ
ministered into us.
If we would practice this,
I cannot tell you
what kind of sweetness, preciousness, and richness
we would enjoy!
Many Christians
do not have a time with the Lord,
and many of those
who desire to be with the Lord,
do so in a wrong way.
Many of these brothers and sisters
study the Word
and read it
by exercising their mind too much.
They do not know
how to turn themselves to the spirit
in order to touch the Lord
and meet with Him.
Learn to turn to the spirit.
This is the only way
to enjoy Christ
as light, air, water, and food.
If we learn to turn to our spirit,
the whole church
will be turned,
and there will be
a great change
in the church life.
Day 6
The enjoyment of Christ
also brings us into the ascension.
The more we enjoy Him,
the more we are in the heavenlies experientially.
This means
that through the enjoyment of Christ,
we become heavenly.
Not only are we no longer natural,
but we are no longer earthly.
The enjoyment of Christ
causes us to be
both in resurrection and in ascension.
The more we enjoy Christ,
the more we are in the heavens.
Therefore, to hold Christ as the Head
is to be in the heavens in our experience.
It is also true
to say
that to be in the heavens
is to hold the Head.
Experientially,
holding the Head and being in the heavens
are one and the same.
If in our experience
we temporarily abandon Christ
and do not continue holding Him as the Head,
we shall sense
that we are earthly.
For example,
suppose a sister does not hold Christ as the Head
in the matter of shopping.
Then at least temporarily,
during the time she is shopping,
she has given up the Head.
When a husband and wife are exchanging words,
they certainly are not in the heavenlies
in their experience.
To say the least, they are earthly,
for when they are arguing,
they are not holding Christ as the Head.
Whenever we are earthly,
we are not holding the Head.
But if in our married life
we consistently enjoy Christ,
we shall hold Him as the Head
and be in the heavens
in our experience.
Then we shall be
a heavenly people.
Nothing will be able to pull us down
from the heavens to the earth.
Unfortunately, in our experience
we quickly make this descent.
Even a single word or unpleasant look
can cause us to fall
from the heavens to the earth.
How quickly in our daily living
we may cease from holding the Head!
According to Colossians 3:1-4,
our living should be in the heavens,
where God’s throne is.
On the one hand,
Christ as our Head
is in our spirit;
on the other hand,
He is in the heavens,
not on earth.
Only when we are in the heavens
do we hold Him as the Head.
To enjoy Christ
is to hold the Head,
and to hold the Head
is to be in the heavens.
We can be experientially in the heavens
only by enjoying Christ, the Head,
as the life-giving Spirit in our spirit.
Second Corinthians 3:17 says,
“And the Lord is the Spirit.”
If Christ were only the Head
and not the Spirit,
there would be no way
for us to contact Him
or hold Him experientially.
But although Christ’s position is that of the Head,
in our experience
He is the life-giving Spirit.
Therefore, to hold Christ as the Head
is not only to enjoy Him and to be in the heavens,
but it is also to be in our spirit.
As we enjoy Christ and hold Him as the Head,
we absorb His riches.
According to Colossians 2:19,
something proceeds out from the Head
which causes the Body to grow
with the growth of God.
When we enjoy Christ
in the heavens and in our spirit,
we hold the Head
and absorb His riches.
Then out from the Head
something will proceed
to produce the growth of God in us.
This means
that more of the element of God
is added into our being
and thereby into the Body.
This causes the Body to grow
with the growth, the increase, of God.
Through holding Christ as the Head,
we become conscious of the Body.
Experiencing the Body life,
we absorb the riches
out from the Head.
These riches
are the very elements of God
which become in the members of the Body
the increase of God
by which the whole Body grows.
Therefore, the growth of the Body
is the product of enjoying Christ,
holding Him as the Head,
and absorbing His riches.
Day 5
In Colossians 2:17
Paul says
that the body is of Christ,
but in verse 19
he speaks
not of Christ,
but of holding the Head.
