The Cross - the Communication of Fullness

O Lord, as we gather here together this afternoon, we do look to Thee to refresh us with Thy presence. We ask Thee that our whole being may be energized. Thou dost know the weariness of our bodies.

Thou dost know the weariness even of our minds. And Thou dost know our very being. So we pray that Thou will refresh us, strengthen us, and enable us, that together we may be here to behold Thee and to exalt Thee.

O Lord, how we praise and thank Thee that the Father has highly exalted Thee and has given Thee a name that is above every name. And to Thy name every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord. O Father, we do come here together gladly bow our hearts and gladly utter our voices and calling Thee as our Lord.

O we do pray that Thou should be truly our Lord and Lord in every area of our lives. We do desire that Thou will have the preeminence in all things. We do desire that Thou will have preeminence in each of our lives and of our lives together.

We do commit this time into Thy hands. We desire that Thou will have the first place at this hour. We ask in the precious name of our Lord.

Will you please turn to the letter, to the Colossians. Chapter one. We'll read from verse twenty to verse twenty-two.

Colossians chapter one, verse twenty. And bind him to reconcile all things to itself. Having made peace by the blood of his cross, bind him whether the things on the earth or the things in the heavens.

And you, the ones who are alienated and enemies in mind by wicked works, yet now have it reconciled in the body of his flesh, so that to prevent your folly and unblameable and irreproachable before you. The second chapter. We'll read from verse nine to verse fifteen.

For in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete in him, who is the head of all principality and authority, in whom also ye have been circumcised with circumcision not done by hand, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of the cross, buried with him in baptism, in which ye have been also raised with him through faith of the working of God, to raise him from among the dead. And you being there in offenses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, ye have sitting together with him, having forgiven us all the offenses, having effaced the handwriting in ordinances that stood out against us, which was contrary to us, he has taken it also out of the way. Having nailed it to the cross, having spoiled principalities and authorities, he made a show of them publicly, leading them in crime.

We have tried to consider together that the purpose of God concerning us is the purpose of fullness. And we try to find this fullness in Christ Jesus. We know that God has put all his fullness in the Son.

In Christ dwells all the fullness of God. The totality of divine attributes and power. If you want to find any fullness in any area, you have to find it in Christ Jesus.

There is no other place. And God is very jealous about it. We remember that story when our Lord Jesus walked on earth.

Once he took three of his disciples to the mountain and there he was transfigured. He was in glory. And Moses and Elijah appeared and talked with our Lord Jesus concerning his departure.

And you remember Peter, James and John were together with the Lord on that mountain. Yet somehow they were overwhelmed with sleep. I think senior saints, when they saw our Lord Jesus transfigured before them, and Moses and Elijah appearing, I think with these three disciples, they were trying to keep awake.

Because this was a great moment. The moment to see the glory of the Lord and also Moses and Elijah. I don't believe anybody would like to go to sleep at that hour.

And yet somehow they were overtaken by sleep. The glory was too much for them. In spite of the fact that they were desiring to stay awake to taking everything.

And yet they went to sleep. And it was only towards the end when Moses and Elijah were ready to leave. Then these disciples woke up.

And we know Peter, when he woke up and he saw that this thing was about to be brought to a close, he was very unhappy about it. And he was really desperate. He didn't want that thing to pass away.

It was so good. So he tried to say something, tried to hold on. He didn't know what to say.

And yet he felt he had to say something. So he said, Lord, it is very good to be here. Let us make three tabernacles.

One for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. He thought that by saying this, our Lord Moses and Elijah having tabernacles to spend the night, now probably they will be contented to stay up. He didn't know that because of what he said, God immediately took Moses and Elijah away.

Probably Moses and Elijah would not leave so soon. But his very speaking drove them away. The Father took Moses and Elijah away.

A cloud came over them. Moses disappeared. Elijah disappeared.

And a voice came from heaven saying, This is my beloved son, in whom is my delight, hear me. And then they looked up, they saw no one but Jesus. Now dear brothers and sisters, this tells us that God is very jealous concerning his son.

All the fullness of the Godhead makes his permanent home in the Son. Who is Moses? Who is Elijah? Moses is the representation of the Lord. Elijah is the representation of the prophet.

And yet, when Peter decided to put Moses and Elijah on the same footing as with the Son, God said no. Moses must go. Elijah must go.

My son stands alone and forever. Dear brothers and sisters, very often in our lives, unknowingly, we try to draw in someone or something and try to find something in someone other than in the Lord Jesus. We try to lower our Lord Jesus to an equal footing with someone or something else.

