Reading just those two verses,
for they declare the subject that we have in mind today, which
for those on the tape and CD is the fullness of God dwelling
in Christ. In Colossians 1 verse 19, For
it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell. Flipping to chapter 2 and verse
9, a little bit different wording, but For in him dwelleth all the
fullness of the Godhead bodily. So we have that distinction between
the two passages of Scripture. Let me begin by saying, I think
you might agree, that Paul in Colossians has crowned, or is
crowning, Christ with many crowns. He has heaped much honor and
much glory. upon the blessed Son of God in
this book. Calling Him the very image of
God. We had a study on that. Calling
Him the Creator and the Preserver of all things. We had a study
on that. Calling Him the Head of all things,
and particularly the Head of the Church. And we had a study
on that. Now, He will heap upon Christ
Yet another great and high honor, which is actually twofold as
we look at it. In chapter 1, verse 19, the good
pleasure of God that in Christ should all fullness dwell. It was God's good pleasure. It
pleased the Father. It was His kind intent that in
Christ all of the fullness of the Godhead should dwell. For in Him was well pleased when
the fullness was manifest in Christ. All of these certainly
are well deserved. But if you would look and see
how verse 19 actually connects with or flows from the last phrase
in the 18th verse. It said that in Him all things
might have the preeminence. In other words, first place.
That Christ might be first. That He might have first place.
That He might have preeminence. That He might be above and head
over all. Verse 19 then continues that
very thought, For it is pleasing to the Father that in Him, meaning
of course, Christ Jesus, the very Son of God, should all fulness
dwell. Now these are two great expressions
showing us the glory of Christ. A. In all things He must have
first place. Not in one, not in some, but
in all. In all of the works of God. In all that God intended to do,
the Lord might have first place. He might be at the top. He might
have the head in all. And then be, notice something
else, in Him all fullness dwells. So the two things, He is the
first, He at first place, in Him all fullness does dwell. Now, this certainly means that
if we jump down to chapter 2 and verse 9 that we read, we will
see the same thing expressed in a little bit different way,
or a little bit different angle or view. For here it says, for
in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead, and Paul adds
bodily. In him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. So that in chapter 1 and verse
19, it is all fullness. Chapter 2 and verse 9, it is
the fullness of the Godhead. Then of course, let us consider
two things from Colossians 2 and verse 9. If you put your eyes
upon them, A, you want to consider the word Godhead. In Him dwells
the fullness of the Godhead. Now, you'll find this word, I
believe, only three times in reading in the New Testament,
that is, from the King James Version of the Scripture. Here
they are, Acts 17 and verse 29, when Paul declared to them upon
Mars Hill, having seen their image to the unknown God, and
having walked among them, and having read some of their poets,
and he quotes one of their poets, Since your poets have said, we
are the offspring of God, we ought not to think, therefore,
that the Godhead is like under silver and under gold or under
stone. That would be a foolish contradiction
to say, as your poet did, we are the offspring of God, and
then make you a god of stone or something of that sort. It's
graven by art. and men's hand. So Paul says
here, since your poets have declared, we are the offspring of God. Again, we have the word in Romans
1.20. In condemning paganism, Paul speaks of the eternal power
and Godhead, or divinity as it might be. And again in Colossians
2 and verse 9, the fullness of the Godhead. Now there's a slight
variation in the three words as they appear in the three places
in the Scripture. But we could express, I believe,
each one of them by divine nature or deity thinking in that light. In Him dwells all the fullness
of the divine nature are of deity. The word in Acts 17.29 is quashmore
in 2 Peter, and you'll find it in verse 1 and in verse 3 and
in verse 4. In verse 3 it is rendered as
divine power, and in verse 4 it is rendered divine nature. So,
this word Godhead that we have a few times in the Scripture,
divine power, divine nature, divinity, our deity, if you will. Within thee, you will notice
something else in Colossians 2 and verse 9, and that is that
it includes the word bodily. And we don't have that in chapter
1 and verse 19. In Him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead. deity or divinity, bodily, Paul
adds, in bodily form, in the incarnate Son of God Most High. We'll have more to say about
that later in our study. But let's focus now, for the
time being, on the word fullness, for that will consume our attention
today. That the fullness of divinity,
the fullness of deity, The fullness of the divine nature resides
in Jesus Christ. The fullness of it, it pleased
the Father to dwell. Let us tell or remind ourselves
that these texts have to do not with just the Godhead prior to
incarnation, though certainly we'll show that connection, not
just prior to the incarnation of their eternal existence only,
but of the incarnation of the Son of God in flesh and in fashion
as a man, as Paul calls it in Philippians, the second chapter.
