As a teen, I once visited a youth service where the speaker asked the audience a question: "What is a church?" People started responding with familiar answers such as "church is people" or "the body of Christ". I remember well how one young man stood up and said "the fullness of him who fills all in all - Ephesians 1:23"
I thought he must be so smart since he knows Bible verses that I'd never heard before. I also thought that our teen leader must be very happy since this is her fiance!
But since then every time I read the letter to Ephesians this verse grabs my attention. This week I wanted to talk about what Paul meant by these words and how we can understand and apply them.
Fullness and Filing
Let's put this verse in context:
"the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory... put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all." (Eph. 1:17, 22-23)
Obviously, the fullness of the One who fills is the church. Apostle Paul was not talking about a specific local church but rather the church as a concept, a community of Christians all over the earth.
He who fills all in all must be Christ or God. We are familiar with this idea since God is the one who fills our bodies with life, and our lives with reason. He's not only the Source of love, peace, and joy, but He is also happy to share all His blessings, filling our vessels to the brim.
And the church is called His fulness. I think it's pretty interesting because simply having a personal relationship with God fills us with peace and joy, and give us satisfaction. However, the Bible says that the fullness of this grace can only be found in the church.
In the church, we can be in fellowship with the saints, in the church, we can inspire and encourage each other to seek the Lord, in the church, we can be edified and edify others. In the church, we can find fullness.
Someone asked me if a person can be saved if they believe in God but don't belong to any church. The decision of anyone's salvation doesn't depend on me, but this is how I understand it: if a person has a personal relationship with God and accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior, he can receive salvation. But walking this path alone is not that easy! This is why God offers us the fullness of His grace and mercy through the church.
Imperfect Church
This sounds great, but...
You can give me a thousand reasons why your church is far from this "standard", why it doesn't have the fullness that the Bible is talking about, and why you're not comfortable there.
I experienced a similar feeling not too long ago. One Friday evening I was getting ready for a church prayer and whining about why I don't feel like going there right now. The music was wrong, the atmosphere was wrong, there were not enough people, and I was tired.
But then I heard a quiet whisper in my heart. God told me "but I am going to be there". I remembered that regardless of the music and atmosphere, I always enjoy God's presence. This is why I told Him: "please help me enjoy You today".
That evening the prayer was an inspiration for me, a breath of fresh air, the tears of joy because of God's closeness. It was the fullness.
Your church and my church might not be perfect. Moreover, any church has its own weaknesses and drawbacks. But it's still the body of Christ, and it has His heart beating in it. This body is made up of people that might not meet our standards or disagree with our opinions. But as long as your eyes are looking at Jesus, He will happily fill your heart with peace and thanksgiving.
For Those Who Like Words
Recently I've been trying to look up original meanings of the words in the Bible. Here's what I found out when I studied this verse.
The word "fullness" can also be translated as "fulfillment". This reveals the depth of the church's calling and mission. The church is the fulfillment of God's plan for humanity, as well as the main tool for its execution. I believe that our ministry brings more fruit if it's performed for or within a local church.
The word that is used for "the one who fills" expresses God's attitude to the church since "fill" can be also translated as "complete" or "replenish". I already mentioned that the church is made up of imperfect people and God knows that very well! This is why He Himself replenishes what we lack and completes us with what we need for our ministry. Isn't that amazing?
This is why on Sunday morning when you go to your local church, look at it the way Paul did - as the fulness of God. And open your heart to receive the grace that He wants to fill you with through it!
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