THE KING’S BUSINESS
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P au l to th e G alatian s a n d Ephesians, which, it has b e e n w ell said, F o rm th e connecting link b e tw e en th e w ritings o f St. P au l an d St. John . T h e five passages are Col. 1 :1 9 ; 2 :9 ; Eph. 1 :2 3 ; 3 :1 9 ; 4 :1 3 . T h e passages in Colossians especially tell us w h a t w as th e c h a ra c te r of th e full ness th a t w as in Jesus C h rist; it was “all the fullness” (C ol. 1 : 19 ) ; “the fulness of the Godhead” (Col. 2 :9 ) . O f this infinite fullness all b eliev ers h a v e received. T h e w e in verse 16 do e s n o t re fe r m erely to th e apo sto lic com pany , b u t as is m ad e c le a r b y th e ad d itio n of th e w o rd “ a ll,” it refers to all believers. Be lievers in Christ, tho se u n ited to H im b y a living faith in H im , receive from H im as from a spring o f infinite an d D ivine fullness w h a te v e r they ind iv idu ally n e ed fo r th e ir life a n d w ork. A ll fullness is in H im an d all th a t th e re is in H im is av a ilab le for each b eliever. T h e m e th o d o f our receiving is “g race fo r g ra c e ,” m o re literally, “ g race in ste ad o f g ra c e ,” th a t is con stan tly new m easures in ste ad of, o r superseding, th e lesser m easures of g race a lre a d y received. T h e th o u g h t is th a t o f con tinually new accessions of grace. E ach b less ing th a t w e a p p ro p ria te from H is fullness becom es a step p in g sto n e to th e ap p ro p ria tio n of a la rg e r b less ing. T h e w o rd s “g race fo r g race” h a v e b e e n tra n sla te d “ g race’ ov e r ag ain st grace,” th e th o u g h t being th a t o v e r an d again st each g race th a t th e re is in th e L o rd Jesu s w e a p p ro p ria te a sim ilar grace to o u r selves; th a t is to say, fo r exam ple, th a t o v e r again st H is love w e a p p ro p ria te love to ou rselves; th a t ov e r again st H is p a tien c e w e a p p ro p ria te p a tien c e to ourselves. This is a tru e th o u g h t an d is suggested elsew here (2 Cor. 3 :1 8 ) , b u t it does n o t seem to b e th e th o u g h t of th e w o rd s used here. T h e m o st nat-
special D ivine rev e la tio n in reg a rd to th e person, c h a ra c te r an d w o rk of th e O ne w ho w as to follow him, th e re is really no difficulty a t all here. In th e 3 4 th v e rse w e h e a r him d eclaring : "This is th e Son o f G od . V e ry few realize how com p le te was th e u n d e rstan d in g o f Jo h n th e B ap tist a t th is tim e reg a rd in g th e L o rd Jesus, H is person, c h a ra c te r an d w ork. W h a t h e knew concerning th e L o rd Jesus w as n o t m erely d e riv ed from his own stu d y of O ld T e stam e n t p rophecy , th ough th a t w as v e ry th o ro u g h an d p ro fo u n d , an d he m igh t h a v e found th e tru th of th e e te rn a l p re-ex istence of th e Messiah in th e O ld T e stam e n t S crip tu res (M ic. 5 :2 ; Isa. 9 : 6 ) ; b u t his know ledg e of C hrist w as given him b y th e d ire c t an d imm ed ia te in sp ira tio n a n d rev e la tio n o f th e Spirit. V . 16. “And (ra th e r, “because” ) of His fullness have all we (b e tte r om it “ h av e ” an d re a d “we all” ) received, ...and ...grace... for ...grace,” T hese w o rd s tak e us b a c k to verse 14, v erse 15 b e ing th row n in to p o in t ou t J o h n th e B ap tist s te sti m ony to th e tru e n a tu re of C hrist which m ad e him th e source o f this fullness o f sp iritual riches. In v erse 14 w e are to ld th a t H e is “ full of g race” ; in v erse 15 Jo h n th e B ap tist tells us w hy H e is full of g race; in verse 16 w e are to ld th a t w e all h av e received o f this fullness. Jo h n th e A po stle, th e a u th o r of th e G o s pel, is th e sp e ak e r in v e rse 16 an d n o t Jo h n th e B aptist. J o h n th e B ap tist’s testim ony closes w ith th e 15th verse. T h e w o rd “ fullness” is a v e ry expressive one. It sets fo rth th e full m easu re of th e D ivine n atu re, an d pow er, an d grace, which w ere in c a rn a te d in Jesus C h rist as th e in c a rn a te W o rd . T h is is th e only p lace w h ere th e A p o stle J o h n uses th e w o rd in all his w ritings, b u t it is found five tim es in th e Epistles of
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