We must pay attention to the fact that in the New Testament fullness is not an adjective but a noun. In the Chinese Union Version John 1:16 says, “For of His full grace we have all received.” However, if you study this verse carefully, you will see that the word grace is not in the original Greek text. The proper translation of this clause is, “For of His fullness we have all received.” Thus, according to the usage of the New Testament, fullness is not an adjective but a noun. The church is the Body of Christ. Body is a noun; the Body is His fullness, so fullness is also a noun. I hope that you would never consider fullness as an adjective. In the New Testament fullness is a noun just as riches is. For example, in Ephesians 3:16, which says, “According to His rich glory” (Chinese Union Version), the original text actually says, “According to the riches of His glory,” both riches and glory being nouns. In our experience both riches and fullness are nouns. We enjoy the riches of Christ, and the result is that we are constituted to be the fullness of Christ. Then Ephesians 4:13 says that we must arrive at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. In the book of Ephesians, fullness as a noun is used twice: His fullness (1:23) and the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (4:13).
The riches are outside of us and are objective, not yet having passed through our enjoyment and experience. The fullness is within us and is subjective, being the result of what we have enjoyed and experienced of the riches. If the riches of Christ are placed outside of us, they will be merely the riches of Christ and will not constitute the fullness of Christ. In order for His riches to be constituted into the fullness of Christ, they must be enjoyed, experienced, and digested by us and thus be constituted into the element of our entire being.
This fullness, which is the Body of Christ, has a stature. Because the fullness is the Body, it certainly has its stature, which in turn has its measure, which is the measure of the stature. I hope that everyone will remember this phrase in Ephesians 4:13: “the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” There are four nouns here-“measure,” “stature,” “fullness,” and “Christ”-joined into one great phrase by three “ofs.” Simply put, this is the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. But if we are not careful, we may easily understand fullness to be an adjective. Therefore, we must be trained that when we speak of the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, we do not mean fullness as an adjective but as a noun. If you were to understand fullness to be an adjective, you could easily change fullness into full and say “the full measure of the stature of Christ.” This is completely wrong.
You may have this kind of understanding because you do not have the vision of the Body of Christ being the fullness of Christ. Not to mention Christians in general, even among us there are very few brothers and sisters who have a deep impression and a clear knowledge of the fullness of Christ, which is a marvelous matter. If you see this vision, you will never use fullness as an adjective. The fullness of Christ is a concrete item, but on the other hand, it is also spiritual, mysterious, and abstract. If I say that the church is the assembly of the called-out ones, you would not understand assembly as an adjective; but when I speak of the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, you may easily change fullness into an adjective in your usage. Why is this? It is because the assembly of the called-out ones is physical and easily seen by everyone; therefore, it is easy to understand. If, however, I say that the Body of Christ is the fullness of Christ, this fullness is abstract. From God’s view, from the spiritual view, the fullness is concrete; but from the physical view, it cannot be seen by human eyes, so it is abstract, and it is difficult for people to see this vision.
More than ten years ago, some among us proclaimed “the full Christ” and thought that they had seen the vision. However, this term is not in the Bible, and this is an erroneous understanding. In the New Testament the fullness is the issue of the overflow of Christ out of those who experience and enjoy Him. If you enjoy Christ and experience Him, and if I enjoy Christ and experience Him, then we will be full of Christ inwardly, and this Christ who fills us is His fullness.
Home | First | Prev | Next