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Letters of Truth - Spirit of the Word - Covenant Eschatology - Introductory Note - New Stuff FILLED WITH HIS FULNESS
"And has put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the Head over all to the church, which is His body, the fulness of Him that fills all in all." (Ephesians 1:22-23).
Wuest Expanded:
"The fulness of the One who constantly is filling all things with all things."Amplified:
"The full measure of Him Who makes everything complete, and Who
fills everything everywhere with Himself."Filled to the FULL, perfect and complete in Him-- this stirs in us such a deep desire for more, much more of God. So many are the days that we sing the words of the song ...
"More of You, more of You,So it is most encouraging to have the holy Spirit quicken within just a few words from a verse, "I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill." (Matt. 5:17). The Greek word here for "destroy" is "kataluo" meaning: to loose down. In this day when it seems the very moral fibers of our society are rapidly unraveling, and everyone's life seems to be at "loose ends," it is heartening to know there is a counter-working, that God is apprehending vessels that He shall FILL TO OVERFLOWING with His life, etc. There is a peculiar trait in humanity that if people cannot rise to any higher standard, they simply LOOSE DOWN the standard, lower it to accommodate the weakness of the flesh. But He who began this glorious purpose being wrought out through the ages, is a GOD OF PERFECTION, and as a Finisher of our faith, He will retain HIS STANDARD OF HOLINESS AND EXCELLENCE all the way through our processing. He has come to FILL TO THE FULL every empty vessel that has been made subject to vanity, emptiness, void. Salvation is to the UTTERMOST, and God will not be satisfied with anything less for His creation, nor will He allow us to be satisfied with anything less than His fulness.
I've had it all but what I need is more of You,
Of things I've had my fill, and yet I hunger still,
Empty and bare, Lord, hear my prayer for more of You."The whole verse reads, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill." He never lowered the standard of the law, but HE FULFILLED every jot and tittle as it pertained to Himself. All the righteousness of the law was fulfilled in Him. But He did more than just fulfill the law, HE CAME TO FILL TO THE FULL every lack that might be found in man. It was a part of His PLAN OF THE AGES for the creature to be "made subject to vanity (void, emptiness)." (Rom. 8:20), but not as some eternal state or condition. He made us to lack, but with a view to the time when we would be MADE FULL. "For He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness." (Psalm 107:9).
No wonder Paul was prone to pray, "That you may be filled with the full (deep and clear) knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom (that is, in comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God) and in understanding and discernment of spiritual things." (Col. 1:9, Amp.)
And again, "May the God of your hope so fill you with all joy and peace in believing-- through the experience of your faith-- that by the power of the holy Spirit you may abound and be overflowing with hope."
(Rom. 5:13, Amp.)The Scriptures speak of being thankFULL, peaceFULL, faithFULL, cheerFULL, joyFULL, etc. He has promised to FILL UP all the members of His body with all spiritual gifts and graces. Paul writes that "We know in part, and we prophesy in part," and we get so excited over our little "parts," but Paul did not stay centered in on the parts, for he states, "But when that which is perfect (complete) is come, then that which is in part shall be done away." (1 Cor. 13:9-10). If it is not FULL, it is not complete, thus, in effect, Paul is again emphasizing that there will be a time when we are MADE FULL-- no part lacking. WHEN that which is perfect is come. The time element is IN HIM, but the promise is sure, IT SHALL COME!
We speak of the "earnest of our inheritance," (Eph. 1:14), and we rejoice in every measure of His grace received, but an earnest is only a portion of the whole, and while we can often momentarily have a camp meeting over the measure we have received, personally we find that the blessings only make us that much more thirsty and desirous of that which is to come. Thank God that during our present time span there can be a RECEIVING OF HIM NOW-- a beginning of this FILLING PROCESS-- His divine answer to the void that we experience. And "Out of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace." (John 1:16). Grace for grace, measure for measure, line upon line, impartation upon impartation-- all marvelous indeed, but let us go on!
