Seeing how Culture Replaces Christ and Taking the way of the Cross for the New Man

Our urgent need today is to see how our culture replaces Christ, how culture distracts us from Christ, and how we need to allow the cross to operate in us to remove and purge culture from us so that we may have Christ as our everything, our all in all.

This week we come to a new series of Holy Word for Morning Revival, the one based on the 2020 Thanksgiving Conference, entitled, The All-Inclusive, Extensive Christ Replacing Culture for the One New Man.

In particular, the topic for this week (week 1) is The Urgent Need for Our Culture to Be Replaced by the All-inclusive, Extensive Christ.

We may be quite familiar with the verses in Col. 3:10-11, but we need to read these verses in newness of spirit, realizing that Christ created the new man on the cross (as He was terminating the old man), and in His resurrection, this one new man was born, for we all were regenerated when Christ was resurrected. Hallelujah!

However, the coming into being of the one new man in reality and practicality on earth still has to take place; the enemy hates this, fears this, for he knows that the one new man is the one who fulfills God’s purpose in creating man, that is, to express God and deal with the enemy to represent God.

The corporate one new man fulfills God’s intention as revealed in Gen. 1:26-28.

We need to put on the new man; we are to live out the new man corporately. In the one new man, there cannot be any other persons but Christ; it’s not that “it should not be” but “there cannot be”.

We believers in Christ are of different races and nationalities, and we love one another, we meet with one another in the church life and in conferences, but we need to realize that in the church as the one new man there CANNOT BE anyone else or anything else but Christ.

Related to the Jews, Greeks, circumcision, uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free, Chinese, Russian, British, American, Californian, Philippino, Romanian, etc there is a certain culture, a social way of living. Culture is versus Christ.

There is an urgent need for us to realize that our culture needs to be replaced by the all-inclusive, extensive Christ.

It calls for immediate attention; this is an important matter, conveying a sense of urgency.

There’s an intense sense of urgency regarding this matter. Our need is to see how our culture replaces Christ, how culture usurps us, and how culture needs to be replaced by the all-inclusive, extensive Christ.

Seeing how Culture Pervades the Church and how the Saints are Distracted from Christ to Culture

The book of Colossians was written because the church in Colossae had been pervaded with culture; as for the saints in the church in this locality, they have been distracted from Christ to culture (Col. 2:8, 16-17; 3:10-11).

It wasn’t just one kind of culture that pervaded the church; the culture in that region included Hebrew religion, Greek philosophy, mysticism, and Gnosticism.

When Paul wrote in Col. 3:11 that in the new man there is no Greek or Jew, no circumcision or uncircumcision, no barbarian or Scythian, he refers both to religious and cultural distinctions.

The culture that pervades the church includes a series of ordinances, requirements, that are not according to the truth or to the divine revelation; things such as, you should eat this, try this way, live like that, and this is the highest way of doing this or that.

The saints in the church were distracted from Christ to culture; in Colossae, the church was distracted from Christ.

This is not something that happened in the old days; today it is the same all throughout the earth, for we are distracted from Christ to culture, and culture pervades the church.

In Colossae culture had flooded the church, replaced Christ, and carried off the saints as spoil (Col. 2:8).

It wasn’t just a few drops of culture here and there; rather, the culture was flooding the church and replaced Christ.

We may know of the wonderful, all-inclusive, extensive Christ, but how much replacement of our culture has it been with this wonderful One? Does Christ replace our culture, or does our culture continue to replace Christ?

The ultimate replacement for Christ is our culture.

The church should be the house of God, filled with Christ and constituted with Him; instead, the church in Colossae was filled and invaded by culture.

There was a mixed culture, and these elements replaced Christ; Christ as the unique element has been replaced by culture. Oh, Lord Jesus!

What about our church life today: what do we live out, what do we express, is it Christ or is it our culture?

The constituent of the church should be Christ and Christ alone, for the church is the Body of Christ, so nothing should distract us from Christ, nothing should replace Christ and not even the good elements of our culture should replace Christ.

One way we can tell inwardly whether we still have our culture is when someone speaks contrary to it, and inwardly we have a reaction; we may not like the way he speaks of the country we’re from or the culture we have.

Culture carries us off as spoil from Christ.

The enemy of God uses culture to replace Christ; he tries to use the good aspects of culture to replace Him as our everything in the church life (see Phil. 3:4-8).

Those who experience this, that is, those whose culture replaces Christ, may be very noble persons, very refined, with a high character; we may admire such ones, but what we see there is culture, the natural man, and behind it, there’s the enemy of God.

For example, some saints may naturally be inclined to obey the authority and listen to the orders from the government; so in the church life they naturally obey the leading saints, and there’s a natural obedience to authority.

In other areas, however, there may be so much lawlessness in that country, that the saints by nature do not obey or listen to any authority in the church.

Both the good aspects of our culture and the evil aspects of our culture need to be put on the cross; they belong to the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and they distract us from Christ and replace Christ in us.

