We need to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly, allowing it to have the first place in us so that we may experience the functions of the word of God operating within us and ministering the riches of Christ into our being.
In Colossians 3 Paul speaks of the one new man where there’s only Christ – He is all and in all; then, Paul speaks of letting the peace of Christ arbitrate in our hearts and allowing the word of Christ to dwell in us richly.
For us to have the practical living of the one new man, we need to be renewed in the spirit of our mind; this means that we need to allow the peace of Christ to rule in our being and in the church life so that we may be maintained in a situation of harmony and oneness, and we need to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly.
When we have division and gossip, when there’s no oneness among us, God’s word is scarce, and His speaking diminishes, even to the point of no speaking from the Lord.
But when we allow the peace of Christ arbitrate in our hearts, when we enthrone the peace of Christ and let this peace have the final word and take the decisions, we are in the right situation for God to speak to us and for us to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly.
When our heart is at peace and when we are in oneness and harmony in the church life, we can enjoy the Lord’s speaking and let His word dwell in us richly so that we may be renewed in the spirit of our mind for the one new man.
It is surprising to see that what we need to do is not a lot of things outwardly but simply allow and let; we need to allow the peace of Christ arbitrate in our hearts, and we need to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly so that we may experience the functions of the word of God operating within us and ministering the riches of Christ into our being.
God does everything, and we simply need to cooperate. He operates in us through His word to renew us, to change us metabolically, and to conform us to His image, and we simply need to cooperate with Him by allowing the peace of Christ to arbitrate in our hearts and by letting the word of Christ dwell in us richly.
This may sound so simple, but in reality it is not so easy to do.
We need to daily turn to our spirit and be inwardly supplied with the divine transmission from the throne so that we may let the word of Christ, which is Christ Himself in His word, dwell in us richly, and we will benefit of the functions of the word of God operating in us to richly supply us with God’s riches and renew us for the one new man.
When we personally and corporately cooperate with Christ by allowing His peace to arbitrate in our hearts and letting His word richly dwell in us, our living will spontaneously be the living of the one new man.
We are still in this process of being renewed in the spirit of our mind daily, and the consummation of this process is the practical daily living of the one new man for God to be corporately expressed in His image and represented with His authority on earth.
Letting the Word of Christ Dwell in Us Richly in our Experience by Giving the Word the First Place in us
What does it mean for us to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly? How can we apply this to our daily experience? This is a lifelong matter, and as long as we are in the flesh, we are daily learning to let the word of Christ dwell in us, and let it dwell in a rich way.
There are many ways to let the word dwell in us richly, and one of the ways is to read the Bible daily, even have an appointed time and place, with a Bible reading schedule. We cannot have the word of Christ dwell in us richly unless we read the word, and read it daily.
And as we read the word, we need to exercise our spirit to touch the Lord in His word and enjoy the Spirit embodied in the Word, so that we may get not only knowledge, doctrine, and understanding but life, the Spirit, and Christ.
Christ as the Spirit is embodied in His word, and when we exercise our spirit to touch the Spirit in the Word, we receive life, we are nourished, and we are edified. Furthermore, we need to not only read and pray over the word, but listen to the Lord’s speaking within us as we read the Word.
We need to give the Lord the full liberty, ground, and freedom to operate in our being.
The truth is that, even though outwardly we may act as if the Lord and His word have the first place in our being, inwardly we know that it is us, ourselves, who had the first place in us. So we need to give the Lord access and right to our inner being, so that He may speak to us and supply us and renew us.
For example, when we read a portion in the Bible, concerning the rich young man whom the Lord told to sell everything and give it to the poor (Matt. 19:16-22), the Lord may touch us that we may give away some of our things; however, we may struggle with the Lord and we may not follow His leading.
It is not easy to give the Lord’s word the first place, but when we cooperate with Him little by little, and being exposed of how unwilling we are to go along with the Lord’s speaking in His word, the Lord renews our mind, changes our concepts, and puts His thought into us for us to be one with Him in our doing and speaking.
