To Encourage You

Colossians 2:9-10 “ For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him . . .”

Do you have enough? “Enough what?” – you might say. Well, do you have enough money to buy everything you ever needed or wanted, enough skill to accomplish anything you’ve ever needed to do, enough physical strength to lift everything that needs lifted, and enough emotional strength to endure any grief, heartache, or other emotional pain that has come into your life? Do you need help with anything? Do you owe any debts? Have you loved everyone you should have loved, forgiven everyone you should have forgiven, and been forgiven by everyone you’ve ever sinned against – or do you come up short?

Surely, none of us, in and of ourselves, has “enough” to address every need – not even close. If a word could be used to describe our condition, perhaps it could be “incompleteness.” The Bible says that each and every one of us “have fallen short of the glory of God.” We are fallen creatures in a fallen world. And it goes from bad to worse over time, it would seem.

The Bible gives us the example of wealthy King Belshazzar, who partied away with all the gold and wine of a king. But then God spoke to Him with these words: “you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting” (Daniel 5:27). You see, all of his wealth and all of his kingly power was not enough as He stood before a holy, perfect, and righteous God. He was a sinner, and so are we, and it is because of that sin that we lack. Indeed, one of the definitions of sin is “to miss the mark.” Isn’t that such an apt description of our lives.

But the verse above tells us that, in Christ, all believers “have been filled,” i.e., every need addressed, every necessary ability acquired, every shortcoming provided for. This is not because the believer has “enough” in and of themselves, but because that when they receive Christ, they receive all that is Christ’s, i.e., all His fullness. In Him, the believer receives full forgiveness. In Him He receives all that is God’s, i.e., all that God owns (which is everything) because every believer is a “joint-heir with Christ” (Romans 8:17). That includes such things as the earth itself (Matthew 5:5), the joy of the Lord, the peace of God, the hope of eternal life, and everything else that is in the heart of the infinite God. It is for the believer that God has in store things “what no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined” (1 Corinthians 2:9). Many of these things we have received, in part, right now, but for the rest, “we wait for it with patience” (Romans 8:24). In the interim, we have the wonderful promise that all of our needs will surely be met according to our heavenly Father’s “riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). It is because of these truths that all believers, just like Paul, can learn to be completely content in each and every circumstance we find ourselves in (Philippians 4:11).

Put another way, every believer is called by Christ as “those that have,” for with Him, we have everything. Incredibly, He then says to those that have, “more will be added” (Matthew 13:12). It’s all the blessings of God, given in such abundance, that they are “pressed down, shaken together and running over” (Luke 6:38). Believer’s are surely “filled in Him.” But sadly, for those who think they have it all now but don’t have Him, the time is coming when every single thing they do have will be taken away (Matthew 13:12).

Fullness: another word for the eternal life that is the gift of God to all who believe. Emptiness: another word for those who, though they gain the whole world, will lose their own soul. So, what would you rather have; fullness or emptiness? If you would have the former, there is only One Way – it is to come to the Savior who wants to fill you with all the fullness that is His.