Fullness (1)

March 3

Fullness (1)

plērōma

The Greek words behind fullness (noun plērōma [4138] and verb plēroō [4137]) occur over 100 times in the NT. Eph_1:22-23 is a particularly striking example: "The church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all." Plērōma refers to "that which is filled." It was used of a ship being filled with sailors, rowers, soldiers, and even cargo. The same basic word is then used as a verb ("filleth") later in the verse. The tense of the verb is a present participle, showing continuous action. One aspect of this is that Christ fills the church with His own life.

Another aspect, however, is that the church is also His fullness. In other words, as a head must have a body to complement it, so Christ must have the church to manifest His glory. John Calvin put it in these profound words: "This is the highest honor of the church that until He is united to us, the Son of God reckons Himself in some measure incomplete. What consolation it is for us to learn that not until we are in His presence does He possess all His parts, nor does He wish to be regarded as complete. Hence, in the First Epistle to the Corinthians [1Co_12:12-31], when the apostle discusses largely the metaphor of a human body, he includes under the single name of Christ the whole Church."

What a statement that is! To think that the sovereign Creator, perfect and complete in Himself, chooses to consider Himself, in a sense, incomplete without His Church. What a staggering thought! So, the full idea conveyed here in Paul’s statement is that Christ continues to fill the church so that the church can be the full expression of Christ.

Another striking usage of plērōma occurs in Rom_13:10: "Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." The last six of the Ten Commandments concern our relationship with other people. If we are filled with love, right treatment of others will be automatic. We’ll look at another profound usage tomorrow.

Scriptures for Study: With what are we to be filled according to Eph_5:18? How does Col_2:19 prove the deity of Christ?

 
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