We read in the epistle to the Colossians, “It pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell” (Col. 1:1919For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; (Colossians 1:19)); or, as it may be rendered, “It was pleasing that in Him should all fullness dwell”; that is, it is the good pleasure of the Godhead that all fullness should dwell in the Son. Through the Son the fullness of the Godhead finds its expression.
In this same chapter the glories of the Lord Jesus Christ are largely described. We read of Him as the Creator, making all things that are in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities or powers. We also read of Him as the One by whom all things are upheld. The mightiest angel in heaven and the smallest creature that exists on this earth were alike made by Him, and for Him also; whether it be the mighty sun in the heavens or the smallest flower on this earth, each created thing owes its present existence solely to the word of the eternal Son of God.
The Lord’s glories, in another sphere, are also spoken of in this chapter; glories which commenced with His resurrection from the dead and His ascension to heaven; glories which attach themselves to His manhood, as we read— “And He is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the first-born from the dead.” These glories, therefore, date their commencement from almost 2000 years ago. When the earth and the heavens have served their day, they will be laid aside by Him as a disused garment (Heb. 1:1212And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. (Hebrews 1:12)); but the body, the church, will exist forever. We may surely say that His glories in relation to the church are dearer to His heart than the glories that pertain to Him as the Creator. His Creator-glories are the result of His wisdom and majesty; those that belong to Him as the head of the body, the church, arise from His sufferings and His death.
As the Creator, He is spoken of as the firstborn of every creature, because He is the Head, the chief of all; as arisen from the dead, He is spoken of as the beginning, the first-born from the dead, the head of the new race of the redeemed.
Whatever glory God has been pleased to display, He expresses it always through the Son. The Son is the fountain of joy for all people who love God, and through the Son He is made known and learned. This is true, not only in time, but in eternity; not only for man on earth, but for the angels in heaven; not only for man in this little lifetime, but for the redeemed through the countless ages of eternity.
It is well, indeed, for the heart to occupy itself with the glories of the Lord Jesus Christ, with His greatness and His majesty, His wisdom and His love; for it is the pleasure of the Godhead that all fullness should dwell in Him.
With these thoughts before us, we turn to a verse in the first chapter of John’s Gospel, “And of His fullness have all we received, and grace for grace” (John 1:1616And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. (John 1:16)). Whoever the believer may be—whether an Apostle, a John, who laid his head upon the Lord’s breast, and to whom was given to see His glories as recorded in the book of Revelation; a Paul, who saw the Lord in His glory at God’s right hand, and who was caught up into paradise and there heard unspeakable things which it was not possible for man to utter; or whether the simplest of the simple, a little child who believes on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and who knows hardly more than that—all have received a portion of His fullness for “of His fullness have all we received.” It may be according to our experience, and thus only a very little portion of His fullness, but there is not one true believer who has not received something of it. The joy that fills the heart, the peace and the blessing spread abroad by the Holy Ghost within the soul, or the deep knowledge of God that is the portion of any who are willing to pursue and enjoy it, all come from the fullness that is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Will our reader compare the occurrences of “all” in those two verses, “all” fullness dwells “in Him,” and “of His fullness have all we received”? The first “all” describes the unlimited fullness that dwells in Christ, the second “all” describes the vast company of the people of God, not one of whom is left out. When we think, therefore, of who Christ is and of what dwells in Him, what an appeal it is to our hearts to go more truly and frequently to Him in order to receive of His fullness! No believer need lament his poverty, his spiritual emptiness, his misery of soul, for he may receive, at any moment and at all times, of the fullness that dwells in Jesus.
Where this great reality is truly believed, the soul, instead of occupying itself with the poverty of self, would go in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ, with the blessed result of receiving from Him an abundance of blessing. Let the blessing already received from Jesus be our encouragement to go to Him for further supplies. “Grace for grace” is His way with us. He gives us one grace to prepare us to receive another. He bestows grace, and having bestowed, bestows grace again. With self-emptied, the longing heart becomes wealthy and possessed of blessings out of the divine abundance that everlastingly dwells in the Son, and lives this life on earth in the power of the possession of spiritual wealth.