{"week":4,"title":"The Mystery of God—Christ","hymns":"189","scripture_reading":"Col. 2:2-3, 9-13; 3:1; 4:3; Eph. 3:8-9; John 1:1, 14, 16; 1 Cor. 6:17","days":[{"day":"Day 1","sections":[{"section_id":"I","title":"In the Bible a mystery refers not only to things that are hidden and unknown but also to things that are hidden in God's heart; this is the principle concerning the mysteries mentioned in the Bible—Mark 4:11; Rom. 16:25-26; Col. 1:26-27; 2:2; 4:3; Eph. 1:9; 3:3-4, 9; 5:32; 6:19.","content":[]},{"section_id":"II","title":"Colossians 2:2 says, \"The mystery of God, Christ\"; the mystery of God is manifested in Christ, so Christ is the mystery of God.","content":[]},{"section_id":"III","title":"There are five great mysteries in the Bible:","content":[{"point_id":"A","text":"The mystery of the universe is God, who is the meaning and purpose of the universe—Gen. 1:1; Rev. 4:11; Eph. 3:9.","subpoints":[]},{"point_id":"B","text":"The mystery of man is also God—Gen. 1:26; Zech. 12:1; 1 Cor. 2:11.","subpoints":[]},{"point_id":"C","text":"The mystery of God is Christ—Col. 2:2.","subpoints":[]},{"point_id":"D","text":"The mystery of Christ is the church—Eph. 3:4; Col. 4:3.","subpoints":[]},{"point_id":"E","text":"The mystery of the church is the organism of Christ, the Body of Christ as the enlargement of Christ—Eph. 1:22-23; 4:4, 16; 5:30, 32.","subpoints":[]}]}]},{"day":"Day 2","sections":[{"section_id":"IV","title":"In Ephesians mystery is a crucial word:","content":[{"point_id":"A","text":"In eternity God planned a will, but it was hidden in Him; it was a mystery—1:9.","subpoints":[]},{"point_id":"B","text":"God's hidden purpose is the mystery, and the unveiling of this mystery in the mingled spirit is the revelation of the mystery—3:3, 5.","subpoints":[]},{"point_id":"C","text":"God's mystery is His hidden purpose, and with this mystery there is an economy—the economy of the mystery—v. 9.","subpoints":[]},{"point_id":"D","text":"Christ is a mystery, and the church, as the Body of Christ to express Him, is the mystery of Christ—v. 4; Col. 4:3.","subpoints":[]},{"point_id":"E","text":"Christ and the church as one spirit are the great mystery—1 Cor. 6:17; Eph. 5:32.","subpoints":[]}]}]},{"day":"Day 3","sections":[{"section_id":"V","title":"The all-inclusive Christ is the mystery of God—Col. 2:2:","content":[{"point_id":"A","text":"God Himself is a mystery, and Christ is the mystery of this mystery.","subpoints":[]},{"point_id":"B","text":"The mystery of God indicates something incomprehensible and inexplicable.","subpoints":[]},{"point_id":"C","text":"As the mystery of God, the all-inclusive, extensive Christ is the definition, explanation, and expression of God—the Word of God—John 1:1, 14:","subpoints":[]}]}]},{"day":"Day 4","sections":[{"section_id":"V","title":"","content":[{"point_id":"C","text":"","subpoints":[{"point_id":"1","text":"Although God is infinite and eternal, without beginning or ending, He also has a history, a story—Rom. 16:26; Psa. 90:2."},{"point_id":"2","text":"The all-inclusive, extensive Christ—the mystery of God, the mysterious story of God—is the history of God."},{"point_id":"3","text":"God's history refers to the process through which He passed in Christ so that He may enter into us, and we may be brought into Him; this process includes incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, glorification, and enthronement—John 1:12-14, 29; 3:14; 12:24; 14:20."}]},{"point_id":"D","text":"In this all-inclusive, extensive Christ as the mystery of God, all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden—Col. 2:3:","subpoints":[{"point_id":"1","text":"Wisdom is related to our spirit, and knowledge is related to our mind—Eph. 1:8, 17."},{"point_id":"2","text":"God is the unique source of wisdom and knowledge—Rom. 16:27; 11:33."},{"point_id":"3","text":"This is the spiritual wisdom and knowledge of the divine economy concerning Christ and the church—Eph. 1:10; 3:9; 5:32."},{"point_id":"4","text":"Wisdom and knowledge also refer to all the \"stories\" of God."},{"point_id":"5","text":"All the wisdom and knowledge pertaining to God's stories are hidden in Christ, who is the mystery of God—Col. 2:2-3."}]}]}]},{"day":"Day 5","sections":[{"section_id":"VI","title":"As the mystery of God, Christ is the embodiment of the fullness of the Godhead—v. 9:","content":[{"point_id":"A","text":"All the fullness of the Godhead refers to the entire Godhead, the complete God—v. 9:","subpoints":[{"point_id":"1","text":"The word Godhead refers to deity and strongly indicates the deity of Christ."