I.　Colossians is focused on Christ as our Head and our life; the way for Him to exercise His headship and to minister His riches to us is through His word—2:19; 3:4:

A.　In Colossians the word is for revealing Christ in His preeminence, centrality and universality.

B.　Paul's concern in Colossians is for the revelation of Christ unto full knowledge; for this, we need the word of Christ.

II.　We need to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly—v. 16:

A.　"Let":

1.　We should submit to the Lord's command and allow His word to dwell in us.

2.　We should not be closed but should open our being to the Lord and to His word and be willing to be filled with the word of Christ.

B.　"The word of Christ":

1.　The word of Christ is the word spoken by Christ:

a.　In His New Testament economy God speaks in the Son—Heb. 1:1-2a.

b.　The Son speaks not only by Himself in the Gospels but also through His members, the apostles and prophets, in Acts, in the Epistles, and in Revelation.

2.　The word of Christ includes the entire New Testament.

C.　"Dwell in you richly":

1.　"Dwell":

a.　The Greek word for dwell means "to inhabit," "to be in a house"; this indicates that the word of Christ should be able to make its home in us.

b.　We should allow the word of Christ to dwell in us, to inhabit us, to make home in us.

2.　"In you richly":

a.　The word of Christ, which contains the riches of Christ, should not remain outside of us but should dwell in us richly.

b.　For the word of Christ to dwell in us richly means that it has adequate room in us.

c.　We should not receive the word of Christ and then confine it to a small area of our being; rather, every fiber of our being needs to be occupied by the word of Christ.

d.　All of our inward parts—our mind, emotion, will, heart, and spirit— must be empty and available to be filled with the word of Christ.

e.　The word of Christ should be given a free course to operate in us and to minister the riches of Christ into our being.

f.　We need to allow the word of Christ to move, act, and have its being in us, letting our whole being be permeated and saturated with the word of Christ.

g.　We should be willing to set aside our concepts and opinions and give place to the word of Christ.

h.　It is crucial for us to let the word of Christ enter into us, dwell in us, prevail in us, and replace our concepts, opinions, and philosophies.

D.　It would be helpful for us to pray, "Lord, I offer my whole being to You and to Your word. I give You access to every part of my inner being. Lord, make my inner being a home for Yourself and Your word."

III.　In order for the word of Christ to dwell in us richly for the new man, we need to let the peace of Christ arbitrate in our hearts—vv. 15-16:

A.　A basic principle revealed in the Bible is that God's speaking requires oneness:

1.　Division causes God's speaking to diminish, even to cease altogether.

2.　Since oneness is a necessary condition for God's speaking, we need to let the peace of Christ arbitrate in our hearts—v. 15.

B.　The peace of Christ arbitrates in us and keeps us in a proper condition to receive God's word—4:3.

C.　When the peace of Christ arbitrates in us and keeps us in a situation full of oneness and harmony, we become the place of God's speaking, His oracle.

D.　If we would live Christ as the constituent of the one new man, the peace of Christ must be the arbitrator in our heart, and the word of Christ must be the content of our inner being—3:15-16.

E.　"The very element of Christ transmitted into us becomes the essence of the peace which rules in us. This arbitrating peace not only solves our problems, but also dissolves them. It enables us to be kept in oneness and to be preserved in a harmonious condition. It also opens the way for the word of God to come with the bountiful supply. Because we have the arbitrating peace, in the Lord's recovery there is no shortage of God's word" (Life-study of Colossians, p. 570).

F.　If we allow the peace of Christ to arbitrate in us and if we allow the word of Christ to dwell in us, we will have the new man in a practical way, and we will live Christ in the one new man—3:15—4:1.