In Christ We Have Been Brought to Fullness

PRAYER OF CONSECRATION

Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. 

Jesus, I belong to you.

I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.

Jesus, we belong to you. 

Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen. 

Colossians 2:9–10a

“For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness.”

CONSIDER THIS

Jesus is the whole package.

He is not part of the package, part of the solution, part of the hope. Being in him, living in union with him, and having him dwell within us, is the complete, sufficient, and enduring hope of the human heart.

There is no hope for the heart that matches Jesus. There is no other ultimate solution for the ills of humankind. And no one who has truly discovered the power of Christ’s love and the gift of his indwelling and healing presence would want it any other way.

In today’s passage, Paul is affirming that Jesus is enough. We are complete in him.

Colossians 2:9–10a is embedded in a broader letter in which Paul is contending for the Colossians to be “encouraged in heart and united in love” so they can know “the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col. 2:2–3).

Paul is resisting human philosophies, religious additives, or any other add-ons or just-a-bit-more-ofs that people try to add to their faith in Jesus. 

He is clarifying, for the believers, that Christ is enough. And they should bristle when anyone suggests otherwise.

In verse 9, Paul affirms that Jesus reigns as the supreme Lord of all. He is completeness itself. He is God incarnate. He is the one in whom “the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.” 

Paul has led us to verse 9 by way of Colossians 1:15–20. Let’s read this famous passage out loud together to renew our hope in Christ:

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Then, having reminded us of the sufficiency of Jesus in Colossians 2:9, Paul turns toward you and me to remind us of what is real: “And in Christ you have been brought to fullness.”

Once again, he comes to verse 10a by way of Colossians 1:25–27. Here, in the language of union, Paul clarifies the mystery that sits at the center of our faith:

I have become its servant [the church] by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness—the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

In summary, in Jesus, all the fullness of God dwells (Col. 2:9). In Christ, who dwells within you, you have been brought to fullness (Col. 2:10a). 

In other words, we are complete in Christ.

This is not a “Christ and . . .” faith. It is an “in Christ” faith. To be found in Christ is the goal of our faith. Let’s not be taken captive by any other cultural or religious narrative that adds to the faith.

God will use many ideas, tools, and people to encourage and build us. But they will be used in our lives by Jesus, at work within us. They are not the point; he is. We keep our eyes fixed on him (Heb. 12:2).

Suffering can make us feel as though Jesus is not enough. As you persevere through difficulty, with the supreme Lord of all living and working in you, take encouragement from Paul’s words in Romans 5:3–5: “We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”

Union with God in Christ, coming into the fullness of his life, will not rescue any of us from suffering. But that does not mean he is not enough or that we are not complete in him. 

It means we are on a journey of becoming like him. We are receiving the goal of our faith, the salvation of our souls (1 Peter 1:9).

And there will be grace—sweet, glorious grace all along that narrow way.

THE PRAYER 

Lord Jesus, I am in you and you are in me. I am grateful that you dwell in me, and that you are transforming me into your likeness through all the trials and suffering I face. I give you thanks for this. Complete your work in me. In Christ Jesus, I pray, amen.

THE QUESTIONS

How does the picture that Paul paints of Christ in Colossians 1 and 2 move you? Is there a phrase within the passages that encourages you today? How has your own suffering caused you to doubt the sufficiency of Christ for you? Can you see the fruits of hope, perseverance, and character that have emerged in you as you walk through suffering with Jesus?

For the Awakening,
Dan Wilt 

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