All the Fullness of God
By Uriah Smith
No one can read the epistle of Paul to the Ephesians without being struck with the bountiful provision made for the Christian, and the boundless privileges conferred upon him. In Eph. 3:14-21 the apostle gives one of his glowing and cumulative descriptions, laying before us in progressive steps the great provisions made for the follower of Christ, and the marvelous powers made ready to his hand in his conflict with sin. He goes through his argument step by step, leading us up to loftier heights, and expanding our field of vision, till we are brought to measure the immeasurable, and span the length, breadth, height, and depth, and to “know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge,” and to possess “all the fullness of God.” Then he commends us unto him that is “able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.” Then, in grateful adoration, the apostle ascribes all power to him, in these words: “Unto him be glory in the church” through all space and “throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” In the preliminary part of this wonderful prayer, he says, “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, . . . that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able,” etc., as already quoted. The ability to “comprehend” and to “measure” was the subject of the apostle’s prayer. Observe how he prays; how wisely he arranged his petitions. The deepest thoughts in the heart of a spiritual man are sure to come out in his prayer. Hear a man of God pray, and you hear the real man speaking. And when such a man as Paul prays, we may well be all attention to every syllable. His prayer is an ascending one. Each petition rises higher than the preceding. And meditating on this prayer is something like ascending an Alpine peak. You will see that in order that a man may be filled with “all the fullness of God,” there must be an inward strengthening. “There are spiritual faculties, as well as mental, and it is absolutely necessary that these should be strengthened by the Holy Ghost if we are to apprehend anything of Christ in all his fullness. The Spirit of God takes us down, if I may so express it, to the shore of the ocean of redeeming love, and as the soul drinks it in, new life and new power flow into every part of the spiritual system. Then, following that first petition, comes, “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith;” that is, by an ever-acting faith on our part, a whole Christ may be received, and a whole Christ may be retained within the soul.” “How many there are who only know what it is to have a Christ in the Bible. They know what it is to have a portrait of Christ, and they gaze with rapture upon it, and yet know but very little of what the apostle meant when he said, ‘That Christ may dwell in your hearts;’ that he may be no mere portrait, no mere bright idea; but that, enshrined within your soul, there may be a living Lord. Then you see how naturally comes the following petition: ‘That ye may be filled with all the fullness of God.’ Consider what it is to be filled with all the fullness of God. I take it that it is to have as much of God within us as our nature will contain; to be as full of God as the temple of old was full of Jehovah’s presence. The apostle prays that the Ephesians may have God in their chambers of imagery, God in their motives, God in their meditations, God in their contemplations, God filling their entire manhood. The central thought in this passage is the ability and willingness of God, in Christ, to do according to every possible measure of human need at every possible time. If we realized this, what a changed aspect it would give to this poor life of ours.” — Penny Pulpit. Christ is said to dwell in our hearts by faith. The soul then accepts of Christ entirely as prophet, priest, and king. To those in whom Christ thus dwells, he is made of God “wisdom,” to cure their ignorance and folly; “righteousness,” to abolish their guilt; “sanctification,” to renew their natures; and “redemption,” to free them at last from the grave, and bring them to glory. The apostle does not say, God “is willing.” That is unnecessary. He turns the gaze of the Ephesians upon the wonders of God’s power,—God “is able to do,”—and connects it with the love of Christ, and the fullness of God, of which he had just been speaking. He “is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.” The word here is peculiar. It means “out of measure,” surpassingly, transcendently, “breaking over all bounds” of our comprehension. We feel its force more and more when we take in connection the whole of the glowing context in which the language labors hard to indicate the greatness of the idea. We have to comprehend the “incomprehensible” and to measure the “immeasurable.” The measure of what God will give is limited only by his power to do; and its lineal extent is limited only by the love of Christ, which “passeth knowledge;” and both the strength of God and the love of Christ are summed up in that amazing expression, “All the fullness of God.” It is not only abundantly that he is able to do, but “exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.” Cecil says, “Our Heavenly Father always sends his children the things they ask, or better things; he answers their petitions in kind or in kindness. While we think only of our ease, he consults our profit.” A gentleman passing a church one day with Daniel Webster, asked him, “How can you reconcile with reason the doctrine of the Trinity?” The statesman replied, by asking, “Do you understand the arithmetic of heaven?” U. S.