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Scripture Reading: Eph. 1:22-23; 4:12-13
Ephesians 1:22-23 says, “The church, which is His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all.” John 1:16 says, “Of His fullness we have all received.” Fullness in these two verses is the same word. Since the church is the fullness of Christ, the church can be the Body of Christ. Ephesians 4:12-13 says, “For the perfecting of the saints unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ, until we all arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” Here fullness refers to the fullness of Christ and is the same Greek word for fullness in John 1.
These verses show that Ephesians speaks concerning the fullness of Christ twice — at the end of chapter 1, where it speaks of the church being the fullness of Christ, and in 4:13, where it speaks of the church growing to the point of reaching the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. The fullness of Christ has a stature.
Ephesians 3:17 says, “That Christ may make His home in your hearts through faith.” Here make home and hearts are very emphatic words. In the entire New Testament only Ephesians 3 points out clearly that the Lord is making His home in our hearts; it does not say that the Lord “is in our hearts” but that the Lord is making His home in our hearts. Verse 17 continues, saying that we are “being rooted and grounded in love.” Our love and our hearts do not have much value; consequently, we should be rooted and grounded in His love so that we may apprehend with all the saints what the breadth, length, height, and depth are and so that we may know the knowledge-surpassing love of Christ (vv. 17-19).
In the universe there is a breadth, length, height, and depth; however, it is difficult for man to describe these. Exactly how broad is the breadth? How long is the length? How high is the height? How deep is the depth? We cannot explain these. However, when the apostle speaks concerning the fullness of Christ, he describes it with these four immeasurable words. What is the length? The length is Christ. What is the breadth? The breadth is Christ. What is the height? The height is Christ. What is the depth? The depth is Christ. The love in which we are being rooted and grounded (v. 17) is God and Christ; the breadth, length, height, and depth in verse 18 are also God and Christ. Therefore, verse 19 speaks of the “knowledge-surpassing love of Christ.” We can say that the love of Christ in verse 19 is the same love that is spoken of in the phrase being rooted and grounded in love in verse 17. We can also say that the love of Christ is the breadth, length, height, and depth, because the love of Christ is God, just as Christ is God. The result of the breadth, length, height, and depth is that we are filled unto all the fullness of God.
In Ephesians 3:17-19 there are four items: love in verse 17, the breadth and length and height and depth in verse 18, the knowledge-surpassing love of Christ, and all the fullness of God in verse 19. The first three items issue in the fourth, the fullness of God. The love is the love of Christ, and the love of Christ is the breadth, length, height, and depth of the universe. This is a figurative expression. What is the breadth of the universe? It is the love of Christ. What is the length of the universe? It is the love of Christ. What is the height of the universe? It is the love of Christ. What is the depth of the universe? It is the love of Christ. When this love fills us inwardly, we will be rooted and grounded in love. When this happens, Christ, the embodiment of love, makes His home in our hearts. This ultimately results in our being filled unto all the fullness of God.
We all know that the church is the Body of Christ and that the Body is filled with Christ Himself. Christ fills this Body to the extent that it becomes the fullness of Christ. In the Bible the phrase the fullness of Christ is very mysterious. Many of us have seen this phrase when we read the Bible, but we neither know nor understand what the fullness of Christ is in actuality.
There are at least three places in the Bible that speak of the fullness of Christ. John 1:16 says, “Of His fullness we have all received.” Ephesians 1:23 refers to the church as the fullness of Christ. Then Ephesians 4:13 says that the fullness of Christ has a measure of stature. The Greek word for fullness is a very emphatic word, but regrettably, many Bible translators do not have this realization.
There are two other places in the Bible that speak of the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:19 says, “That you may be filled unto all the fullness of God,” and Colossians 2:9 refers to “all the fullness of the Godhead.” The Chinese Union Version is a good translation of the Bible; however, it lacks spiritual revelation in the translation of these verses. As a consequence, the true meaning of the original text is overlooked. The Bible speaks of the fullness of Christ three times and the fullness of God two times. Both references to the fullness of God are related to Christ.
The Bible first speaks of the fullness of God in Ephesians 3, which says that when Christ makes His home in our hearts, we will be able to apprehend the dimensions of the fullness of Christ. Furthermore, when we know the knowledge-surpassing love of Christ, we will be filled unto all the fullness of God. This shows that the fullness of God and the fullness of Christ are inseparable. Colossians 2:9 says, “In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” This clearly shows that the fullness in Christ is the fullness of God. The fullness of Christ is not separate from the fullness of God. The fullness that is in Christ is the fullness of God; the fullness of God is in Christ.
The book of Ephesians speaks of something in the universe that is called the fullness of Christ and that the fullness of Christ is the church. The church is the fullness of Christ; hence, the church is the Body. Without this fullness there is no Body; the Body is the fullness. In other words, the church is the overflow of Christ.