The word "fill" from the Greek word "pleroo" literally means: to make full, complete. The FILLING is a present on-going process, but the goal is to be COMPLETE-- an ultimate state of being that glorifies our Lord. BEING FILLED is not an endless working in itself, the ultimate conclusion is to BE COMPLETE. And the thought is dual: He is filling all in all, and HE IS THE SUBSTANCE that is filling all in all. He is both the Worker doing the filling, and the Substance with which we are being filled.
Thus Paul's fourfold prayer ....
1) "That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man."
2) "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith."
3) "That you, being rooted and grounded in love, 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 passes knowledge."
4) "That you might be filled with all the fulness of God." (Eph. 3:16-19).
Amplified gives: "That you may be filled (through all your being) unto all the fulness of God-- (that is) may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself."
What fulness! Filled and flooded with His Presence! God Himself filling every part of our being. We stand in awe to just contemplate it, and we are gripped with an intensity of desire for it to become our experience.
Already this has become so lofty a vision, that it would leave us in a deep quandary as to how this shall be accomplished, but Paul answered this also. "Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us."
(Eph. 3:20). We are not filling ourselves, HE IS THE FILLER. The responsibility is HIS! And all that is required of us is a SURRENDER TO THE EMPTYING OUT PROCESS. He must needs empty us of our self, that we might be filled with HIMSELF. Thus we are continually challenged to yield to, and accept this inner purifying process, that we might be prepared to receive from His bountiful hand.It is significant that the first two parts of this prayer begin with "THAT HE ... THAT CHRIST," and then the last two parts give "that you ..." for the results wrought in us are all because of HIS INWORKINGS. If He does not strengthen us with might in the inner man, and dwell in our hearts by faith, then it is obvious that we will never know the vast outreach of His love, nor be filled with His fulness. Thus again, it is the super-abundance of His grace bestowed upon us that shall bring this glorious realization.
"Now that He ascended, what is it but that He also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heaven, THAT HE MIGHT FILL ALL THINGS." (Eph. 4:9-10).
The Psalmist declared, "If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there." (Ps. 139:8). Praise God! He descended to the lowest parts and began to FILL UP from that deep abyss, ascending far above all heavens, until the universe shall be filled with His glory. From the lowest depths of hell, to the highest realms of heaven above, He blazed the trail, horizoned the outreach of His glory-- expressions of glory far greater than that which was known before "the fall" and the entrance of sin into the world. For the inherent glory before the fall shall be joined to the glory acquired with the conquering of evil, and will combine to shine forth with a brilliance that shall redound to His praise.
Again we see a progressive threefold aspect:
1) IN HIM all fulness dwells.
2) As individuals we are now BEING FILLED with that fulness.
3) Ultimately the whole universe shall be filled, as He fills everything everywhere with Himself. "The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." (Hab. 2:14).
Col. 1:19 Interlinear reads, "IN HIM all the fulness was pleased to dwell." While Col. 2:9-10 adds, "For in Him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. AND YOU ARE COMPLETE IN HIM." It is through our UNION WITH HIM that we shall be filled, filled to the full with the more abundance of His life.
But one thing is becoming increasingly clear, the new is not added to the old to fill up a vessel. Jesus taught the principle with the illustration: "No man also sews a piece of new cloth on an old garment, else the new piece that filled it up takes away from the old, and the rent is made worse. And no man puts new wine into old bottles: else the new wine bursts the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put into new bottles." (Mark 2:21-22).
The natural man readily senses his need, his lack, and proceeds to search out that which can "FILL IT UP" and bring satisfaction. But there is nothing of the natural which can fill this void. "Of things I've had my fill, yet I hunger still..." For all these things are but "vanity and vexation of spirit." Houses and lands, fame and power, nothing which this present world system has to offer can quench the thirst of our spirit within, and fill the aching void of the heart. And just trying to add the "spiritual realm" to these things does not work either-- it only causes the rent to be made worse, the contrast is more severe, and the vanity more empty. Truly, you cannot sew together the flesh and the spirit, nor blend the carnal with the spiritual, it just doesn't work. Therefore the necessity of this long, arduous inworking of His cross. Were one to write a dozen thick volumes on the CROSS, its inworking, and its blessing, they would but scratch the surface on what it truly means, and how the Father operates it in our life.
The Living Bible Paraphrased, for Gal. 6:14, gives us a very clear view of our processing-- "Because of that cross my interest in all the attractive things of the world was killed long ago, and the world's interest in me is also long dead."
