ROMANS 15:29

“I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.”

There’s a Christian song that has a line in the chorus that says, “And now I’m filled to overflowing.” Have you ever felt that full? Maybe you had an experience and could not wait to tell someone about it. I can remember many times when a child in one of the children’s homes where I served accepted Christ and could not wait to call their mom or dad or grandma or grandpa. They just had to let them know about the change in their life. They were filled with joy and excitement.

The word used here for “fullness” is pléróma. The Topical Lexicon says it “denotes that which fills, the state of being filled, or the sum total that makes something complete. Scripture applies the term to cloth, baskets, time, the created order, Israel and the Gentiles, the incarnate Christ, the Church, divine love, and apostolic blessing. Together the references reveal a single, coherent testimony: God plans, provides, and perfects until His purposes stand complete.” I am sure that is what Paul is thinking of when he says, “the fullness of the blessing of Christ.”

APPLICATION

This word is used in Mark 6:43 and Mark 8:20 to refer to the complete filling of the baskets after Jesus filled the 5,000 and the 4,000. There wasn’t just a little bit leftover. There was a lot. When God fills us with His Spirit, we don’t get just a little bit. We get the complete and whole Spirit of God. We are filled so full we overflow with joy.

Paul says in Colossians 1:19, “For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him,” Christ wasn’t half man and half God. He was fully human without the sin and fully God. I love it that Paul says, “it was the Father’s good pleasure.” The same is true for us. He takes great pleasure in filling us completely with His blessings.

Never let the evil one whisper in your ear that you are not fully indwelt by the Holy Spirit. We are told that we are sealed by the Spirit. When we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior and surrender our lives to Him, He sends the fullness of the Spirit to indwell us. And to make sure it sticks, He seals us with that Spirit. God does the sealing, not us. We are full of Him through His Spirit. What a blessing that is!

I proclaim that I am filled to overflowing and I don’t mind the whole world knowing!

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