His Fullness
His Fullness
Welcome to the “essentials of healthy community” series. Here is an essential truth as we grow in the grace and love of God together:
That we would know the FULLNESS of God together
We have received the fullness of God. As Paul of Tarsus writes “For (Jesus) is the complete fullness of deity living in human form. And our own completeness is now found in him. We are completely filled with God as Christ’s fullness overflows withins us…” (Col. 2:9-10). The greek word used here can be translated “completed, perfected, furnished, or crammed full to overflowing.” Jesus did not give up his broken body so that we could merely have a taste of His good Father. We have not inherited just a small smackerel but the entire honey pot! He died so that we could enjoy and permanently dwell in perfect harmonious union with the Godhead, fully and completely filled in every way to overflowing.
As John Crowder says, “God did not come in portions, he came in person. When we were looking for an inpouring, He gave us an outpouring!” We are not perpetually “hungry for God” or “thirsty for His presence.” As Jesus says “blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled” (Matt 5:6) Or “whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. The water I give will become a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life." The promise of Jesus was not a life sentence of perpetual hunger and thirst, but a life marked by satisfaction, overflowing, abundance, and fullness.
Even David in an inferior covenant prayed, “the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” Or “the lions may grow weary and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.” Surely, if David could taste this in the old covenant, how much more so can we live without lack having been filled with Christ, His spirit, and his gifts.
As Paul writes “God has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3). “Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm has already been lavished upon us as a love gift from our wonderful heavenly Father” (Eph 1:3). We have received “in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that He has lavished on us” (Eph 1:7-8) “See what great love the Father has lavished on us…” (1 John 3:1). We were always meant to be a people abundantly lavished with all of God’s gifts, blessings, grace, and love.
The “gifts of the Spirit” are simply Jesus manifested. The “fruit of the Spirit,” is simply the various expressions of Jesus. The “armor of the Lord” are simply attributes of His person that we “put on” or recognize. The “anointing of Jesus” is not waiting for us at the next alter call of the an upcoming conference. We have been anointed in Him!
Not only do we possess (not just have access to, but actually possess) his entire being, but we have also fully received his message. There is “no other message.” Paul even said if someone comes with another message not to listen. “we have received from prophets of old, but have now so fully received Jesus, the exact imprint of his likeness.” His complete and full message has been imparted to us. We are not piecing it together, rolling dice, and jumping around Revelation trying to break a secret code. We have received the message of God through the God man Jesus.
And we recognize the corporate call to mature and grow in the fullness of God together as a family. But this “growth” is not an outward siege on something that we lack, but an inward gaze, a maturing together and deepening of something that has already been granted and freely given. He is endless and His love us unknowingly deep. So we will always be sinking into the fullness already bestowed on us. The only thing the believer lacks is an awareness of what has already been freely given in Christ!
