There is a great outcry these days for fulfillment.
Psychology professors and psychiatrists, most of whom show little
evidence of having themselves found true satisfaction in life,
keep emphasising man's need for fulfillment. As a result, the
younger gereration is presently engaged in a frantic search for
this precious commodity. They want fulfillment, physically,
intellectually and spiritually - mostly in that order.
The reason for this latter is that godless "intellectuals"
in our institutions of learning have placed such heavy emphasis
upon the sensual that a truly lost generation of young people has
been brainwashed into supposing that if only man's physical
desires, his sensual passions, can be satisfied, the realization
of intellectual and then spiritual fullment will follow
naturally.
Actually, the very opposite is the case: it is spiritual
fullment that straightens out all the rest and brings into proper
perspective. What man needs first and above all else is for his
spirit to be filled and satisfied with all the peace, assurance,
joy and victory that God's Spirit alone can bestow. Referring,
doubtless, to the influence of the Spirit of God upon the human
spirit, our Lord rightly said:
"It is the Spirit that quickeneth [giveth life]; the flesh
profiteth nothing" (John 6:63).
In Galations 6:8 the Apostle Paul declares:
"He that soweth to the flesh, shall of the flesh reap
corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit
reap life everlasting."
In Romans 8:6 he states this same truth in even stronger
language:
"For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually
minded is life and peace."
Some translators have rendered this passage: "the mind of
the flesh... the mind of the spirit," but the preceding verse
seems to indicate beyond doubt that the Apostle is speaking of
having one's mind on the flesh, or on the Spirit. to have one's
mind on the flesh, he says, is "death," but to have one's mind on
the Spirit is "life and peace."
Significantly, it is since America has departed so far from
God, since men in the pulpit have so largely stopped teaching the
Bible, or even giving credence to it, that all this cry for
"fulfillment" has arisen.
Thousands of clergymen are telling lost souls what they ought
to do and how they ought to live, simply because they themselves
are unregenerate men who merely went to seminary to prepare for
the ministry, but do not know Christ. These unsaved clergymen
know nothing of the riches of God's grace in Christ that their
hearers so sorely need. But, alas, even men of God, who know
Christ and believe the Bible, are in many cases failing to teach
God's Word, to "feed the flock" with those precious truths that
could so greatly enrich their lives. Hence this spiritual
starvation, this deep hunger on the part of so many, even
religious people, who do not know exactly what it is they lack.
These should know that the Bible, and particularly the epistles
of Paul, show us the way to glorious fulfillment.
The orderly, satisfied, victorious lives of those who do
experience spiritual fulfillment, springs from their recognition
of the truth of God's declaration that, "man shall not live by
bread alone, but by every Word of God."
The Bible has much to say about fulfillment, espically in
the epistles of Paul, but also in the writings of John, who wrote
long after Paul was raised up to make known to mankind how much
Christ accomplished for us by His death at Calvary.
ENJOYING TRUE FULFILLMENT
Paul had been a very religious man, very zealous of the
traditions of the fathers, but there was an emptiness in his life
and he became progressively more bitter until he came to know
Christ. Only then did he find true fulfillment - and then this
was all he could talk and write about!
Picture him before Agrippa, standing there in chains in a
crowded courtroom, his very life at stake. He does indeed speak
in his own defense, but as we read the record this almost seems
to be secondary. He appears to be preaching to those assembled.
He preaches with such power that Festus interrupts him, shouting:
"Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee
mad", but Agrippa says: "Almost thou persuaded me to be a
Christian", whereupon Paul replies:
"I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear
me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am,
except these bonds" (Acts 26:29).
The Apostle, even in chains, experienced true fulfillment.
Hence his mind was not upon himself. He saw Festus and Agrippa
and all those assembled in that courtroom as poor lost souls,
needing Christ, and the fulfillment that He alone can give.
