So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

–Parallel verses:
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭3‬:‭14‬-‭19‬
For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

When we look at the word “fullness”, it is a very interesting, maybe even mysterious word to define and get our heads around. It has hints of completeness or a massive filling. It teases that there is a deeper understanding of a concept or a way of life. And by its very mention, it brings to mind a new level of understanding and devotion to its subject.

When I think of having the fullness of something, I think of the fullness of the process in which an athlete pursues their goal to be the best at a sport or contest. They train hard to make their bodies reflexively move in the right way in their competition. Muscles can be strong, they can have endurance, but when they combine elite levels of strength and endurance with quick-twitch reflexes, their performance gains grow exponentially!

Athletes who are extremely focused on attaining their goal will train, eat, be coached, watch film, and read books … all in an effort to improve their on-field performance. One could say that after a while of doing this, they have attained the fullness of what it is to embody that sport.

What Paul is talking about here is a spiritual training of our hearts and minds to produce quick-twitch reflexes, combined with immense spiritual strength and seemingly unstoppable spiritual endurance. And he gives us the formula for getting here: As a part of the body of Christ, allow God’s servants to equip and build us up so that we can unify together around his goals and objectives. Move beyond having Christ dwell in our speech or actions at only certain times of the week. Push past having mere knowledge of Jesus and his Word. Set aside the “Christian Club Ways” that are so prevalent these days. And press forward to understand and be rooted in the all-out, unconditional, and “willing to get messy” love of God that rescues and saves souls from darkness into his glorious light.

There is a deeper level of spiritual growth waiting for us. Instead of only being around Christians and church activities, where we gain a partial understanding of life with Jesus, we can embrace Jesus and gain “the whole measure of the fullness of Christ”!

What does it look like to proceed down this road? Through the transparent, honest, and active living out of our faith, we see God’s Spirit move in our hearts. His Spirit purifies us from the inside out. As we surrender more of our heart to his leadership, he uses this surrender and deeper commitment to empower us to love others more with the immensity of love he has given us. The more we obediently love in ways outside of what we think we are able to, we use his Spirit’s power instead of our own. In this way, his Spirit takes over more and more of our hearts. It is a repeating cycle of upward spiritual growth. And as we are more committed to it and more heavily invested in it, we are filled with the “whole measure of the fullness of Christ”.

Paul had confidence in speaking to the Romans: “I know that when I come to you, I will come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ.” (‭‭Romans‬ ‭15‬:‭29‬)

He cautioned the Colossians in this way: “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and IN CHRIST YOU HAVE BEEN BROUGHT TO FULLNESS. He is the head over every power and authority. In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.” (‭‭Colossians‬ ‭2‬:‭8‬-‭12‬, emphasis mine)

In Christ I have the fullness — what a statement! Am I somehow satisfied with a limited understanding and a superficial knowledge of Jesus, as described by Paul this way: “human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world”? Or will I dig deeper, run the race harder, equip myself more professionally in the spiritual race set before me? Will I seek after the whole measure of the fullness of Christ?

Lord, these are such convicting passages to me! I, at times, fail to seek after the fullness of Christ and the filling of your Spirit that follows. Sometimes I settle for just “making it through” tough situations and challenging times. But you have greater things planned for me! You want me to experience the wonder and the sheer glory of the full measure of the fullness of Christ! WOW! What a calling! Break up the hard places in my heart and take me to your high places, I pray!