By
Arthur Licursi (With some thoughts taken from Watchman Nee)
Nature
Itself Testifies to Christ as Man’s All
Reading
this, some may accuse us of being Pantheist, but we are not. Pantheists
make the creation itself to be God, I am not saying this. Yet, we can
see that the creation is a representation of God – making Him
understood. Romans 1:20 For the invisible things of
him from the creation of the world are clearly seen (by the
Gentiles), being understood by the things that are made, even his
eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: So,
from the basic creation itself we can see the nature and character of
God and how He relates to us in reality, which is spiritual. Many things
that are part and parcel of our daily living are shadows of Christ.
Christ is the genuine inward reality of all the physical outward things
that we see and need for living.
-
The food we eat is a shadow, not the real food.
Christ as the bread of life and water of life, He is the real food and
the real drink. The satisfaction we enjoy
after a good meal and being satiated is not the real satisfaction, but
rather a shadow of Christ as the reality of our inward satisfaction.
-
The clothing we wear to cover us, to adorn 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 the beauty of
His righteousness life to us. Paul tells us we are now clothed in the
righteousness of Christ (2Cor 5:21).
-
The houses in which we live are a shadow of Christ
as our dwelling place. Christ is also our abode, our true dwelling place of rest.
The rest and security we enjoy in Christ is an outward figure of
Christ as our inward rest and security.
Christ
is the Substantive Reality of Biblical Shadows Seen By Israel’s
Experiences
Col.
2:16-17 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink,
or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
17Which
are a shadow of things to come; but the body (substance)
is of Christ.
Romans
15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were
written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of
the scriptures might have hope.
1
Cor. 10:4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for
they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock
was Christ.
Paul
tells us in Romans 6:14 we are “not under the law but under
grace.” Paul’s says we need not allow anyone to judge us in
regard to keeping the Jewish laws with regard to special days,
ceremonies, food restrictions or any other matter; since we now we live
under pure, unadulterated, “grace” (Rom 11:6). We must realize that
all outward laws are not applicable to believing,
regenerated Christian. So, Paul here in Col 2:16-17 is speaking of
something deeper in mentioning of
Israel
’s laws, feasts, and ceremonies.
In
Col 2:16-17, above, the Apostle Paul says Christ is the “body,” or
substantive reality, of these many outwardly expressed items that
involved Israel’s service and relationship with God.. Let me here
offer some explanation of the spiritual reality of these items that Paul
list. Since the subjective aspect of Paul’s “mystery” gospel
concerns the indwelling Christ, “Christ in you,” we find the
reality of the listed “shadow” items in a spiritual way, as our
portion that we posses “in Christ.”
- The
Greek words rendered "in meat, or in drink” (v16) may
also be translated "in food and in drink." But here
Paul is saying we need not keep the outward food laws
any longer. This is because we now have Christ as our genuine food
and drink, signifying Christ as our satisfaction and strengthening.
- The
feasts denote the annual Jewish festivals, which signify joy and
enjoyment, and the new moons signify a new beginning with light
coming forth in the midst of darkness. Christ alone is our joy, our
true satisfaction and the light that shines out of the darkness,
overcoming the darkness around us, and in us.
- The
Sabbaths signify completion and rest. No longer under the law (Rom
6:14), Paul is tells us, in Rom 6:14, that we need not keep the
outward Sabbath any longer; this is because we now have Christ as
our genuine rest, as we simply let go to trust Him to live through
us “as He wills” (Philip 2:13).
These
items, though shadows, tell us that Christ is our life supply of
everything we need every day and all the time. The feasts were yearly,
the new moons monthly, the Sabbaths weekly, and eating and drinking
daily.
All
these items of the ceremonial law are a mere shadow; they signify the
genuine spiritual things we now possess in Christ. The “body”
in verse 17, like a man's physical body is the substance or reality of
his shadow. Though we live in “the dispensation of the grace of
God”, having no more outer laws with regard to special times,
days, foods, etc., we may however learn through these shadows of Christ
who is our innermost life (Col 3:4a). These laws are figurative of the
real things of the indwelling Christ. The indwelling Christ is the
reality of the gospel of “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
The book of Colossians unveils the all-sufficient and all-inclusive
Christ as the focus of God's eternal plan, whereby God places “the
spirit of life in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:2a) into everyone who
believes to receive Christ, as their new indwelling life (Gal 2:20).
We’ve already seen that
various aspects of the ceremonial law are a shadow of the spiritual
things in Christ, just as a shadow is a figure of a person's body. The
festivals, the new moons, the Sabbaths; the regulations concerning
eating and drinking were also shadows. We see that the body, the
reality, of these shadows is found in Christ.
-
Eating and drinking signify our need to receive
the supply of daily satisfaction and strengthening that we find in
Christ, moment by moment, as we lean upon Him, trusting Him.
-
The Sabbath signifies weekly completion and
entering God’s eternal rest. Without completion, we cannot come to a
full 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. Hence, the Sabbath
signifies completion and rest. We rest when we have come to see Christ
as our all and we come to the end of our self-reliance. Our time of
effort, struggling under religion’s demands may last many years –
but when we come to our end of self-reliance we enter His rest, while on
this earth. Hebrews 4:10 For he that is entered into
his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did
from his.
-
A new moon signifies a monthly new beginning. The
moon has no light of its own but rather as it reflects the light of the
sun, which is a shadow of Christ Himself. Christ Himself is our “Sun
of Righteousness” (Malachi 4:2) to cure us of our darkness,
deadness, and insufficiency. Life only comes forth only upon the
breaking of “the light of life.”
-
Just as the new moon marked a new beginning in Old
Testament times, so Christ affords us a new beginning with light in the
midst of a dark and perverse world today. We can see the light of the
full sun reflected off the moon (His believing and trusting Church), and
the stars in the sky signifying the individual believers who are lights
in the world.
-
The feasts signify yearly enjoyment and joy. God's
chosen people came together for the annual feasts, which were times for
enjoyment, of rejoicing together before the Lord. Although the feasts
were enjoyable, they were simply shadows of Christ as our joy.
Thus,
Christ 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. Daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly Christ to us is the
reality (inward realization) of every positive thing all the time.
All
the positive things in our daily life, weekly life, monthly life, and
yearly life are representative of Christ as our reality and our total
sufficiency for living righteously, in peace and rest. Christ must
become everything to us, not merely in a lifeless doctrinal way, but in
the way of our innermost living experience. We can testify that Christ
is our life, our source, our completion, our rest, our new beginning,
our enjoyment, our joy, our food, our drink, and our innermost
satisfaction. Christ is universally limitless, yet He is also all the
detailed aspects of our practical daily living. Day by day, He is our
breath and everything to us.
