There are two key words in this topic, ad they are fulness and Christ. I will want us to see the definitions of these words before we continue.
Fulness: in English dictionary, fulness is defined as state of being filled to capacity; it could also mean completeness.
However, in Hebrew and Greek dictionary the followings words are translated to fulness.
The words translated to fulness in Hebrew words are these: melê'âh, “מלאה”, phonetic spelling is mel-ay-aw' (Num 18:27) and it is related to first fruit, meaning abundance of it. Another word is “מלו מלוא מלא”, Romanized form is melô' melô' melô, (pronounced as mel-o', mel-o', mel-o')meaning multitude. (Deu 33:16; 1 Ch 16:32; Psa 24:11; 50:12; 89:11; 96:11; 98:7; Eze 19:7). The third word is “מלא מלא”, Romanized form is mâlê' mâlâ', (phonetic spelling is maw-lay', maw-law') meaning accomplish, replenish, satisfy (Job 20:22). The forth word is “שׂבע”, Romanized form is śôba‛, (pronounced as so'-bah) which means satisfied, (Psa 16:11) and the fifth word translated as fulness in Hebrew word in the bible is “שׂבעה”, Romanized form is śib‛âh, (phonetical spelling is sib-aw') which means satiety (Eze 16:49).
In Greek which the form in which the New Testament of the bible was written before translation, it is mentioned 17 times and the word is “πλήρωμα”, Romanized form is plērōma, (phonetic spelling is play'-ro-mah) which means replete, complete, to fill up.
From the above we shall see that the simple definition of fulness is to fill up, complete, filling something to the maximum capacity.
Christ: In Hebrew it is Meshiah (Messiah) which means deliverance or chosen one, while in Greek it is christos which means the anointed one or chosen one. Basically, Christ is more of title than name to Jews, intriguingly we discover that bible uses it in both ways; as title and name for Jesus. When used as that it means Jesus, the anointed one; or, Jesus, the chosen one.
However, Messiah in Islam does not have the same meaning with Christian usage, they use Messiah in the sense of coming back to the world to enthrone himself, destroy falsehood etc. this is contrary to Jews and biblical interpretation.
Exposition
I want us to see this topic in the light of something that could be filled. Example, a cup, bottle, flask etc. seeing fulness of Christ in this light would mean that you and I need to be filled with Jesus Christ.
From the bible, Colossians 2:9-10 we read that Christ is the fulness of God. If he is the fulness of God, we, his children must be Christ’s fulness too, using chemist’s term we must be saturated and or supersaturated with Christ. Example Garri our local food as instance, when this substance is continuously poured into liquid substance, especially water, it will get to a certain stage that it would fill the entire space having been soaked in the water with no space for additional substance of Garri. At this stage the chemist would call the event supersaturated, because any further addition of the substance would result in waste of time.
“For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
“And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:” (Col 2:9-10)
I want us to know that being saturated with something, being filled with something means that the thing will fill all the existing space that the thing contains, in other words, the thing would bind with all the molecules present in the space, such that there wouldn’t be any free molecules to be bonded to again by any atom of another substance that would be added into the space.
Having said the above and painted the picture in a way that you could easily grasp, I want us to know that being “super-saturated” with Christ Jesus means being filled up with his attributes and when we are filled up with his attributes (characters) we are being filled up with God’s Characters (or attributes).
I hope we know that it is by the attributes of God that we know God. No one has seen God physically, Prophet Moses tried to see him one-on-one, but he replied him that if he would grant him that, it means that he will possibly be taken away from the earth, he wouldn’t finish the task which he was embarking upon, and since he wanted to finish the task or better put, since God wanted him, Prophet Moses to finish the task while on earth he decided that he would not take him away, that what he would do for him is to allow him to see some aspects of his body but nothing more.
“And he said, thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.
“And the LORD said, behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:
“And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:
“And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.” (Exo 33:20-23)
Well Prophet Moses feels that was fair enough, at least he has taken a step above all humans on the earth and that was what happened to him, he saw some aspects of Yahweh but nothing more.
Drawing inference from what God told Prophet Moses in verse 20 of the above chapter, that, “… for there shall no man see me, and live.” (Exo 33:20b), I thought this was why Prophet enoch was taken off the world.
This man of uncommon faith has been walking with God for a long while, but he hasn’t seen his face, but on a special day when the Lord appeared to him in his real nature, albeit without others presence, he decides to take him away from the world, because no one can see the Lord and yet be left in this corrupt world and flesh.
“And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
“And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:
“And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.” (Gen 5:22-24)
The Hebrew word translated as “walked” here is “הלך”, Romanized form is hâlak, (pronounced as haw-lak') which means follow, exercise self, behave self.
We shall see from the above bible quoted that after this prophet, Enoch gave birth to Methuselah, he started walking with God, he started following God or say he started behaving himself in a way that would be pleasing unto the Lord. He continued to do this day after day, year after year for 300 hundred years. At the expiration of this length of years of dedicated walking and fellowship with the Lord without wavering, without allowing any forms of pollution, I mean at the expiration of these years of allowing the fullness of God (Elohim) in him, God appeared to him physically, he saw God one-on-one one fateful day.
He was intrigued seeing him because he has not been seeing him before, he has only been seeing his manifestations and coping with those, but this day, God surprised him and appeared to him. When he saw God that day, God couldn’t allow him to continue to dwell in the flesh and blood again as such he was taken off the surface of the earth because no one would see him and still be allowed to live.
