| | FULFILLMENT
by Cornelius R. Stam
THE NEED FOR FULFILLMENT
There is a great outcry these days for fulfillment. Psychology
professors and psychiatrists, most of whom show little evidence of
having themselves found true satisfaction in life, keep emphasising
man's need for fulfillment. As a result, the younger gereration is
presently engaged in a frantic search for this precious commodity.
They want fulfillment, physically, intellectually and spiritually -
mostly in that order.
The reason for this latter is that godless "intellectuals" in our
institutions of learning have placed such heavy emphasis upon the
sensual that a truly lost generation of young people has been
brainwashed into supposing that if only man's physical desires, his
sensual passions, can be satisfied, the realization of intellectual
and then spiritual fullment will follow naturally.
Actually, the very opposite is the case: it is spiritual fullment
that straightens out all the rest and brings into proper perspective.
What man needs first and above all else is for his spirit to be filled
and satisfied with all the peace, assurance, joy and victory that
God's Spirit alone can bestow. Referring, doubtless, to the influence
of the Spirit of God upon the human spirit, our Lord rightly said:
"It is the Spirit that quickeneth [giveth life]; the flesh
profiteth nothing" (John 6:63).
In Galations 6:8 the Apostle Paul declares:
"He that soweth to the flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption;
but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life
everlasting."
In Romans 8:6 he states this same truth in even stronger language:
"For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded
is life and peace."
Some translators have rendered this passage: "the mind of the
flesh... the mind of the spirit," but the preceding verse seems to
indicate beyond doubt that the Apostle is speaking of having one's
mind on the flesh, or on the Spirit. to have one's mind on the flesh,
he says, is "death," but to have one's mind on the Spirit is "life and
peace."
Significantly, it is since America has departed so far from God,
since men in the pulpit have so largely stopped teaching the Bible, or
even giving credence to it, that all this cry for "fulfillment" has
arisen.
Thousands of clergymen are telling lost souls what they ought to do
and how they ought to live, simply because they themselves are
unregenerate men who merely went to seminary to prepare for the
ministry, but do not know Christ. These unsaved clergymen know
nothing of the riches of God's grace in Christ that their hearers so
sorely need. But, alas, even men of God, who know Christ and believe
the Bible, are in many cases failing to teach God's Word, to "feed the
flock" with those precious truths that could so greatly enrich their
lives. Hence this spiritual starvation, this deep hunger on the part
of so many, even religious people, who do not know exactly what it is
they lack. These should know that the Bible, and particularly the
epistles of Paul, show us the way to glorious fulfillment.
The orderly, satisfied, victorious lives of those who do experience
spiritual fulfillment, springs from their recognition of the truth of
God's declaration that, "man shall not live by bread alone, but by
every Word of God."
The Bible has much to say about fulfillment, espically in the
epistles of Paul, but also in the writings of John, who wrote long
after Paul was raised up to make known to mankind how much Christ
accomplished for us by His death at Calvary.
ENJOYING TRUE FULFILLMENT
Paul had been a very religious man, very zealous of the traditions
of the fathers, but there was an emptiness in his life and he became
progressively more bitter until he came to know Christ. Only then did
he find true fulfillment - and then this was all he could talk and
write about!
Picture him before Agrippa, standing there in chains in a crowded
courtroom, his very life at stake. He does indeed speak in his own
defense, but as we read the record this almost seems to be secondary.
He appears to be preaching to those assembled. He preaches with such
power that Festus interrupts him, shouting: "Paul, thou art beside
thyself; much learning doth make thee mad", but Agrippa says: "Almost
thou persuaded me to be a Christian", whereupon Paul replies:
"I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this
day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these
bonds" (Acts 26:29).
The Apostle, even in chains, experienced true fulfillment. Hence
his mind was not upon himself. He saw Festus and Agrippa and all
those assembled in that courtroom as poor lost souls, needing Christ,
and the fulfillment that He alone can give.
