
                           FULFILLMENT

                      by Cornelius R. Stam

                     THE NEED FOR FULFILLMENT

     There   is  a  great  outcry  these  days  for  fulfillment.  
Psychology professors and psychiatrists, most of whom show little 
evidence of having themselves found true  satisfaction  in  life, 
keep  emphasising  man's need for fulfillment.  As a result,  the 
younger gereration is presently engaged in a frantic  search  for 
this  precious  commodity.  They  want  fulfillment,  physically, 
intellectually and spiritually - mostly in that order.  

     The reason for this latter is that  godless  "intellectuals" 
in  our  institutions of learning have placed such heavy emphasis 
upon the sensual that a truly lost generation of young people has 
been brainwashed into  supposing  that  if  only  man's  physical 
desires,  his sensual passions, can be satisfied, the realization 
of  intellectual  and  then  spiritual   fullment   will   follow 
naturally.  

     Actually,  the  very  opposite is the case:  it is spiritual 
fullment that straightens out all the rest and brings into proper 
perspective.  What man needs first and above all else is for  his 
spirit to be filled and satisfied with all the peace,  assurance, 
joy and victory that God's Spirit alone  can  bestow.  Referring, 
doubtless,  to  the influence of the Spirit of God upon the human 
spirit, our Lord rightly said: 

     "It is the Spirit that quickeneth [giveth life];  the  flesh 
profiteth nothing" (John 6:63).  

     In Galations 6:8 the Apostle Paul declares: 

     "He  that  soweth  to  the  flesh,  shall  of the flesh reap 
corruption;  but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit 
reap life everlasting." 

     In  Romans  8:6  he  states this same truth in even stronger 
     language: 

     "For to be carnally minded is death,  but to be  spiritually 
minded is life and peace." 

     Some  translators  have rendered this passage:  "the mind of 
the flesh...  the mind of the spirit," but  the  preceding  verse 
seems  to  indicate  beyond doubt that the Apostle is speaking of 
having one's mind on the flesh,  or on the Spirit.  to have one's 
mind on the flesh, he says, is "death," but to have one's mind on 
the Spirit is "life and peace." 

     Significantly, it is  since America has departed so far from 
God, since men in the pulpit have so largely stopped teaching the 
Bible,  or even giving credence to it,  that  all  this  cry  for 
"fulfillment" has arisen.  

    Thousands of clergymen are telling lost souls what they ought 
to do and how they ought to live,  simply because they themselves 
are  unregenerate  men who merely went to seminary to prepare for 
the ministry,  but do not know Christ.  These  unsaved  clergymen 
know  nothing  of  the riches of God's grace in Christ that their 
hearers so sorely need.  But,  alas,  even men of God,  who  know 
Christ and believe the Bible,  are in many cases failing to teach 
God's Word,  to "feed the flock" with those precious truths  that 
could  so  greatly  enrich  their  lives.  Hence  this  spiritual 
starvation,  this deep hunger  on  the  part  of  so  many,  even 
religious  people,  who do not know exactly what it is they lack.  
These should know that the Bible,  and particularly the  epistles 
of Paul, show us the way to glorious fulfillment.  

     The  orderly,  satisfied,  victorious  lives of those who do 
experience spiritual fulfillment,  springs from their recognition 
of  the  truth of God's declaration that,  "man shall not live by 
bread alone, but by every Word of God." 

     The Bible has much to say about  fulfillment,  espically  in 
the epistles of Paul, but also in the writings of John, who wrote 
long  after  Paul was raised up to make known to mankind how much 
Christ accomplished for us by His death at Calvary.  

                      ENJOYING TRUE FULFILLMENT

     Paul had been a very religious  man,  very  zealous  of  the 
traditions of the fathers, but there was an emptiness in his life 
and  he  became  progressively  more bitter until he came to know 
Christ.  Only then did he find true fulfillment - and  then  this 
was all he could talk and write about!  

     Picture  him  before Agrippa,  standing there in chains in a 
crowded courtroom,  his very life at stake.  He does indeed speak 
in  his own defense,  but as we read the record this almost seems 
to be secondary.  He appears to be preaching to those  assembled.  
He preaches with such power that Festus interrupts him, shouting: 
"Paul,  thou  art  beside  thyself;  much learning doth make thee 
mad",  but Agrippa says:  "Almost  thou  persuaded  me  to  be  a 
Christian", whereupon Paul replies: 

     "I would to God,  that not only thou, but also all that hear 
me this day,  were both almost,  and altogether  such  as  I  am, 
except these bonds" (Acts 26:29).  

     The Apostle,  even in chains,  experienced true fulfillment.  
Hence his mind was not upon himself.  He saw Festus  and  Agrippa 
and  all  those  assembled  in that courtroom as poor lost souls, 
needing Christ, and the fulfillment that He alone can give.  

