Right? Croatia law.
I kind of feel like Mort this morning—so full, and just wondering if you can get it in, and wondering what the Lord will do with what you’ve poured into me.
Let’s have a word of prayer as we begin this morning.
Lord, we do thank You, Lord Jesus, for those glimpses of Your glory, those glimpses of Your person, those glimpses of Your attributes of love and mercy. Lord, we thank You that You have opened our eyes.
Our heart goes out to so many in this world this morning, Lord, whose eyes are blinded and who are without Christ in this world—without the Saviour, without the Lord, without a future, without a hope. But Lord, we thank You. We are the blessed ones.
We come unto You, Lord, and want to give You thanksgiving as we begin this morning, that we’ve had something of a glimpse of You, of Your glory, of Your greatness. Lord, we thank You for it. It sustains us. It keeps us.
Lord, we do have hope, but hope far greater than the hope this world tries to offer. So, Lord, we ask this morning: bless our hearts once again, and give us that spirit of wisdom and revelation as we consider Your Word. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Well, I’m going to be sharing out of Ephesians this morning. I’ve shared a number of messages concerning Ephesians since we’re studying it, but I just want to remind us of Paul’s heart in Ephesians.
In Ephesians 3:9, this is his heart: “To make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.”
That all men might see. Brothers and sisters, what an amazing, glorious thing to have your eyes opened. I always think about that blind man, blind from birth, when the Lord Jesus touched his eyes and he could see. The whole world opened up to this man. It was all different now.
And I think that’s the way it is when we get a glimpse of our Lord Jesus Christ: our world changes. Well, may the Lord help us this morning and give us grace to see what He’s trying to share with us.
You know, there’s a number of key words in this short book of Ephesians. It is full of key words.
As I considered these words, fullness seemed to stand out. This morning, I want to share a little, as best I can, on this letter of Paul, particularly this word fullness, which Paul uses in this letter.
Now, in this letter, you’ll see “the fullness of times” mentioned, and we’re going to talk about that. Mainly, the fullness of time means that everything God intended and purposed for a particular point in time is coming to fruition. All the preparation work is done. It is the perfect time.
It says that in the fullness of time Christ came the first time, brothers and sisters. He was full of grace and truth. Our Lord Jesus came at the fullness of time—the right time, the perfect time.
It had been preceded by the patriarchs—Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. He had been preceded, brothers and sisters, by the age of the law and Judaism. And that was preceded, brothers and sisters, and brought in the age of grace when our Lord Jesus came. It was the perfect time. It is God’s fullness, not what we would call fullness.
And there’s another fullness, and that is the issue. When God is referring to fullness, He’s really talking about Jesus Christ, because all the fullness of the Godhead is in Jesus Christ.
Brothers and sisters, part of our mission, part of our purpose in life, is to come into all that fullness—and not only come into that fullness, but to express something of that fullness. And that is what we’re dealing with in this letter.
Now, it’s a very short letter, but I call it a powerhouse letter. It is full of the power of the Holy Spirit. In it, we have God’s revelation to us of His Son, of His church—His body—of His will, of the mystery that He had kept hidden for the ages. It shows us His purpose.
These are mighty things. These are not little things, brothers and sisters, but these are all-encompassing items and issues. And it says that we might know, experience, and ultimately express this fullness. That is our purpose.
We must know it. But it’s not enough to know it; we must experience it. And it’s not enough just to experience it; we need to express that fullness. That is what we’ve been called to.
It includes all the person, character, and nature of the Godhead in Christ—all that He is, all of His attributes, all of His qualities. All that He is is included in this word fullness.
It’s interesting. In Psalm 19, it says:
The heavens declare His glory;
And the firmament showeth His handiwork.
Now, brothers and sisters, we go out, we look at the stars occasionally, and we go in the house. It says here that it reveals the glory of God. And in Romans, it says man is without excuse. He ought to be able to observe the creation and realize that there is a God, and that He is the all-powerful, almighty God. Therefore, men are without excuse. He said, “It’s evident.”
