Christ is the Desire of God’s Heart – we are here for the Expression of Christ!

Christ is the desire of God’s heart, for God desires that every person and thing in the universe would express Christ; we exist for the expression of Christ, and Christ is the reality of every positive thing in the universe. Hallelujah!

This week we start a new Holy Word for Morning Revival inspired from the 2023 Memorial Day Weekend Conference on the topic of, Knowing, Experiencing, and Enjoying Christ as Revealed in Philippians.

This first week our main topic is, Taking Christ as our Everything to Gain Him by Denying our Self and Turning to our Spirit.

We really need to return to the simple, basic, and vital matter of enjoying, experiencing, and knowing Christ in a subjective way.

The apostle Paul knew Christ, enjoyed Christ, and experienced Christ, and at the end of his life, in one of the last epistles he wrote, he said that he continued to pursue Christ to gain Him

. Yes, he did know Christ, and yes, he did experience and enjoy Christ, but he did not stop pursuing Christ or enjoying Christ – he kept pursuing until he gained Christ to the fullest extent.

Our pursuit of Christ needs to be intensified and uplifted.

We need to be strengthened and refreshed in our pursuit of Christ so that we may enjoy and experience Him.

No matter how mature we are in the Lord, no matter how many years we have been a Christian, we need to continue to pursue Christ to gain Him.

Anything else is a loss compared to Christ. Nothing else matters: only Christ matters.

Religion, ethics, morality, and everything else is nothing compared to Christ; we need to consider them all loss on account of Christ.

The excellency of the knowledge of Christ far surpasses anything else.

We need to have a firsthand experience of Christ, not just being taught about Christ.

We need not just some concept or theory concerning Christ; we need to have the experiential knowledge of Christ Jesus, our Lord.

The knowledge of Christ that we have needs to be experiential and applicable, applied to our experience.

For example, we go to a restaurant and look at the menu, and we may like many items on the menu; simply looking at the items on the menu is not enough: we need the reality of that food to be in front of us and be enjoyed by us.

When we eat the food, we are satisfied and happy.

Simply knowing about Christ and having a mental understanding of what and who He is is not enough; we are here to enjoy Christ in an experiential way.

May the Lord save us from any religion or formality, and may allow Him to save us even from any old knowledge that would hinder us from enjoying Christ and partaking of Him.

We are not perfected, we have not yet arrived, and we have not yet obtained; we are still in the process of gaining Christ, pursuing to lay hold of Him who has laid hold of us.

May the Lord grant us a renewed, refreshed, and strengthened enjoyment and experience of Him in our daily life so that we may really know, experience, and enjoy Christ subjectively day by day.

Christ is the Desire of God’s Heart: Everything – even we ourselves – is for the Expression of Christ

The desire of God’s heart is Christ; Christ is the desire of the heart of God (Matt. 3:17; 12:18; 17:5; Gal. 1:15, 16).

In His heart, God has nothing but Christ; everything that is in His heart is His beloved Son.

We may be like Peter, saying that the Lord is good, but the law and the prophets are also good; but in God’s heart there’s nothing but Christ.

What fills God’s heart should also fill our heart. May Christ be the desire of our heart.

We need to spend personal time with the Lord and ask Him to become the unique desire of our heart.

The more we contact the Lord and spend time with Him in His word, the more we realize that He is uniquely the most precious One, the most valuable One.

God’s heart’s desire is that every person, every matter, and everything in the universe would express Christ (Col. 1:15-19; 3:10-11; Eph. 1:10, 22-23; 4:15-16; Isa. 55:11-13).

When everything is headed up in Christ, there will be absolute peace and harmony, and everything in the universe will express Christ.

All the problems, corruption, sins, immorality, and insanity that are going on in our society today are because it is Christless.

The only hope is Christ; the only solution is Christ. God wants this Christ would be expressed in this universe.

He wants everything in this universe to be headed up in Christ, His Son.

When the whole earth and the whole universe are headed up in Christ, He will be expressed, and God is satisfied.

When the whole universe expresses Christ, when Christ is truly all and in all, the universe will have peace and harmony.

God’s desire is that Christ is expressed. We exist for the expression of Christ.

We were created by God in His image and according to His likeness to express Christ.

We preach the gospel for the expression of Christ, our work is for the expression of Christ, and the church is for the expression of Christ (Isa. 43:7; 2 Cor. 4:5; 1 Cor. 15:58; John 17:23; Eph. 1:23; 3:19-21).

The meaning of our human existence is Christ; we are here for Christ, for the expression of Christ.

What is our existence about? What is life all about? We exist for the expression of Christ.

We are made to express Christ. We are not made in our image – we are made in the image of Christ.

We are not made in our likeness – we are made in the likeness of Christ.

The purpose of our life is to express Christ.

This is why the gospel is preached: the gospel is preached for Christ to be expressed.

Yes, we preach the gospel to save sinners and gain the increase for the Lord’s Body, but ultimately, our gospel preaching is to enlarge the expression of Christ.

Our Christian work in the church is for us to express Christ. We are not here to do a work to express ourselves; we are here to express Christ in our work.

We need to re-evaluate our work and our living today. We may labour very hard and do so many things, but we may be distracted by the work from expressing Christ.

We are not here for the success of our work but for the expression of Christ.

The church is here for the expression of Christ; the church is the continuation of Christ, the duplication of Christ, the expression of Christ.

