Section 2
national characteristics were among the things Paul counted to be trash, refuse, in order to gain Christ and be found in Him. These things may be very good, but they are not in resurrection and they are not in the new creation. Moreover, they are not of Christ or of the Spirit.
THE NEED FOR THE EXCELLENCY
OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST
Even though we may love the Lord very much and daily take time to pray ourselves into the Spirit, in our actual living we may live in things other than Christ. We live this way automatically and spontaneously.
It is rather easy for us to apply Christ as our peace, joy, and rest. But when we consider higher aspects of Christ, we find them rather difficult to apply. For example, Christ is the mystery of God's economy. Although we may know Him as the mystery of God's economy (Col. 1:25-29), it is not easy for us to apply Him in this aspect in our daily walk. The gap between such an aspect of Christ and our daily living is extremely great. We also find it difficult to experience Christ as the body, the reality, of all the positive things (Col. 2:17). There is an urgent need for us to pray concerning this.