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sounds like a contradiction. That is because the subject transcends all human thought.
We are here in the realm of the superlative. It is the same in Philippians. There a peace
is spoken of, a peace that can be experienced, and yet when all is said it remains a peace
`that passeth understanding' (Phil. 4: 7) or as Weymouth renders it `which transcends
our powers of thought'. Christ Himself is God's "Unspeakable Gift", yet who can refrain
from speaking of Him? Christ's love is beyond our comprehension, yet throughout life's
present pilgrimage, and on through the ages to come, that love, which passeth knowledge,
must surely be the goal of all attainment. Let us then seek the apparently impossible, `to
know the love of Christ that passeth knowledge', for we are heirs of glory beyond the
dreams of man.
No.67.
The Central Tower (3: 14 - 21).
The Great Doxology.
The Triumphant "Amen".
pp. 161 - 166
The third and final stage of the central prayer of Eph. 3: is now before us; it is the
climax petition `that ye may be filled with all the fullness of God'. There is no intention
on the part of the Apostle to suggest that any one believer or all put together could
contain `all the fullness' of God, what the Apostle said was hina plerothete eis pan to
pleroma tou theou, "In order that ye may be filled unto all the fullness of God". `Unto'
indicates a goal or a standard. The members of the One Body differ in capacity; some
are grace enabled to contain more than another. The point however is not the size of the
vessel, but that no vessel should remain only partly filled whatever the capacity; it
should be filled to the brim. From the doctrinal and basic point of view this is looked
upon as an accomplished fact, for this church is actually called `The fullness of Him that
filleth all in all'. Using similar words as those found in Eph. 3: 17, the Apostle wrote to
the Colossians:
"Rooted and built up in Him . . . . . In Him dwelleth (katoikeo as in Eph. 3: 17) all
the fullness (pan to pleroma as in Eph. 3: 19) . . . . . and ye are those having been filled
to the full (pepleromenoi) in Him" (Col. 2: 7-10).
Here every member is conceived of as being `filled unto all the fullness of God'. In
Eph. 3:, this same full measure is the object of prayer. The Apostle is working along
similar lines to those which led to this prayer in the first place. It will be remembered
that, at the close of chapter 2: of Ephesians, there is a reference made to the `habitation'
of God (or of Christ--Revised texts), and as a consequence Paul prayed that what the
believer is in grace, in Christ and in position, he may be in experience, in realization and
in enjoyment `in order that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith'. So even now this
church of the One Body has already been given its ultimate title "The fullness of Him that
filleth all in all" (Eph. 1: 23). Is it any marvel then that in such a prayer the Apostle
should intercede and pray that members of such a company and calling, with such a title