Written by Pastor Jack Wellman– Woodrow Kroll
The Fullness of Christ
If our lives seem empty, we are not focusing on what Christ has really done, for “to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Eph 3:19). We are to be “filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God” (Phil 1:11). The love of Christ should fill us, for being filled with the love of Christ is to “be filled with all the fullness of God” since Christ is God. The fruit of the righteousness of God comes only through Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12), and that’s to the glory and to the praise of God alone.
In Christ
The words “in Christ” occur about 280 times in the New Testament, which is about as many times as any other words that go with Christ appear. What does it meant to be in Christ? If you are in Christ, you should not be empty but filled because in Christ is the fullness of God (Eph 3:19). Believers have “the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe” (Rom 3:22). They “are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom 3:24). By Adam all will die, but in Christ all will be made alive (1 Cor 15:22). We have all earned eternal death, but “the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 6:23), and there is “no condemnation for those who are in Christ” (Rom 8:1) because “the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death” (Rom 8:2). Surely by now you can see that all who are in Christ have the fullness of God in them, so there is nothing that really needs be filled.
The Fullness of God
We have already read that “to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Eph 3:19), and this is because in Christ is “all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form” (Col 2:9). Jesus “is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things” (Eph 4:10). God the Father “put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all” (Eph 1:22-23).
Filling the Tank
I hope you get the idea now. Christ came that we might be filled with the fullness of God in Christ, that all believers are in Christ and He is in them, and that the fullness of the Deity of God is in bodily form in Christ. He came to fill all things, and the fullness of him can certainly fill us, so if your life seems empty, check the tank. If Christ is in you, you’re not really empty, even if you feel like it.
Conclusion
I pray for everyone who reads this. Even now I am praying as I write, and I pray that those who are far spent and feel empty inside, will here Jesus’ words: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matt 11:28-30).