When we see this, we will be very much exposed in our living, our work, and our church life, and we will come back to the Lord in a genuine way. We may even tell Him,

Lord Jesus, may we see what is the desire of God’s heart. May we realize that Christ is the desire of the heart of God, and that everything God created was for the expression of Christ. Amen, Lord, bring us back to Yourself in all things. Head us up in You today. May we be those who are filled with Christ so that we may express Christ. Oh Lord, we are here for You – we are here for the expression of Christ. We want to live one spirit with You so that we may express You. May our gospel preaching be for the expression of Christ. May our work in the church for the Lord be for the expression of Christ. Save us from being distracted from expressing Christ in all things. Keep us one spirit with You today. May the church be the expression of Christ. Amen, Lord, head us up in You so that through the church all things may be headed up in Christ so that Christ may be expressed and all things may be in harmony and peace!

Everything Positive in the Universe Speaks of Christ and is for the Expression of Christ

In the eyes of God, Christ is the reality of every positive thing in the universe (Col. 2:16-17).

In the Old Testament, there are many types, pictures, and shadows of Christ; Christ is the reality of every positive thing.

The commandments in the Old Testament are explanations of Christ.

The Sabbath which the people of God had to keep is a shadow of Christ, who is the real Sabbath.

God wants His people to be holy, and Christ is the reality of holiness.

Everything positive in the universe speaks of Christ and is for the expression of Christ.

Every tree, every flower, and even every blade of grass speaks of Christ.

We may look at the lovely flowers and admire their beauty; the beauty of a flower expresses the beauty of Christ because Christ is the reality of beauty.

We may eat a sweet fruit and enjoy its sweetness; the sweetness of this fruit expresses the sweetness of Christ, for the reality of sweetness is Christ Himself.

We enjoy the sunlight and spend time under the shining of the sun; the reality of light and warmth is Christ Himself.

Many flowers, fruits, trees, mountains, heavenly bodies and earthly items are used by the Lord in His word to describe Christ.

We need to eat bread, drink water or milk, eat fruits and vegetables, and partake of many kinds of meats; the reality of all these positive matters is Christ Himself.

We could say that the entire universe is a great painting drawn by God to describe Christ, depict Christ, and express Christ (Col. 1:15-17; Psa. 19:1-6; Rom. 1:20; Heb. 11:3).

If the Lord opens our eyes and any religious and preconceived knowledge is removed from our view, we will realize that Christ is the reality of everything positive thing in the universe.

Righteousness is Christ, holiness is Christ, purity is Christ, and patience is Christ.

The relationship between husband and wife is a description of Christ, and the relationship between a master and a servant is a description of Christ.

May our vision of Christ be so clear today that we may see that Christ is not only the desire of God’s heart but also that He is the reality of all positive things, matters, and persons.

The whole universe is a giant painting drawn out by the greatest Artist of all, God, who did all things for the expression of Christ.

Man may try his best to go out there and find life on other planets, and man may want to find God here or there.

But the whole universe is a painting, a work of art, that expresses Christ and is for the expression of Christ.

Daily we eat Christ and drink Christ; 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 (Col. 2:16-18).

Our food, our drink, our rest, our completion, our new beginning, our joy and enjoyment are all but shadows of Christ, who is the reality of all these things.

Some of us may want to have a new beginning, to turn a new leaf and start afresh; Christ is our new beginning, and without Christ everything is old.

When the Bible speaks of patience, it speaks concerning Christ being our patience.

When the Bible tells us to love one another, we are not told to try to do this in ourselves; Christ should be the One in us who loves others.

The love the Bible speaks about is Christ. Our honesty, genuineness, and expression must all be Christ.

May we learn to take Christ in our experience as the reality of all the positive things so that we may be for the expression of Christ.

When Christ becomes everything to us day by day, when we take Him as the reality of all the positive things, we will live Christ and express Christ.

Lord Jesus, unveil us to see that the entire universe is a great painting drawn by God to speak of Christ, describe Christ, and express Christ! Amen, Lord, may we realize that Christ is the reality of all the positive things in the universe. We take You as our life, peace, joy, patience, and love. You are the reality of sweetness and delight. You are our righteousness, holiness, and peace. You are our purity, our power, and our beauty. Lord, keep us taking You as our everything. Save us from trying to accomplish what the Bible says we should do; may we take Christ as the reality of all the positive things so that we may be the expression of Christ. Amen, Lord, we give ourselves to You to just enjoy You, experience You, and partake of what You are so that we may express You!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Minoru Chen in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1984, vol. 3, “God’s New Testament Economy,” ch. 34, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Knowing, Experiencing, and Enjoying Christ as Revealed in Philippians (2023 Memorial Day Weekend Conference), week 1, entitled, Taking Christ as our Everything to Gain Him by Denying our Self and Turning to our Spirit.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Christ is the one reality of all, / Of Godhead and of man and all things else; / No man without Him ever findeth God, / Without Him man and everything is false. / All types and figures of the ancient time, / All things we ever need, both great and small, / Only are shadows of the Christ of God, / Showing that He must be our all in all. (Hymns #496 stanzas 1-2)
  – All God’s purpose is for Him, / That He might be all in all; / All the things in heav’n and earth / With Himself are made withal. / All creation is for Christ, / Everything was made by Him; / ’Tis by Him all things subsist, / He’s the hub and He’s the rim. (Hymns #495 stanzas 3-4)
  – We have seen Christ is reality: / But it’s not sufficient just to see: / He in our experience must be / Everything to us. / We in prayer behold Him face to face, / In the Word and meetings know His grace; / But in daily life, in every place, / What is He to us? (Hymns #1178 stanza 1)