“He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him freely give us all things.” Romans 8:32
The God of the Bible is a God of abundance, fullness, and completeness. In Paul’s writings we discover that all the fulness of God resides in Christ, bodily. (Col. 2:9). There is in the revelation of Christ, not only the fullest revelation of God presented to mankind in a bodily form, but the fulness of the essence of God. This Christ who came to take upon Himself a body prepared for Him, and who dwelt among us, is that very one dwelling in heaven at this moment, in His glorified, but still scared body. The five wounds He wears in that body will forever declare the fulness of God.
There is in the unveiling of God in Christ the concept of completeness, or wholeness. There is nothing lacking in Christ of the Divine nature, nor of the expressioin of that nature to all of creation, both visible and invisible. What does this knowledge have to do with man, even sinful man, the salvation of man and his conformity to God in Christ? The answer is found in a very short phrase in Paul’s letter to the Colossians: “…and ye are complete in Him..” (Col. 2:10) This truth and reality is put before us also in the letter to the Ephesian believers, when he wrote: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.” (1:3) The revelation of God’s fulness in Christ, His Divine power, goodness, and love, is meant to give to the believer not only a knowledge of the miraculous, eternal work of Christ on Calvary as it applies to the believer, but to present a vision of the truth, with regard to what God desires to give to the believer on a daily basis. The fulness of His nature, in all of its immaculate beauty and goodness, is given that the believer should make it his own by faith, appropriating the Son of God for every need. The purpose of this receiving from God all that pertains to godliness and holiness, mercy and love, is that conformity to the image of Christ which becomes possible by the free working of the Spirit of God in him.
The call of God to the believer who has been placed in living union with Christ, baptized into Him, and raised with Him, is to be filled with the Spirit of God. (Ephesians 5:18) There is at least a two-fold meaning to this “fulness,” the first aspect being that Christ is to be appropriated by faith for every need of the individual. He is the God of the whole person, the One who saves completely, and in whom His entire Person by the Spirit comes to dwell. Christ is not divisible, coming with one aspect or attribute of His character, but not with all. He comes in His fulness, His entirety, nothing held back, except that which man is incapable of receiving, that which is according to man’s specific calling as a child of God, but not as the unique Son of God. Though Christ comes by the Spirit, and fully so, He comes in the measure of man’s needs, according to the sovereign will of God, and His wisdom. God gives to the believer as He gave to Christ on earth, with His limitations and specific calling, all that He needed at every moment to be filled with all the fulness of every resouce in the Father by the Spirit.
In Paul’s letter to the Galatians, he writes of the fruit of the Spirit, that specific expression of the life of Christ in and through the believer. He begins by speaking of this fruit being, Love, Joy, and Peace. These are specific attributes of Christ, wherein there is no limit, except the capacity of the believer to receive them by faith. The call of God is one to faith in His fulness and faithfulness.
Dear Father, Fill us all day. In Jesus’ name, Amen.