The All-Inclusive, Extensive Christ Replacing Culture For the One New Man
Message One
The Urgent Need for Our Culture to Be Replaced by the All-inclusive, Extensive Christ
OPENING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
Col. 2:8 Beware that no one carries you off as spoil through his philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ.
1:12-13 Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you for a share of the allotted portion of the saints in the light; who delivered us out of the authority of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.
Word of Appetizer
In His salvation God saves us not only from sin, judgment, the lake of fire, the world, and the self; He also saves us from everything which replaces Christ, including our culture. Why?
Because culture replaces Christ in a practical way in our daily living, it is hateful in the eyes of God. The enemy of God uses culture to replace Christ; he will try to use the good aspects of culture to replace Christ. Culture is a great frustration to experiencing Christ; unconsciously and subconsciously, we are frustrated by culture from the experience and enjoyment of Christ. Culture has become a stronghold of Satan; in a subtle way he maintains a hold on culture and utilizes it to oppose God’s kingdom.
Spiritual Burden
The kind of Christ who replaces our culture with himself for the one new man is the all-inclusive, extensive Christ, the preeminent One, the centrality and universality of God’s economy.
The all-inclusive, extensive Christ is in us, and we need to allow Him to fill our entire being and replace our culture with Himself.
CONCLUDING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
The Revelation of the Truth
The book of Colossians was written because the church in Colossae had been pervaded with culture, and the saints had been distracted from Christ by culture.
Human culture arose after the fall of man.
Culture is a frustration to God’s purpose concerning Christ and the church.
Human culture stands in opposition to the kingdom of God.
Christ as the all-inclusive, extensive One is versus culture and should replace our culture with Himself.
The kind of Christ who replaces culture is the all-inclusive, extensive Christ, the preeminent One, the centrality and universality of God’s economy.
The Experience of Life
Whenever we live, walk, and behave in the self, we are in darkness,for it causes us to be separated from Christ.
The authority of darkness was Jewish religious observances, pagan ordinances, philosophy, mysticism, and asceticism. Although these things seemed to be good, they were actually the authority of darkness because they replaced Christ. They caused Christ, the light, to be set aside.
Culture is a great frustration to experiencing Christ; unconsciously and subconsciously, we are frustrated by culture from the experience and enjoyment of Christ.
Practice and Application
Since we have the all-inclusive Christ, we do not need Judaism, Gnosticism, or asceticism; we should stay in Christ and in the freedom we have in Christ. We need to be filled to the brim with Christ.
The all-inclusive, extensive Christ is in us, and we need to allow Him to fill our entire being and replace our culture with Himself.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—
TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1: The content of the church should be nothing other than Christ Himself (Col. 3:11; 2:8).
(Please explain that Colossians indicates that the ultimate replacement for Christ is our culture.)
T2: The enemy of God utilizes culture to replace Christ (Phil. 3:4-8).
(Please explain that the enemy of God will try to use the good aspects of culture to replace Christ.)
Day 2
T1: Simply living according to the self puts us in darkness (Col. 1:12-13).
(Please explain that in Colossians the authority of darkness refers to the good aspects of culture and of our natural being.)
T2: The situation in Colossae may also be the situation today (Col. 1:12-13).
(Please explain that to accept something in place of Christ is not only to be in darkness, but also to be under the controlling authority of darkness.)
Day 3
T1: Human culture developed because humanity had lost God (Gen. 4:16-17; 20-21).
(Why does the loss of God force man to invent human culture?)
T2: We do not attend the movies not because the church has a regulation against it (Gen. 4:21; Eph. 3:19b).
(Please explain according to your own experiences that when you are filled with Christ and you will have no capacity for anything else.)
Day 4
T1: Godless culture caused the whole human race to be corrupted (Gen. 4:17-24).
(Please explain that man invented a godless culture that was for self-preservation, self-support, self-amusement, and self-defense apart from God.)
T2: Cultures have departed from God and are without God, and that they have followed Satan and are united with Satan (Matt. 24:37-39).
(Please explain that when the Lord comes back, He will again clear up and put in order the world and the entire human race.)
Day 5
T1: Human culture has become a basic part and a great portion of the kingdom of Satan (Matt. 10:17-18).
(Please explain that human culture stands in opposition to the kingdom of God.)
T2: Purchasing the extra portion of oil for our vessel (Matt. 10:38-39).
(Please explain that we should not be disturbed, because the opposition of human culture can become our “gasoline station”.)
Day 6
T1: God not only saves us from sin, He also saves us from our culture (Heb. 7:25).
(What kind of Christ can replace our culture?)
T2: There’s no need to live according to our self-imposed culture (Col. 1:27).
(Please explain that we need to be filled to the brim with Christ and allow Him to replace every aspect of our natural human life with Himself.)