For the fullness is said to dwell in Him bodily, and he took not
a body until the incarnation of flesh. Then again, we need
to remind ourselves the reason why Paul so highly exalts Christ. It seems that Paul just cannot
exalt Christ high enough to suit him in this great epistle that
he has written. I tell you, it was because of
the false views of Christ that were held among those concerning
things spiritual, as well as the person of Christ. Those who
had infiltrated, those false teachers who had come among them,
had low and degrading views of Jesus Christ the Lord. So Paul
exalts Him as high as it is possible, saying the fullness of God dwells
in Him. He is the image of God. He is the creator and the sustainer
of all things. Now, what then is meant by Paul
saying, fullness? The fullness of the Godhead dwells
in Christ. All the fullness of God dwells
in Him bodily. But I think this question must
be answered properly in order that we might have a proper view
of the person and the work of Christ. We must know what He
is as to His nature. We must know who, what, and what
He is that we might rightly understand His person and His work. Now, first of all, let us suggest
what it does not mean when Paul says the fullness of God dwells
in Christ and dwells in Him bodily. What it does not mean, sometimes
is profitable as well, before we come to what actually is meant
by it. First of all, it does not mean
that the Father has emptied Himself in any respect of His deity,
or in any aspect of His deity. It's not as if the Father had
poured His deity over into the Son, leaving the Father with
none. Not any part of the deity of
the Father is forfeited, or is it shifted over to or into the
Son. Since all three members of the
divine Godhead, all persons as we call them in the Trinity,
All of them in the Holy Tree share the same divine essence
and nature. All of them share the divine
nature or essence of divinity. All of them share it. And it
dwells also in the Incarnate Son. And this does not require
that the Father divest Himself of the divine essence in order
for the son to bear the fulness of it. In fact, this is or would
be an impossibility for God to strip off his deity or his attribute. Nor is it the doctrine of Sabellianism
that we have here in this passage of the scripture. The Sabellians
were Sabellius, then the Sabellians We're, in a way, the forerunner
of the modern-day Oneness Pentecosts that are in our generation and
in our day. They are some of the children
of the Sabellians. Well, you say, how? Well, this
answer to the name Mofartirism and sometimes Sabellianism, because
of the man Sabellius, from his name, in the third century. Now here's what they taught.
Sibelius and the Sibelians taught that there is no Trinity in the
Godhead. They taught there are not three
distinct and separate persons in the Godhead. They taught that
there was one person or essence But three manifestations were
only the manifestation of the one person, not three distinct
persons. And they charged Trinitarians
with being tritheists, saying that we were preaching three
gods. And even today, once in a while,
you'll hear one of these preachers heard thundering out on the radio
or the TV, for us to put away our three gods and come into
their oneness fold. Now, another thing to consider
is what has been called the kenosis. It's not that God emptied Himself.
It's not that there is just one person in the Godhead, and so
He manifests Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But neither
can it be answered by the kenotic theory based on Philippians chapter
2 and verse 7. where it is written that Christ
in the incarnation, quote, made himself of no reputation, unquote. That's how you'll find it in
the King James Version, which most agree can be translated,
emptied himself. That he emptied himself, the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this is not Paul saying
that this is what has happened in regard to the incarnation.
