The Fullness of Christ!
"And
hath put all things under His
feet, and gave Him
to be the head over all things to the church, which is His
body, the fulness of Him
that filleth all in all."
-EPHESIANS
1:22, 23 [KJV]
In
the mind of God, and as chosen in Christ, the Church is a perfect
body. It is, therefore, the fulness of Christ. Just as our head and
members, in their union with each other, form one perfect harmonious
body, so it is with Christ and the Church. As the natural head would
be incomplete without the body, as the body would be incomplete
without the head, so it is with Christ mystical, and His body the
Church. Each lacks the other, and the union of both makes the whole
complete.
The
Son of God, by becoming incarnate, needed a body of which He should
be the Head. Without it, He would be as a bridegroom without the
bride, a shepherd without the sheep, a foundation without the
building, a vine without the branches. He did not need the Church as
the Son of God, but He needed her as the Son of man. In her all His
love is complete, His work complete, His grace complete, His glory
complete; and when she is brought home to be for ever with Him in
glory, then all the purposes of God, all His eternal counsels of
wisdom and grace, will be complete. In this sense we may understand
the expression, "the fulness of Him that
filleth all in all." What a wonderful thought it is that He
who, as the Son of God, filleth all in all—filleth all places with
His omnipresence—should yet deign to have a relative fulness in His
body the Church!
-Gospel
report by preacher J.C. Philpot (1802-1869 A.D.)
April
20th, EARS FROM HARVESTED SHEAVES
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