Lord Jesus, have mercy on us and shine on us to see how much our culture replaces Christ and distracts us from Christ. Save us from living out our culture, even the good and high aspects of our culture. Save us from being carried off as spoil by our culture. May our culture be put to the cross so that Christ would live in us and be expressed through us and among us. Amen Lord Jesus, expose the enemy and his attempts to use the culture to replace Christ. May nothing replace You as our everything, as our life and our person! Amen, Lord, gain the one new man in reality – gain the church as the one new man where there cannot be anything and anyone but Christ who is all and in all!

Seeing how Culture Replaces Christ and Taking the way of the Cross to be the One New Man in Reality

According to the book of Colossians, Christ is replaced by culture; the book of Colossians indicates that the ultimate replacement for Christ is our culture.

In God’s eyes, nothing counts except Christ; He is the only One pleasing to God, the only One that counts in the eyes of God.

This excludes both good and bad things, both sinful and cultured things. When we see that to God only Christ matters, the good aspects of our culture will be exposed and put aside.

The enemy utilizes culture, especially with its good and refined aspects, to replace Christ; this is offensive to God.

We may not be corrupted with evil, immoral, or sinful things, for we clearly know that these are not good. But we may not consider that culture, our very way of living and doing things, would be something that replaces Christ.

We may refuse so many other things such as sin, the flesh, and the self, for we realize that these are not Christ, and we want only Christ; however, what about our culture? Our culture is the ultimate replacement for Christ.

By our very nature, we may be resilient, not giving up, always fighting to the end; and we are proud about it, even telling others that this is how we are in our family, our city, and our country – this is how we are by nature.

We need to reject our culture, take the way of the cross, and take Christ as our courage, our boldness, and our strength and power, living not by our culture but by Christ.

Because culture replaces Christ in the church, it is so difficult to go somewhere and see Christ among the saints; we may see their culture, their local “flavor”, and their good and refined cultural things, but we do not see Christ.

In Christianity, many preach about Christ, teach the doctrines regarding Christ and the Bible, but their very preaching and teaching become a substitute for Christ Himself.

The background of the book of Colossians exactly corresponds to today’s situation, and this book was written for us, not only for the saints in Colossae at their time.

Culture replaces Christ; the principle of replacing Christ is the principle of Antichrist.

In 1 John 2:14, we see that there are many antichrists; this expression indicates that there’s a principle.

Yes, there will be a person in the future who will be against Christ, and he will be the Antichrist, but the principle of antichrist is working in us and among us today.

The principle of antichrist is first to be against Christ, and second to be instead of Christ, in place of Christ, replacing Christ.

Anything that replaces Christ is in the principle of antichrist.

May we take the helmet of salvation to cover our mind, and may we realize the truth that the principle of antichrist is prevailing too much!

May we take the way of the cross, applying the cross to our culture so that our culture may be crossed out, and anything of our culture that replaces Christ would be eliminated.

The cross is our way; it is a narrow way for those not willing to take the cross, but it is a highway to those who are willing to take the cross.

In the church we are all nobody and nothing – Christ is everything and everyone. Christ needs to replace us; Christ needs to replace our culture.

May we see the revelation that whatever we are, whatever we have, and whatever we do can become a substitute for Christ, for it can replace Christ in our experience.

May we allow the cross to operate in us so that we become nothing, we have nothing, and we are able to do nothing; then, Christ will be our all in all. Amen!

May everything other than Christ go and may Christ become our everything for the church as the one new man!

Lord Jesus, grant us the revelation that whatever we are, whatever we have, and whatever we do can become a substitute for Christ! Amen, Lord, may we allow Christ to replace anything of our culture with Himself, so that Christ may be our all in all. Save us from living in the principle of antichrist by allowing the good, refined, and high aspects of our culture to replace Christ in our experience. May nothing replace Christ in our being. May the cross operate in our being so that we become nothing and are able to do nothing. Amen, Lord, may Christ be our all in all! May anything else besides Christ would go, and may nothing replace Christ in our being and in the church life! Amen, Lord Jesus, smash and eradicate the principle of antichrist in our being!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Colossians, msgs. 1, 4-6 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The All-Inclusive, Extensive Christ Replacing Culture for the One New Man (2020 Thanksgiving Conference), week 1, The Urgent Need for Our Culture to Be Replaced by the All-inclusive, Extensive Christ.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Oh, Christ in all His glory put on humanity / So He could be my Person, and live instead of me. / A man in life and being, He fully fits my case, / So all His glorious Person can me replace. (Hymns #1177)
  – Go forth! In one Body advance, / Proclaiming the Jubilee; / Flow forth life and truth to all lands; / Be one with the ministry. / Break through culture, language, races; / Transfer all men into Christ; / In each place, one accord embrace, / The one new man realize. (Song on, Consecrate Anew Today)
  – Lord, You are my only goal! / You’re my only hope! / I only care for You! / I never could replace You, / And I would never want to. / I have everything, Lord— / I have You! (Song on, Lord, You are my only goal)