Let us now consider the difference between the riches of Christ and the fullness of Christ. The riches of Christ are what Christ is to us in all His divine attributes and human virtues. These riches are unsearchable. The fullness of Christ, the Body, issues from the enjoyment of the riches of Christ. Through the enjoyment of Christ’s riches, we become His fullness to express Him. Christ, who is the infinite God without limitation of any kind, is so great that He fills all things in all things. Such a Christ needs the church to be His fullness for His complete expression.
We have pointed out that the riches of Christ are unsearchable. Included in these riches is Christ’s divinity. He is the very God. Since Christ is the Son of God, another aspect of His riches is sonship. Furthermore, according to Isaiah 9:6, the Son is even called the eternal Father. This indicates that He has not only the sonship, but also the fatherhood. Second Corinthians 3:17 says that Christ the Lord is the Spirit. This is another item of Christ’s unsearchable riches. Other items include Christ as light, life, love, righteousness, holiness, humility, patience, and submission. How long the list would be if anyone could enumerate all the aspects of the riches of Christ!
Christ’s riches need an expression. When these riches come forth to be expressed, that expression is the fullness of Christ. When Christ was incarnated, God’s riches were expressed. However, the incarnation by no means exhausted these riches. Rather, it was the overflow, the fullness, of the riches of God. Christ came forth from the bosom of the Father (John 1:18). But His coming forth did not at all exhaust the divine riches in the Father’s bosom. On the contrary, the more that came forth, the more there was to come forth. Therefore, with Christ there were not only the riches, but also the fullness. For this reason, John 1:16 says, “For of His fullness we all received, and grace upon grace.” Christ is the fullness of the Godhead. When He came to earth, He was the overflow of the riches of God. Hence, He became the fullness of God. Not only were the riches within Him, but the very fullness of the Godhead dwelt in Him bodily (Col. 2:9).
Christ is the fullness of God, and the church is the fullness of Christ. Christ’s riches are so extensive that not only is Christ Himself filled with them, but these riches also fill up the members of His Body, the church. As we are filled with Christ’s riches, we become His fullness. In this way the church becomes the fullness of Christ.
The fullness of Christ comes out of the enjoyment of the riches of Christ. For the church to have the riches of Christ and not the fullness of Christ would be an indication that Christ is limited. But the fact that the church not only has Christ’s riches but also is His fullness indicates that the Christ experienced and enjoyed by the church is unlimited. Limited riches cannot produce fullness. Only unlimited riches are capable of producing the fullness. As the expression of the unsearchably rich Christ, the church is the unlimited expression of the unlimited Christ. This means that the church is the fullness of Christ who is Himself the embodiment of the fullness of God. My burden in this message is simply to point out that the church must be such an expression of Christ.
The church is not the expression of anything other than Christ. We have seen that many Christians are occupied with spiritual gifts. These gifts, however, are not Christ Himself. In like manner, doctrine and power are not Christ. Not even the Bible itself is Christ. Christ, a living and wonderful Person, is the embodiment of God. We should not allow anything to take the place of Christ. Spiritual gifts may be a means to partake of Christ, power may help us to realize Christ, and doctrines may be instruments used to impart Christ. However, many Christians allow gifts, power, teachings, and even the Bible to become substitutes for Christ. Instead of taking Christ and experiencing Christ directly, many devote their attention to gifts, power, and doctrine. This indicates that the means and the instruments that God intends to be used to gain Christ are actually used to replace Christ. The situation must be altogether different in the Lord’s recovery. In the recovery, the Lord intends to bring us back to Himself, not to the various means or instruments. We thank the Lord for the gifts, the power, the teachings, and, in particular, for the holy Word. But most of all, we thank God for His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. God’s intention is to bring us back to Christ, back from everything that has become a substitute for Him or has distracted us from Him. Therefore, when we Christians meet together, we should pay our attention not to the manifestation of gifts or even to the teaching of the Word, but to the expression of the living Christ. In the meetings we should not be concerned about the way of meeting, but with the expression of the living Christ.