The Son of God did not divest Himself of His divine attributes,
or of His deity, or of His power as we see in His life. I know
a Baptist preacher who said that when Christ became incarnate,
He lay aside, lay off His divine attributes and such like. This is an impossibility. and takes away the divinity of
our Lord. This would be like the same as
saying that he lay aside his deity as if it had been a garment
that he might take off. This is an impossibility, I repeat
again. John Gill wrote on Philippians
2 and 7, he did not lay aside the fullness of grace nor the
perfections of his divine nature, which were not the least diminished
by his assumption of the human nature. For all of the fullness
of the Godhead dwelt in him bodily." Unquote. The words of John Geale. While the Lord in his incarnation
became, or sometimes you hear the word assumed, what He was
not before. I'll repeat that. In His incarnation,
the Son became something that He was not before. Yet He remained
all that He had been from all eternity, so that men saw in
Him among them, not the form of God, but the form of a servant,
or the form of a man, if you will. He appeared among men. in the form of a man. His human body was born of a
woman by the supernatural conception of the Holy Spirit. And while
it is not possible for the son to divest himself of his divine
nature, or even cast off his divine attribute, it was, on
the other hand, It is possible for Him to veil that glory as
He dwells among men. It is possible for Him to veil
that glory so that it did not shine through with all of its
brightness. But even then, John Gill said,
some rays and some beams of it broke through. Even then, some
beams of the glory of our Lord broke
through. Here, John 1 and 14, the Word
was made flesh and dwelt among us, or tabernacled is a good
word for that, among us. And listen, and we beheld His
glory as the glory of the only begotten of the Father in Christ. We beheld glory as of the glory
of the only begotten of the Father. Besides, for any who think that
in his incarnation he divested himself of his attribute and
of his deity and such like, I call you to remember the great transfiguration. It's in Matthew chapter 17. It's
in Mark chapter 9. It is again in Luke chapter 9. It was a wonder beheld only by
three chosen and favored disciples, Peter and James and John. And He took them into a mountain
apart. He took them apart from the other
great throngs and the other apostles and disciples. upon the mount
that we call transfiguration. Let me say it this way. Our Lord
let loose a blast of His glory. More than a trumpet blast. Our Lord let loose a blast of
His great divine glory for those to behold. In Matthew 17 and
2, His face did shine as the sun And his raiment was white
as light. Mark adds this in verse 3, His
raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow. So as no fuller
on earth can white them, there is no cleaner upon the earth
that is able to make them any cleaner or brighter. And Luke
9.29, and as he prayed, The countenance of him, that is the appearance
of his face, was altered. Don't ask me what that means
except some glorious manifestation. It was altered. It was changed. And his raiment was white and
glistening and gleaming bright as the disciples stood there
looking on in amazement. And we are not to conclude that
such glory emanated from the garments of the Lord Jesus. We do not believe for a minute
that simply it was His clothes that caused all of this brightness
and all of His glory. It was not His material raiment
or garments which He wore, but the glory, the brightness, the
shining, came from within, from Him Himself, as He was there
transfigured upon the mount. He was the source of the great
light, and of the great shining, and of the great beaming. One
said He was irradiated. It was a blaze of dazzling celestial
glory. And to there to see it were these
pillars of the church. as they're called in Galatians
2 and verse 9. Peter and James and John, who
seemed to be pillars of the church, saw it. And it made an impression
upon them beyond what they had seen in their lifetime. It dazzled
them. For not only did they behold
the transfiguration of the Lord, but also Moses and Elijah were
there in the presence of the Lord. And in Luke 9, verse 34
and 35, a cloud overshadowed them. And out of that cloud there
came a voice from heaven saying, This is my beloved Son. Hear ye Him. A voice of God Almighty. Just think if you can. The man
of sorrows. the one in whom men saw no beauty
that they should desire him. He known only by some as the
carpenter's son, by others as the Nazarene, whose visage was
more marred than any of the sons of men, as Isaiah 52 and 14 tell
us. Him transfigured before the eyes
of these leading disciples and pillars of our Lord Jesus. Eyewitnesses
of His majesty. And let me tell you, they did
not know what to do. Peter wanted to build a tabernacle.