We are all the descendants of Adam. If someone were to ask us concerning the size of Adam’s family, we would say that Adam’s family is very large, because every person comes out of Adam and is Adam. We can say that mankind is the fullness of Adam, the overflow of Adam; all human beings are the children of Adam, the descendants of Adam. Adam was a man who lived in the garden of Eden six thousand years ago, yet he has a fullness. This fullness is his descendants.
Perhaps someone would call himself a Chinese or an American; however, whether he is a Chinese or an American, he is a man in the world. If we know the truth, we would acknowledge that we are the descendants of Adam, a small part of the fullness of Adam, the overflow of Adam. If we have offspring, our offspring are our fullness, just as the descendants of Adam are the fullness of Adam. We are not only the same as Adam, we are Adam. So strictly speaking, it is wrong for us to take Chang, Wang, Lee, or Liu as our last names; we should take Adam as our last name since every one of us is Adam, and we are all the overflow of Adam. All people throughout the generations are the overflow of Adam; this Adam is great.
However, Adam was but a type, a miniature, of Christ. Christ is the reality of the type of Adam. If the created life of Adam has an overflow of so many descendants and such a fullness, how much more will the uncreated life of Christ be unlimited and immeasurable in His fullness!
Paul could only describe this fullness with “the breadth and length and height and depth,” because it is truly indescribable. The breadth, length, height, and depth show immeasurability; the fullness of God is immeasurable. Although the fullness of Adam is great, it is measurable; only the fullness of God is immeasurable. However, the fullness of God is hidden in Christ, and the fullness of God in Christ is the fullness of Christ. We, the believers, have all received of His fullness; we have received the fullness in Him. This fullness is the life of God, which is Christ, and is also God Himself.
Regrettably, many of us have only a small amount of feeling concerning the fullness of Christ. Our only sense is that we were sinful and should have perished, but God loved us, forgave us, saved us, and gave us His life so that we may become His children. We have no other feeling. Even though many believers have made much spiritual progress, they still do not have a deep, inner feeling concerning the point called the fullness. We do not merely have life in us; we have the fullness in us. When we were saved, we not only received life from God, but we also received the fullness from Him. This fullness is immeasurable.
However, many of us have no feeling concerning this fullness. We do not sense that we have something within us called the fullness; at the most, we know that we have life within us, the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, Christ making His home in us, and God living inside of us. We do not have the sense that this God, this Christ, this Holy Spirit, and this life are an immeasurable fullness. This is not a doctrinal understanding; it is a sense in the spirit. We must ask for the Lord’s mercy that we would truly sense and realize in our spirit that we have something within us called the fullness.
Even if we are a new believer, we must ask the Lord to show us that we have the fullness within since we have received Christ’s life: “Of His fullness we have all received” (John 1:16). We have been made full in Him (Col. 2:10), and His fullness is all the fullness of the Godhead (v. 9). As believers, there is something in us called the fullness. This fullness is the fullness of Christ, and this fullness, which is all the fullness of the Godhead, was first expressed in Christ and is now expressed in the church. The church is the Body of Christ because the church is this fullness (Eph. 1:23).
In experience, are we full? Many saints would probably say, “We are truly empty; we are not in the least bit full.” We need to know that without the fullness there is no Body. Though we are the church, we do not manifest much of the Body because the fullness has not been manifested in us. Though we have received of this fullness, we do not allow this fullness to be manifested; this fullness cannot be seen in us. Though we partake of this fullness, it is as if we have not received of this fullness; we feel that we are still empty and void. It seems as if we have nothing within us, and we are too poor.
This is not a matter merely of feeling; this is our actual situation. We need to look at our condition. We can say that our services, our prayers, and all our spiritual conditions are in utter destitution and that we are weak and poor. This is similar to Hymns, #1032, which says: “Poor and wretched, / Weak and wounded, sick and sore.” This is our condition. Where is the Body? Is the church manifested? Can God’s authority and glory be seen? We see poverty and weakness, we see emptiness and weariness, and we see that the saints do not rise up. This means that we suppress and push aside the fullness that is in us. We are people who have the source, the fullness, yet we live as if we do not have this fullness.
Of His fullness we have all received, and we have been made full in Him. However, are we truly full? Why are our prayers so weak? Why are we so poor when we stand up to speak? Why are we so empty when we fellowship with others? Why do we have nothing to supply others with when we visit them? This shows that there are problems and difficulties within us; there are bondages and hindrances within us. This is an abnormal condition.
On my fourth trip to Manila to hold a conference, I stayed in an elderly sister’s home. One evening after the meeting, while we were eating snacks in the living room, I said, “This snack is quite rich.” The sister responded, saying, “You are right; this is quite rich. Your messages this time are also quite rich; they are not a repetition of the previous messages. I thought that in this conference you would have nothing more to say.” Upon hearing this, I put down my cup, looked at her, and said, “Do you think that there is so little in me that I can only pour out three cups of water? No! Don’t you realize that the fullness is in me and also in you?” Of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. Even three hundred conferences could not exhaust His fullness. We need to see that we have been attached to a source within us that is immeasurable in eternity — immeasurable in time and immeasurable in space. This source is called the fullness, and it has been attached to us inwardly.
