January 13

"For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell."—Colossians 1:19.

IN the Scriptures of truth, in the history of the church, in the triumphs of heaven, and in the estimation of every believer, "Christ is all." All our hopes are in him, all our desires are towards him, and all our comforts are derived from him. Let us contemplate

THE FULNESS OF CHRIST. He has a fulness essential to him as God: and a fulness treasured up in him as Mediator. In the contemplation of the fulness of Christ, we are, as it were, standing on the banks of a mighty river, whose streams are incessantly rolling on, and as we cannot count the particles of the watery element that pass before us, so we can form no adequate idea of those inestimable blessings that flow from Christ.

A fulness of wisdom for our instruction. By nature the understanding is dark; the lamp of human reason, however carefully trimmed, will, at its greatest height, give but a faint and dim light, — one beam of the Sun of righteousness darting into the soul, will discover more to it than reason ever could do, and "give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ."

A fulness of merit for our redemption. Enslaved as we are by sin and Satan, we need a Redeemer. In the person of Christ we have one who is mighty to save. The sacrifice he presented was full and complete, answering every purpose it was designed to accomplish. It is "all fulness" that dwells in him. There are all spiritual blessings, for all descriptions of sinners.

A fulness of power for our support. There is might and mercy, glory and grace, power and pity, combined in him. Our condition is one of helplessness and weakness, but Christ is our strength. In him there is power for our support, as well as grace for our salvation.

A fulness of grace for our final happiness. He is full of grace and truth. Here is a Divine treasury that can never be exhausted; millions have been supplied from this storehouse, yet there is no diminution, for still in him all fulness dwells. May the Almighty enable us on the one hand to see the emptiness of the world, and on the other, the fulness of Christ: and receive of his fulness, and grace for grace.