Filled With His Fullness
Ephesians 3:14-19 (ESV) —
‘For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may 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.’
There are three incredible truths in this passage - God’s power within us, the extent of his love for us and being filled with his fullness. Let's look at the last one of these.
What does it mean to be filled with the fulness of God and how is it possible?
God is so vast and all-encompassing and so beyond our understanding that all his fullness surely cannot be contained in one human vessel; and even if it could, how could all Christians throughout the world be filled with God’s fullness at the same time? Whatever it means, it suggests that we have far more 'God' resources available to us than we realise or comprehend. But God's fullness is not there at our disposal; it is available when we are at his disposal.
God is infinite. I cannot contain him in the sense that there is nothing left of him to go anywhere else; there is just as much of him left for everyone else that wants to be filled up! All his fullness includes all his attributes and qualities and all the resources he wants us to take from him and use as we serve him and live for him.
Given this truth, how can we be deficient or lack anything to fulfil his purpose for our lives? Can we believe for more? Can we take on board that he will supply (and be) everything we need, in abundance? Can we take him and his fullness into our daily lives and experience?
Let us lift our awareness of who God is and our expectation of what he can do in and through us. The Ephesians passage suggests that there is one key requirement for receiving this fulness - knowing and receiving the love of Christ, that surpasses knowledge.
Prayer: Help us, Lord, to have a deeper knowledge of your love for us, so that we can receive more of your fullness daily.