We have been rooted into Christ as the soil and in Him we have been made full; we simply need to take time to absorb Him as the all-inclusive land, and He will supply us, work in us, and carry out God’s purpose in us.
In Col. 2:6-7 Paul tells us that we were rooted in Christ as the rich soil, the all-inclusive good land, so we should walk in Him and be built up in Him.
Then in the following verses he expounds on what do we enjoy in this rich soil, that is, he gives us a full description and definition of Christ as the soil in which we do not lack anything.
When a plant is in the soil, the plant gets all it needs from the soil; the plant simply needs to send down its roots and absorb all the riches of the soil, and the more it absorbs, the more it grows, blossoms, and bears fruit.
We as living beings have been planted into Christ as the rich soil, the reality of the all-inclusive good land; we not only have been given a portion of the allotment of the good land but we have also been planted here, rooted in Christ.
Now as plants in this living land we need to send roots down in Christ by taking time to absorb Him day by day. Again and again we need to spend time with the Lord, call on His name, open our whole being to Him, and absorb some more of His riches.
When His riches are absorbed into our being, we can grow in life, arrive unto maturity, and God’s purpose can be fulfilled in us.
As we take time to absorb the riches of Christ, the substance of what Christ is gets into us, spreads in us, reconstitutes us, and causes us to live a life for God’s purpose; the result is that we are built up, and together with the saints we build up the church as the Body of Christ, His corporate expression.
So on one hand we need to send roots deep down in Him to absorb His riches and be built up in Him, and on the other we need to hold Him as the Head and we as the many members are built and knit together by receiving His riches, and we grow with the growth of God.
May we be before the Lord concerning this and may we take time to absorb Christ; may we realize who Christ as the rich soil is and how we are rooted in Him to absorb what He is and be made full in Him.
Hallelujah, in Christ as the rich soil we lack nothing but we are made full!
Today we want to see more of the riches of Christ as the soil into whom we’re rooted; we have seen that this Christ is the One in whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily (Col. 2:9) and He is the Head of all rule and authority (v. 10). Amen, let us see more of this rich Christ so that we may enter into the experience of such a One!
In Christ as the Soil there’s the Killing Power putting us to Death and Burying us
In Col. 2:11 we see that in Him we have been circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ.
This means that, as we send roots deep down into Christ as the soil to absorb Him, one of the riches in the soil is the killing power which puts us to death. When we exercise our spirit to enjoy Christ and absorb Him, something of His element kills our natural element, cuts the self, and kills the flesh.
Such a killing element can be compared to salt, which kills corruption; in the soil of the good land in which we are rooted is the “salt of circumcision”, the circumcision not of the flesh but of the Spirit.
All the germs within us are killed by the cross as we take time to absorb Christ, and the flesh is cut and killed. In many situations, when we speak something, there’s a feeling in us that we should stop, we should not say this or that; this is the cross being applied to our speaking.
We need to be rooted in Christ and absorb the riches in the rich soil of Christ especially in our speaking; as we speak to our family members or at work, as we meet people or gather with the saints, we need to allow the killing element in Christ to put to death our natural man, our flesh, and our self.
May we be faithful to walk in Christ and absorb the spiritual circumcision, the killing power of the cross which operates in us.
The way to do this is not by being conscious of it and trying to crucify ourselves but by absorbing Christ.
In Christ as the soil there’s an element that causes us to be buried; we were buried together with Him in baptism (v. 12), and this was our testimony, but we need to remain buried with Him.
Too bad that too often we come out of the grave and are walking and doing things in the church life like the “walking dead”.
We need to make sure that the dead are buried, that is, that the old man and the flesh are buried, and not be the “walking dead” in the church life who spread death; rather, we need to take time to absorb Christ! Hallelujah, we were buried with Christ, and now we live a new life in resurrection!
Thank You Lord Jesus for being the rich soil into whom we were rooted so that we may absorb all Your riches. Lord, we want to take time to absorb You and enjoy all the rich elements and nutrients in the soil. Thank You that we can absorb the killing power of Your death so that our natural man, our flesh, and our self would be cut and killed. We open to You Lord, and we want to be rooted in You and allow You to operate in us in our speaking, our doing things, and in everything; may Your death operate in us to put anything evil and natural to death, and may we remain buried with You in death so that we may live a new life with You in resurrection!
In Christ as the Soil there’s an Element that causes us to be Raised up and Vivifies us
Oh, what a rich soil we as believers have been rooted into! In Christ as the soil there’s an element that puts us to death, buries us with Christ, and also raises us up (Col. 2:12). In Him as the soil there’s an element that vivifies us, that is, gives us life (v. 13).
On one hand when we absorb the riches of Christ all the things that are negative are cut off, put to death, and terminated; on the other hand, we are raised together with Him through the faith of the operation of God, who raised Him from the dead. Wow!
Whenever we contact the Lord and absorb Him, there’s an element in Him that raises us up! There’s the operation of God which operated in Christ to raise Him up, and this operation also operates in us to raise us up.
