In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
I. The house, or place of residence--“in Him.” In the man Christ Jesus, or in that human nature in which He carried on the business of our salvation; as despicable and abject as it was in the eyes of men, yet it was the temple and seat of the Godhead.
II. The inhabitant--“the fulness of the Godhead;” not a portion of God only, or His gifts and graces (as we are made partakers of the Divine nature, 1Pe_1:4.), but the whole Godhead.
III. The manner--“bodily.’’ The word may relate--
1. To the shadows and figures of the law, and so it signifieth essentially, substantially. God dwelt in the tabernacle, temple, or ark of the covenant,
óõìâïëéêù͂
Ϛ, because of the figures of His presence. In Christ,
óùìáôéêù͂
Ϛ, as His human nature was the true tabernacle or temple in which He resideth. Christ calls His human nature a temple (Joh_2:19), or else--
2. With respect to the intimacy and closeness of the union. So
óùìáôéêù͂
Ϛ, may be rendered personally; for body is often put for a person. The two natures were so united in Him, that He is one Christ. (T. Manton, D. D.)
The fulness of Christ
Ships have been wrecked by mistaking one light for another. Men in life’s voyage often make the same terrible blunder. Signals of danger, however, are set up by God to save us from so tragic an end. False teachers were proclaiming fantastic doctrines, but of such death-luring lights the apostle bids the Colossians beware. We need the same warning. Error confronts us in magazines, newspapers, and pulpits. Paul would have us know that all doctrine is false which does not radiate from Christ. Note--
I. Man’s condition is a necessitous one.
1. He has Divinely implanted longings for whose satisfaction he has to go out of himself. He has
(1) Social cravings. He was not designed for loneliness but for companionship.
(2) Mental cravings, which sometimes show themselves in theform of curiosity; but the more cultured a man becomes, his mental longings assume a higher form. The journeys taken, libraries collected, the efforts made to ransack past and present witness to these.
(3) Moral and spiritual cravings. What efforts he has made to know God and be at peace with Him.
2. These longings distinguish man from the animal creation, and witness to the grandeur of His soul.
3. Their existence implies that there is somewhere that by which they may be satisfied.
II. Man’s necessitous condition is completely met by the Divine fulness. This fulness is--
1. The plenitude of the Godhead. Who can describe this? It is a fathomless ocean and a limitless sky. All we can say is that it is a fulness out of which all our need may be supplied. But we may know of boundless wealth, and yet remain destitute because not able or permitted to approach it. Is this so here? No. As the beams flow from the sun’s fulness within the reach and for the use of every tree and hedgerow, so the Divine fulness has come down to us all,
2. In the person of Christ, not typically but really.
(1) He meets our social cravings. He has become one with us in sharing our common life, with its sorrows and joys. No one need now be lonely, since here is One who has everything for which we yearn.
(2) He meets our mental cravings. He is the Truth, the Light of the world, the Wisdom of God.
(3) He meets our moral cravings in His revelation of the Father, and in His atonement for sin. Why, then, go to philosophy or sacraments which can only disappoint.
3. Present and unchanging. The Colossian heretics held a temporary fulness; Paul affirms the Divine fulness “dwells”in Him now and for ever. Earthly things filter away with pitiless haste, but He is “the same to-day,” etc. Then while we should avoid going elsewhere we should flee to Him at once. His willingness is equal to His ability to distribute. (E. H. Palmer.)
The fulness of God dwelling in Christ
I. The import of the text.
1. All the fulness of the Godhead. The original signifies that by which a thing is filled, completed, or made perfect. “The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof,” i.e., all it contains. So the text means all the natural and moral attributes, everything which renders the Divine nature complete. It cannot mean anything less, for if one perfection were taken away there would be something wanting to, and therefore destructive of the fulness of the Godhead.
2. All this fulness dwells in Christ. The word is not that used in Joh_1:14, to dwell in a tabernacle--a temporary residence, but one which signifies to live in a house, a permanent habitation. So then all the fulness of the Godhead dwells in Christ abidingly.
3. Bodily means real and substantial as against shadowy and figurative. The Mosaic law was a shadow, Christ was the body.
II. This import corresponds with other scriptures.
1. We are taught in many places that the Father and the Spirit dwelt in Christ. Our Lord often declared that the Father dwelt in Him, and added “He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father.” He is also represented as having the Spirit without measure. Now the whole Godhead is included in Father, Son, and Spirit. Wherever these dwell there is the Divine fulness. They dwell in Christ.
2. Christ is represented as possessing all the perfections of Deity--omnipotence in creation and Providence; omniscience in His knowledge of the Father, and of the heart of man; omnipresence in being with His disciples alway. In fact, He is all in all, and therefore has the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
III. Inferences. If all the fulness of the Godhead is in Christ, then--
1. In Him alone can God be found. Men have forsaken God; but they must find Him again or be lost for ever. It is His will that men should seek after Him if haply they may find Him. Now if we wish to find any one we must go to His residence. So since the whole Godhead resides in Jesus as in a permanent habitation, we must repair to Him to find God. “I am the Way, the Truth,” etc. “No man knoweth the Father but the Son,” etc. Men may seek Him in the works of creation, in providence, in His Word; but they will never find Him till they come to Christ, for even the Scriptures can only make us wise unto salvation through Him. But if we come to Him, God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness will give us the knowledge of His glory in the face of Jesus Christ.
2. No man can obtain a portion of that fulness except by applying to Christ. Did all the light of the universe dwell in the sun; none could obtain light except from the sun. Were all the water that exists collected into one reservoir none could obtain water but by applying to that reservoir. Now, unless we obtain some of this fulness, we must pine in eternal want. The mercy which pardons sin, the light which illumines the mind, the grace which purifies the heart, the strength which resists and overcomes, the consolation which supports, bright hope and everlasting joy flow from this, and no man can partake of them without partaking of it. Infinitely better to be destitute of everything else than to want this. For it the Saviour invites us to apply to Him.
3. The necessity and worth of faith in Him. Look first at Him and see in Him an inexhaustible fulness of blessing; look next at mankind wanting everything and therefore wretched. Now what is wanted is a channel of communication through which this fulness may flow, so as to be filled with it. Such a channel is faith. Hence John says of believers, and of those only, “Of His fulness we have received.” (E. Payson, D. D.)