And invariably, you will find the Father is most jealous about it. All the fullness of the Godhead dwells in him bodiless. Moses is significant only when he is related to the Son.

Elijah is important. And his importance is based upon his relation to the Son. Moses in himself, Elijah in himself, have no place in the kingdom of God.

Their places in the kingdom of God are based upon their relation to the Son. So dear brothers and sisters, let us remember from the very outset that in Christ, in the Son, dwells all the fullness of the Godhead. Every fullness of God.

comes from Christ. Because it is in Christ and nowhere else. But the question is, all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in him.

But how are we going to share, to experience that fullness which is in him? Paul tells us, in him, all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily. And then Paul says, we are complete in him. We are complete in him.

But dear brothers and sisters, probably in our personal experience, or even in our experience together, we do not feel it that way. The Bible says, we are complete in him. We are made full in him.

But we do not sense that fullness in us. We do not feel that we are full. And quite contrarily, very often, we feel that we are very empty.

And even if there is something, it is just a little bit. We feel that we need that fullness which is in Christ. Sometimes I think we are like those six soldiers standing at the entrance of their house in Cana of Galilee.

You remember the story, a wedding was there, and our Lord Jesus was invited, and there were six soldiers standing at the entrance of the house for purification. I wonder whether because there were so many guests, so they have used up all the water for their purification. So these six soldiers were standing there empty or nearly empty.

And the word of the Lord was, Pour water into the vessels and fill them. And you remember these servants, they drew water and poured water into these stone jars until they were overflowing. And then the Lord said, Draw out.

And today, two early stewards of the sea, and the water turned into wine. There was never such so good wine. Brothers and sisters, very often I feel this is our condition.

We are like the stone jars stained in there. And we feel great emptiness waiting up. We need to be healed.

Healed to the brim, overflowing. That the life of Christ, that the power of Christ, that the love of Christ, the light of Christ, the fullness that is in Christ, may be ours experimentally. And we may be made real to the overflow.

And how we long for that. So this afternoon, God willing, we would like to mention this one thing, and that is how the fullness which is in Christ is to be communicated to us. By which channel? By what means? The fullness that is in Christ can become ours.

We are made full in Him, but how? Our dear brother Mr. Sparks is going to give us a series of messages on the cross, and of course we know this is it. The way of communication is the way of the cross. In Christ.

The fullness of the Godhead. Oh, He is so full. Full to the overflowing.

But that's in Christ. And here we are. So dry, so barren, so empty.

It is just like digging a well. We dig and dig and dig, and we try to draw up a little water. We find we are so dry and so barren, so empty.

And there in Christ, such fullness. Now how can that fullness come to us? And become our experience? It is by the way of the cross. There is no other way.

In eternity, He is the Son. The image of the invisible God. The very representation of God.

That's in eternity. And in the beginning of creation, we find that He is the firstborn over all creation. Because all things were created in Him, by Him, and for Him.

He was the designer. He was the builder. And He was the Lord of His creation.

There you'll find in Him, there dwells the fullness of the Godhead. Full of power. Full of power.

But dear brothers and sisters, something had happened in this creation. This creation was created out of the fullness of God. Every created being, in a sense, reflects the fullness of God.

In one way or another. And yet, something has happened to this creation. We remember in the first chapter of Genesis, it is that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

And then in the second verse, and the earth was waste and empty, and darkness was on the face of the deep. There you are. And the earth was waste and empty.

And darkness was upon the face of the deep. We know that waste, empty, darkness, these are the very opposite of the fullness of God. If there is fullness, there is efficiency.

As our brother mentioned this morning. If there is fullness, there is purpose. If there is fullness, there is light.

And here you find the earth was waste and empty and was in total darkness. Why? Of course we know the reason was there was sin in the creation. In the beginning there was an archangel who began to have pride developed in his heart.

He wanted to exalt himself. He wanted to be equal with God. He was not contented with the place that God had put him.

He became ambitious, self-centered, self-exalted. And because of that he rebelled against God. And he was cast down and become Satan, the devil.

And after that we remember later on God created man. God re-built the earth and re-inhabited it. And there God put man in charge.

And again man was tempted to rebel against God. Sin had come into the world by one man and death by sin. Today the whole earth was a waste and a void.

Though it was not submerged totally by water and yet darkness prevailed upon the earth. Oh brothers and sisters when you see this creation you cannot but have to see that how far away from God's purpose is the whole creation. And then in Romans chapter 8 you remember Paul tells us who the creature had been made subject to vanity not of its will but by reason of him who has subjected the same in hope that the creature itself also shall be set free from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God for we know that the whole creation groans together and travels in vain until now.