Are we down? Are we feeling out of it? Do we feel like we’re in death? We simply need to send down roots into Christ the soil by spending time with Him; we will then absorb an element that raises us up.
We may feel like we’re dead, but when we absorb Christ as the soil, we are being raised up together with Him! And not only are we raised up, but we are vivified, that is, divine life is imparted into us!
As we contact the Lord and absorb Him, one of the riches in this soil is that we are vivified, for the divine, uncreated, eternal, resurrection life is imparted into us. Hallelujah!
He has forgiven all our offenses, and He was raised in resurrection to become a life-imparting Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). As the life-giving Spirit, He is one of the many rich elements in the soil into which we were rooted.
Day by day our roots need to sing deeper into Christ as the unique soil, and as we do this, all the negative elements are removed and killed, we are raised up with Christ to live in newness of life, and the divine life is imparted into our being!
Now we can live in resurrection a life together with Christ, even a life in Christ and by the life of Christ, for we are being inwardly reconstituted with His life, even as our natural elements are being discharged.
What a rich soil we have been rooted into! There may be these negative things that trouble us – the flesh, sin, the natural man, worldliness, and offenses, but all these have been terminated by Christ, and we can absorb His rich elements to deal with anything negative and bring us into life!
Hallelujah, we have been rooted into Christ the rich soil, and we can take time to absorb His riches to be constituted with Him for the building up of the church! Praise the Lord, when we absorb Christ as the rich soil we are being raised up with Him to live in Him and with Him in newness of life! Hallelujah, when we take time to absorb Christ we enjoy the rich and fresh dispensing of His resurrection life into our being to vivify us and make us alive with Him! Praise the Lord!
In Christ as the Soil there’s the Wiping out of the Handwriting in Ordinances
In Christ as the rich soil there’s the wiping out of the handwriting in ordinances, which was against us and divided us; He took it away and nailed it to the cross (Col. 2:14).
All the ordinances in the law that were against us and caused us to be condemned, they were all taken by Christ and nailed to the cross, and He made peace between us and God.
In Christ as the rich soul there’s the element of the wiping out of the ordinances. This is a continual matter that we need to experience, because we ourselves have our own ordinances which set us apart and divide us from others.
We may not have any written ordinances, but they are inscribed in our mentality; these ordinances separate us from the others and also hinder our growth in life. For us to grow properly, the ordinances need to be wiped out and nailed to the cross.
What we need is not ordinances but only Christ; what we need is not to tear down these ordinances but to send roots deep into Christ as the rich soil so that we may assimilate His rich nutrients, and all the ordinances will be wiped out.
When we assimilate the riches from Christ as the soil, we grow in life and are built up.
For the one new man Christ abolished all the ordinances, but in our practical living we may still have our own ordinances. We may judge one another and we may judge the saints or the churches according to our ordinances.
But praise the Lord, in Christ as the soil there’s the wiping out of the ordinances; if we are faithful to take time to absorb Christ, all our ordinances will be put away, we will grow in life, and we can be with any saints with no problem!
If we absorb Christ day by day, we can be happy in any local church, no matter what practices the saints may have – we just enter in, and we learn to minister Christ! Oh, may we absorb more of Christ as the rich soil into whom we’re rooted!
Lord Jesus, we want to send roots deep down in You as the rich soil into whom we’re rooted so that any ordinances that we may have would be wiped out for the one new man. Save us from our ordinances, Lord, even from our unspoken and unwritten ordinances that set us apart from others and cause us to not grow in life. Dear Lord Jesus, we want to spend more time with You and take time to absorb You so that You may wipe out any ordinances in us. We want to grow in life and be built up with the saints!
Read this article in the Romanian language / citiți acest articol și în limba română la următorul link, Să petrecem timp să-L absorbim pe Cristos ca solul bogat, țara vie, în care suntem înrădăcinați.
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Ricky Acosta for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Colossians, msgs. 52-53 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Knowing and Experiencing the All-inclusive, Extensive Christ (2019 Thanksgiving Conference), week 2 on the topic of, Knowing and Experiencing the All-inclusive, Extensive Christ as the Good Land — Our Allotted Portion.
- Hymns on this topic:
– God’s redemption, full salvation, / And His resurrection pow’r, / Sanctifying, glorifying, / All transcending every hour! / O the riches, O the riches, / Christ my Savior has for me! / How unsearchable their measure, / Yet my full reality! (Hymns #542)
– Buried with Christ, and raised with Him too; / What is there left for me to do? / Simply to cease from struggling and strife, / Simply to walk in newness of life. / Glory be to God! (Hymns #483)
– On the cross ordinances slain, / That He might form just one of twain. / Reconciling us to God, / Thus on the serpent’s head He trod. / He breaks down the middle wall / As upon His name we call; / On the cross ordinances slain, / That He might form just one of twain. (Hymns #1230)