Brothers and sisters, this creation is only a small part of what He intends for the fullness to make manifest in this whole world.
You know, Paul experienced much of that fullness. We remember—I’ll review; I’ll try to keep it short—he was actually lifted to the third heaven. He said he saw things that he didn’t even have expression for.
And we know he went to Paradise and he came back. He saw, and he said, things unlawful to tell. We remember all of his experiences, particularly during those eleven years when he was doing the gospel trips around the known world at that time.
Paul had so much experience. We remember all of his experiences, you know, and suffering for the sake of the gospel. He was beaten five times. He was shipwrecked and spent a day and a night in the ocean.
Brothers and sisters, one time he was stoned, and people think that he actually was stoned to death in Lystra. And that is when he briefly went to Paradise—not Hades. I got him in the wrong place. He definitely didn’t go to Hades. He went to Paradise, so correct everything that I just said, all right?
But he was an amazing man. He saw so much of Christ. And he’s now in prison, and he’s writing these prison letters—you know, Ephesians and Philippians and Colossians, which our brothers spoke from.
These are powerful letters, brothers and sisters. He didn’t know what his fate was going to be at that time. And I believe God set him aside in that prison so he could really concentrate and try to express all that God had shown him, that we might receive and be participants in it.
He pours out his heart, and it’s almost as if the Holy Spirit is compelling Paul to get this message out. And, you know, Paul is almost overwhelmed in all of this.
When you think and consider the immensity of Christ, His glory is infinite. His person is infinite. And Paul is trying to share with us what he has seen.
And then, even at this point, in that companion letter, in Philippians 3:10, he says, “That I might know Him.” He thought he was at the end of his life, and this was his burden. This was his passion: that I might know Him.
And he implores the Lord. He stops and implores the Lord. He says, “Lord, You’re going to have to give the spirit of wisdom and revelation, because the human mind cannot take in what I’m about to share. It has to come through revelation.”
You know, this matter of fullness—we touch this word first in Ephesians 1:10, and I’ll read that.
That in the dispensation of the fullness of times
He might gather together in one all things in Christ,
Both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him.
This is the first mention in Ephesians of fullness: in the fullness of times, to gather together all things in Christ. Other versions say, “To sum up all things in Christ.”
Brothers and sisters, this verse is preceded by verses 1 through 9. Did you get that? This is verse 10. And in the first eight verses, what does Paul do? He draws us to Christ. He focuses our heart upon Christ.
He says, grace and peace—your grace and peace are from Jesus Christ. You are blessed with all spiritual blessings, where? In Christ. You are chosen in love, where? In Christ. You are predestined for sonship, where? In Christ. You are accepted, where? In Christ, in the Beloved. You have forgiveness of sins in Christ.
He focuses us right in on Jesus Christ. And of course, this is all that we have received of Him in Christ because we know Jesus Christ.
But in verse 10, he says that in the fullness of time it is His intention to sum up all things in Christ. And he begins to speak of the mystery. In verse 9, he speaks of the mystery of God, and then in verse 10, he gives us a short summary of what that mystery is.
He says that God wants to gather up, sum up, all things in Jesus Christ. When? In the fullness of time.
Sometimes we can just read this Scripture and kind of read through it and say, “Yeah, He’s going to do that. He’s going to sum up everything in Christ.” And the truth of that verse doesn’t quite hit us.
It is an explosive, earth-shattering truth. You need to know that. It levels most of the Christianity that we see today. It brings reality into view. It is the opening salvo of showing us this mystery.
It is an all-encompassing Scripture. It is an all-encompassing truth. This truth should gain the mastery of our hearts, brothers and sisters. And if it does, if it captures our heart, it will revolutionize your life. That’s how important this Scripture is.
This truth embodies everything, and it embodies all that follows in this letter, and in the Colossian letter, and in the Philippian letter.
What does it say? To sum up all things in Christ. It means that God has determined that nothing which is not of Christ shall remain. Nothing that is not of Christ shall remain.
God is working towards that end. He’s working towards that end in your life, in the life of the church, in the fellowship here, and in the universe. In the universe, nothing that is not of Christ will remain.
