“And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.” 2 Corinthians 9:8
One of the great truths and concepts of Scripture is that God is Everything. John, in the book of the Revelation begins with the glorified Christ declaring: “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending.” (1:8) In Paul’s letter to the Colossian believers, he declares: “And He (Christ) is before all things, and by Him all things consist. And He is the head of the church.” (1:17,18) Later on in this letter, Paul makes the statement, “…there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor fee: but Christ is all and in all.” (3:11) Now, what does Paul mean by these statements.? He is seeking to make it clear to the believer that the reason that “God is able to make ALL grace abound toward you,” is because all fulness resides in Christ, there being nothing lacking. He is the All-mighty God (Genesis 17:3) of Abraham, the Mighty God of Isaiah (9:7), and the God of Jeremiah for whom nothing is too hard, even impossible. Why? Because all of Life, Light, and Love resides in one place, in Christ. It is in the measure that we know Christ, receiving from Him, His life and power, that we truly know and experience this eternal life, this communion with God. Paul again puts this experience very clearly before us, “…I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” (Gal. 2:20) Herein is the great revelation, which when grasped, and appropriated in the life, changes everything. Christ is not only the perfect Redeemer, Savior, Lord, King, and Potentate of all time and eternity, possessing all power and authority, but God has so designed the matter of salvation, so that the lowliest sinner can receive this blessed, forever, “I AM.” The constant, pepetual, unchanging God, perfect and absolute in completeness in fullness, and wholeness…holiness, has come to man, in Christ, that by hearing the wondrous, and powerful gospel, can receive Him in His fulness. It is in the reception of Christ into the heart, that the believer himself becomes “complete.” He is perfect positionally, for he is no longer IN ADAM, but IN CHRIST, and this by a sovereign act of God, our Keeper. It is to the redeemed sinner that the call comes loud and clear, to “ABIDE IN ME.” The Father has put every believer into living union with the Son of God, the perfect and entire TRUE VINE. It is only as the beleiver abides in that Vine, deriving all from Him, that the blessed and perfect life of Christ is received, and given to a lost world. The expression, or manifestation of that Eternal Life in the heart is never a perfect one, for faith is not perfect. However, as faith is strengthened through worship by the Spirit, the appropriation of Christ is more consistent and complete. It is as the government of God increases, that the experience of God’s peace also increases.
So then, how does one live in this body of clay on this earth, in a sinful world, being not OF the world, but being a testimony to the Life and salvation of God in the world? Three words may suffice to help us understand. The first word is “AIMS.” What is the aim and purpose of God that He would have us grasp? It is to be perfect as He is perfect, to commune with, and serve Him. The second word is, “LIMITS.” As long as we are in these bodies on this earth, we will have limits…limits of knowledge, strength, even faith. Thank God for Christ’s cleansing blood. Third word is “POSSIBILITIES.” “God is able to make ALL grace abound toward every believer…grace that is perfectly sufficient for every need, and the accomplishment of every good work.
Dear Father, Fill us with Thy Son’s fulness. In Jesus’ name, Amen.