… attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Summary: Measuring things only is meaningful if we can measure them in a meaningful way. Looking at the life of Jesus reveals a fullness that is beyond measure.
What is the “Measure of the fullness of Christ?”
If I have a box of breakfast cereal, and I want to know what the “measure of the fullness of the box” is, how can I find out?
One way is to look at the package and see what it says. Maybe the box says, “CONTENTS 16.5 OZ.” What does that mean? What if I take a measuring cup and fill it up over and over again, counting each one? Then I would know how many “cups” of cereal are in the box. But again, what does that tell me?
What if I pour out the normal amount of cereal I eat for breakfast and then measure that? Let’s say it is somewhere between half and three-quarters of a cup. So I mark the cup and then fill it to the mark over and over, counting each one. Now I know how many breakfasts I get in a box. That might be useful information.
So how do we measure the fullness of Christ?
Like measuring the contents of a cereal box, we can look at what is in his story. Is there anything that happened during his lifetime that I can learn from? Can we measure the examples he left for us?
The first story that comes to my mind is the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. (Matthew 4:1-11, Luke 4:1-13) Being able to resist the devil’s temptation and focus on God’s will like Jesus did, demonstrates a measure of devotion to his Father.
Another story that comes to mind is the wedding at Cana (John 2:1-12). Jesus is at a wedding as a guest. He is minding his own business when his mom gets involved with a domestic wine shortage. She tells him to do something about it even though he makes it clear “My hour has not yet come.” (John 2:4)
Jesus honors his Father and his mother (Exodus 20:12). Not only that, he does it with style! (John 2:10) Imagine being able to change the molecular structure of water into wine. Not only wine, but the “best” wine. Jesus knows what tastes good and how to structure wine so it is pleasing to the palate. This story demonstrates a measure of obedience and mastery over the physical realm.
The third story that comes to mind is the cross. Jesus is betrayed by his disciple, arrested by the people God made responsible for caring for his people, taken to a civil authority then framed for something he didn’t do, mocked, beaten, flogged, and crucified. He didn’t have to do all this. The people who arrested him had no power over him. He allowed them to do it. You and I were not even born when he allowed himself to be sacrificed for us. His sacrifice makes it possible for us to be saved from ending up on the spiritual burn pile.
The list of stories goes on and on. And those are only the ones we know about because they were written down. Obedience, sacrifice, forgiveness, love, healing, and more are on display for us to see. As we look more closely, we discover our Lord is beyond measure.
Application: Think about all of the stories that reveal who Jesus is.
Food for Thought: What part of Jesus’ “fullness” do you think Paul wants us to measure up to?
A shortlist is found in Galatians 5:22-24.
Thank you, JEC!
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”
(Galatians 5:22-24)
That is no small list!
What part of Jesus’ “fullness” do you think Paul wants us to measure up to?
Colossians 2:6-10
6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
Dying to self and dying to sin doesn’t mean locking yourself away. Fullness in Christ is freedom to live in this world without fear. That also doesn’t mean freedom to sin. Sin brings death. Fullness in Christ is freedom from that death, in that, He guides us along a path to rightousness. He gives us discernment to recognize sin and the strength to turn from it.
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.
Fullness in Christ is taking captive our thoughts and giving them to Him. Freedom from being taken captive. He gave us our will, and gives us our will, then we can offer our will to Him. No one enjoys the feeling like they have no choice. Christ gives us choices. Sin takes away choices.
9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.
Fullness in Christ is having Him live in us. When the Bible speaks to God being with us in the valleys and on the mountains, it is because Christ is there in our hearts. Where we go, He goes with us. Our valleys and mountains speak to an incompleteness in our hearts, in Christ and with Christ we are made complete. The incomplete measure made full. As our measure decreases, His measure increases, remaining full. And one day, in His presence, our measure is His measure. He will present us to the Father, who will see his Son in his creation (us).
I believe Paul wants us to live in the fullness of Christ’s freedom to live, chose, and be completed.
Chris,
Thank you!
Nice application of Colossians 2:6-10!
Thanks for the devotion. I appreciate the comments from JEC and CH.
In honor of the day most historians believe the Apostle Paul was beheaded by a Roman soldier (June 29 of 67 is the traditional date) I am going to point to 2 Timothy 4: 6 – 8. His was an example of a life completely devoted to the Lord. The fullness was measured in the fruit bore in his life and that he was fully devoted and gave it all away. He had matured in the faith to where he could write to Timothy that famous epitaph. He modeled his Lord in the totality of his commitment and it is likely we can do no better.
You are right, Rich.
Paul did set the bar pretty high!
06-29-2023, What part of Jesus’ “fullness” do you think Paul wants us to measure up to?
Ephesians 4:14, “ BECOME MATURE, ATTAINING TO THE WHOLE MEASURE OF THE FULLNESS OF CHRIST.”
Romans 12:1, Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
Matthew 16:24, Acts 1:8, 17:25, Romans 1:20
God took my son when he was 44, he was simply found on his couch with a beer and 1/2 a sandwich, and I felt this was unfair. I wrestled with God over this, He was very gentle as He directed me to Scripture, but I was buying none of it. Then He asked me a simple question. ” Am I Sovereign?” I thought about this and of course had to respond “yes.” He then asked me ” Full time or Part time??” and signed off. You decide Ron…Well I decided Full Time, and received peace.
Our God is Sovereign, Omnipresent, Omnipotent and more. It is only as we, by the power of the Holy Spirit, begin to comprehend, our great weakness, His unfathonable strength, become hopelessly broken beings, prepared to receive His gift of eternal salvation through Jesus Christ, that we have any hope of pleasing God by allowing Christ to serve Him through us. This is an all or nothing decision, “ Fullness of Christ ”, tells me God is not looking for “ my picking and choosing as I go.”
God has a foreknown purpose for each believer and our fulfilling this purpose is by the power of our submitting to His power working thru us as we become His instrument for good. We are here to Glorify Him, as we allow Him to minister through us to whoever He brings into our sphere of influence, in whatever manner He chooses to reveal Himself through us.
Our becoming mature, “attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” comes as we discard all thoughts of limiting or setting standards as we allow God to work through us, according to His plan. Let God be in charge full time.
Nicely said, Ron!
I like the part about discarding our self-imposed limitations on what we can or can’t do for God. His plans are usually BIG plans. 🙂