And on the other hand, He’s working to fill our hearts, our lives, and this universe with Christ—with only that which is of Christ. That is God’s purpose and intention.
And it explains, brothers and sisters, so much of God’s dealing in your life, in the life of this world, and in this universe: that He wants to eliminate everything that is not of Christ and to bring into fullness and full view all that is of Christ. This explains your life.
And brothers and sisters, this is the verse that puts us on the pathway to fulfilling God’s purpose in your life and in my life, and to fulfilling God’s purpose for the ages: to sum up all things in Christ. Fullness.
Now, there is a companion verse in Colossians 1:19:
For it pleased the Father that in Him should all the fulness dwell.
This is an eternal fact. This is something that is done. All the fullness, from God’s point of view, is in Christ. All the character, all the abilities of the Godhead, are in Christ.
But God desired that this fullness be manifest and displayed in all of His creation. And so, brothers and sisters, in order to achieve His purpose, out of eternity He created time. Within eternity, He created this time slot. He calls it time.
And in that, we see in Genesis 1, He restored the earth, the darkened earth that had become so darkened. His original creation was restored, and He made it habitable for His special, unique creation. And that creation is man. That is you and I.
And He was to use man to manifest the fullness of Christ. Adam was created with a natural life—soul, body, spirit, a natural spirit. But, brothers and sisters, at that point he did not actually have spiritual life.
And it was to come to him, if you remember the story, by eating of the tree of life. But Adam disobeyed God and ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He disobeyed God, and he fell into sin.
And man was no longer able to express Christ, to express any of the fullness of Christ. He did not have the life to do it.
But according to Galatians 4:4-6, in the fullness of time He came. He sent forth His Son to redeem us, that we would become His sons and receive the Spirit of His Son into our hearts.
In other words, our human spirit received the Holy Spirit. It was quickened into life, able to commune with God, able to express the life of God.
So God’s plan of redemption—which was a remedial plan, I’ll say that short word—was accomplished by Jesus Christ in the fullness of time. And He did it that His eternal purpose might be achieved.
It had been set aside by the failure of man, but through the victory of Christ on Calvary’s cross, it is restored. The possibility of fullness is restored.
Now, when we come to verse 10 and it talks about the fullness of time once again:
For in the fullness of time
He would gather together all things in Christ.
When does that occur? This is a different fullness of time than when He came the first time. In the fullness of time, He’s going to sum up all things in Christ.
Well, you have to go to the book of Revelation. And what do you see in the book of Revelation? You see the King of kings, don’t you? You see Him with the snowy white hair—the King, the exalted Lord Jesus, full of wisdom; the flaming eyes, full of discernment, all-seeing, all-knowing.
We see the two-edged sword of the tongue, which is all-discerning, able to divide anything that is not of Christ. Brothers and sisters, we see the girdle around His chest, full of love—brothers and sisters, that active love that captures our hearts.
We see the white garment, the linen garment over Him, which speaks of full righteousness. Oh, this is the Head, brothers and sisters.
But we also see in Revelation the glorious body. That is in chapter 21, which is the New Jerusalem. So, we have the glorious Head and the New Jerusalem. This is the fullness of time we’re talking about in Ephesians 1:10.
And what do we see there? The body of Christ. But what do we see? We see a city of gold, don’t we? We see precious stones. We see crystal, pure crystal, that light can shine through.
Brothers and sisters, we see the tree of life, the water of life. Everything is life. He is the light of that city—Christ. Everything speaks of Christ. This is when we come to this fullness: Christ, the risen Lord Jesus Christ, indeed God’s Lamb.
Remember when he said, “The Lion of the tribe of Judah hath prevailed to open the book”? And when we look at the Lion, we see the Lamb. He’s still Lamb. He still has that lamb nature, but He also has the nature of the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
So how did this come about, brothers and sisters? How did Christ go from Calvary to the throne? How did He bring in this fullness and this glory?
I think the wisdom of God is amazing. He did become a Lamb, brothers and sisters. When He came the first time, He did not come presenting Himself as deity. That may surprise you.
