[Note: As this series unfolds, just a reminder that I am writing it because I believe that Christology is not an abstract theologizing, but rather is at the heart of the new Awakening. This series will, over time, develop a vision of the universal Christ (excarnate and incarnate) which is our means of recovering the oneness we must have if we are to survive. Today’s post makes this point.]
“Christ is all and in all.” (Colossians 3:11)
I agree with E. Stanley Jones when he said of this verse, “Nothing in all literature can compare with this.” [1] These six words provide the summary of who Christ is. In our time of new Awakening, Paul’s words have become the lens through which I look to see God’s work, and in Christ I see the One who is the source, substance and spirit of it. I understand the new Awakening in relation to the universal Christ.
The first thing we see is the comprehensiveness of Christ’s person and work. Paul breaks the six-word message into two three-word parts, and the word ‘all’ is used in both. All means all.
I see this in the first doublet: Christ is all. I have affirmed this from the outset of my profession of faith in Christ in 1963. The second doublet: Christ is in all, has been a newer discovery, although I now see how far back seeds of this were being sown which are now bearing fruit. This is where we begin in seeing Christ as the heart of it all. We will spend extra time exploring Paul’s words: “Christ is all and in all.” All means all.
[1] E. Stanley Jones, ‘In Christ’ (Abingdon Press, 1961), Week 40, Saturday
Oboedire 