While we bow in reverence at the revelation of Scripture that teaches

us the great Mystery of Godliness, that God was manifest in the flesh, and

while we gladly join with Thomas and confess at the feet of the Saviour that

He is 'My Lord and my God', we do no service to the truth to take portions of

Scripture indiscriminately that may superficially appear to support this

doctrine.  One such passage is that of Colossians 2:9:

'For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily'.

Bishop Lightfoot comments:

'Somatikos "bodily wise", "corporeally", i.e. assuming a bodily form,

becoming incarnate ... St. Paul's language is carefully guarded.  He

does not say en somati, for the Godhead cannot be confined to any

limits of space, nor somatoeidos, for this might suggest the unreality

of Christ's human body; but somatikos "in bodily wise"'.

Inasmuch as Colossians 2:9 begins with the conjunction 'for', thus

linking it with the folly and danger of attempting to find any solace or

completeness apart from Christ, and is followed by verse 10, which repeats

the concept of the fulness or pleroma, saying 'And ye are complete (filled

full) in Him, (pepleromenoi)', it is evident that Paul had the completion of

the Divine Purpose, which included the church which is itself the 'Fulness of

Him that filleth all in all', in view.  Thus there is no attempt to introduce

a proof here of the Deity of Christ, true though that glorious doctrine is.

If, as John 1:16 says, we can and do receive of His Fulness, and Ephesians

3:19 declares the goal of this church to be 'filled with (unto) all the

fulness of God', it is evident that no thought of being incorporated into the

Deity is contemplated, but that the fulness is the gathering up of the Divine

purpose, fully and completely and only found in Christ, and enjoyed by faith

with Him.

If our theme were the pleroma 'the Fulness', we should be obliged to

consider many passages and give most serious attention to the terms employed.

Our present purpose is however somewhat simpler; we are taking as our 'text'

the words 'Christ is all, and in all' and allowing ourselves the liberty of

applying this most blessed and wonderful thought to a variety of subdivisions

in the Divine scheme.  Let us observe the supreme place occupied by Christ in

(1) Gospel, (2) Doctrine, (3) Dispensational truth, (4) Type, (5) Prophecy

and (6) Practice.

On the road to Damascus Paul was not only converted, he was at the same

time convinced of the supremacy of Christ in the matter of the Gospel and its

'But when it pleased God ... to reveal His Son in me, that I might

preach Him' (Gal. 1:15,16).

Earlier he had said that the gospel he preached, he received 'by the

revelation of Jesus Christ' (Gal. 1:11,12).  Here it is the Son Himself that

is revealed, and it is recorded in Acts 9:20 -22 that immediately following

his conversion 'he preached Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of

God ... and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is

Very Christ'.  To the same effect is the more studied exposition of the