The reason for the change in terminology
from Christ to the Head
is that our enjoyment of the Lord
causes us to become conscious of the Body.
If we are those
who enjoy Christ continually,
we shall not continue to be individualistic.
The saints who are individualistic
are those who do not consistently enjoy the Lord.
We should touch the Lord
in the morning,
but in the evening
we should come to the church meetings.
It is not normal
to enjoy the Lord during the day
and neglect the meetings of the church,
which is His Body.
Even if your environment does not allow you
to attend all the meetings,
inwardly you should have the sense
that your whole inner being
is with the saints in the church meeting.
This consciousness of the Body
comes from the enjoyment of Christ.
What we enjoy of Christ day by day
is actually something of Him
as the Head.
This is the reason
that when we enjoy Christ,
He causes us
to become conscious of the Body.
According to our experience,
we know
that the more we enjoy Christ,
the more intense is our desire for the Body.
However, if we fail to contact the Lord
for a period of time,
we shall automatically neglect the church life
or lose interest in the meetings.
The less we contact the Lord,
the more critical we become
of the church or of the saints.
This shortage of the enjoyment of Christ
opens the door for the enemy, Satan,
to come in
to make us critical
of other members of the Body.
But if we begin again
to enjoy the Lord,
the door will gradually close.
Eventually, if we are constant
in our enjoyment of Christ,
the door will be completely shut.
Then, instead of criticizing the church,
we shall praise the Lord for the church life,
and we shall testify how much we love it.
What brings about such a change
is not admonition or correction,
but the recovery of the enjoyment of Christ.
The dear, precious One
whom we enjoy as our food, drink, and breath
is the Head of the Body.
Because Paul had a thorough realization of this,
he could leap from Christ
as the reality of all positive things for our enjoyment
to the matter of Christ
as the Head.
Since the Christ we enjoy as our everything
is the Head of the Body,
the more we enjoy Him,
the more we become Body-conscious.
This indicates
that the enjoyment of Christ
is not an individualistic matter.
It is a Body matter.
We need to enjoy Christ
as members of the Body
in a corporate way.
In Colossians 2:19
Paul speaks of “all the Body.”
The enjoyment of Christ
keeps us one
as members of the Body.
The more we enjoy Christ,
the more we love the other members of the Body.
The enjoyment of Christ
causes us to love everyone
in the church life.
Even those whom we find it difficult to love
become dear and precious to us.
Actually, the church and the saints
remain the same;
it is our attitude
that changes.
But if the supply of Christ
is ministered to us
and we begin to enjoy Him again,
all the members of the Body
will once again become lovable to us.
We shall have the pleasant realization
that, as members of the Body,
we love all the other members.
Because Christ’s headship
is in resurrection,
the enjoyment of Christ
spontaneously brings us into resurrection
and saves us from our natural being.
We all are natural.
If we are not brought into resurrection
through the enjoyment of Christ,
we shall remain in our natural person.
Praise the Lord
that the enjoyment of Christ
brings us into resurrection!
The more we enjoy Him,
the less natural we are.
Once again,
this is not a mere doctrine
but a fact of Christian experience.
Day 4
There are six major categories of types
in the Old Testament.
The first category
is human beings;
the second, animals;
the third, plants;
the fourth, minerals;
the fifth, offerings;
and the sixth, foods.
All these six major categories
contain types of Christ.
Some examples from the category of human beings
are Adam,
typifying Christ as the Head of the human race;
Isaac,
typifying Christ as the seed of Abraham;
and Solomon, the son of David,
typifying Christ as the seed of David.
Christ is not only the Head of the human race
but also the seed of man
and the seed of woman.
He is the King, the Priest, and the Prophet.
As the King, He is typified by Judah and David;
as the Priest, He is typified by Melchizedek and Aaron;
and as the Prophet, He is typified by Isaiah and Jonah.
Hence, to understand all the portrayals of Christ
in the aspect of human beings,
we have to study
Adam, Abraham, David, Solomon,
Melchizedek, Aaron, Isaiah, Jonah, and others.
