When we come to Christ, something amazing happens. Once alienated from God because of our sin, God did much more than reconciling us, he filled us up with Himself! What I shall do is show you that you are filled already with everything you could ever be filled up with. You are full of love, because God is love! You are full of joy, because Jesus gave us His joy that He said was full. He gave us divine health, because He is the Great Physician and the Lord that healeth thee. He gave us His wealth, because we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. When we asked the Lord to save us, we invited Him into our lives. Now if we are filled with God, what else could remain there? Can sickness have a legal right to live inside us? I think not. Could poverty live within us? I doubt that. Could fear remain inside us? Certainly not. Could anything not of God have a legal right to make its home inside us? Obviously, the answer has to be, “No”. If something is full, it is impossible to put more into it. Am I right, or is this a figment of Robert’s fantasies? You can prove this right now. Get a container of some kind, preferably a drinking glass so you can see what happens. Now start pouring water into it and fill it to the brim. Is it full? Keep pouring water in and see what happens. Obviously it will overflow and if you are not careful that water will be lost if you do not collect the overflow. The point is that we who are made in the image and likeness of God, can be filled up with God—not a small portion, or a little touch or sprinkle, but all of the fullness of God. The day that we receive Christ as our saviour, all of this fullness takes up residency inside us. According to the apostle Paul, we become a brand-new creation. This is the potential, but it has to be worked out. We are already saved! We are being saved and we shall be saved. This is a part of our learning experience and such knowledge can never be attained through the natural senses or intellect, but by the Spirit. After all, God is a spirit, so He indwells us by the spirit. We can know more of this every day by reading and meditation of his word and walking in the fellowship with Him and with the saints. Once you were under God’s curse, doomed forever for your sins. You went along with the crowd and were just like all the others, full of sin, obeying Satan, the mighty prince of the power of the air, who is at work right now in the hearts of those who are against the Lord. All of us used to be just as they are, our lives expressing the evil within us, doing every wicked thing that our passions or our evil thoughts might lead us into. We started out bad, being born with evil natures, and were under God’s anger just like everyone else. Tie this in with Peter’s words. Peter then spoke about how precious the Lord is and about the cornerstone, that is the most honored and important part of the building in the next few verses before continuing- This has nothing to do with a physical building of course, but it does refer to us. We are God’s temple now. The day you became a Christian, the Godhead took up occupancy. This brings me now to something that excited me when I first saw it many years ago. |
I was making breakfast recently (I do most of the cooking and enjoy doing it), when it leaped into my being as if it was for the first time. Now I want you women to leave the room for a while whilst I say something to the men. Husbands...love your wives! That’s bible guys, so real men do not have to get all masculine and flex their muscles, but show your ladies that you are a real man. Go on! Say it! Say it! “I love you.” OK girls, you can come back in now. Before Marjorie and I married, the Lord spoke so powerfully one morning, it shook me. He almost yelled out, “You look after her and you treat her right.” He told her, “Don’t you ever hurt that man.” I share this because it is entwined with the kind of thing I am talking about today. If marriage is an illustration of what our relationship should be with Christ, then it should be a good one! The things that excited me deal with our one-ness or union with God. Once separated and destined for hell, He reached down and chose us in Him before Jesus came to earth, but we didn’t know it. See Romans 5:8. | Look now at Colossians. What a marvelous book this is. Here is a sample- Paul spoke of the absolute authority of Jesus who created all things and that all things exist because of Him and then said in verse 18 that He is the head of the body—the Church and then said that it pleased the Father that in Him (that is Jesus), all fulness dwelt. Surely if All fulness dwells in Him and if He dwells in us, all fulness also resides in us. Now, I am not trying to say that we are of more importance than we are and get off onto some strange trip of some kind. I am saying that we do not really fully understand precisely what Jesus has already done for us. This truth has to come out by revelation of His word. This truth can only really be understood when we are God inside minded! Do you see how important it is that we renew our minds by application of God’s word and to put on the mind of Christ? I’ve spoken of the mind of Christ before, but this stuff really hit me this time. In verse 19, Paul said that it pleased the Father that in Him (Jesus), all fulness should dwell. Such things have to come by revelation because without that, it is a mystery. Paul said so. Paul had great revelation of these truths that he said were mysteries. A mystery is something that is hidden, but once revealed, it is no longer a mystery but workable fact and knowledge. In the next few verses (in chapter two), Paul spoke of having our hearts knit together in love—and unto All riches of Full understanding... I hope you get it. According to Paul, such comprehension is to the acknowledgement of the Mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ. Please look at it and take note of my emphasis. He continued, saying as we have received Christ the Lord to walk in Him. That’s learning to grow. He told us to be rooted and grounded in Him, not man’s religion and to abound there in with thanksgiving. All of God is in Christ. When we have Christ, we have everything. When we have Christ we are also filled with God. This is not man’s interpretation of some strange doctrine. There is it in black and white. |
You and I are filled with all that can possibly fill us up with God. There is no more to put in there. Nothing more could be put in there (unless we choose to allow that to happen). If, for example, we need wisdom to handle something, we do not need to rely on our own abilities or natural talents only, but can draw out of the well of living water God has placed there. God has also given us other helps such as the Gifts of the Holy Spirit—so use them. If you need something in the natural realm, we have the same Jesus inside us who calmed a storm, fed a multitude, gave a man a net-breaking, boat swamping catch of fish as payment for borrowing his boat and prevented an awkward moment in a time of need when He turned water into wine. I know many good people who panic when things are not going well. They complain and whine about shortages, needs, problems and so on and do not tap into the source that is already inside them. It is not always easy and I know that, but it is not impossible either. I recall an incident when I was a very young and immature Christian. I had been talking with the Lord about the Old Testament fathers like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and asked Him how did they know where to dig for their wells? It was a simple enough question and I was not complaining. I was genuinely curious so I asked Him how they did it. We later came into a time of drought at the time and my garden was dying. For that matter, many of my neighbors were also suffering, but isn’t it interesting how we can so easily think that there is no one else in the world like us; that we are the only ones with that problem and no one cares. Get a life! Get over it! The problem is that I was looking outwardly for an answer, but it was already inside me. I did not know this then. I must have asked Him several times and still no answer. What happened? I drew off the living water that was already inside me. Everything you can possibly want is already provided. Everything you can possibly do is already done. Let us look at the provision of God for a moment. When Israel was in the desert, they had no way of getting fresh food. God provided. They did not manufacture it. They did not have to dig gardens and plant crops for it. They were told what to do by God when to do it and what to do with it. They went to sleep at night and rested! Do you see it yet? He told them to wake up in the morning and pick up what they wanted. It was there and they ate angel’s food! I am not saying that we do nothing. That would be foolish. What I am saying however is that God either is who He says He is and that He does what He said what He would do, so trust Him. That inner, still, small voice will tell you what to do and when, so just do what He says. Where does that voice come from? It comes from within you—from your spirit man—from the depths of your belly as Jesus said. May we all learn what we’ve already got and start to draw from that. This source never runs dry. Blessings, Robert |
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