Then he took a nap. I'm telling you, they did not
know what to make of all this glory and wonderful manifestation
that they had seen. Peter would later write in his
first epistle, chapter 1, verse 16 through verse 18, we were
eyewitnesses of His majesty when we received from God honor and
glory, a voice from heaven from His excellent glory when we were
with Him in the Holy Mount. Peter recalls that incident and
writes it in an epistle. Just to add this, the transfiguration
of our Lord on the Mount was a strong affirmation of His deity. Shall I say it again? It is an
affirmation of His deity, an affirmation to those close within
His circle, pillars of the church. This could never be erased from
their minds as long as they live. no matter how long they lived,
or what they saw, or what persecution came upon them. This could never
be erased out of their mind so long as they lived in the world,
what they saw of our Lord on that particular day. But now,
let's go back to Colossians and Paul's declaration that in the
incarnation dwelt in Christ the very fullness of God. Paul declares
it twice, 1.19 and 2.9 we have read. And in looking closely
at the two texts, then it will be seen how each declaration
is used, how it is appropriately brought in or given to reinforce
something just having been said. This comes both times. on the heels of something that
Paul has just said. In chapter 1, verse 19, it confirms
the right of Christ to have the first place, to be the head,
to have preeminence, because in Him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. In verse 18, in all things He
has the first place, for because God is pleased In Him Christ
should all fullness dwell. First we need to read verse 8,
chapter 2. Let's look at that to get our
lead in. Beware lest any man spoil you
through philosophy and vain deceit, after the traditions of men,
after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. Now, this is a very solemn warning
unto them. It is a very sincere and very
important exhortation to those who just a verse before had received
Jesus Christ the Lord. Beware, be on guard, look out,
take look, keep a guard, take heed, for there is a danger that
lurks seeking to spoil you, seeking to make a prey of you, seeking
to rob you of those things that are provided in Christ. Let me
do something. In verse 8, let me give you the
expanded paraphrase of J. B. Lightfoot, Colossians 2 and
verse 8. Quote, Be on your guard. Do not
allow yourselves to fall prey to certain persons who would
lead you captive by a hollow and deceitful system which they
call philosophy. They substitute the traditions
of men for the truth of God. They enforce an elementary mundane
ordinances fit only for little children." That's what we have
in the 8th verse. And then the end of verse 8,
these things are not according to Christ. These things are not
after Christ, he said. They are to be rejected because
to go after them rather than after Christ would be a great
sin. In other words, what they teach
is not the gospel of Christ. None of them are according to
Christ, our Lord and our Savior. So let's break down then verse
8, noting the three things that false teachers were seeking to
impose upon the people in Colossae. Number one, philosophy. We have
it named here right in the text. Philosophy. This was a favorite
word and a favorite thing of the Greeks and of the pagans
in that day and time. They equated it with the highest
intellect to which one might attain. And the Greeks regarded
philosophy as being wisdom, as being wise saying, as having
the answer to many things. So we read of certain philosophers
in Acts 17 and 18 of the Epicurean who met Paul there in Athens. Paul pays it no court whatsoever. He gives it no credibility. He likens it to vain deceit in
verse 8, and enticing words in verse 4. That's all it amounts
to of this philosophy. There was no spiritual value. Paul sees nothing in it, and
neither would they, to compliment Christ. He viewed it as having
no reality. He viewed it as John Eady said,
it is out and out delusion, a tissue of airy figment of the imagination,
unquote. That's how Paul looked upon it. Nor verse 8, should they espouse
the traditions of men. They should not rank the traditions
of men. above or equal to the revelation
of God in Jesus Christ. In no way should the commandments
or traditions of men be ranked on an equal par with that revelation
that is made in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Preach in
the Gospel what they had heard. Let's note, if we read the words
of the Lord in the Gospels, concerning the traditions and the commandments
of men, and what he had to say about it and against it, for
he did make frequent mention there. If we read the Lord's
words on these subjects, we are led to conclude that the Lord
has in mind what the expositor called, quote, that tangled mass
of oral teaching, which age after age The Jews had unwarrantedly
grafted on to the written law." They had taken this tradition
and attached it as law. This tradition and this tradition,
until by the time of Christ, they were full of the traditions
of man. And the Lord added something
else, that they set aside the commandment of God When men take
the commandments of men, the traditions of men become embedded. They will set aside the commandment
of God and the Word of God, which Paul noticed he called it the
rudiments of the world. Margin has it as elements. Paul uses the word again in Colossians
2 and verse 20. He uses it twice in Galatians
where in chapter 4 verse 3, chapter 4 verse 9, It is translated by
the word elements. And in 2 Peter 3 and verses 10
and 12, it is rendered elements. While in Hebrews 5 and verse
12, it is rendered the first principles of the oracles of
God. That is simply elementary principles
or elementary teachings that they were passed and were no
value to them. Paul concludes, all of these
things are not after, nor are they according to Christ. That's in Colossians 2, verse
8, the last part. He is saying of the teaching
of them that did trouble them in their churches with error,
that Christ was neither the author or the substance of their teaching. For it depreciated him. It undervalued
his person. His mediation and His atonement. But now coming to chapter 2 and
verse 9, Paul tells why they are to beware and avoid these
things named in verse 8. The false teachers were pressing
upon them. The reason is this. The whole
fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ. Colossians 2 and verse
9. Now, let me say it, and this
is true of him even in his incarnation in flesh. For Paul says bodily. The fullness of God dwells in
him bodily. In Colossians 119, he uses a
word there that, according to J.B. Lightfoot, was a technical
term favored by the Gnostics, which was pleroma. Or we think of that word plentitude. Sometimes you'll see the word
plentitude. And they believe that out of
one great plentitude, these various emanations came out of that. By successive evolution, the
Greeks believe, the Gnostics rather, that out of these there
did evolve those spirits. And Paul goes head to head with
them on this matter. And contrary to their belief,
he declares in no uncertain and no unambiguous term that the
pleroma or plentitude The fullness of deity dwells only and fully
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now while they might put Jesus
among their host of spirits, that would be their sin, Paul
says that the whole fullness or plenitude of deity dwells
in Christ. The entire fullness is in Him. And this plenitude or fullness
is a theological term. What it denotes is that the totality
of the divine powers and divine attributes were in Christ, and
they dwelt in Him in a full measure. What John Eady called the entire
assemblage that constitutes the deity, unquote, dwells in the
Lord. The fullness of the Godhead. And as someone wrote of this
whole fullness, not one cycle of divine perfection, not a single
cluster of divine propensities, not some isolated glories or
a handful of resources, but the whole of the fullness dwelt in
Christ. There has been the contention
over the plenitude or the fullness, whether it refers, one, to the
substance that fills up, or two, to the vessel that is filled
by the fullness. Some understand it to mean that
which is completed. That completeness, the entire
number or quantity, the perfect completion, dwells in the Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ. That which is complete. We notice something else here.