Now we come to the category of animals.
As a lamb,
Christ became an offering
to deal with our sins for our redemption.
As an ox,
He was not only made an offering
but also became lowly
to bear our burdens
as a slave of God for us.
As a lion,
He is the victorious One
overcoming Satan on our behalf.
As an eagle,
He is the transcendent and heavenly One
who carries us
that we may rise above everything.
As a dove,
He is beautiful and guileless,
and as a turtledove,
He is lowly and poor.
Among the plants,
there are even more types concerning Christ.
The Lord said
that He is the true vine.
There is only one vine in the universe
that is true,
and this true vine
is Christ.
Song of Songs 2:3 says
that He is the apple tree.
Moreover, the Old Testament tells us
that the different parts of a tree
are also types of Christ:
Christ is
the root, the stem, and the stump;
He is also
the branch and the fruit.
Furthermore, the New Testament tells us
that He is
the fruit of Mary’s womb.
The most mysterious thing
is that Christ is the tree itself.
He is
the unique tree of life
in the universe.
He is also
the acacia wood,
which signifies
that His humanity is
noble and strong in quality
and lofty and superior in standard.
Whenever we come to the Lord’s word,
we should open up our entire being
and exercise our spirit
to draw from the riches of the Spirit in the Bible.
If we pray-read the word of God in this way,
every word of the Bible
becomes spirit and life to us.
Then we can realize
that the Spirit is definitely speaking in us.
The speaking Spirit
who dwells in us
will lead us through every circumstance
to encounter every person, event, and matter
and deal with every problem.
Today this speaking Spirit
is Christ.
To know Christ,
we need to earnestly study
the six major categories of types in the Old Testament
—human beings, animals, plants,
minerals, offerings, and foods.
These types are very rich.
How blessed we are today!
The elements of the reality of all the types
are in the Spirit,
and the Spirit transfuses and dispenses all these riches
into us through the Lord’s words.
Therefore, day by day
we need to eat the Lord’s words
and receive the Spirit’s dispensing.
This is
like breathing, drinking, and eating,
which are things that we do,
not once for all
but day by day and moment by moment.
Furthermore, we also need to exercise our spirit
and release our spirit
before the Lord regularly
for our cooperation with the Lord.
Thus, our spiritual life
will be healthy
and will continually grow
in a normal way.
Day 3
Christ is
every necessity and all the enjoyment.
Christ is our light.
Christ is also our food.
In John 6
He told us
that He is the living bread
and that if we eat Him,
we shall live because of Him.
According to 1 Corinthians 10:4,
Christ is our spiritual drink.
In the Christian race,
we should not drink anything
other than the all-inclusive Christ
as our all-inclusive drink.
Christ is our very breath.
John 20:22 shows
that Christ breathed Himself into the disciples.
We need to breathe Him
in moment by moment
by calling on His name.
Christ is even our clothing.
Galatians 3:27 says,
“For as many of you as were baptized into Christ
have put on Christ.”
To put on Christ
is to wear Christ
as our clothing.
Christ is
also our dwelling place, our abode.
In the Gospel of John,
there are six major items
of the enjoyment of Christ in the spirit.
These include life,
which is the first and most basic matter;
the food supply;
the living water for drinking;
the breath of life;
the light of life;
and the dwelling place.
The first item to maintain life
is light.
The second item to maintain life
is air or breathing.
The more we remain in the soul,
the more we will be choked,
the more we will sense
the shortage of air.
On the other hand,
when we turn ourselves to the spirit,
right away
we sense the freshness of air.
Through my experiences
I have learned
one vital lesson:
to turn to the spirit.
Instead of caring for so many outward things,
we must learn
to turn to the spirit all the time.
We need to forget
about our environment.
When we are in spirit,
we often have the sense
that we are not on earth.
Everything is so fresh and new
in our spirit.
This freshness and newness
is Christ
as our air.