The first man and woman saw God when they were in their original form, but after they had allowed sins to enter into their lives they never saw God again because eyes of a sinner cannot see God and above all anyone who sees the Lord in that form would be taken off the surface of the earth. In the meanwhile, we shall recollect that God wanted them to procreate and multiply and fill the surface of the earth, thus, God did not appear unto them because he wants his word to be fulfilled, he wants people to fill the surface of the earth.
However, in the case of Enoch, the surface of the earth has gotten people living in there, and the man has proved himself to be exceptional breed, that was why he was taken off the earth after God allowed him to see him.
Some have been asking that why would Enoch be taken off for doing the will of God on the earth, for walking with the Lord? Marrying bible with bible as we know prophet Isaiah says that the word of God is precept upon precepts, this essentially would be the probable reason for Elohim taken off Prophet Enoch from the surface of the earth after he has been found to be exercising himself in the things of God though the people nigh by do not see the reason to follow the trend.
“For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:” (Isa 28:10)
Since no one can see God physically and yet be alive, we shall know that it is by the attributes of God which we see that we can say someone is being full of Christ.
“For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” (Col 2:9)
I am mentioning the attributes of God because the bible says that in Christ is the fullness of God. If in Christ is the fulness of God, it means that all the attributes of God are exhibited and demonstrated in the life of Jesus Christ.
To be full of Christ thence means we shall be full of the attributes of God as demonstrated by Christ.
Characters (or Attributes) of God
Shall we then see some of the attributes of God?
1. Love: God is love.
“…; for God is love.” (1 Jh 4:8b)
God demonstrated his love for us sacrificially, he did this by sending Jesus to die for humans’ sins. It is in Jesus that we shall see the perfect love of God.
We are also enjoined to love as God loves. God loves all mankind by giving himself sacrificially for us all. If we are waiting until we become contented, until we get all we hope to get before assisting other brethren we shall not help anyone at all, because no one can ever be contented in the world. But we can squeeze something out for our brethren in faith to help him or her make appreciable progress in what she or he is doing.
Poll 1: Have you sacrificially helped anyone in the world before? Yes or No
2. Full of Grace: In the gospel according to saint John we read that Jesus is full of grace. He is full of grace because he is expressing the nature of God to mankind, God is a gracious God who does not want anyone to perish but that all comes to repentance and be saved.
“… full of grace ….” (Joh 1:14)
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” (Eph 2:8)
It is by this grace that we have been saved, it is by this grace that you who are yet to be saved are being called to come to God through Jesus Christ today.
3. Full of Truth: God is truth. Jesus shows this when he was alive, he shows God’s truth, always speaking the truth and doing what is true. It is this word of truth that he has brought to all in the world so that we shall neither be in darkness nor be following the devil because the devil is the father of all lies.
“… full of … truth.” (Joh 1:14d)
“Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” (Joh 8:44)
4. Longsuffering: He is a person who suffers long before acting, he is a person who gives man long rope to pull before passing judgment. He is a patience God.
“And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;” (2 Pe 3:15)
Longsuffering in Greek word is “μακροθυμία”, the Romanized form is makrothumia, which is pronounced as mak-roth-oo-mee'-ah. The word means forbearance or patience.
God is still waiting for you to come to repentance today.
How to Possess Those Attributes
Having seen some of the attributes of God which are expressed by Jesus Christ who was the express image of God, we as his followers need to possess those attributes too to show that we are really his.
As we view this topic like a cup or plate, we know that for a plate or cup to be filled with something the cup wouldn’t be upturned, because if the cup is upturned there wouldn’t be any where to pour the content into because the content that should be poured in it wouldn’t stay outside the cup.
1. Be Opened: For a plate or cup to accommodate the content, the cup must be opened. For you to possess Christ’s attributes, you must be opened.
The first step of you being opened is you becoming saved. You need to accept Jesus into your life, it is when you accept Jesus into your life that you have become fully opened for the attributes of Christ.
“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” (Rev 3:20)
2. Through Prayers: To receive the attributes of God, we need to be prayerful. Through prayers we can possess some of those attributes of Christ.
“And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint” (lk 18; 1
“Pray without ceasing.” (1 Th 5:17)
3. Drawing Close to Him: When you draw close to someone you will know many things about the person. Man and woman in relationship tend to know some percentages about themselves when they are still courting, but when they be married and living together, they will know themselves deeply and better.
When we draw close to God, we shall know some things about him but when we be married to him through his word we know him deeply and better than those who have not been married to him through his words.
“Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you … “ (Jam 4:8a);
4. Bible Reading: The bible has been given us so that we shall not misbehave, so that we shall know the Lord the more, so that we shall know his attributes. It is when we know something that we shall be willing to either have it or not. It is when we know those attributes that we shall be longing for it, anyone who doesn’t know something and says he wants the thing is lying because even if the thing appears, he may not possess it when it does not appear in the fashion that he knows. When we read the word of God, we shall know his attributes and would be desiring them.
“This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” (Jos 1:8)
Blessings Associated With Fulness of Christ
1. Pollutions Free: When a space has been occupied by something, it means there is no space for other things. When we have become filled with Christ, it means pollutions would have no place in us, worldly pollutions, thoughts of sin wouldn’t have space in us again because we are full of Christ.
2. Willing to Give: We shall be able to give to the needy and those who lack among us, and even outside. This is because we shall always remember what Christ has done for us, for he has given us himself freely and he expects us to do the same to others.
3. Unified: We shall be unified with other brethren all over the globe and wouldn’t see ourselves as the purest, most superior, but would see other brethren in the light of the Gospel and Christ Jesus because he has filled our lives.
In conclusion, we need to be full of Christ if we really desire to make appreciable impact and changes in this world, Jesus was full of God, we also need to be full of Christ to by extension become full of God.
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