III. JAMES NOT SAYING ANYTHING
ABOUT THE MANY MARVELOUS ASPECTS
OF CHRIST STRESSED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
Except in James 1:1 and 2:1 where the title Christ is mentioned, James does not say anything further about the many marvelous aspects of Christ as the New Testament teaching stresses. Instead, he uplifts and exalts the law with six kinds of particular terms: the word of truth, the implanted word, the perfect law, the law of freedom, the royal law, and the law that all believers have to keep. James was a lover, exalter, and promoter of the law, but Paul was different. In Colossians, a book of only four chapters, he exalted Christ as the preeminent One in the old and new creations (1:15-18) and as the embodiment of the Triune God (2:9). Hymns, #189 is a marvelous song on the Christ unveiled in Colossians.
Now we want to point out some of the marvelous aspects of Christ stressed in the teaching of the New Testament which cannot be seen in the book of James.
A. The All-inclusive Christ, Who Fills All in All
In Ephesians Paul spoke of the all-inclusive Christ, who fills all in all (Eph. 1:23; 4:10).
B. The Unsearchable Riches of Christ
Paul also spoke of the unsearchable riches of Christ (Eph. 3:8).
C. The Embodiment of the Fullness Of God
Colossians tells us that Christ is the embodiment of the fullness of God (2:9; 1:19).
D. God’s Allotted Portion to the Saints
as the Good Land for Us to Walk In, That Is,
to Live, to Walk, and to Have Our Being in Him
Christ is God’s allotted portion to the saints, just as the good land was God’s allotted portion to Israel (Col. 1:12). The good land is a type of Christ allotted to us as our portion for us to live, walk, work, and move in Him. He is the land to us. (See Hymns, #1164-#1169 on Christ as the good land.)
(Crystallization-Study of the Epistle of James, Chapter 4, by Witness Lee)