We Christians
think, consider, and worry too much.
Many times
we will not turn to the spirit
until we are forced to.
If our business runs well,
we do not turn to the Lord.
Therefore, we often need
troubles, trials, and painful sufferings,
things we cannot get through,
to force us
to give up and turn back to the Lord.
We must learn
to be willing to turn to our spirit.
Even if we could get through in some area
outside of the spirit,
we should still come back to the spirit.
When we turn to our spirit,
we sense the fresh air within us;
we are refreshed, strengthened, and uplifted.
To pray
is the best way
to exercise our spirit.
In the morning
while we are dressing or washing,
we can say something to the Lord
from our spirit.
We must learn
to turn ourselves to the Lord
at all times.
The fourth item of the enjoyment of Christ
is the matter of food.
As we turn to our spirit,
we sense
enlightenment, refreshment, and nourishment.
While we are reading the Word,
we must learn
not to exercise our mind too much.
If we exercise our mind too much
when we read,
we will be exhausted
instead of being satisfied.
We must learn
to exercise our spirit
to contact the Lord,
praying more than we read.
As we do this,
we will sense
that we are being nourished, satisfied, and strengthened,
having something of Christ
ministered into us.
If we would practice this,
I cannot tell you
what kind of sweetness, preciousness, and richness
we would enjoy!
Many Christians
do not have a time with the Lord,
and many of those
who desire to be with the Lord,
do so in a wrong way.
Many of these brothers and sisters
study the Word
and read it
by exercising their mind too much.
They do not know
how to turn themselves to the spirit
in order to touch the Lord
and meet with Him.
Learn to turn to the spirit.
This is the only way
to enjoy Christ
as light, air, water, and food.
If we learn to turn to our spirit,
the whole church
will be turned,
and there will be
a great change
in the church life.
Day 2
We love something
not because we are capable of loving;
rather, it is
because a certain thing is lovable
and we are drawn to love it.
We are very reluctant to love something
that is not lovable,
but it is difficult
for us to refrain from loving something
that is lovable.
Likewise, we love the Lord
because we are attracted by His loveliness.
He is very attractive.
In the past two thousand years,
innumerable people have been attracted
and charmed by Him,
and we are among them.
This Christ
who is full of attractiveness
and rich in magnetism
is the essence of the Bible.
The Bible covers thousands of items
and deals with a great number of doctrines,
but it has only one center
—Christ Himself.
We need to apply the matter of experiencing Christ
as the reality of every positive thing
to every part of our daily life.
As we eat our meals,
we should take Christ
as the real food.
Instead of saying a word of grace
in a traditional way,
we should speak something higher
according to the revelation in Colossians:
“Lord Jesus,
I do not simply thank You for this food
and take it into me.
Lord, I take You
as the reality of this food.”
We who believe in Christ
should consider all things
and evaluate all things
according to Christ,
who is everything to us
in a practical way.
If we consider all things
according to Christ,
our daily living
will be changed.
It is significant
that after speaking of Christ
as the body of the shadows,
Paul goes on to say,
“Let no one defraud you
by judging you unworthy of your prize” (Col. 2:18).
According to the context,
the prize is the enjoyment of Christ
as the body of the shadows.
The enjoyment of Christ
is truly a prize.
According to 1:26,
the word of God
completed through the ministry of Paul
was “the mystery which has been hidden
from the ages and from the generations
but now has been manifested to His saints.”
This mystery
is Christ in us, the hope of glory.
Although we may have
considerable knowledge of the Bible,
we do not have
the completion of the divine revelation
unless we adequately experience Christ
daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly.
If we are short
in the experience and enjoyment of Christ,
we are also short
concerning God’s revelation.
His revelation needs
the experiential Christ
as its completion.
In Paul’s word about shadows
we have a hint
as to how we may enjoy Christ
in a practical way.
Since such things as eating and drinking
are shadows of which Christ is the substance and reality,
we need to be reminded
whenever we eat and drink
that the real food and the real drink
are Christ.