To these who sat in judgment upon him, the Apsotle said in effect:
"I wish you could all experience the satisfaction that I enjoy!" And
he did not speak thus, merely, as a zealot at a public trial. To his
Christian friends he wrote from his prison in Rome about sitting "in
heavenly places (Lit., the highest heavens) in Christ," blessed with
"all spiritual blessings" (Ephesians 1:3). To the Philippians he
wrote, triumphantly:
"...the things which have happened unto me have fallen out rather
unto furtherance of the gospel;
"So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in
all other places;
"And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my
bonds, are much more bold to speak the Word without fear" (Phillipians
1:12-14).
"Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, rejoice!" (4:4)
Paul had indeed found fulfillment and, bless God, there are
thousands upon thousands of us today who have found this same
fulfillment in Christ. We have the same assurance of sins forgiven, of
complete justification before a holy God, and, like Paul, rejoice in
our position and blessings in the heavenlies in Christ.
But now let us proceed to the doctrine of fulfillment as we find it
in the Word of God.
THE DOCTRINE OF FULFILLMENT
To make this as uncomplicated as possible we will consider but one
root word, which the Bible uses far more than any other to express
fulfillment. It is the Greek noun pleeroma and its grammatical
derivatives.
This word is used in several passages in John's writings, where it
is indicated that God would have His people enjoy rich, full lives,
regardless of outward circumstances.
Our Lord closed His famous discourse on the Vine and the Branches
by saying:
"These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in
you, and that your joy may be full" (John 15:11).
Later, instructing His disciples as to how they should pray in His
absence, He said:
"Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My name: ask, and ye shall
recieve, that your joy may be full" (John 16:24).
In the opening verses of his first epistle, the Apostle John
likewise writes:
"And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full" (1
John 1:4).
And those who trusted Christ, even in those early days before the
dispensation of grace, did find full-fillment. John the Baptist, who
heralded the coming of the King and introduced Him to the people of
Israel, declared:
"And of His fulness have all we recieved, and grace for [upon]
grace" (John 1:16).
This ful-fillment was not marred by adversity, for consistently in
the Acts record we find the persecuted apostles and disciples joyful
and victorious. After having suffered a cruel beating and bitter
threats from the Sanhedrin, we read in Acts 5:41 that "they departed
from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted
worthy to suffer shame for his name."
Again, in Acts 13 we find a church born in the midst of strife and
persecution, yet of these persecution believers we read:
"And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost"
(Verse 52).
"FULFILLMENT AND THE MYSTERY"
But it was to Paul that the risen, ascended, exalted Lord revealed
Himself in what the Apostle calles "the mystery," a secret hid from
previous "ages and generation." Not only did this "mystery" involve a
program, God's great purpose concerning this present dispensation of
His grace; in the "mystery" our Lord also revealed Himself and His
glorious, all-sufficient work as the secret of all the riches of grace
which are ours in Christ.
Had the Lord Jesus Christ remained in heaven, aloof from us
sinners, we could have known only condemnation and judgement, but He
came to be with us, yes, to become one of us, true man as well as true
God, to pay our debt of sin, so that by faith we might be fully
justified and find fulfillment in Him.
If the Spirit-inspired apsotle makes anything clear and emphatic it
is that fulfillment can be found in the rejected but glorified Christ
alone, by an intelligent understanding and believing appropriation of
His person and work in our behalf.
Col. 1:19: "For it pleased the Father that in Him should all
fulness dwell."
Col. 2:9: "For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead
bodily."
Col. 2:10: "And ye are complete [made full] in Him..."
Restless soul, you will never find complete satisfaction until you
find it in Christ, for the simple reason that all fulness resides in
Him. He is the fount of every blessing, the Source of all supply.
What do you want that is of any real and lasting value? What do
you want that will truly fill your life? Forgiveness? Justification?
A free Conscience? Peace? Assurance? Liberty? Joy? All - every
bit of it - is to be found in Christ alone. Read the epistles of Paul
and see how "all spiritual blessings" are to to found only "in
Christ." Read the above passages from Colossians again, thoughtfully
and prayerfully. "It pleased the Father that in Him should all
fulness dwell...in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily,
and ye are complete [made full] in Him."