To these who sat in judgment upon him, the Apsotle said in
effect: "I wish you could all experience the satisfaction that I
enjoy!" And he did not speak thus, merely, as a zealot at a
public trial. To his Christian friends he wrote from his prison
in Rome about sitting "in heavenly places (Lit., the highest
heavens) in Christ," blessed with "all spiritual blessings"
(Ephesians 1:3). To the Philippians he wrote, triumphantly:
"...the things which have happened unto me have fallen out
rather unto furtherance of the gospel;
"So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace,
and in all other places;
"And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by
my bonds, are much more bold to speak the Word without fear"
(Phillipians 1:12-14).
"Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, rejoice!" (4:4)
Paul had indeed found fulfillment and, bless God, there are
thousands upon thousands of us today who have found this same
fulfillment in Christ. We have the same assurance of sins
forgiven, of complete justification before a holy God, and, like
Paul, rejoice in our position and blessings in the heavenlies in
Christ.
But now let us proceed to the doctrine of fulfillment as we
find it in the Word of God.
THE DOCTRINE OF FULFILLMENT
To make this as uncomplicated as possible we will consider
but one root word, which the Bible uses far more than any other
to express fulfillment. It is the Greek noun pleeroma and its
grammatical derivatives.
This word is used in several passages in John's writings,
where it is indicated that God would have His people enjoy rich,
full lives, regardless of outward circumstances.
Our Lord closed His famous discourse on the Vine and the
Branches by saying:
"These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might
remain in you, and that your joy may be full" (John 15:11).
Later, instructing His disciples as to how they should pray
in His absence, He said:
"Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My name: ask, and ye
shall recieve, that your joy may be full" (John 16:24).
In the opening verses of his first epistle, the Apostle John
likewise writes:
"And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be
full" (1 John 1:4).
And those who trusted Christ, even in those early days
before the dispensation of grace, did find full-fillment. John
the Baptist, who heralded the coming of the King and introduced
Him to the people of Israel, declared:
"And of His fulness have all we recieved, and grace for
[upon] grace" (John 1:16).
This ful-fillment was not marred by adversity, for
consistently in the Acts record we find the persecuted apostles
and disciples joyful and victorious. After having suffered a
cruel beating and bitter threats from the Sanhedrin, we read in
Acts 5:41 that "they departed from the presence of the council,
rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his
name."
Again, in Acts 13 we find a church born in the midst of
strife and persecution, yet of these persecution believers we
read:
"And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy
Ghost" (Verse 52).
"FULFILLMENT AND THE MYSTERY"
But it was to Paul that the risen, ascended, exalted Lord
revealed Himself in what the Apostle calles "the mystery," a
secret hid from previous "ages and generation." Not only did this
"mystery" involve a program, God's great purpose concerning this
present dispensation of His grace; in the "mystery" our Lord also
revealed Himself and His glorious, all-sufficient work as the
secret of all the riches of grace which are ours in Christ.
Had the Lord Jesus Christ remained in heaven, aloof from us
sinners, we could have known only condemnation and judgement, but
He came to be with us, yes, to become one of us, true man as well
as true God, to pay our debt of sin, so that by faith we might be
fully justified and find fulfillment in Him.
If the Spirit-inspired apsotle makes anything clear and
emphatic it is that fulfillment can be found in the rejected but
glorified Christ alone, by an intelligent understanding and
believing appropriation of His person and work in our behalf.
Col. 1:19: "For it pleased the Father that in Him should all
fulness dwell."
Col. 2:9: "For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the
Godhead bodily."
Col. 2:10: "And ye are complete [made full] in Him..."
Restless soul, you will never find complete satisfaction
until you find it in Christ, for the simple reason that all
fulness resides in Him. He is the fount of every blessing, the
Source of all supply.
What do you want that is of any real and lasting value?
What do you want that will truly fill your life? Forgiveness?
Justification? A free Conscience? Peace? Assurance? Liberty?
Joy? All - every bit of it - is to be found in Christ alone.
Read the epistles of Paul and see how "all spiritual blessings"
are to to found only "in Christ." Read the above passages from
Colossians again, thoughtfully and prayerfully. "It pleased the
Father that in Him should all fulness dwell...in Him dwelleth all
the fulness of the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete [made
full] in Him."