He was deity at that time, but He did not come and present Himself as deity. As a matter of fact, we know from Philippians that it says He emptied Himself. He did not grasp His position. He set it aside—all His glory as the Son of God.
He set aside His rights and privilege, and even the power that He experienced as the Son of God. Philippians 2:7 says He emptied Himself of all these and came in humiliation as a Lamb, taking on the form of a man.
In other words, He came not as the Son of God—but He was the Son of God; don’t get me wrong. But He came to present Himself as Son of Man, that He might be the Lamb to save man.
Anyway, brothers and sisters, the process was this: He voluntarily had a self-emptying. There was no self-fullness here. He said, “I can do nothing of Myself.” Isn’t that amazing?
He said, “I can’t do anything of Myself. I just have to depend totally on the Father, completely. All My sufficiency comes from the Father. I have none within Myself. I will not use it.”
It was a voluntary self-weakness that He took. Second Corinthians 13:4 says He was crucified through weakness. He became weak, just like we are. He had to gain all of His strength from the Father. No self-strength.
Brothers and sisters, He voluntarily—and this is important—accepted shame and dishonour. He accepted shame and dishonour that He might glorify God. No self-glory. He wasn’t seeking to make Himself something or to be something. There was no self-glory there, no self-esteem.
All His glory in His heart was of God as Father. That’s why He was always in prayer, brothers and sisters, because He couldn’t depend on Himself. He had to depend all upon God.
I think it’s interesting, just so you don’t think I’m just sharing something that I know little about—which is true. I know very little about all the fullness and the glory. I wish I knew much more.
But in John 17:5, this was His prayer before He went to Calvary:
Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own self
With the glory which I had with Thee before the world was.
That was His prayer: that He might be restored to the glory of the Son of God and return to the throne at the right hand of the Father.
But now, brothers and sisters, there was even more glory, because He would return with the glory of the Son of Man, not just the Son of God. In other words, He came, He overcame as a man, He triumphed as a man, He was victorious as a man, and He achieved God’s will as a man.
And He gained even double glory than He originally had before He left the throne. In other words, God reversed everything. God reversed all that emptiness and filled Him when He returned.
Brothers and sisters, I couldn’t help but think of Psalm 133, which speaks of unity:
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brethren to dwell together in unity!
It is like the precious ointment upon the head,
That ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard:
That went down to the skirts of his garments.
When He came back, He was anointed, brothers and sisters, on His head, and it just overflowed. This oil of anointing overflowed, this glory that was on Him. It overflowed down to the skirts of His garment.
And you know what happened? Pentecost. Pentecost happened. Out of that return to glory, out of that return to receiving all that fullness, it’s like He was overflowing. That fullness overflowed, and out of it came Pentecost: the church, His body.
The glorified Christ, brothers and sisters—He is now the glorified Christ. He’s no longer in humiliation. He is the Lamb, but He is now the glorified One. He’s no longer empty, but He is full. God has filled Him with all of that glory.
In Philippians 4:19, Paul speaks of God’s riches that we have in glory. Where are they? In Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1:3, which we’ve been reading: we’re blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ.
In other words, the fullness is in Him, and we have become partakers of that fullness. We are in possession of that fullness.
Brothers and sisters, He’s no longer in weakness. He is the King of kings. He is the Lord of lords. He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. He is full of authority and power.
He’s no longer in shame or dishonour, as He was on the cross, brothers and sisters. The reproach has gone. He is now crowned King, King of glory.
And it says that His name is a name that is above all names. And listen to this: every knee shall bow, even at the mention of His name. Full of glory and honour.
And what’s important for us to know this morning is that, brothers and sisters, we can be partakers of that fullness. He intends to share all that fullness with us.
No one person, no one saint, could possibly contain it all. Only Christ. That’s why it takes all the saints, brothers and sisters.
John the apostle, remember? He knew Christ as the Lamb of God, didn’t he? He said He was full of grace and truth. But when he came to Revelation and God said, “You need to come up here. I need to show you something,” He showed him the exalted, glorified Christ.
