God in all His fullness was pleased to
live in Christ. Colossians 1:19
Do not
take these as just words. Do understand that in every fragment there is this
truth: In the dispensation in which you and I are now living God has come to us
in all His fullness. There is no more to be added. In His Son we have the
absolute fullness of God, and it is out of that fullness that He speaks to us
in His Son. God has only one Son in that sense – His only-begotten
Son, which means that there is no one to come after Him. Therefore, God's last
word is in His Son. The Son brings both the fullness and the finality of God.
It is that which gives the solemnity to this whole Letter. It says: "If
you fail to hear the voice of the Son there will never be another voice for
you. God is never going to speak by another voice. God hath spoken in His Son,
and He is never going to speak by any other means." Hence this Letter
contains this word of warning and of exhortation: "Because this is the
fullness and this is the end, be sure that you give heed...." To come into
touch with the Lord Jesus is more than coming into touch with a teaching: it is
coming into touch with a living, active Person. "It is God with whom we
have to do." It is a glorious thing to come into touch with God in Christ
– but it says here that "it is a fearful thing to fall into the
hands of the living God" (Hebrews 10:31). No, it is not a book, a
teaching, a philosophy: it is a living, positive, powerful Person....
Perhaps
this is just like a window opened into heaven. If you get the right window you
can see quite a lot. You can see great things and you can see far things. But
the best that I can hope is that this has just opened a window, and that as you
look through it you are seeing one thing – how superior is Jesus Christ to all
else, and how superior is the dispensation into which we have come, and how
superior are all the resources at our disposal to all that ever was before!
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