Advent Day 20: Fullness

Advent Words Day 20: Fullness

"From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another." John 1:16

We saw yesterday in John 1:14 that Jesus came from the Father full of grace and truth. In today's verse we find that we are blessed in every way by Christ's fullness. What is Christ's fullness?

The Greek word for fullness is pleroma. It means to fill to the full measure, abundance, filled to completeness. Paul shows us Christ's fullness in his letters to the Colossians and the Ephesians. Paul tells us that "God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell" in the Son (Colossians 1:19). He goes on, "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form" (Colossians 2:9). The totality of all that God is, his attributes and power, is found in Jesus Christ.

"In Christ, we find the full expression of God's love." ~Brian Chilton

The ultimate expression of God's love for mankind is grace. Grace comes to us through Christ. Paul prays for believers to experience the love of Christ and thus to also experience the fullness of God: 

  "I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:16-19

John Piper says, "This love is the grace and truth that fills the Son of God and pours out on us." In Christ, we too are filled with the fullness of God because Christ is in us.

"And God placed all things under his (Christ) feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way." Ephesians 1:22-23

He gave us spiritual gifts "to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." Ephesians 4:12-13

"For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form and in Christ you have been brought to fullness." Colossians 2:9-10

From the fullness of His grace, we too are blessed with the fullness of God.

Join me in responding creatively to the Advent Words in John's prologue. You can share your creative response on Instagram using #adventwords2019 or join the Words Challenge Facebook Group and share your creative response there.