Eph. 3:19 "And to know the knowledge-surpassing love of Christ, that you
may be filled unto all the fullness of God."
Phil. 2:13 "For it is God who operates in you both the willing and the working
for His good pleasure."
[In Ephesians 3:19] to be filled unto all God's fullness means to be
filled unto all that God is. This fullness dwells in Christ (Col. 1:19;
2:9). Through His indwelling, Christ imparts the fullness of God into our
being. This makes us God's expression. The fullness of God implies that
the riches of what He is become His expression. When the riches are in Him,
they are His riches; when they are expressed, they become His fullness.
All that God is should be our contents. We should be so filled with Him that
we become His fullness, His expression.
To become God's fullness is in a category entirely apart from being
kind and humble....I have several times repented for being outwardly blameless
while I was not filled with the Lord....We all need to become aware of this
distinction between being good and being filled with the Lord. (The Completing
Ministry of Paul, pp. 77-78)
What does [Philippians 2:13] tell us God is doing? Does it say that
it is God who inspires us from the heavens to will and to do? Is the almighty
God reaching down from His throne to stir us up? No! God is operating in
us. The Greek word for operate has no precise English equivalent, though
the word energize comes from it and somewhat conveys the meaning. The thought
in this verse is that God is moving, acting, working, rubbing within us.
Our God is continuously working in us. We must think of Him not as far off
on the throne but as within, constantly touching, moving, rubbing, and bothering
us.
The very next verse says,"Do all things without murmurings and reasonings"
(Phil. 2:14). While you are murmuring, God is operating in you.While you
are reasoning, He is moving in you. He tells you to stop, but you reply,"In
a minute!" Though you will not stop, even when the minute is up,God continues
His operating in you. His working within never ceases. This is our God.
You may say such a God is too small. The Jews may believe that their God
is great and exalted on the throne, but I like having such a small God.
He is far more practical and relevant to my everyday situation....My God
is within me, bothering all the time!
"Now the God of peace, He who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus,
the great Shepherd of the sheep, in the blood of an eternal covenant, perfect
you in every good work for the doing of His will, doing in us that which
is well pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ; to Him be the glory
forever and ever. Amen" (Heb. 13:20-21). If we were writing such a prayer,we
would probably say something like,"May the God of peace equip you to do
good works that you may glorify Him!" Why did Paul insert such a long modifier,
"Who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep,
in the blood of an eternal covenant"?
The old covenant was enacted by the blood of the sacrifices. The blood
opened the door for the new covenant also to come in. The new covenant is
to write God's nature into our being as the law of life, to give us a new
spirit, and even to put us into God the Spirit. Whose blood is the blood
of an eternal covenant? It is the blood of Christ. This blood ushers in
His resurrection. In Christ's resurrection God comes into us.
[God] equips us by coming into us. He can come into us through the
resurrection of Christ. The resurrection is here through the shedding of
His blood. This God, who is brought to us through the resurrection, is now
equipping us"through Jesus Christ." God is not reaching down from the heavens
to stir us up. He is"doing in us that which is well pleasing in His sight
through Jesus Christ." Our God through Christ in His resurrection has come
into us. Now He is"doing" in us still in resurrection through Christ. (The
Completing Ministry of Paul, pp. 78-80)
Further Reading: The Completing Ministry of Paul, ch. 12