This becomes a very personal inworking. While Paul made it clear that he would glory only in the cross of Christ, yet he stated it was by that cross that "the world is crucified to me." This becomes most thought-provoking. It is true that the process works IN US, so that our attitudes and desires toward the world are changed. But it is also true that THROUGH CHRIST THE WORLD IS CRUCIFIED so that it has lost its power, its pull, its allurement, and can no longer hold dominion over us. There is a sense that in Christ the whole world, kosmos, present arrangement, was hung on the cross with Him. His death spelled out the death of the whole present realm, and for sure, the old world order is dying in this hour. BUT, He purposes to bring forth "A new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness." (2 Peter 3:13). And it is that realm that shall also be FILLED with the very Manifest Presence of God, and the wonders of His glory!
Let us change metaphors for a moment, for Paul writes, "Purge out therefore the old leaven, that you may be a new lump." (1 Cor. 5:7). Since the new cannot be joined to the old, to fill up the lack, there is but one recourse left to follow, WE MUST NEEDS BE PURGED OF ALL THE OLD, and then be joined unto the NEW IN CHRIST. Well expressed in the little chorus:
"Filled with God, yes, filled with God,How grateful we are for the promise, "Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low: - And all flesh shall see the salvation of God." (Luke 3:5-6).
Pardoned and cleansed and filled with God.
Filled with God, yes, filled with God,
Emptied of self, and filled with God."Note the sequence of events: FIRST, every valley shall be filled. Those whom God has apprehended to become His firstfruits company are now being emptied, with the old leaven purged out. Stripped of all that the flesh once counted as gain, separated from all that the carnal man would glory in, until, all else removed, we have our eyes single unto the Lord, that our whole body might be "FULL of light." (Luke 11:34).
Through all the multiplicity of our experiences, He has been steadily conditioning us and conforming us to His will. "Not my will, but Yours, be done." When He said, "Lo, I come to do Your will, O God," then it adds the statement, "He takes away the first. that He may establish the second." (Heb. 10:9). It is this taking away of the first that leaves us with a keen sense of emptiness, a valley-- and then it is this valley that HE FILLS UP WITH HIMSELF. Then the fulfillment of the promise, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled."
Having filled the valleys, then He proceeds to bring low every hill and mountain. You cannot fill a mountain, it is already filled with its own substance, so it must be brought low, be emptied, and then it can be filled with His substance. And how merciful He is in all this subduing, setting in array under His feet. We read, "Behold, He comes leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills." (Song of Solomon 2:8). The greater the kingdom of man, the harder He will leap upon it, until all has been subdued before Him. Everything that has reared its lofty peak into the heights, projecting the will of man to its peak, upon it comes the heavy foot of God to bring it low again, until it fully bears His divine imprint.
Yet there is mercy in all of His judgments, for He does not leap upon the hills, He skips upon them. They, too, must bear His imprint, but He knows when many stripes are needed, and when only a few will accomplish the task. But being emptied, being brought low is not an eternal state. His purpose is that "ALL FLESH SHALL SEE THE SALVATION OF GOD." The loss is temporary, for all loss shall be turned into gain when FILLED WITH HIM. Praise God, "The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof." (1 Cor. 10:26). Amen!
"I am not come to destroy, BUT TO FULFILL." This is in contradistinction to the adversary of our soul, of whom we read, "The thief comes not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy." But Jesus came, "that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." (John 10:10) JESUS CAME NOT TO DESTROY-- whenever will we learn that? People think that all of His judgments, His correctional purging processes will destroy them, and so they are filled with negative fears. They conjure up their foolish doctrines of eternal hell-fire, of demons and dragons, and live in torment and fear of what these negative forces might do unto them. They are afraid to trust God for themselves, or for their children, fearing that He might wipe them out, and so they struggle to carry the load themselves. But HE COMES TO MAKE US FULL! Wherefore then do we place so much emphasis on the emptying out part? Because it is the pre-requisite for that ultimate filling. And even while God uses the wicked in His interplay of good and evil, yet it can be said again, as Joseph said it long ago, "But as for you, you thought evil against me; BUT GOD MEANT IT UNTO GOOD." (Gen. 50:20).
