“ON THE FULNESS OF CHRIST”

Col. 1:19—”For it hath pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell.”

No subject can be more suitable for the children of God, who see nothing but emptiness in the world, and daily feel the emptiness of their persons, their prayers, their every religious duty, and are constantly crying out, “Woe is me, for I am undone!” But these sweet words inform us that there is a fulness dwelling in Christ; secondly, that it is the pleasure of God the Father that all fulness should dwell there; and thirdly, it will be proper to inquire for whom this fulness is provided.

First, there is a dwelling fulness in Christ as God, for “in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily,” all perfections, all blessedness, all glory. But here we have to do with his mediatorial fulness as God-man Mediator, a fulness of efficacy in his precious atoning blood, to make peace with God, to wash away all guilty stains from his church, to pay the whole of his people’s debts; to give full satisfaction for all injuries done to the holy law of God, which demands perfect obedience, and the strict justice of God, which admits of no compromise; and to procure the full and entire forgiveness of all sins. Secondly, there is a fulness in the perfect righteousness of Jesus, that God the Father is well pleased with: angels wonder at it, and admire it; saints are justified by it, are brought into a state of non-condemnation through it, and are admitted into heaven upon the footing of having this blessed robe imputed to them; it fills every soul full who has it on. Thirdly, shall we come to his intercessory work in heaven? It is so full of merit, that it makes all the prayers of all saints efficacious; no petition will be sent back unanswered that Jesus presents:

“He, dearest Lord! perfumes our sighs,
And sweetens every groan.”

Our confession of sin, our acknowledgment of mercies, our begging fresh supplies of pardon, life, liberty, the Spirit of adoption, etc., are all attended to in heaven, through the advocacy of our High Priest above. Fourthly, there is a great fulness in his pardoning grace. Look at Peter: Christ was suffering for Peter, while Peter was denying him; and although the disciples slept when he told them to watch, yet he pardoned them; they slept again, but he pardoned again; they slept again, and he forgave them again.

Take encouragement poor, sin-burdened soul! Thy transgressions, numberless and great as they are, shall never condemn thee; they are cast behind the back of infinity and eternity; they are buried in the depths of the sea; they are borne away to the land of forgetfulness; they are blotted out, and when sought for shall not be found. We often see in the Bible that when sinners were committing the greatest acts of sin, Christ was displaying the greatest acts of pardon: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” He must needs go through Samaria, to save a very wicked woman there. And in his first sermon he says, “Blessed are the poor and the meek;” not blessed is the very great believer, but the poor! Oh! what a great fulness is there in the pardoning grace of Jesus.

Secondly, to speak upon the good pleasure of God the Father,—”It pleased the Father.” The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him; it pleased the Lord to bruise his dear Son, and to put him to grief, when his justice found sin upon him. And it pleased him that all fulness should dwell in the Son of his love; a fulness of all grace, a fulness of all blessedness: not a fulness of one good, but a fulness of all good, of life, of mercy, of wisdom; and here it dwells, not like a fountain of water, full sometimes, and sometimes empty; or like the sun that sometimes shines, and at others is hid and clouded; or the wind that now and then blows; but it is a dwelling fulness, an ever-flowing and overflowing fulness, full of grace and truth: the vessel is as large as divinity, and it is full of mercy, mercyfull. We sometimes have a little fulness in the ordinances of his house, in a prayer, in a sermon, in a hymn, in conversation; but it does not dwell, it seems to stop running; but it is not the pleasure of God that it should dwell in any but in Christ; not in angels, nor in our first parents, nor in any of the means of grace. The blessed ordinances are the pipes to convey it from the Head to the members, from the Bridegroom to the bride: our life, light, peace, purity, pardon, beauty, holiness, comeliness, righteousness, adoption, access, grace and glory, dwell in him, and come from him; and it is the good pleasure of God that it should be so. Look, my reader, look again and again at the words all fulness. Does it not imply, that if all fulness is in Christ, that it must be all emptiness out of him? Then we should make up our minds to meet disappointment from all quarters out of Jesus.

Thirdly; we inquire, for whom this special grant of free grace, the good pleasure of God has provided this exhaustless store. We often read of the needy being saved; when the poor and needy seek water, and the Lord will hear them, and not forsake them; we read of a people loved with an everlasting love, of a chosen people, a purchased people, a holy and peculiar people, that are given to Christ. They are God the Father’s gift to his dear Son: “thine they were, and thou gavest them me:” “all that the Father hath given me shall come to me;” they shall never be plucked out of God the Father’s nor God the Son’s hand. These persons are brought to hate sin, to discover an absence of all good in creatures, and God the Holy Spirit directs them to Jesus, where all good is to be found: here they desire to dwell, to be constantly drawing out of this never dry well. We shall want fresh supplies every day of the present year we are about entering upon; and our heavenly Father has made large provision for us beforehand in the church’s Head and Husband. Jesus is Jehovah’s greatest gift, mercy’s magazine, heaven’s best blessing, the church’s richest portion.

Believers on earth by precious faith are laying hold of precious promises, and presenting them for payment at heaven’s treasury. Bills may be dishonoured, but there is fulness in Christ; trade and earthly friends may fail, but there is a fulness in Christ; disease and poverty may invade this earthly tabernacle, and waste every creature comfort, but there is a solid, substantial, soul-satisfying fulness treasured up in Jesus, which no communication can exhaust or diminish. Old Testament saints have drawn from it; New Testament believers are living upon the receiving daily and hourly supplies from this fulness, and grace for grace. The redeemed in glory are going out of themselves, and seek their heaven, happiness, bliss, and blessedness from this fountain fulness. And all who are drawing supplies from it here below, are happy, while many are very miserable, and all must be miserable who are seeking a life out of creatures. And while God the Father is well pleased in Jesus, God the Holy Spirit delights to glorify him by his gracious influence, as that sovereign eye-salve that gives the saints a saving sight of the Saviour: they hence discern the distant land, behold covenant mysteries, and discover secret things that have lain in him.

Zion’s Trumpet

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