The Fullness of Christ

Ep 1:23

Which (The Church) is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

This definition is given to the Church which should express Jesus Christ completely. There are two things here, that is

i.                     Christ should fill us completely (all in all).

ii.                   The complete Christ should fill us.

God has this expectation of filling up completely. There are many examples

1.       Hab 2:14 – The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the glory of the LORD.

2.       Is 6:3 – The earth is full of his Glory.

3.       Ps 16:11 – Fullness of Joy to me personally.

4.       Ps 24:1 – The fullness of the earth is God’s.

This quality of God where he never does anything partially is an important aspect of Christendom. There are no partial healings anywhere. There is no partial salvation. When God does or expects something, it has to happen fully.

Now, John 1:16 says that because of the fullness of Christ, we are receiving Grace upon Grace. If Christ has revealed the God partially or anything less than who The Father is, there is no chance of us receiving grace.

Col 1:19, 2:9 Jesus was the full of the Father and we are expected to be full of Jesus. These verses are also an important proof is that Jesus is God.

Ep 4:11-13

¹¹ And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, ¹² for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, ¹³ till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;

This verse points to the fact that our pursuit, and God’s plan for us to grow is that we should reach to the measure of stature of the fullness of Christ.

This is the highest point we should and could attain in this world. For this purpose only, God works in us by giving us pastors, evangelists and every other kind of ministers.  

Interestingly, we can see that “He Himself gave” instead of “He gave” in the verse. We should be cautious in understanding ministers who He gave and who He did not. This quality to be a minister does not come by inheritance or talents or any other thing we understand of. He should give us.

This support from elders is required till the date when we become “stature of fullness of Christ”.

Now, the important teaching of this meditation is that:

God understands our weakness in displaying ourselves as the fullness of Christ. But, God does not accept anything less either. That’s why God gives this definition to the Church.

The Church is the fullness of Christ.

We are together, remember, not individually but together expected to be the complete Jesus Christ’s body. Only this fellowship makes us a worthy candidate in God’s eyes until we are perfect.

This is the importance of the Church in our lives.

·         We need to be very closely bound enough so that we together fulfill God’s desire.

·         It is our highest responsibility that we ensure every ministry should happen at a church or fellowship and the church should together uphold every ministry in it.  

·         The church should together display the holiness, love and authority of Christ to this world.

In early days (Acts 2:44-46) when the church gathered they sold everything and shared. This is reason behind the Jewellery removal sign Pentecostals show.

The lesson from this event is that every person in the church lost his individual identity by selling everything he owned and came together. That is a very important quality of every person who belongs to the church. We all should toil together so that the Church (as one body) is perfect in God’s eyes. Seeking individual honor is very selfish and never serves the purpose of God.

·         1 John 1:7, if we do not have fellowship, we are walking in darkness.

·         Heb 10:24-25 – the importance of encouragement, stimulating others towards love and good deeds, etc.

·         Rom 1:12 where one person’s faith builds another’s.

·         Rom 15:2 – Personal edification comes from fellowship.

So, let us humbly accept the important of the Church (Acts 20:28) in our personal lives. We are expected to love one another unconditionally and to support / encourage others throughout our lives. This church should be bound with the Holy Spirit’s wisdom and fellowship. We need to have Christ fill every corner and person of the church and the complete characteristics and full love of Jesus should be displayed by the church together.

Knowledge of Jesus

Ep 1:17

“that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him”.

This verse is a prayer that Paul, the Apostle prays to the Almighty about the church in Ephesus. This church as per verse 15, they were faithful and loving towards the Saints. This faith and love were exemplary and heard everywhere. That would be amazing right.

But, at this same time, it is evident that we can be with faith and may give a lot to God, but lack in understanding of Christ. Here, Paul does not give them the understanding of Christ, neither asks them to search for the knowledge of Christ, but prays to God so that God would give them this understanding.

We should acknowledge that it is not easy to understand Christ and this love towards us. It is also not easy for us to understand what his riches are (vs. 18).

The same verse mentions that Wisdom and Revelation are required to understand Jesus and the richness we will receive in heaven. This revelation is not as John’s which one person got and shared to everyone, but an individual revelation. These things are hard to explain in words.

In Vs 9 (vs 10 in tamil), Paul says that it is a mystery of his will. The will of God which is being executed through Christ is a mystery. But, it is a blessing and a great honor we are having if we have properly understood who Christ is and what His will is.

Mathew 13:11. “Granted”. These were not studied and gained, but granted by the Holy Ghost to us. So, there is no use in pursuing studies either.

In this meditation, I am not trying to explain the knowledge of Christ; but, the fact that it is a large mystery and we should pray that God would help us understand more and more of this truth.

1.       Our perception of Jesus is incomplete.

a.       We think Jesus as a God who is strong, powerful and merciful towards people who are in trouble. We also preach the same Jesus.

b.      Yes, he is strong, powerful and merciful. But did He come to the world for only that? He is an almighty and His purpose is that we should be there to glorify Him. (Ep 1:12)

c.       He came to serve us so that we would live a life that glorifies Him. We may receive all health, wealth and every other spiritual gifts also. But those are not the purpose. (Mat 7:22,23). There is no good if there is no relationship with God. Jesus mentions that “I did not know you” here.

d.      We also see the reference that Jesus did not comment anything about the word “Lord, Lord”. That too twice. We also have references that He received worship (Mat 14:33, Mathew 28:9)

e.      In John 5:3 we can see that there were a multitude of people in the pool of Bethesda. But, Jesus went and saw one person only and cured him. And, then in Vs 14 wants him to repent.

f.        Job 11:7

g.       Ep 3:4 “only my knowledge”. Paul never concludes that this is the whole mystery, but only what I know.

h.      About Jesus, we see that God has wrought him (Ep 1:20) (worked on him) so that he was given and raised from the dead and is seated in his right hand. This makes the fact that Jesus, our fore runner’s sacrifice has been fully accepted by God and we have complete rights in entering the kingdom.

i.         Also, we read that Jesus is the head, we are the body (Ep 1: 22,23). Everything in heaven and earth is under His feet i.e., his body. But we are looking for blessings from the dust below us rather than looking up at the head and the richness God has prepared for us.