The whole creation is now being brought under the vanity. There is no purpose. There is no aim.

There is no meaning. It is brought under the bondage of corruption. Everything is corrupted.

Fading. And the whole creation is under kind of groans if we have spiritual ears. We shall hear a groaning going on day and night seamlessly.

Because the whole creation is not willing to be under vanity and under corruption. They long to be delivered, to be set free into the liberty of the glory of the sons of God. They are waiting for redemption.

Dear brothers and sisters here you find a picture which is totally opposite to that picture of God's pitfall. Waiting. Empty.

Darkness. Vanity. Corruption.

Groaning. These are not expressions of fullness. And not only do you find these things in the world, in the creation, but dear brothers and sisters we find these within us.

Oh how often people talk together and try to discover the meaning of life but there doesn't seem to be any meaning. There doesn't seem to be any purpose. And you find the sighing and the groanings going on day and night everywhere.

And darkness. The whole world has fallen away from the fullness. So here you'll find in Colossians chapter 1 by Him to reconcile all things to itself.

The whole universe has lost its peace with God. The whole universe is out of order. It is in a chaotic condition.

And that includes everything. The whole universe has fallen out from the fullness of God. Dear brothers and sisters you can look at any creative thing in this world and especially you can look at man.

At yourself. Can you find any sign of fullness? Any sign of the fullness of God in any creative thing in this world or in yourself? There is none. The harmony is broken.

Everything is out of order. Nothing is right. Nothing represents God's fullness.

So God sent His Son to this world. And the Word became flesh. The eternal Son became the incarnate Son.

And there you'll find a second chapter of Colossians for all the fullness of the God had dwelt in Him bodily. All the fullness of the God had dwelt in Him eternally. Even before creation.

But here you'll find in His incarnation all the fullness of the God had dwelt in Him bodily. In a bodily form. In a form that we can see.

That we can touch. That we can appreciate. That we can receive.

That we may be able to hear. Dear brothers and sisters, this is the meaning of incarnation. The fullness of God has come in bodily form.

And that is our Lord Jesus. And when our Lord came to this world His one purpose is to reconcile all things to itself. In some version you'll find instead of to reconcile all things to Him it says to reconcile all things to itself.

Probably some Greek scholars can tell us whether the exact word should be it or should be Him. I do not know. And if I'm wrong please correct me.

I think whether you have it to reconcile all things to Him or all things to itself I think both means the same thing. God is to reconcile that is to bring everything back into harmony to Himself. To God.

Everything has fallen away from God. And it's fallen into a corruptible fading and defiled position and state. Now God by Christ Jesus is to reconcile to make peace to bring back everything to Himself that all things may express His glory.

Or if you want to put it another way all things have fallen away from the fullness of God. Everything speaks of emptiness of vanity of corruption of purposelessness and so on and so forth. Now by Christ God is to bring everything back to that fullness.

That once again every created being especially man may reflect the fullness that is in God. Dear brothers and sisters, this is the work of Christ. His work is to bring all things back to His fullness.

So you see that it is just not enough to be barely saved. It is good to be saved. No doubt about that.

But it is not enough. Because God's purpose is to bring us to His fullness. That we may experience the fullness of Christ.

We may be made perfect in Him. To reconcile all things and the need the way for such reconciliation is by the cross. It is by the cross that God reconciles all things to His fullness.

And there is no other way. So let us go through very briefly how the fullness in Christ is demonstrated and thus communicated to us by the cross. If you want to know more in detail in deeper meaning, you have to wait until this evening.

First of all, you'll find here in verse 20 of chapter 1. Having made peace by the blood of His cross. First of all, you'll find here the blood of His cross. Why the blood? Because there is sin in the world.

Where there is sin, there is separation. Where there is sin, there is distance. Where there is sin, there is discord.

Where there is sin, there is no peace. Everything falls apart. And dear brothers and sisters, first and foremost, the most basic and the first problem with us is this matter of sin.

We have sin. As we heard last night, all have sinned and have come short of the glory of God. There is no righteous person.

No, not even one righteous person. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. In the Garden of Eden, you remember, Adam and Eve were placed in an environment which spoke of the fullness of God.

You cannot think of the Garden of Eden without giving you the sense of fullness. There you find in this earth God planted a garden. In other words, all the beauty and abundance of the earth was full, concentrated, and centered in that garden.

So that garden must be a very expression of fullness. And all the different trees there, and there in the midst a tree of light, and the Bible says a river pass by and go out from it into four different directions. The picture is the picture of fullness.