And John just couldn’t take it in. He fell breathless to the ground—no breath left in his body. The Lord had to raise him up. Brothers and sisters, he was overwhelmed by what he saw, by the risen Lord Jesus Christ, full of glory and majesty.
In other words, he experienced the life of the Lamb, but now he was experiencing the exalted Christ.
Why is this important to us, brothers and sisters? Because we need, as brothers and sisters, not only to experience and express the qualities in the life of the Lamb, but we need to learn, know, and experience the qualities of the life of the King—of the Lord of lords and the King of kings, of the exalted Lord Jesus Christ.
I think it’s amazing that He wants us to be partakers in this, brothers and sisters, but He does.
Ephesians 1:10 says, in another version, that He’s to head up all things in the fullness of times. He’s to head up all things for the administration of the fullness of times, which speaks of government, brothers and sisters.
In Revelation 2 and 3, we see the Lord, but we see His churches. And what is His admonition to His churches? They need to overcome, brothers and sisters.
And He says, “If you overcome, you will sit with Me on My throne, and you will have authority over nations.” What does this mean, brothers and sisters?
It means that we’re to be partakers and also be those that express the exalted Lord Jesus Christ—His authority and His might. All the fullness of His attributes, brothers and sisters, as the exalted Lord Jesus Christ, is to be expressed, as well as His lamb nature. That is what we’ve been called to. It is an amazing calling.
But, brothers and sisters, it’s not enough to just know the Lord Jesus or to experience our Lord Jesus Christ. I need to emphasize this. We are called to express the Lord Jesus Christ, to be an expression of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It’s interesting. In Ephesians 3:10, it says this:
To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in the heavenly places
Might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
According to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
That is the challenge, brothers and sisters: to the principalities and powers, the ages to come, that might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God.
Which brings me to the second mention of fullness: Ephesians 1:22-23. Maybe I better start with verse 20.
The power which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead,
And set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places,
Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion,
And every name that is named, not only in this world,
But also in that which is to come:
And hath put all things under His feet,
And gave Him to be the head over all things to the church,
Which is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all.
In other words, when you come to this Scripture, Ephesians 1:22-23, we find the vessel—God’s intended vessel—that will be used to express His fullness, not only in this age but in the age to come. That is the church’s responsibility. That is the church’s eternal purpose.
Now, I’ve said a lot this morning, and I hope that the Lord will open our eyes just to get a glimpse of what we’ve been brought into in the fullness of Christ, as the Lamb and as the exalted King.
We have an awesome responsibility, brothers and sisters, in our lives personally, in our corporate life together, and in the universal life—in the universal church. It is a vocation.
In Ephesians 4:1, Paul exhorts us to walk worthy of our vocation. I’m not sure if you understand what your vocation is.
It’s not the job you hold. Brothers and sisters, yes, we all hold jobs and have responsibilities, earthly responsibilities, but our vocation—our spiritual Christian vocation—is to be an expression of Christ in all of His attributes.
It says, “The fullness of Him that filleth all in all.” What does that mean? That means it takes the entire church. It takes all. It will take all the Christians.
One day, there’s going to be a fullness of Christians. In other words, the number, whatever that is—and I don’t know what it is—we come to. Brothers and sisters, there will be a fullness there, and it will be the entire church.
But, brothers and sisters, it will take all the Christians. Yet we don’t come just as individual units, individual Christians, before the Lord and say, “Okay, here’s my little piece of Your glory. I’m almost expressing it.” It doesn’t quite work that way.
He says, “You are joined together as a body. You’re members of His body, joined together, brothers and sisters. You’re part of a living organism.”
I know you’ve heard this before, but I pray it really hits you: you cannot be disjointed. Brothers and sisters, any of us who’ve ever lost a limb of any kind realize how disabling that can be.
And brothers and sisters, we need all. It is all. But it’s not that we just come to Him as ourselves and say, “Okay, Lord, it’s me and You now. I’m going to really get on it, and I’m going to fulfil my vocation and express Christ.”