     To these who sat in judgment upon him,  the Apsotle said  in 
effect:  "I wish you could all experience the satisfaction that I 
enjoy!" And he did not speak thus,  merely,  as  a  zealot  at  a 
public  trial.  To his Christian friends he wrote from his prison 
in Rome about sitting "in  heavenly  places  (Lit.,  the  highest 
heavens)  in  Christ,"  blessed  with  "all  spiritual blessings" 
(Ephesians 1:3).  To the Philippians he wrote, triumphantly: 

     "...the things which have happened unto  me  have fallen out 
rather unto furtherance of the gospel; 

     "So  that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, 
and in all other places; 

     "And many of the brethren in the Lord,  waxing confident  by 
my  bonds,  are  much  more  bold to speak the Word without fear" 
(Phillipians 1:12-14).  

     "Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, rejoice!" (4:4)

     Paul had indeed found fulfillment and, bless God,  there are 
thousands  upon  thousands  of  us today who have found this same 
fulfillment in  Christ.  We  have  the  same  assurance  of  sins 
forgiven,  of complete justification before a holy God, and, like 
Paul,  rejoice in our position and blessings in the heavenlies in 
Christ.  

     But  now let us proceed to the doctrine of fulfillment as we 
find it in the Word of God.  

                    THE DOCTRINE OF FULFILLMENT

     To make this as uncomplicated as possible we  will  consider 
but  one root word,  which the Bible uses far more than any other 
to express fulfillment.  It is the Greek noun  pleeroma  and  its 
grammatical derivatives.  

     This  word  is  used in several passages in John's writings, 
where it is indicated that God would have His people enjoy  rich, 
full lives, regardless of outward circumstances.  

     Our  Lord  closed  His  famous discourse on the Vine and the 
Branches by saying: 

     "These things have I spoken unto  you,  that  My  joy  might 
remain in you, and that your joy may be full" (John 15:11).  

     Later,  instructing His disciples as to how they should pray 
in His absence, He said: 

     "Hitherto have ye asked nothing in  My  name:  ask,  and  ye 
shall recieve, that your joy may be full" (John 16:24).  

     In the opening verses of his first epistle, the Apostle John 
likewise writes: 

     "And  these  things write we unto you,  that your joy may be 
full" (1 John 1:4).  

     And those who trusted  Christ,  even  in  those  early  days 
before  the dispensation of grace,  did find full-fillment.  John 
the Baptist,  who heralded the coming of the King and  introduced 
Him to the people of Israel, declared: 

     "And  of  His  fulness  have all we recieved,  and grace for 
[upon] grace" (John 1:16).  

     This  ful-fillment  was  not  marred   by   adversity,   for 
consistently  in  the Acts record we find the persecuted apostles 
and disciples joyful and  victorious.  After  having  suffered  a 
cruel  beating and bitter threats from the Sanhedrin,  we read in 
Acts 5:41 that "they departed from the presence of  the  council, 
rejoicing  that  they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his 
name." 

     Again,  in Acts 13 we find a church born  in  the  midst  of 
strife  and  persecution,  yet  of these persecution believers we 
read: 

     "And the disciples were filled with joy,  and with the  Holy 
Ghost" (Verse 52).  

                      "FULFILLMENT AND THE MYSTERY"

     But  it was to Paul that the risen,  ascended,  exalted Lord 
revealed Himself in what the  Apostle  calles  "the  mystery,"  a 
secret hid from previous "ages and generation." Not only did this 
"mystery" involve a program,  God's great purpose concerning this 
present dispensation of His grace; in the "mystery" our Lord also 
revealed Himself and His glorious,  all-sufficient  work  as  the 
secret of all the riches of grace which are ours in Christ.  

     Had the Lord Jesus Christ remained in heaven,  aloof from us 
sinners, we could have known only condemnation and judgement, but 
He came to be with us, yes, to become one of us, true man as well 
as true God, to pay our debt of sin, so that by faith we might be 
fully justified and find fulfillment in Him.  

     If the Spirit-inspired  apsotle  makes  anything  clear  and 
emphatic  it is that fulfillment can be found in the rejected but 
glorified Christ  alone,  by  an  intelligent  understanding  and 
believing appropriation of His person and work in our behalf.  

     Col. 1:19: "For it pleased the Father that in Him should all 
fulness dwell." 

     Col.  2:9:  "For  in  Him  dwelleth  all  the fulness of the 
     Godhead bodily." 

     Col. 2:10: "And ye are complete [made full] in Him..." 

     Restless soul,  you will never  find  complete  satisfaction 
until  you  find  it  in  Christ,  for the simple reason that all 
fulness resides in Him.  He is the fount of every  blessing,  the 
Source of all supply.  

     What  do  you  want  that  is of any real and lasting value?  
What do you want that will truly  fill  your  life?  Forgiveness?  
Justification?  A  free Conscience?  Peace?  Assurance?  Liberty?  
Joy?  All - every bit of it - is to be  found  in  Christ  alone.  
Read  the  epistles of Paul and see how "all spiritual blessings" 
are to to found only "in Christ." Read the  above  passages  from 
Colossians again,  thoughtfully and prayerfully.  "It pleased the 
Father that in Him should all fulness dwell...in Him dwelleth all 
the fulness of the Godhead bodily,  and  ye  are  complete  [made 
full] in Him." 