God put man in the environment of fullness that he may be filled with the fullness of God. That is the purpose of God. But here you'll find sin entering into the world.

When Adam and Eve rebelled against God by eating the forbidden fruit, the result was they were driven out of the Garden of Eden. They were driven away from the face of God. And man had to sweat in order to make a living.

And woman must bear her child with pain and power. Dear brothers and sisters, sin has come into this world. And because of sin, fullness becomes something that is beyond us.

All we know is pain and suffering, sweating, a bare living. So the first thing that needs to be solved is this matter of sin. As our brother said, how can we stand before God? Is there anyone in the universe who can stand before God? We have no more right to eat the fruit of the Tree of Life.

We find that cherubim there with a flaming sword guarding the way into the Tree of Life. There was no answer. No any translation.

Because sin is a fact. Dear brothers and sisters, in order that He may reconcile all things to Himself, Christ, the fullness of God, He came and He died. It is by the blood of His cross that our sins are remitted.

According to the law, without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. Oh how often we try to do something good and if we can do something good we think that it may substitute or it may cover up what wrong we have done. But the Bible says without the shedding of blood there is no remission.

He is our Paschal Lamb. It is by the blood of His cross that we are forgiven. All our offenses are forgiven.

Dear brothers and sisters, we know that the blood is primarily not for us. It is for God. Yes the blood is for us, but that's only second.

Firstly the blood is for God. You remember the story of the Israelites. During that night when the angel of destruction was to travel over the whole land of Egypt and to visit every house and to slay every firstborn, God commanded His people to prepare a lamp and then to put the blood on the doorpost and the lintel.

And God said when He passed by when He saw the blood He passed over and the angel of destruction would not enter into the house because the blood had already been shed. Dear brothers and sisters, we have offended God. There before the righteous God was our crime, our sin.

And it cries out against us. There was no peace between us and God. But when God sees the blood, God says it has been atoned.

So the blood is prepared for God. Oh, we do praise God for that. Because our Lord Jesus shed His blood on the cross.

And God, the righteousness of God is satisfied. Our sins are remitted. There is no more condemnation before God.

We have a free access to God. We are fully, as our brothers say, utterly accepted in the beloved Son. This is what the blood has done for us.

And of course we know the efficacy of the blood is not just for one. Yes, when we were sinners we need the precious blood of our Lord Jesus. But after we are saints.

We are saints. Not saints in the sense that only a few are saints. But saints in the sense that in Christ we are saints.

How we need the blood saved if we walk in the light as He is in the light. We have fellowship one with another and the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, cleanses us from all our sins. Dear brothers and sisters, once upon a time when we were convicted of our sins we had no peace in our heart.

We came to the cross of our Lord Jesus. By faith we sprinkle His blood upon our conscience. And there we are claiming our sins are forgiven.

We are clean. But that does not mean that the blood is just for that one. As we walk with God as we walk in the light the light of life within us will continually shed its light to our path.

Not some light that comes from outside. But God is light. The light of Christ in us is light.

In Him was light. And the light was the light of man. And this in the light, this light of life continually shed its light upon our path.

And day by day as we walk with Him new things are discovered. Things that are contrary to God. Things that are darkness.

That have shadows and shades. Things that do not meet the eyes of God. And dear brothers and sisters, whenever we are defiled, whenever we feel ourselves being defiled, thank God we can always go to the blood of His cross.

His blood continuously cleanses. That we may be clean. That we may have fellowship with God.

Very often a child of God after he is saved he may walk with God in joy and under an open heaven for a few months. Then somehow something happens. He may slip or something new may be discovered in his life.

And then he enters into a cloud. It seems as if his fellowship with God is shut off. He seems to go back into vanity and very often people wonder if he is saved at all.

And he himself began to wonder. Dear brothers and sisters, the Bible says if we confess our sins and this is to believers he is faithful and righteous. He will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all our iniquities.

Every time when any defilement comes between us and God we can go to him in repentance consenting our sins and the blood of the Lord Jesus is ever ready and efficacious to cleanse us to remove the cloud that our fellowship with God may not be interrupted. We may still live in the fullness of Christ. You remember the story in the Old Testament in Numbers chapter 19 when the people of God walk through the wilderness and of course in going through the wilderness they cannot help but sometimes someone be defiled by death thing.

And God is a living God. If there is anything dead, any contact with death he is disqualified to communicate to fellowship with God. He has to be purified.

