The Greek word translated full in verse 10 implies completion, perfection. Because all the fullness dwells in Him, after we have been put into Christ (1 Cor. 1:30), we are made full, filled up, with all the divine riches. Hence, we need no other source. In Christ we lack nothing, for in Him we have been perfected and completed. There is no reason for us to turn to anything other than Christ.
Because all the fullness of the Godhead is in Christ and because we have been placed in Him, we have been made full in Him. The New Testament reveals clearly that all those who believe in Christ have been put into Christ. Therefore, we are identified with Him and one with Him. The result is that all that He is and all that He has belongs to us, and all that He has experienced is our history. We inherit all that Christ has experienced and passed through. Furthermore, because we are one with Him, we partake of all that He has accomplished, obtained, and attained.
We the believers are members of the all-inclusive Christ. We have been put into Him, identified with Him, and joined to Him as our Husband (Col. 1:28; Rom. 7:2-4). Hence, we are one with Him. All that He has passed through is now our history, and all that He has obtained and attained is our inheritance. We are in such a Christ, and He is in us. We have been placed into Him, we are one with Him, and we receive all that He is and has.
Although some Christians have a doctrinal knowledge of this, a mere mental understanding of our union with Christ is not adequate. We need to exercise faith in order to partake of all that is ours in Christ. We should not consider ourselves poor, just as a poor woman who has married a rich man should no longer think of herself as poor. Even though she may feel poor, she must practice applying the fact that the riches of her husband belong to her. In like manner, because we are one with Christ, we should not regard ourselves as in poverty. To the contrary, we need to have a full realization of what we have in Christ.
In their prayers, some Christians like to declare how poor, pitiful, and low they are. This kind of prayer is without faith or assurance. We need to believe with full assurance that we are one with the rich, all-inclusive Christ, with the One who is the embodiment of all the fullness of the Triune God. If we realize this with full assurance, we will never consider ourselves poor.
We should not believe our feelings about ourselves but look away to Christ (Heb. 12:2). We need to exercise our faith to realize what He is, what He has passed through, what He has obtained and attained, and where He is today. Since He is in the third heaven and we are one with Him, we also are in the third heaven. We have been placed into the Christ who is unsearchably rich.
In Christ we do not lack anything. We should not talk about how much we lack. Because we are in Christ, we lack nothing. In Him is the fullness, the perfection, the completion. Actually, He Himself is the fullness, perfection, and completion. Because we are in Him, we also are complete and perfect. We are those who possess the riches of Christ.
In Ephesians 3:8 Paul speaks of the unsearchable riches of Christ. We are more than billionaires because the riches we have are greater than can be counted. We simply have no idea what vast riches we possess in Christ. Often we have prayed: “Lord, I am poor and pitiful.” But we need to pray in this way: “Lord, I thank You that I am rich, complete, and full. Lord Jesus, because I am in You, I am short of nothing.” We should tell the Lord, the angels, and even the demons that we are richer than any earthly billionaire because we are in the Christ whose riches are unsearchable.
When we are rooted in Christ as the soil, the first thing to take place is that we are made full in Him; we are filled with all the divine riches to become His expression (vv. 8, 17, 19). In Christ as the soil we are filled, completed, perfected, satisfied, and thoroughly supplied; we do not lack anything (cf. Phil. 1:19). Christ as the soil is the history and mystery of God with all the riches of His person and processes (Col. 2:2). Christ as the soil is the Head of all rule and authority (v. 10). In Christ as the soil there is an element with the killing power which puts the flesh to death (v. 11), an element which causes us to be buried (v. 12a), an element which causes us to be raised up (v. 12b), an element which vivifies us (v. 13), an element which wipes out the handwriting in ordinances (v. 14), and an element which is victorious over the evil spirits in the atmosphere (v. 15).
Christ as the soil is the One in whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily. Since Christ is the good land in which we have been rooted, we have been rooted in this fullness; in it we have been made full, complete, and perfect. We have no need whatsoever. Having been planted into this fullness, we should simply absorb nourishment from it. As we do so, we will find that we have no lack.
Before we were rooted in Christ as the good land, we did not have anything positive. Instead, we were involved with the flesh, the ordinances, and the power of darkness. But now that we have been rooted in the good land, the fullness has become ours, and we are supplied with every positive thing. In this all-inclusive and extensive fullness, we have everything: God, an uplifted humanity, divine attributes, and human virtues. Because this fullness is all-inclusive, it accomplishes everything for us, it fully satisfies and supplies us, and it makes us full, perfect, and complete. How rich is the soil in which we have been rooted! It supplies us with everything, and we have no lack. We have the all-inclusive, inexhaustible fullness. In this universe there is such a thing that Paul calls the fullness. This fullness dwells in Christ bodily. In Him, the embodiment of the fullness of the Godhead, we are made full.