Filled With Christ!
By Rich Carmicheal
“I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).
“When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory” (Col. 3:4).
Jesus shares with us that He has come that we may have life, and that we may have it more abundantly. But what makes that truth all the greater is that He Himself is that Life! Consider some of His own glorious declarations: “I am the resurrection and the life…” (John 11:25). “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (14:6). “I am the bread of life, He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst” (6:35). “…I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts” (Rev. 21:6). The “living water” He gives to us becomes in us “a fountain of water springing up into eternal life” (John 4:10, 14).
He Himself is “the Word of life” (1 John 1:1), and His words are life (John 6:63). He makes known to us the way of life (Acts 2:28), and when we follow Him we have the “light of life” (John 8:12). Simply put, eternal life is in the Son, and “he who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:11-12).
Christ In Us!
This truth becomes even more amazing when we consider that as believers, Christ is in us! As the Apostle Paul shares, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). Let that reality soak in – Christ lives in you! The Son of God dwells within you! The One in whom dwells all the fullness of God (Col. 1:19; 2:9); the One who is “the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14); the One who is “the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last” (Rev. 22:13); the One who is the Creator of all things, Heir of all things, Sustainer of all things, who is before all things, and in whom all things consist (Col. 1:16-17; Heb. 1:2-3) – He is in you! Oh, how can we even begin to describe His glory, His supremacy, His name, His nature, His character, His love, His power, and all that He has done and continues to do! And marvel of marvels, He dwells within you and me!
We Share in the Fullness of Christ
His desire is not to be an addition to our lives, but to be our life and to fill our lives with His presence, power and glory. As members of the church, we are “His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (John 1:23). “…Of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace” (1:16). The fact that He dwells in us means, incredibly, that we may “be filled with all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:19)!
Note this truth in its context of prayer: “For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height – to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (3:14-19).
Note also in this passage the vital role of the Holy Spirit in all of this – “through His Spirit in the inner man” (v. 16). As Jesus had promised, “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever – the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you” (John 14:16-18). He promises the Spirit will give us power (Acts 1:8), and that out of our hearts “will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38). The Holy Spirit gives life, His ministry is glorious, and He transforms us into the image of the Lord with ever-increasing glory (2 Cor. 3:6-18). We are to be filled with Him (Eph. 5:18), and His presence and ministry in our lives brings forth the precious fruit of “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…” (Gal. 5:22-23).
Spiritual Fullness
Christ in us; His Spirit in us – such remarkable truths! Certainly our lives should be filled to overflowing with the fullness of Christ, including His…
…power (2 Cor. 12:9),
…joy (John 16:24),
…hope (Rom. 15:13),
…boldness (Acts 4:31),
…righteousness (Phil. 1:9-11),
…holiness (Heb. 7:26),
…goodness (Rom. 15:14),
…wisdom (1 Cor. 1:30),
…strength (Phil. 4:13),
…victory (Rom. 8:37),
…mind (1 Cor. 2:16),
…gentleness (Matt. 11:29),
…humility (Phil. 2:3-8),
…integrity (1 Pet. 2:22),
…peace (John 14:27),
…energy (Col. 1:29),
…perseverance (Heb. 12:2),
…faithfulness (2 Tim. 2:13),
…grace and truth (John 1:14),
…compassion (Matt. 9:36),
…resurrection life (Rom. 6:4),
…dedication (Heb. 10:9),
…obedient nature (John 8:29),
…servant’s heart (John 13:14-15),
…light (John 8:12),
…zeal (John 2:17),
…good works (John 14:12),
…purity (1 John 3:3),
…and His love! (Rom. 5:5).
“Exceedingly Abundantly Above...”
How sad it is whenever we lack the fullness of Christ in any of these areas or any other areas of our lives! Instead of settling in any way on less than the fullness of Christ, we should be continually turning from self and sin and pressing in all the more in prayer for His rivers of living water to flow from within. And as we pray, we can pray with great expectation, for His promise is that He “is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us”! (Eph. 3:20). To Him be all the glory!