It doesn’t work that way, brothers and sisters. You’re part of His body, and the members have to work together.
Now, if you aren’t sure if you’re members of His body, Ephesians 5:30 says you are members of His body, bone of His bones and flesh of His flesh. Bone of His bones and flesh of His flesh.
You’re not Christian number 1,250,261. Brothers and sisters, you’re bone of His bones and flesh of His flesh, and we are of one another in that way. We are one unit. He is the Head, and we’re the body.
That is a glorious new man that will express all the fullness: Christ the Head, the body—the church, His body.
Now, what is the purpose of our body? I thought about this. Well, one thing that we use our body to do is to express who we are to others, to the world. We express who we are.
We express what we desire and what our purposes are. We use our body to express our will. We use our body to carry out our desires, our purpose. We use our bodies to communicate with one another and with the world.
There’s no such thing as an independent member. We cannot have the attitude, “Okay, it’s just me and the Lord, and I’m going to do the best I can with the Lord.” This is foreign to the nature of the body of Christ.
Fellowship is always connected with fullness. Brothers and sisters, that’s why there are local assemblies. Yes, we’re all a part of the universal church, and contribute to it, and are alive in it as an organism.
But, brothers and sisters, it’s pretty obvious: I cannot really be built together with somebody in Indonesia that I don’t know and have no communication with. That’s why there are local assemblies, that God can begin to draw out His fullness in the local assembly.
In other words, it must be expressed in the life of His local assembly.
Our relationships with one another are through the Head. It’s always through the Head. We don’t have independent relationships with one another. That’s where you get cults from. That’s where you get little special interests from. It’s always through the Head.
So let me explain it this way: the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ is like the nervous system of your body, so that if any one member hurts, all the members feel it.
Well, let me give you an example. I do some carpentry work occasionally, and most often, not being skilled, I hit my thumb with the hammer. It’s not uncommon.
But you know what happens when I hit my thumb? A message is sent to my brain: “It hurts.” And the brain, through the nervous system, sends that message through my whole body.
As a result, my whole body feels this pain, not just my thumb. You see what the body of Christ is? That is why it’s so important. Our relationships are always through the Head, through our Lord Jesus Christ.
In like manner, if you want to nourish your body, you’re going to have to feed your mouth. You know? That’s the way the body works.
Let me read Ephesians 4:15-16. I think it sums up this matter of the oneness of the body.
The Head, even Christ, from whom the whole body
Fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth,
According to the effectual working in the measure of every part,
Maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
So what does that mean? Paul packs so much in his little statement. It means we’re all needed. It means you’re included. It means you’re important. It means you’re necessary. It means you need to be actively engaged in fellowship.
In order that the body may mature—and what is the purpose of a matured body? To express the fullness of Christ.
Not only that, but the Word is very clear that in Ephesians 4:10-13, we all have received a special gift that needs to be expressed to help one another in the building of the body. Brothers and sisters, we have been equipped.
Ephesians 4:10-13—let me read it. Gifts are for the perfecting of the saints, the edifying of the body of Christ, that we might become what? A mature man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
That’s quite a responsibility that we have. So we’re all responsible in that way: Christ the Head, the church His body.
I’m going to read another verse out of Ephesians, Ephesians 3:18, because I think it does sum up so well the responsibility that we have together.
That ye may be able to comprehend with all saints
What is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge,
That ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
Brothers and sisters, fullness is going to require fellowship. You really can’t separate the two. They’re married.
We have to be careful. We cannot isolate ourselves, brothers and sisters. If we do, we are limiting the ability to know that fullness and to express it.
With all of our hearts—and I say this very sincerely—brothers and sisters, we have to be active in this matter. We have to repudiate, stand in the Lord against, any thoughts of isolation or independence.
We have to be active. We can’t encourage those thoughts in our mind. At all times, we should fight against these thoughts, our inclinations, and our feelings that want to separate us and keep us apart.
We need to stand in the Lord and say, “Lord, there’s a positive aspect to being together.” Being together, often, sometimes I’m wounded. I’m hurting in some ways. But it’s always that the Lord might increase in me and do something in me.