2.       Our understanding of His Kingdom is incomplete.

a.       We think of human measured money, treasures, gold or property etc that count as richness. We even assume that these will be in abundance.

b.      Romans 14:17 – A kingdom full of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit

c.       The context of this verse clearly says that our food or ways in the earth may be a grief to others.  We have to be cautious in what we eat, drink, dress etc…

d.      One more thing is that our holiness in eating, drinking and dressing are meant only with the standard of encouraging others towards Christ. If we show ourselves as too holy by dressing in whites or removing jewellery, it may not give this encouragement.

e.      Also, we try to define a parallel holiness which is not in the Bible and try to be satisfied in that. This satisfaction is not from God. Please understand that we are being deceived if we are happy that we do not wear jewellery or properly give tithes and these qualities will make us deserve his Kingdom.

f.        We need peace that comes from complete trust in Christ Jesus. Everybody struggles here and clearly, that is sin too. Rom 14:23 We are far away from His holiness and should stay at his feet every single day longing for that. This is the same condition for every Christian.

g.       The fact that Satan will be bound in heaven (Rev 20:3). There will be no temptation and so, no sin. We will have no problem in facing God at all.

Let God help us with the spirit of wisdom and revelation to know him more and more…

The Sufficiency of Christ

Ep 1:3

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ

• ·         Jesus is the sum of all our blessings.
• ·         The moment we start believing in and accepting Christ, we receive everything we need.. i.e., eternal life (Jn 3:16, 1 Jn 5:11,12).
• ·         All we need as per God is Jesus. Ph 4:19
• ·         And Jesus is not just a sufficient entity, but riches in Glory.

2 Cor 12:9

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

• ·         This verse is very much misunderstood at many places. God actually says NO to Paul when he pleads for healing. That emphasis is shown in the term “thrice” in the previous verse.
• ·         Grace in most cases points to our salvation (John 1:19, Ep 2:8, Titus 2:11). God expects us to pursue salvation alone and nothing else.
• ·         Many of us think that it our right to receive divine healing. But, Paul after pleading did not receive that. It is important to look for God’s will in our healing (1 John 5:14)
• ·         God says that His Grace is sufficient. And this verse does not come as a blessing, but an answer and a strict commandment too. Anything we desire beyond grace will be sin.
• ·         Perfect in weakness. God, sometimes wants us to endure weakness, incapabilities, shortcomings so that we will see the complete power of God.
• ·         Paul goes to an extent of boasting of his weaknesses in the next verse (2 Cor 12:10)

Phil 3:8 (v11 in tamil)

• “What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ”.
• ·         Everything is a loss when we did not have gained Jesus.
• ·         We mistakenly think that if we give a lot to the Church or ministries, it seems that we are gaining Christ. (Is 1:12 onwards).
• ·         Mat 13:44,45 Both these verses show how important it is for us to lose everything we have just for the sake of buying Jesus.
• ·         Unless we pursue salvation and then move towards, Christlikeness… That is letting the face of God  shine upon us. (Ps 67:1).

Seeing Jesus

Seeing Jesus

John 12:45 “And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me.”

1.       The Deity and Authority of Jesus

a.       John 1:1 “The Word was God.”  - The deity of Jesus.

b.      1:2, 3 “He was in the beginning and all things were made through Him.  – The authority of Jesus. (Col 1:16 – All things were Created For Him)

c.       1:27, 3:31 – Whose thongs I am not worthy to untie. – The glory of Jesus. (Mathew 11:11 - no one is greater than John).

2.       The purpose of Jesus’s coming

a.       3:17 – Our salvation.

b.      1:50, 3:3 – The various methods of simplicity or complex nature of Jesus to accept us.

c.       5:6 – The voluntary nature of Jesus for salvation. He seeks out for people to save.

d.      1:51 – The confidence Jesus has in an innocent believer.

e.      1:51 – How enthusiastic Jesus is when he sees a person believe.

3.       The expectations of Jesus

a.       5:14 – The concern Jesus has for every person. “Do not sin anymore” as Sin has caused you this misery.

b.      2:17 – How Jesus’ standards are regarding his House. (and our body).

c.       4:10 – This is beyond being a Jew or Samaritan.  Not limited to some people whatsoever.

d.      4:10 – Jesus is source from which the Holy Spirit flows towards us.  The reason for us being powerful. (John 16:7). Jesus wants us to be filled and controlled by the Holy Spirit.

e.      4:23 – True worshippers who worship in spirit and truth.

4.       The Love of Jesus

a.       6:55 – I am the bread indeed. Consume me and have life. The invitation. Also that When we consume Jesus’s flesh and blood, we partake in his crucifixion not as being crucified, but as those who crucified. We remember that we are guilty by blood. But, Jesus encourages us by telling that we are not supposed to be guilty, but accept that His purpose of visiting us was to shed blood so that we could gain.  Ps 27:2 and 1 Chronicles 11:19. The love of Christ.