Eph. 1:22, 23

Please note, the most recent one is on the top. They then appear in reverse order.

22, 23 God appointed him to be head over everything for the church, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

The assumption is that without Christ we are empty, meaningless, vapid and unfruitful. Salvation is God’s way of correcting that - his way of making us whole.

When we acknowledge Jesus as Savior and Lord, the fullness of Jesus, the fullness of the Godhead, flows into the vacuum of our emptiness and, to our delight, we find that we are full, satisfied, with purpose and zeal. That is a genuine work of grace. He fills each individual with his fullness.

In addition to that God, purposed that the body of Christ, the redeemed ones, would, in their communal life together, receive the fullness of the Godhead and utilize all the fullness, all of the gifts and graces so freely given, to strengthen and extend the Kingdom of God on the earth today. One person can not possibly exhibit all the fullness of the great variety of gifting – but as each person does her part and his part, the fullness does its marvelous work of making Jesus Christ known in the world.

A few reflections on Chapter 1

* Is there a more sublime passage in all of Scriptures? If I am ever tempted to undervalue the position I have in Christ Jesus, on earth and in heaven, I need only open, then unpack, ever so carefully, the glorious realities of God’s love and grace by absorbing, once again in an ever deepening way, the glorious truth of what God has already done for my soul.

* Jesus, the fullness of God, fills me with that astounding fullness.

* I find it hard to believe that Paul wrote this while in prison! If his faith rises to such heights in prison – imagine living freely in the light of all that glorious provision in Christ Jesus without chains. I need to know what Paul knew. He relied completely on God. God filled him with all his fullness, every moment of every day. That is the way to live!