I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.
Romans 15:29
KJV ~ the fulness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ.
NIV ~ full measure of the blessing of Christ.
Fullness, full measure = sum total
Thayer’s Greek Lexicon identifies the word fullness as that which is (or has been) filled; In the N.T. Ephesians 4:13, the body of believers, as that which is ‘filled’ with the presence, power, agency, riches of God and of Christ: and from Ephesians 3:19 that ye may become a body “wholly filled and flooded” by God.
Colossians tells us 'in Christ' the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and now, we have been filled in Him. Christ in us is the hope of the glory of God being seen and manifested on this earth. That’s a lot of power to commit to mere men and a tremendous responsibility to become vessels of honor fit for the masters use.
In the OT we learned that there was a right way to carry the presence of God. From 2 Samuel chapter six starting with verse five, we read;
David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the LORD, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals. 6And when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. 7And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God. 8And David was angry because the LORD had broken out against Uzzah. And that place is called Perez-uzzah to this day. 9And David was afraid of the LORD that day, and he said, “How can the ark of the LORD come to me?” 10So David was not willing to take the ark of the LORD into the city of David. But David took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. 11And the ark of the LORD remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months, and the LORD blessed Obed-edom and all his household.
It seems like a harsh thing to happen to Uzzah, simply instinctive on his part, yet, Uzzah, a Levite, erred in what He did. There was a right way to carry the Ark, the presence God, and they weren’t. You would think with all the worshipping and joy and the presence being with them that something like this could not happen, but this shows us the need for doing His things, His way.
I believe Presence and power works best through purity. As NT believers we are the carriers of His Presence, believers ‘filled’ with the presence, power, agency, riches of God and of Christ: a body “wholly filled and flooded” by God through His Holy Spirit.
We are not to come filled with ourselves. We are not to be filled with our own agenda or our own words and ways, but we are to be filled with His fullness that always carries His blessing.
Uzzah had access to instructions on how to carry the ark. After His death they got it right. Hosea 4:6 reminds us that we perish for a lack of knowledge, forgetting what we know, or simply rejecting it. Apparently ignorance is no excuse when we have a book we can read. And rejecting God’s commands is, well, just plain willful and deadly.
The ark resting at Obed-Edom’s house brought a blessing to his entire household. The Lord told Moses ~ My presence will go with you and I will give you rest. The fullness of His presence operating through our lives is His place of blessing and rest.
I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.