To Encourage You

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

There are many things written to us in the Scriptures that are so weighty that we will spend the rest of eternity plumbing the depths of what they say. One such thing is the statement above which is telling Christians that it is because of their relationship with Jesus that they “have been filled.” It’s the very opposite of what the New International version calls an “empty way of life” in 1 Peter 1:18.

I had an uncle who, many years ago, said this to my father: “There’s got to be more to life than the way I’ve been living.”  I suppose many people could say this if they were completely honest.  In fact, Peter is telling us that without Christ life is actually “empty.” Obviously, then, he’s telling us that there’s much more to life than what the natural man may think. But how much more?  More than we can ever imagine.  1 Corinthians 2:9 puts it this way: “no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.” Isn’t that an amazing statement?  In the modern vernacular, perhaps we would put it this way: “If you are without Christ, you don’t know what you are missing!” 

So, what is a person missing who doesn’t know Him?  The short answer: EVERYTHING, i.e., they are coming far short of what God would have for them.  It’s all a matter of comparison.  Let’s take knowledge as an example.  Any person can learn. People can be very educated with multiple degrees behind their name.  But if they don’t know Christ, all this knowledge, what we could call “the wisdom of the world,” is nothing more than “folly with God” (2 Corinthians 3:19).  By comparison to what God has for us, it’s all as nothing, for it’s the comparison of the finite with the infinite.  But with Christ, we are told that although “now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12).  Full knowledge of everything and anything that’s worth knowing is the present possession of every believer, although we are waiting for the time when it will be fully realized. 

Then think about joy.  Are you as joyful as Christ?  Would you like to be? Do you know that Jesus has promised all believers that His purpose and promise for them is that “my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11)? 

What about forgiveness? It is full and complete only in Him, for “as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12). He has told all who have put their faith in Him, “I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more” (Hebrews 8:12).

Then there’s the boundless love of God.  Paul’s prayer for all believers was that they would “have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:18-19).  How incredible is this?  What wonderful truth to ponder! God is telling us that all believers are loved fully and completely.  We could not possibly be loved more than we are at this very moment for we are in a relationship with One Whose very name is Love (1 John 4:8).

Then, the Bible tells believers that they are to be “filled with the Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18).  We are to fill our hearts and minds with Him as we fill our hearts and minds with the things He has told us in His infinite Word.  In this we can likewise be filled with the fruit that is His very nature, namely His “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness, (and) self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).

So do you want to be filled with these things? It is ours only in Christ and without Him all these things will be sorely lacking.  Jesus said this about His followers: “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).  That’s what eternal life is, and no one will ever experience such a thing without Him. Everything He is and that He possesses we as His followers become and possess in Him, be it His righteousness, His holiness, His possessions, His glory, or His authority. It’s God’s Word to each and every Christian: “you have been filled in Him!” 

So, would you rather have emptiness without Him or fullness in Him.    You’ll either fully receive everything you’ve ever needed in Him, or you will go throughout life and then enter eternity lacking all that you’ve most needed because you are apart from Him. There’s no greater contrast between two conditions than this: without Him there is emptiness, but with Him, “my cup overflows” (Psalms 23:5).

Oh, and that uncle I mentioned who had talked to my dad.  Not long after that he became a Christian. He’s in heaven now, with a life filled with all the fullness of God!