THE FULLNESS OF CHRIST

Colossians 2:9-10  For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the Head over every power and authority. (NIV)
Christless religion keeps God and humanity remote from each other. That approach seems reasonable to imperfect people. It preserves the dignity of the deity, and protects weak humanity from the full force of the god's anger. It also suits any religious hierarchy by preserving mysteries which only they can understand and teach to others. But faith in Christ is totally different. Jesus Christ was God in a human body - offensive to some but gloriously liberating to those who receive Him.
Yet many believers fail to appreciate the power of this truth. It is not just that Jesus was infused with 'extra goodness' or that God's character was reflected by Him: but everything that is God was in Him, and still is! This statement challenged the early heresies (reducing Christ's deity to being an angel, and His physical humanity to being an apparition). To know Jesus is to know God. And even more amazingly, those who receive Him have been made complete: all that sin had removed from us (our relationship with God and eternal life) has been restored. We, who trust in Christ as Saviour and Lord, have an intimate bond with the person who has ultimate authority over everything.

So, you see, we can never consider Christ too highly, because He is the highest person who is in charge of everything. Our error is to devalue Him: to engage with His humanity but to ignore His divinity, or to forget that the fullness of His life is in us now making us complete in Him for all eternity. Because He has God's full authority over everything, no teacher can be wiser than Him or contradict Him. Although some want to resist this, or even accuse believers of arrogance for believing it and rejecting any other way, He is still the one to whom everybody is accountable. And His divine credibility is still the target of false teachers. But the Apostle's message is to rejoice in your relationship with Christ, turn away from those teachers who deny His full deity, and proclaim Him to others wherever you live and work.

Prayer:  Almighty God, my Heavenly Father. Thank You for placing the Lord Jesus Christ as head over everything, including the church. Forgive me when I devalue Him, when I seek to possess Him rather than allowing Him to possess me. I am sorry when I have not stood up for Him, or even denied Him. Please help me to worship Him today with refreshed eyes and to know the power of Christ in my life. Strengthen me to affirm the full deity of Christ in the church and to live as a person who is full of Jesus. In His Name. Amen.

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