When you eat your food,
you should simultaneously eat Christ.
When you drink some beverage,
you should also drink Christ.
As you put on your clothing,
you should be reminded
that Christ is the real clothing,
and you should experience Him as such.
As you put on your material clothing,
you should also put on Christ.
It is easy
to enjoy Christ in this way.
Whatever we do day by day
should remind us of Christ
as the reality of that thing.
Even our breathing
should remind us of the necessity
of breathing Christ spiritually.
If we follow
the practice of taking Christ
as the reality of all the material things
in our daily life,
our daily walk
will be revolutionized and transformed.
It will be full of Christ.
Everything we do
will remind us
to contact Christ,
to enjoy Christ,
to experience Christ,
and to have Christ as our everything.
To practice this day by day
is truly to enjoy Christ.
Day 1
Many things in our environment of daily living
are also shadows of Christ.
For example,
the food we eat
is a shadow,
not the real food.
The real food
is Christ.
Christ is also
the real drink.
The clothing we wear
to cover us, to beautify us, and to keep us warm
is also a shadow of Christ.
Christ is the One
who truly covers our nakedness,
who keeps us warm,
and who imparts beauty to us.
Christ is also
our true dwelling place
and real rest.
The houses in which we live
are a shadow of Christ
as our dwelling place.
The rest we enjoy at night
is also a figure of Christ
as our rest.
Even the satisfaction
we enjoy after a good meal
is not the real satisfaction
but a shadow of Christ
as the reality of satisfaction.
In Colossians 2:16
Paul covers matters
related to
daily life,
weekly life,
monthly life,
and yearly life.
Eating and drinking are daily,
the Sabbaths weekly,
the new moons monthly,
and the feasts yearly.
All the aspects of our living
are shadows of Christ.
Eating and drinking
signify daily satisfaction and strengthening,
and the Sabbath
signifies weekly completion and rest.
Without completion,
we cannot enjoy rest.
Rest always comes from
completion and satisfaction.
When you have finished a certain matter
and are satisfied with it,
you are then able to be at rest.
After God completed
His work of creation
on the sixth day,
He enjoyed rest
on the seventh day.
I can testify
that I can enjoy rest
only when my work has been completed
and I am satisfied with it.
A new moon
signifies a monthly new beginning
with light in darkness.
Just as the new moon marked
a new beginning in Old Testament times,
so Christ affords us
a new beginning
with light in darkness today.
The feasts
signify yearly enjoyment and joy.
Three times a year,
God’s chosen people came together
for the annual feasts,
which were times of enjoyment,
of rejoicing together before the Lord.
Although the feasts were enjoyable,
they were simply shadows of Christ.
He is
the real food, drink,
completion, rest,
new moon,
and feast.
Daily we eat and drink Him,
weekly we have completion and rest in Him,
monthly we experience a new beginning in Him,
and throughout the year
He is our joy and enjoyment.
The items covered by Paul in 2:16
are related either to
the rotation of the earth on its axis,
or to the revolution of the earth
in its orbit around the sun.
Without this rotation and revolution,
we would have no way
to maintain our physical life.
Because of the earth’s rotation and revolution,
we have days, weeks, months, and years.
As we have pointed out again and again,
the reality of
all these daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly things
is Christ.
In verse 17
Paul says
that Christ is
the body of all the shadows.
This means
that He is the reality
of our food and drink,
of our completion and rest,
of our new beginning with light in darkness,
and of our enjoyment and joy.
Every day, week, month, and year
we need Christ.
All the positive things
in our daily life, weekly life, monthly life, and yearly life
must be Christ.
Christ must become everything to us
not merely in a doctrinal way,
but in the way of experience.
I can testify
that Christ is
my completion, my rest,
my new beginning,
my enjoyment, my joy,
my food, my drink,
and my satisfaction.
Although Christ is universally vast,
He is also all the detailed aspects
of our practical daily living.
Day by day,
He is
our breath and everything to us.