We need the Lord’s grace to daily turn to the Lord and give His word the first place in us. It is not easy to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly, but we can daily cooperate with the Lord by being honest with Him and telling Him,
Lord Jesus, we offer our whole being to You and Your word. We give You access by faith to every part of our inner being. Lord, make our inner being a home for Yourself and for Your word. In ourselves we can’t do this, Lord, but You can, so we open to You and we trust in You! We want to cooperate with You so that Your word may dwell in us richly. May Your word have preeminence in us, and may we go along with Your inward speaking as we enjoy You in Your word. Amen, Lord, renew us in the spirit of our mind more every day!
Experiencing the Functions of the Word of God Operating in us and Ministering the Riches of Christ into our being
When we allow the word of the Lord to have the first place in our being, we will experience the functions of the Word of God operating within us and ministering the riches of Christ into our being.
The word of God is living and operative; the words in the Bible are not mere words imparting knowledge and wisdom to the reader, but when we turn our heart to the Lord and exercise our spirit, the Word of God has many functions operating within us to minister the riches of Christ into our being (see Col. 3:16).
Here are some of the functions of the Word of God that operate within us as we give Him the first place.
The Word of God Enlightens, Nourishes, and Waters us to Quench our Thirst
First, the word of God enlightens us; when we read the Bible, the Lord’s light shines upon us and exposes the darkness and death in our being.
The word of God is full of light, and when we read the Word and give it preeminence in our being, the Word becomes a lamp to our feet and the opening of God’s word imparts light and understanding (Psa. 119:105, 130).
Furthermore, the word of God is food to us, nourishing us; we live not by bread alone but by every word proceeding out through the mouth of God (Matt. 4:4).
We need to be nourished with the words of the faith which we know and which supplies us as we give the word of God preeminence in our being (1 Tim. 4:6).
The word of God nourishes us while it enlightens us. We can all testify that throughout the years we have been nourished with God’s word, and His word shone on us, enlightened us, and made us clear about many different things.
The word of God also quenches our thirst (see Isa. 55:8-11); just as rain falls on the earth and causes us to bring forth fruit, so the word of God waters us, causes us to be quenched in our thirst and live a life for God’s purpose.
The Word of God Strengthens, Washes, and Builds us up
The word of God strengthens us in our spirit and in our soul, they bring life and healing to our soul (Prov. 4:20-22), and make us strong in the Lord.
As we pray over God’s word daily, we will be strengthened in spirit and in soul, and we will be healthy in body; the word of God is the best cure. When we come to God’s word, we are washed by the water in the word to become the bride of Christ, the glorious church (Eph. 5:26).
We are washed organically and metabolically in our being as the word of God enters into us. As we give ground to the word of God, it enters into our fibers organically and washes us metabolically to transform us into the image of Christ.
The word of God builds us up (Acts 20:32) in Christ and with all the saints. When we are corporately in the word of God, the word of His grace builds us up.
We are all peculiar and it is difficult for anyone to deal with us, but when God’s word touches us inwardly, we are made suitable to be built up in the church. The functions of the word of God are that it strengthens us, washes us, and builds us up into the church. Hallelujah!
The Word of God Completes, Perfects, and Edifies us by Sanctifying us
Hallelujah, all Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that we as men of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work (2 Tim. 3:15-17).
How can we function in the church? It is by being perfected by the word of God. As we are nourished by the word of God, we grow in life, and our function comes forth. The nourishment we receive from God’s word completes us and perfects us as members of the Body of Christ.
Furthermore, one of the last functions of the word of God is to edify us personally; being built up relates to the church corporately, but being edified involves being built up individually.
The word of God edifies us by sanctifying us (John 17:17); the Lord’s prayer is that we may be sanctified in the truth – His word is truth.
What does it mean to be edified in God’s word? It means that we are built up in a personal way, especially in the matter of virtues; we all lack certain virtues that are needed for the Body and the new man, so by being in God’s word we are infused with Christ as the reality of these virtues.
Our kindness, patience, wisdom, and humility will all be increased by the word of God.
By allowing the word of God to inhabit us, we can become a proper human being, a God-man filled with Christ as the reality of the attributes of God (Col. 3:17-25; Phil. 4:5-8). The word of God has to dwell in us not just as knowledge or doctrine but as a living word.
