THE FULLNESS OF GOD | Northstar Church

“I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” – Ephesians 3:16-19.

This Ephesians 3 passage is powerful. Even if you have read it many times, it warrants revisiting. It tells us how to be filled with “all the fullness of God.” The fullness of God is the totality of everything God is—His attributes, His character, His perfection, His holiness, His power, His love, etc. The fullness of God is His complete nature; it is who He is.

Think for a second about being filled with the fullness of God. Who wouldn’t want a full tank of God’s fullness? But the idea of being filled with God’s fulness is difficult to get your arms around. It sounds impossible: who can live and function with all the fullness of God? This is the God who created the universe and everything in it. This is the God who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, parted the Red Sea, and rose from the dead after three days. This is the God who is all-knowing and all-wise. It is hard to comprehend how He counted the hairs on my head and the hairs on the other 8.1 billion people living on the globe today. So how can anyone be filled with the fullness of God?

Paul comes to mind when discussing who was filled with the fullness of God. He authored one-third of the books of the New Testament. He was a spiritual giant. And maybe Moses. He was put into the cleft of the rock, and God passed by. Didn’t Moses’ face glow after he came out of the presence of God? And maybe Elijah and Peter and a few others. But what about us believers with our failings? What about us believers who get discouraged? Can we truly experience the fullness of God?

The Bible tells us the answer to that question is yes. When we follow Jesus, we will have some amazing experiences. We can hear from God in that still small voice. We will also have some not-so-amazing experiences, but we can still have the joy one can only have when we are in a relationship with God.

God wants us to grow, stretch our capacity, and be filled with God’s fullness so that we can become more and more like Christ. There is a process to becoming more and more like Christ—to grow in maturity. It doesn’t happen overnight, but we must be mindful daily of our growth, allowing grace for mistakes and a desire to continue the race.

There is nothing more God can give us than God himself residing in our hearts—leading us, convicting us, and encouraging us to be more like Jesus.

Discussion Questions:

Is it possible for the fullness of God’s love to fill us? Why or Why not?
What would that look like in your life? In Panama City? In your neighborhood?