public class LayerDocument : Document 

var lyrDocFromLyrxFile = new LayerDocument(@"d:\data\cities.lyrx");
var cimLyrDoc = lyrDocFromLyrxFile.GetCIMLayerDocument();

//modifying its renderer symbol to red
var r = ((CIMFeatureLayer)cimLyrDoc.LayerDefinitions[0]).Renderer as CIMSimpleRenderer;
r.Symbol.Symbol.SetColor(new CIMRGBColor() { R = 255 });

//optionally save the updates out as a file
lyrDocFromLyrxFile.Save(@"c:\data\cities_red.lyrx");

//get a json representation of the layer document and you want store away...
var aJSONString = lyrDocFromLyrxFile.AsJson();

//... and load it back when needed
lyrDocFromLyrxFile.Load(aJSONString);
cimLyrDoc = lyrDocFromLyrxFile.GetCIMLayerDocument();

//create a layer and add it to a map
var lcp = new LayerCreationParams(cimLyrDoc);
var lyr = LayerFactory.Instance.CreateLayer<FeatureLayer>(lcp, map, LayerPosition.AutoArrange);