     But God wants us to see that all this blessing and joy,  all 
these riches of grace that reside in Christ, can become ours only 
as we place our  trust  in  Him.  In  Romans  15:13  the  Apostle 
writes: 

     "Now  the  God  of  hope  fill you with all joy and peace in 
     believing..." 

     How I wish you could see,  my dear unsaved friend,  that god 
simply  wants  to be believed,  just as you want other to believe 
you.  He knows all about your sins but He Himself has settled all 
the claims against you and now He wants you to  leave  the  whole 
matter  with Him and accept salvation as "the gift of God through 
Jesus Christ our Lord." Believe what He says about  christ  dying 
to  pay  your  debt  and rising again in power to prove that your 
debt is fully paid.  Take Him at His Word,  and He will "fill you 
with joy and peace in believing." 

     In Ephesians 3:17-19 the Apostle,  divinely inspired,  urges 
you to let Christ "dwell in  your  heart  by  faith."  And  then, 
"rooted  and  grounded  in [His] love," he would have you measure 
"what is the breadth, and length,  and depth,  and height" of all 
that  Christ has for you and can be to you,  as it is revealed in 
the wonderful "mystery," the sacred  secret  made  known  through 
him.  And  why  would  he have us "measure" these riches of grace 
and glory?  Listen: 

     "...to know the love of  Christ,  which  passeth  knowledge, 
that ye might be filled with all fulness of God" (verse 19).  

     How  can  we  leave this passage without quoting the blessed 
benediction that brings it to a close: 

     "Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly  above 
all that we ask or think,  according to the power that worketh in 
us, 

     "Unto  Him  be  glory  in  the  Church,   by  Christ  Jesus, 
throughout all ages, world without end.  Amen" (verse 20,21).  

     Do  you see how believers are "made full," find fulfillment, 
in Christ?  Do you see how  Paul  had  much  more  than  material 
matters  in  mind  when  he  wrote  to  the  faithful  Philippian 
believers: 

     "But my God shall supply [Lit.,  fully fill] all  your  need 
according  to  His  riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 
4:19).  

                          FULFILLMENT FOR CHRIST

     Perhaps the most profound and amazing aspect of the  mystery 
revealed  through  Paul  is the divine truth that as we are "made 
full" in Christ,  so He is "made full"  by  His  Body,  the  true 
Church.  

     Not  only would the Apostle have us understand and enjoy the 
riches of our inheritence in Christ; he also prays earnestly that 
we might comprehend "what is the  riches  of  the  glory  of  His 
inheritance in the saints"!  (Ephesians 1:18).  

     In  Ephesians  4:10  we  read that our Lord "ascended up far 
above all heavens, that He might fill all things," but Chapter 1, 
Verse 23, we are told that the Church is...  

     "...His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all." 

     As Eve was given to Adam,  and the two became  "one  flesh", 
God now calling their name Adam (Genesis 5:2), so in a spiritual, 
yet very real sense,  believers are given to Christ as His blood-
bought possession, that we might be one with Him,  the members of 
His Body.  And as we find fulfillment in us,  whom He loved,  for 
whom He died and upon whom He joyously bestows all the riches  of 
grace which He purchased for us at Calvary.  Think of it!  We His 
inheritance, and more - His fullness, His completeness.  What and 
evidence  of  His  loving  character  is  this!  He  would not be 
complete in heaven without us any more than Adam would have  been 
complete or happy alone in the Garden of Eden.  Christ needed the 
love and companionship of His creatures.  His divine capacity for 
compassion   and   understanding   and   mercy  and  love  needed 
opportunity for expression.  

     How much that Blessed Book,  the Bible,  has  to  say  about 
fulfillment  and  satisfaction  and  joy - and most of all in the 
epistles of Paul.  In discussing this subject we have cited  many 
occurrences  of one Greek word for fulfillment:  pleeroma,  along 
with its grammatical derivatives, but there is much, much more to 
be found in the synonyms and arguments used,  espically by  Paul, 
to show how rich believers are in Christ and, indeed, how rich He 
has become since His love sent Him to Calvary to die in shame and 
agony and blood for us!  What joy will fill His heart, as well as 
ours, when through the ages of eternity we finally love and adore 
Him as, in our present state, we are unable to do!  

     We  are  deeply  conscious tha only with "stammering tongue" 
have we endeavored to place before you what God's Word says about 
"the peace that passeth understanding" and "the joy that  passeth 
knowledge," but one fact is unmistakably clear:  such fulfillment 
can be found in Christ alone.  

     Have you recieved and acknowledged  Him  as  your  Lord  and 
Saviour?  If not,  will you do so now, without further delay?  It 
is His desire to fill with peace and joy,  but you must recognize 
your need of Him and acknowledge that you are the sinner for whom 
He  died,  asking  Him to save you.  Be wise.  Cast yourself upon 
Him right now.  

     "For there is no difference between the Jew and  the  Greek; 
for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him.  

     "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be 
saved" (Romans 10:12,13).  

From The S.O.N. BBS, WI

