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Fullness

                 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. (Colossians 2:9-10) 

“When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.” (Matthew 12:43-45) 

One of the things Dallas Willard talks about is “Christianity” as being “sin management.” Even for those of us who consider Christianity to be a relationship with God there is a sense in which we think our focus seems to fixate on whether or not we’ve sinned. Is that what being brought to fullness means?

Let’s begin with what is not meant in the last paragraph. I am not suggesting that we become antinomians – throwing all laws into the fire. I’m not suggesting we should start “naming and claiming.” The only question here is whether we are so focused on emptying our lives of sin that we’re missing out on fullness? In other words, are we being better Buddhists than we are Christians?

Jesus told a story about a man from whom a demon was exorcised. The man was cleaned but left empty. Granted, cleaning is necessary. Dealing with sin is necessary but if we are to be brought to fullness, we need to be filled, and we need to be just as diligent in seeking what is to fill us as we are in emptying and cleaning.

Another aspect of our being filled may be that one doesn’t fill something for no reason or purpose. One doesn’t fill something just so it’s full. All fullness of the Deity lived in bodily form in Jesus for a reason. Our emptiness is in order for us to be filled. Our fullness is for us to do what we are enabled to do by that filling. A full gas tank allows one to get from here to there. A filled glass allows one to drink.

So what do we seek in terms of fullness? First, we need to be filled with the Spirit, and not with something else. But when we are filled with the Spirit, one of the things that is brought to fullness is meaning. We are filled with purpose and the capacity to achieve that purpose – though our idea of that purpose may not be God’s. We should seek to be full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. We should seek to be full of gifts that we can give to others. And if we are doing what we’re supposed to do – what our fullness enables us to do, we will feel fulfilled.

 

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