But God wants us to see that all this blessing and joy, all
these riches of grace that reside in Christ, can become ours only
as we place our trust in Him. In Romans 15:13 the Apostle
writes:
"Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in
believing..."
How I wish you could see, my dear unsaved friend, that god
simply wants to be believed, just as you want other to believe
you. He knows all about your sins but He Himself has settled all
the claims against you and now He wants you to leave the whole
matter with Him and accept salvation as "the gift of God through
Jesus Christ our Lord." Believe what He says about christ dying
to pay your debt and rising again in power to prove that your
debt is fully paid. Take Him at His Word, and He will "fill you
with joy and peace in believing."
In Ephesians 3:17-19 the Apostle, divinely inspired, urges
you to let Christ "dwell in your heart by faith." And then,
"rooted and grounded in [His] love," he would have you measure
"what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height" of all
that Christ has for you and can be to you, as it is revealed in
the wonderful "mystery," the sacred secret made known through
him. And why would he have us "measure" these riches of grace
and glory? Listen:
"...to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge,
that ye might be filled with all fulness of God" (verse 19).
How can we leave this passage without quoting the blessed
benediction that brings it to a close:
"Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above
all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in
us,
"Unto Him be glory in the Church, by Christ Jesus,
throughout all ages, world without end. Amen" (verse 20,21).
Do you see how believers are "made full," find fulfillment,
in Christ? Do you see how Paul had much more than material
matters in mind when he wrote to the faithful Philippian
believers:
"But my God shall supply [Lit., fully fill] all your need
according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians
4:19).
FULFILLMENT FOR CHRIST
Perhaps the most profound and amazing aspect of the mystery
revealed through Paul is the divine truth that as we are "made
full" in Christ, so He is "made full" by His Body, the true
Church.
Not only would the Apostle have us understand and enjoy the
riches of our inheritence in Christ; he also prays earnestly that
we might comprehend "what is the riches of the glory of His
inheritance in the saints"! (Ephesians 1:18).
In Ephesians 4:10 we read that our Lord "ascended up far
above all heavens, that He might fill all things," but Chapter 1,
Verse 23, we are told that the Church is...
"...His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all."
As Eve was given to Adam, and the two became "one flesh",
God now calling their name Adam (Genesis 5:2), so in a spiritual,
yet very real sense, believers are given to Christ as His blood-
bought possession, that we might be one with Him, the members of
His Body. And as we find fulfillment in us, whom He loved, for
whom He died and upon whom He joyously bestows all the riches of
grace which He purchased for us at Calvary. Think of it! We His
inheritance, and more - His fullness, His completeness. What and
evidence of His loving character is this! He would not be
complete in heaven without us any more than Adam would have been
complete or happy alone in the Garden of Eden. Christ needed the
love and companionship of His creatures. His divine capacity for
compassion and understanding and mercy and love needed
opportunity for expression.
How much that Blessed Book, the Bible, has to say about
fulfillment and satisfaction and joy - and most of all in the
epistles of Paul. In discussing this subject we have cited many
occurrences of one Greek word for fulfillment: pleeroma, along
with its grammatical derivatives, but there is much, much more to
be found in the synonyms and arguments used, espically by Paul,
to show how rich believers are in Christ and, indeed, how rich He
has become since His love sent Him to Calvary to die in shame and
agony and blood for us! What joy will fill His heart, as well as
ours, when through the ages of eternity we finally love and adore
Him as, in our present state, we are unable to do!
We are deeply conscious tha only with "stammering tongue"
have we endeavored to place before you what God's Word says about
"the peace that passeth understanding" and "the joy that passeth
knowledge," but one fact is unmistakably clear: such fulfillment
can be found in Christ alone.
Have you recieved and acknowledged Him as your Lord and
Saviour? If not, will you do so now, without further delay? It
is His desire to fill with peace and joy, but you must recognize
your need of Him and acknowledge that you are the sinner for whom
He died, asking Him to save you. Be wise. Cast yourself upon
Him right now.
"For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek;
for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him.
"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved" (Romans 10:12,13).