Unto good-- The Hebrew word is "tob," which Strong's Concordance points out is "in the widest sense, in the masculine and the feminine, in the singular and in the plural." No matter how you approach it, the inherent quality of God's purpose for man IS GOOD. When God works something into our good, plans it for our good, it doesn't matter how you look at it, from every vantage viewpoint it is still good. No matter how thin you spread it, no matter how deep you ponder it to be, it is still good, for God has stamped His own character and nature into it-- to become a further expression of Himself. GOD MEANT IT-- not just allowed, not just some permissive will of God, but that HE PLANNED IT, and totally with a view unto good.
Jesus made two very positive statements, "For judgment I am come into this world," (John 9:39), and "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." (John 10:10). These two statements are not set over against and contrary to each other-- indeed not, for the former one prepares for the latter one. The judgment is purposed for GOOD, because it is to correct that which is out of harmony with His will, and once the purging, cleansing has taken place, then HE WILL FILL TO THE FULL with His more abundant life.
We quote it often, and must needs do so until it becomes a part of our very thought process and attitude-- "For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace, and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome."
(Jer. 29:11). And NOT FOR EVIL-- His thoughts towards us are NOT FOR EVIL-- but for our good!He will bring His firstfruits into the fulness of His life-reality. But that is not the end of His coming to man, for He must bring His work to completion in EVERY MAN. There will be tremendous outpourings of the holy Spirit UPON ALL FLESH, as in successive cycles "He gathers together in one all things in Christ." (Eph. 1:10).
No, it is not with the things of this earth that we would be filled, "BUT BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT." (Eph. 5:18).
"Until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest. Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field. And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever."
(Isa. 32:15-17).God has never canceled this word through His prophet. He shall bring it to the FULL. Nor has He left His work to capricious men to fulfill, for man shall not fulfill it in his flesh via his programs, ceremonies and various self-kingdom-building-techniques. But GOD, BY HIS SPIRIT, will perfect that which concerns us. And, in the ever-increasing outreach He shall embrace all of His creation, and with a mighty outpouring of His Spirit that will FILL them, change them, and bring them into the fulness of His righteousness. HE COMES TO FULFILL, to the brim, yes, and till it overflows.
Notice again the proper sequence, first JUDGMENT shall dwell in the wilderness. "The Lord your God led you these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you, and to prove you, to know what was in your heart..." (Deut. 8:2). There is no escaping this leading of God. Even Jesus, our Redeemer, and the Pattern Son, was "led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted (tested) ..." (Matt. 4:1). God incorporates the wilderness in our experience for a wise design and purpose, and then it is followed by, "And RIGHTEOUSNESS remain in the fruitful field." Because there is a working of God which converts our wilderness into a FRUITFUL FIELD, and then the very righteousness of God shall be revealed. "BEING FILLED with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God." (Phil. 1:11).
Ah, yes, when He proved you, and humbled you (and EMPTIED YOU), it was wrought with a specific objective in view-- preparation for the time when He would FILL YOU TO THE FULL WITH HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS. "That no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him are you in Christ Jesus, Who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: that, according as it is written, He that glories, let him glory in the Lord." (1 Cor. 1:29-31).
How could it be otherwise? It is out of HIS FULNESS that He is filling us, and He is ALL RIGHTEOUS, therefore the people that He fills will also "be all righteous." (Isa. 60:21). We are the work of His hands, and the end result is beyond all that we can ask or think. We groan under the element of time, but He also adds the promise, "I the Lord will hasten it in His time." (Isa. 60:21).
In our carnality we would plead with God to hasten His work, but in another place He says, "Woe unto them... that say, Let Him make speed, and hasten His work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it." (Isa. 5:19). Don't try and tell God how to do His work, how fast it should be done, etc. He knows best! "As for God, His way (AND TIME) is perfect!" (Ps. 18:30). In His wisdom, with precision and perfection He executes His judgments, with a view to the hour when HE SHALL FILL TO THE FULL every hungry heart. Then shall we be FULL of joy, FULL of faith, FULL of good cheer, FULL of peace, FULL of GOD!