Through this word our mind is renewed and we are genuinely transformed; only in this way can we be renewed to have the reality of the new man. We need to be renewed unto full knowledge – unto the full knowledge of Christ.
Lord Jesus, we want to allow Your word to have the first place in us so that we may experience the functions of the word of God operating within us and ministering the riches of Christ into our being! May Your word inhabit us so that we may become proper human beings, God-men filled with Christ as the reality of all the attributes of God! Keep us in Your word day by day so that we may be enlightened, nourished, watered, strengthened, washed, built up, completed, perfected, and edified for the one new man!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message given by Minoru Chen for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Colossians, msg. 64 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Goal of the Lord’s Recovery – to Bring Forth the One New Man (2018 ICSC), week 5, Allowing the Peace of Christ to Arbitrate in Our Hearts, Letting the Word of Christ Dwell in Us Richly, and Persevering in Prayer for the One New Man.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Thy Word is light, Thy Word is food; / Which doth enlighten and supply; / I long to read and feed much more, / For light and food to satisfy. (Hymns #813)
# Now to enjoy Thee I come to Thy Word, / On Thee to feed till my hunger is o’er. / Now in my spirit I turn unto Thee, / Of Thee to drink till I’m thirsty no more. (Hymns #811)
# Oh, purify us, Lord, by speaking in our heart; / Thy living, spoken word this washing will impart. / Increase Thy speaking, Lord, and cleanse our every part. / Oh, purify us, Lord, we pray. (Hymns #1135)
About aGodMan
If we let the arbitrating peace of Christ preserve us in oneness, then the Lord will speak to us. Then if we give the Lord’s word the first place we will experience all the functions of the Word….enlightening, nourishing, quenching our thirst, strengthening, washing, building, perfecting, and edifying. Hallelujah this is all for the one new man. Lord have mercy on us make this our real experience day by day. Amen.
Amen! So true. Lord we open to You, gain the room in our being so we can allow the word of Christ to dwell richly in us and so that we can give Your word the first place in us in all that we say or do. O Lord Jesus!
Amen!
The Lord is our peace, our meal, our joy our everything. “O Lord you are the absolute one to the Father, may we be subjected to your Subjective Righteousness and offer back to Abba Father you our Burnt Offering.
We need the arbitrating peace of Christ to preserve us in oneness that the Lord may speak to us. Then we need to give first place to the word of God. If we do this, we shall experience the functions of the word of God: enlightening, nourishing, quenching our thirst, strengthening, washing, building, perfecting, and edifying.
First, the word of God enlightens us. If we did not have the Word, we would be in darkness. But because God’s word is full of light and it enlightens us, it can make us very clear about many different things.
Second, the word of God is food, full of nourishment. This means that God’s word nourishes us while it enlightens us. I can testify that throughout the years I have been adequately nourished through the word of God.
The word of God also quenches our thirst….Usually a person can go longer without eating than without drinking. If we do not have water, we simply have no way to live. How good that the word of God is not only food, but also the water of life! The word of God enlightens us, feeds us, and quenches our thirst.
The word of God makes us strong in spirit and also in soul. Strengthened in spirit and soul, we shall be healthy in body. The word of God is the best cure; it strengthens us and it heals us.
The word of God also washes us. It washes our being organically and metabolically. When God’s word enters into our fibers organically, it washes us metabolically.
Furthermore, the word of God builds us up. As members of the church, the Body, we all need to be built up. Because we are peculiar, it is difficult for anyone to deal with us, much less to build us together. However, the word of God can touch us inwardly and make it possible for us to be built up in the church.
The word of God also completes and perfects….As members of the Body, we all should function. But if we would function, we first need to be perfected by the word of God. Because God’s word nourishes us, we have growth. Then through the growth, the functions come forth. The nourishment we receive from the word of God completes us and perfects us as members of the Body.
The last function of the word of God…is its function of edifying us….Being built up is related to the church corporately. Being edified involves being built up individually, primarily in the matter of virtues. We all need to be edified, or built up in a personal way, for we all lack certain virtues….Our kindness, patience, wisdom, and humility will all be increased by the word of God. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 571-573, by Witness Lee)