A co-worker in Hong Kong once asked me, “I find it extraordinary that whenever I see you, you are always fresh. Could you please tell me the secret?” The secret is that we have the fountain in us, and of His fullness we have all received. We have also been made full in Him. If we do not sense the fullness in us, but instead we feel void, empty, old, weak, and poor, there must be a problem in us. There is something that is being suppressed by us. This is the reason that people cannot see the Body. Although we are Christians, we do not have the expression of the Body among us. Please remember that the church is the Body of Christ, the fullness of the One who fills all in all.
Some may ask, “What does it mean to say that the church is the Body?” I have heard people pray in the Lord’s table meeting: “O Lord, we are Your Body, but our praises are too poor and weak.” This makes me feel uncomfortable, because the Body is neither poor nor weak; if it is poor and weak, it is not the Body. What is the Body? The Body is the fullness. In the Lord’s table meeting we should overflow with praises, saying, “O Lord, this bread shows us Your Body.” We can say, “Hallelujah, we are here as Your church, Your Body.” This praise should gush out, flow out, and overflow from us; it should rush out, grace upon grace. It would be unseemly to break the bread but say, “O Lord, this is Your Body, but please overlook our weak condition.” Please remember that the Body is the fullness of Christ; the overflow of Christ in and among us is the Body.
We all acknowledge that we are still in the flesh and have our weaknesses, but inwardly we have been attached to a source called the fullness. This source is also called the breadth and length and height and depth; it is an immeasurable motivating power within us. Many times when we are depressed, this source uplifts us, and we rise up. Many times when we can no longer bear a situation and have exhausted all our means, this source uplifts us as if a thousand pounds have been removed from our shoulders. A Christian who always wears a sad face does not look like a person who has the fullness. If a person has the fullness, the fullness within him will certainly overcome his sad face.
One day a brother asked me, “Why have I never seen you sorrowful?” I looked at him and said, “Why should I be sorrowful?” May the Lord cover me with His precious blood; it is not that I do not have heavy burdens or that I do not have difficulties, but I can praise Him and say that there is a source within me that is called the fullness. Whenever I contact this source and let this fullness uplift me even a little, all my sorrows are gone. This is God being expressed through man; this is the fullness of Christ, the Body of Christ.
We need to see a basic principle: all believers have been inwardly attached to a source, which is called the fullness. In a normal condition this fullness should always be flowing. Today this flowing has stopped in many of us; this source seems to be blocked. Therefore, it seems as if there is the church but not the Body. For this reason we are unable to say that the church is His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all. We are the church, but we do not have the fullness. The Body cannot be expressed because we do not have the fullness.
We need to be shown mercy to see that the fullness should come out of us. When this fullness is manifested, the Body is manifested. John 1:16 says that we have all received of His fullness. Colossians 2:10 says that we have all been made full in Him. However, Ephesians 4:12-13 says that only through building can the church arrive at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Without being built, the stature of the fullness cannot be manifested; only through the building can the fullness within us be built up and manifested.
The measure in the measure of the stature in Ephesians 4:13 means “dimension, measurement.” So the measure of the stature is very concrete, having a form, a measurement, a dimension. In John 1 we have merely received of this fullness. In Colossians 2 we have been made full; we have obtained this fullness. However, this fullness has not yet grown within us. It has not yet reached the measure of the stature, and it does not yet have a figure, a shape. It is only after the constant building work that the stature increases continually to the point of having a definite form. In this way the building continues to a point that the fullness of Christ has attained a measure of stature in a group of people. This is called the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
When we look at our situation, we find that we do not have the fullness and that we do not have the measure of the stature. For example, we may only be able to say that a new believer who has been blessed by the Lord has been attached to the Lord inwardly. This is because we may feel that the measure in this believer is formless, shapeless, vague, and indistinct. It would be incorrect for us to say that he does not have the Lord within him, yet the Lord within him is almost without shape or form. However, when we meet a brother who is quite deep in the Lord and has been built up by the Lord to a good extent, not only do we feel that the Lord is in him, but it also seems that we can see something that is concrete and with a measure in him. There is something in him called the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Of course, this measure of stature differs from person to person. In one believer we may see some measure, but in another believer we may see an even greater measure.
This is not an individual matter but a matter of a group of people. However, we can often know the condition of a group by looking at a person in the group. This is often the case in a locality, a church. For example, the brothers and sisters in a locality may be very zealous, fresh, and living, but the Christ among them, or the fullness of Christ among them, may not be concrete. The fullness may not yet be formed and may not have much measure. Afterward, we may go to another locality where we not only touch freshness and livingness, but we also touch something with a measure of stature, something concrete among them. That measure may not be very high or great, but in any case, it has a small amount of form and measure. This is the church expressing its measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Once the church has a measure, the church has an expression. Being the church depends upon having a measure. We must ask the Lord to speak a clear word to us, touch us thoroughly according to our condition, and enlighten us so that we may all see the Body of Christ.