We notice that there is an aorist tense about it, meaning it was
so. It did not become so at the incarnation
or at the exaltation. It did not become so, the fullness
then. But then, B, there is a permanency
about this as seen in the word dwell, which Robertson says is
first active eros infinitive, whatever that means, meaning
to make one's abode or home. To be permanently at home is
the meaning of all of that. The fullness dwells. It has its
permanent abode so that the thought of both past and continued residence
is included in that. The fullness of the Godhead dwells
in him. See, we notice a third thing
in Colossians 2.9. Paul includes the word bodily
or corporally. Bodily-wise, this does not mean
this fullness first occurred in connection with the incarnation. For when as yet the logos or
the word was unfleshed, Even then, the eternal Word that was
with God in the beginning had its fullness even then. And this, Body Wise in 2.9, is
an addition to 1.19. For though this fullness dwelt
in the Son from all eternity, yet even in the incarnation of
the Son of God in the flesh, even in taking a body, and assuming
human nature, and being born of a woman as He was, the fullness
yet dwelt in Him as the God-man. Deity dwelt in Him, and still
without consuming the body of Christ, and without deifying
the body of our Lord, and without commingling the two natures together
in our Lord. Think about what Paul writes
to 1 Timothy 3 and 16 without controversy, that is, beyond
doubt and by common confession and concession of the churches
of the Lord. A thing that is most confessedly
held by all. Great is the mystery of godliness
or piety, as you may sometimes see the word rendered. He, God,
Manifest in the flesh. What a statement does Paul make
to his young protege preacher? God was manifest in the flesh. The mystery of godliness or piety
is the opposite, I suppose, of the mystery of iniquity that
we read about in 2 Corinthians 2 and verse 7. And remember,
Matthew 1. And verse 23, the child which
the virgin brought forth, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit,
shall be called Emmanuel, which being interpreted is God with
us. God with us in this one born
of woman, a member of the Godhead, has put on flesh, is incarnated. Can we take it in? has assumed
to himself a human nature. The Word is made flesh. What a wonderful thing is that. Can we take it in? It is more
than we can imagine at one time. But let's pause by reminding
ourselves of something, and that is that any new doctrine, any
new doctrine, any who present themselves as religious teachers
and instructors and guides and advisors to the children of God
are best judged by their view and estimation of the Lord Jesus
Christ. We say to them, what think ye
of Christ? Our first question would be to
them who come among us to teach us, to correct us, what think
ye of Christ? what is not after or according
to Christ falls into the category of the worthless rudiments of
the world and empty, empty speculation. Any who would rob Christ of His
deity, any who would take away the divinity of our Lord and
put Him simply among created beings, or insist that He had
the potential to sin, are dangerous to the people of God to give
ear to. They are dangerous in their doctrine. In Him first in eternity, then
in the incarnation, the fullness of the Godhead, a divinity dwells
in Him in its fullness, the Lord Jesus Christ, as seen by Him
allowing men to worship Him and forgiving sin, both evidences
of the deity of our Lord. He did not rebuke any who came
and worshiped him, and he came to forgive sin, and that's a
divine prerogative. Our Lord is indeed a divine one,
and we will not give on that point. We will not come off of
our contention that the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ
whom we preach and whom we have believed.