},{"point_id":"2","text":"Since the Godhead comprises the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, the fullness of the Godhead must be the fullness of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14."},{"point_id":"3","text":"For Christ to be the embodiment of the fullness of the Godhead means that all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him bodily:","subpoints":[{"point_id":"a","text":"This implies the physical body that Christ put on in His humanity, and it indicates that all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ as the One who has a human body—John 1:14; Rom. 8:3; Heb. 2:14."},{"point_id":"b","text":"Before His incarnation the fullness of the Godhead dwelt in Christ as the eternal Word, but it did not dwell in Him bodily—John 1:1."},{"point_id":"c","text":"After He became incarnate, clothed with a human body, the fullness of the Godhead began to dwell in Him in a bodily way, and in His glorified body (Phil. 3:21) now and forever it dwells."}]}]},{"point_id":"B","text":"Fullness in Colossians 2:9 refers not to the riches of God but to the expression of the riches of God:","subpoints":[{"point_id":"1","text":"The riches are the quantity of an object, whereas the fullness is the flowing out, the overflow, of the object to become the expression of the object."},{"point_id":"2","text":"What dwells in Christ is not only the riches of the Godhead but also the expression of the riches of what God is:","subpoints":[{"point_id":"a","text":"God's fullness is the overflow of His riches, and this overflow is God's expression."},{"point_id":"b","text":"The fullness of the Godhead is the expression of the Godhead, the expression of what God is—v. 9."}]},{"point_id":"3","text":"The Godhead is expressed both in the old creation, the universe, and in the new creation, the church—1:15, 18."}]},{"point_id":"C","text":"When the Son of God was incarnated as a man, with Him was the fullness of God, and of this fullness we have all received—John 1:14, 16:","subpoints":[{"point_id":"1","text":"In John 1:16 grace does not refer to the riches of grace but to the fullness of grace; the riches of grace are in God, but the fullness of grace is in Christ Jesus—Col. 2:9."},{"point_id":"2","text":"The grace we receive is the fullness of grace; beginning from the time we are saved, we may receive grace upon grace."},{"point_id":"3","text":"The phrase grace upon grace in John 1:16 can be compared to the rolling waves of the sea that come in wave upon wave without ceasing."}]}]},{"section_id":"VII","title":"As believers in Christ, we are made full in Christ, in whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily—Col. 2:9-10:","content":[]}]},{"day":"Day 6","sections":[{"section_id":"VII","title":"","content":[{"point_id":"A","text":"The Greek word translated \"full\" in verse 10 implies completion, perfection.","subpoints":[]},{"point_id":"B","text":"Because all the fullness dwells in Christ and because we have been put into Him, we have been made full, filled with the divine riches—1 Cor. 1:30; Eph. 3:8:","subpoints":[{"point_id":"1","text":"All those who believe in Christ have been put into Christ; therefore, we are identified with Him and are one with Him—Gal. 3:27; 2 Cor. 5:17."},{"point_id":"2","text":"We the believers have been put into the all-inclusive, extensive Christ, identified with Him, and joined to Him as our Husband; hence, we are one with Him—Col. 1:28; Rom. 7:2-4; 1 Cor. 6:17."},{"point_id":"3","text":"Because we are one with Christ, we partake of all that He has accomplished, obtained, and attained; we inherit all that Christ has experienced and passed through, receiving all that He is and has."},{"point_id":"4","text":"All that He has passed through is now our history, and all that He has obtained and attained is our inheritance."},{"point_id":"5","text":"The result is that all that He is and all that He has belong to us, and all that He has experienced has become our history—Col. 2:11-13; 3:1."}]},{"point_id":"C","text":"We need to have a full realization of what we have in Christ and to exercise faith to partake of all that is ours in Christ—Eph. 3:17.","subpoints":[]},{"point_id":"D","text":"Because this fullness is all-inclusive, it accomplishes everything for us, it fully satisfies and supplies us, and it makes us full, perfect, and complete—Col. 2:9.","subpoints":[]},{"point_id":"E","text":"We have the all-inclusive, inexhaustible fullness that dwells in Christ bodily, and in Him we are made full—Eph. 3:8; Col. 2:9-10.","subpoints":[]}]}]}]}

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