But God wants us to see that all this blessing and joy, all these
riches of grace that reside in Christ, can become ours only as we
place our trust in Him. In Romans 15:13 the Apostle writes:
"Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in
believing..."
How I wish you could see, my dear unsaved friend, that god simply
wants to be believed, just as you want other to believe you. He knows
all about your sins but He Himself has settled all the claims against
you and now He wants you to leave the whole matter with Him and accept
salvation as "the gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord." Believe
what He says about christ dying to pay your debt and rising again in
power to prove that your debt is fully paid. Take Him at His Word,
and He will "fill you with joy and peace in believing."
In Ephesians 3:17-19 the Apostle, divinely inspired, urges you to
let Christ "dwell in your heart by faith." And then, "rooted and
grounded in [His] love," he would have you measure "what is the
breadth, and length, and depth, and height" of all that Christ has for
you and can be to you, as it is revealed in the wonderful "mystery,"
the sacred secret made known through him. And why would he have us
"measure" these riches of grace and glory? Listen:
"...to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye
might be filled with all fulness of God" (verse 19).
How can we leave this passage without quoting the blessed
benediction that brings it to a close:
"Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all
that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
"Unto Him be glory in the Church, by Christ Jesus, throughout all
ages, world without end. Amen" (verse 20,21).
Do you see how believers are "made full," find fulfillment, in
Christ? Do you see how Paul had much more than material matters in
mind when he wrote to the faithful Philippian believers:
"But my God shall supply [Lit., fully fill] all your need according
to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19).
FULFILLMENT FOR CHRIST
Perhaps the most profound and amazing aspect of the mystery
revealed through Paul is the divine truth that as we are "made full"
in Christ, so He is "made full" by His Body, the true Church.
Not only would the Apostle have us understand and enjoy the riches
of our inheritence in Christ; he also prays earnestly that we might
comprehend "what is the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the
saints"! (Ephesians 1:18).
In Ephesians 4:10 we read that our Lord "ascended up far above all
heavens, that He might fill all things," but Chapter 1, Verse 23, we
are told that the Church is...
"...His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all."
As Eve was given to Adam, and the two became "one flesh", God now
calling their name Adam (Genesis 5:2), so in a spiritual, yet very
real sense, believers are given to Christ as His blood-bought
possession, that we might be one with Him, the members of His Body.
And as we find fulfillment in us, whom He loved, for whom He died and
upon whom He joyously bestows all the riches of grace which He
purchased for us at Calvary. Think of it! We His inheritance, and
more - His fullness, His completeness. What and evidence of His
loving character is this! He would not be complete in heaven without
us any more than Adam would have been complete or happy alone in the
Garden of Eden. Christ needed the love and companionship of His
creatures. His divine capacity for compassion and understanding and
mercy and love needed opportunity for expression.
How much that Blessed Book, the Bible, has to say about fulfillment
and satisfaction and joy - and most of all in the epistles of Paul.
In discussing this subject we have cited many occurrences of one Greek
word for fulfillment: pleeroma, along with its grammatical
derivatives, but there is much, much more to be found in the synonyms
and arguments used, espically by Paul, to show how rich believers are
in Christ and, indeed, how rich He has become since His love sent Him
to Calvary to die in shame and agony and blood for us! What joy will
fill His heart, as well as ours, when through the ages of eternity we
finally love and adore Him as, in our present state, we are unable to
do!
We are deeply conscious tha only with "stammering tongue" have we
endeavored to place before you what God's Word says about "the peace
that passeth understanding" and "the joy that passeth knowledge," but
one fact is unmistakably clear: such fulfillment can be found in
Christ alone.
Have you recieved and acknowledged Him as your Lord and Saviour?
If not, will you do so now, without further delay? It is His desire
to fill with peace and joy, but you must recognize your need of Him
and acknowledge that you are the sinner for whom He died, asking Him
to save you. Be wise.Cast yourself upon Him right now.
"For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek; for the
same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him.
"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved"
(Romans 10:12,13).
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