It’s the way of the cross, but there is the positive aspect of the way of the cross. The cross is not just death; the cross is life, brothers and sisters. That’s why we should repudiate, reject, these thoughts of isolation and independence.
This process of knowing fullness, seeing fullness, experiencing fullness, expressing fullness—how has it come about in your life personally? The same way that it was in Christ.
The fullness that He attained, that He has when He returned to the Father—fullness as the Son of God and Son of Man—we will never become deity. I don’t want to give anyone that impression. But there’s something of the glory there that we’re part of.
And it is that Christ is the exalted King. He has all authority in heaven and earth. We can touch and taste of that, brothers and sisters.
But the same way in which He came into that fullness, we will have to also. And that is the way of the cross.
He emptied Himself of His self-glory, His self-power, self-honour, and self-importance. Then He was filled with fullness. He became totally dependent on the Father. We must become dependent.
Brothers and sisters, the Spirit today—this explains a lot—is working through your circumstances, your trials, your encounters, to empty us, that we might be filled.
The emptying comes before the filling, that the Father might be fully satisfied. I guess, in my heart today, brothers and sisters, there’s much more of Christ than we may have experienced. We have known something of His fullness.
Brothers and sisters, I want to encourage us today that, as we look into this book of Ephesians, we really have our spiritual eyes opened to see the greatness of Christ and what we’ve come into.
And that we have a responsibility to seek Him, to know Him, to allow the cross to work, that we might be filled and know the Lord not only as the Lamb, but as the exalted King—brothers and sisters, the glorified King, that life of the King.
Let me give one picture of what I’m trying to get across. It was in one of the books, and I can’t remember if it was Stephen’s book, or Brother Fomke’s book, or it might have been Sparks. It was a picture of light.
This bright, brilliant white light shining through a prism. Some of y’all have seen that book, have you seen it? Oh, come on now. Yeah, I know John has seen it. What is that book? The Life of Christ. Thank you, Mac.
It’s a transcript we had for years with that prism in it. Yeah, it’s been changed now, but I like the old one. I like it. It was such a picture of what’s happening and what’s going on.
That light shines through a prism, and you may have done it in science classes coming up in school. We did. You shine that white light through the prism, and what happens? All the colours come out. It separates into all the colours.
Now, white light actually is the combination of all the colours. Did you know that? It’s a combination, but you can’t see the colours unless somehow the light is broken down.
Now, that is the same thing that happens with the rainbow in the sky. The brilliant sunlight, usually low in the afternoon, if there’s a rain shower, shines through these particles of rain in the air that act like crystals. It may be crystals at that point; they’re pretty high in the air. They may be frozen water.
And anyway, that bright light shines through that crystalline water, and out comes this beautiful rainbow.
Now, if you look at the sun—in fact, it’s very hard to look at the sun. If you look long enough, it will actually burn your retina. You don’t want to do it.
But don’t you see what God is doing? God wants us to see all the colours.
Oh, He’s glorious. And when His glory comes forth, it’s like a brilliant bright light. But when that glory shines through the church, brothers and sisters, we see all the colours.
All of us kind of project a special colour. Can I put it that way? I’m not sure if any of them are exactly the same, because colours have different shades. And it’s all going to be beautiful.
That is what we’ve been challenged with, brothers: all the fullness of Christ expressed through His church.
Lord, we just come today. Now, Lord, I just feel like I’ve just scratched the surface of the greatness of Who You are and Your fullness. I know Mort felt that same way this morning.
Lord, I think we all feel that way when we get these glimpses of Your greatness—and not only a glimpse of it, but experience it, Lord.
But Lord, Your heart is so big. You love Your Son so much. You desire a full expression, that all could see, that this universe could be filled with all the glorious colours of Christ.
Oh, what an amazing time, what an amazing day that will be. Lord, I pray that You will give us the mind and the heart to comprehend what You’re doing.
Lord, it is no small thing. And Lord, You’ve involved us. You’ve included us out of Your mercy and love. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.