The Utter Fullness of God

Thursday, May 23, 2013   Ephesians 3:17-19 

The Utter Fullness of God

Are you filled with the utter fullness of God? I don’t think I am either. Yet, the Apostle Paul writes that in “knowing the love of Christ, which is beyond knowledge, you may be filled with the utter fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:19 NJB). Does that mean I do not know the love of Christ? Paul said when Christ lives in our hearts through faith we are planted in love and built on love. Then we will have the strength to grasp the depth of Christ’s love for us. (Ephesians 3: 17-18) So since I don’t feel like I am filled with the fullness of God, what am I missing?

Nothing. God is not limited by my mortal frailty. The splendid presence of God has made His home in my human weakness. Paul says this great treasure is within the “unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives” (2 Corinthians 4:7 The Message). So if I am not experiencing life with the utter fullness of God flowing through me, it is not because God passed me over. Something else must be going on.

In Jesus’ parable about the sower, seventy-five percent of the seeds produced no fruit. Jesus’ explanation of the parable helps me understand the obstacles to a life of grace. (Matthew 13: 18-23) The fault is not within the seed. The fault is the sin within me, and in the evil one who is always ready to take advantage of my sin. Perhaps I need to revisit my list of adjectives for God’s love, because I didn’t include anything about the frailty of God’s love.

On the one hand, we can sing about the marvelous, infinite, matchless grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt. (Grace Greater than Our Sin, Julia H. Johnston) On the other hand, we don’t always experience the fullness of God’s liberating presence. Even so, God’s wonderful grace rules in our lives, “giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 5:21).

This may be the great conundrum of grace. We are saved even when we don’t feel like we are the saved, Spirit-filled children of God. This is why seeking the life in Christ as our way of life is the process of our becoming what we already are! We are in fact the saved, Spirit-filled children of God, with whom God is well pleased and upon whom His favor rests. We are filled with the utter fullness of God. However, at least seventy-five percent of the time I make wrong choices. I choose to worry. I choose to obsess about wealth or about being loved, accepted and having self-worth. I choose to obsess over being in control of my life and fulfilling Frank Sinatra’s prophecy; “I did it my way!”

But in sharp contrast to my way, there is God’s way! Deuteronomy 30:18-20, teaches us that our choices are about life and death. I can choose to love the Lord, obeying him, and committing myself firmly to him. I know this is the key to my life. And I can hear God calling to me, “Oh, that you would choose life.”  Can you hear Him calling to you?

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  In addition to this BLOG they are distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com. The Kindle version will follow soon.

·        The second edition First Think – Then Pray has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.