If he is not purified he is to be put out of the congregation of Israel. So God made a provision. In Numbers chapter 19 you remember God ordered Moses to prepare a red heifer and the red heifer is to be slaughtered outside the camp and this is the only place if I remember right where the blood is not only sprinkled and poured but the blood is to be burned.

Here you'll find the red heifer the skin the flesh the blood and the dust the whole thing was to be burned with fire until everything of that red heifer was reduced to ashes and then the ashes were taken off put in a clean place. Whenever one was defiled they used a bowl of living water and put some ashes in it and then sprinkled that water of purification upon whoever was defiled and he was saved. Physically speaking not scientifically speaking physically speaking the last form of everything is ash.

When you reduce that thing to ash that is the last form and because it is the last form it is permanent it cannot be changed anymore. Its value is always constant and there dear brothers and sisters there is the ash aspect of the blood of the cross of Jesus Christ. Yes in one sense his blood is fresh in another sense his blood is preserved the efficacy of his blood is always preserved and whenever you put a living water in it you will be cleansed.

So dear brothers and sisters first of all we find he reconciled all things to himself to his fullness by the blood of his cross. Secondly chapter 2 verse 13 And you being dead in offenses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh he has quickened together with him having forgiven us all the offenses and then chapter 1 verse 21 And you who once were alienated and enemies in mind by wicked works yet now has it reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present your holy and unblameable and irreproachable before it.

Dear brothers and sisters our problem is more than a problem of sin the sins that we have committed our problem goes deeper than this matter of sinful acts because we have sinned this principle of sin has entered into our very life blood sin has dominated our life sin has ruled in our flesh you find that even our mind has become enemies to God by wicked works oh this matter of sin is more complicated than we usually think if sin is just a matter of action yes you may be able to solve that problem by education and so on and so forth but here you find sin is a matter of principle you find that it is a matter inward matter it is more than just many sinful acts that we have committed that constitute a crime before God and this needs to be solved but here you find this man is a sinner it is

more than just a matter of what I do but it is a matter of what I am I am a sinner my mind is full of vanity my will is hardened against God my whole emotion is out of order my whole being is dominated by sin by flesh the greatest enemy is myself dear brothers and sisters as we go on with the Lord we will discover that our real problem is not the problem outside of us our real problem is the problem within us this I this self this body of you remember Martin Luther he said he is not afraid of all the popes and emperors and kings and all these title people and so on and so forth but what he is afraid of is this desperate this pope within him that is himself dear brothers and sisters that is true this flesh of ours this body of the flesh this uncircumcised flesh what about that how can this

name be put aside how can this uncircumcised flesh be put off it stands in the way of the fullness of God thank God again you find the proof because of the weakness of our flesh Romans 8 he said our Lord has come in the likeness of the body of the flesh and there he condemns him in his flesh I will just use an illustration you remember that in the temple between the holiest place and the holy place there was a curtain of veil it was a very heavy veil very heavy veil and on that veil was embroidered the figure of of cherubim on that veil it was a very beautiful beautiful veil and then you remember when our Lord Jesus at the moment that he died on the cross out of the city of Jerusalem God tore that veil from the top to the bottom into two we all remember that story now in Hebrews chapter

10 it tells us that God has opened a new and living way for us through the veil which is his flesh in other words this veil that stands between God and man is this body of the flesh of our Lord Jesus the Lord came and put a flesh upon him the world became flesh and that flesh is the veil is the veil when he was broken torn into two raised into two on the cross what happened the cherubim that were embroidered on the veil were also torn into pieces that is the picture oh brothers and sisters often we find Christians ask how can I crucify myself oh I just hate myself this flesh is too bad yes in the beginning we think that there is good in the flesh but later on we discover that there is no good in the flesh and because there is no good we want to crucify it but the more we try to crucify it

the more active it becomes so our question is how can we crucify our flesh dear brothers and sisters God says you don't need to do that on the cross of Christ he has done it when he was crucified when he was torn apart you and I we who were in him embroidered on the veil were automatically together broken into pieces therefore what the bible says I was crucified with Christ and no longer live I but Christ who lives in me they who are Christ have crucified their flesh with its lust and passion dear brothers and sisters here again you'll find it is the cross the cross take us away that we may not stand in the way of the fullness then thirdly you'll find in Colossians chapter 2 having he faced the handwriting ordinances which stood out against us which was contrary to us he has taken it also

out of the way having nailed it to the cross our problem is not only that which is outside of us nor it is only that which is within us we have a problem before us and that is the matter of law the matter of law what is law of course it refers more than just the ten commandments but the ten commandments embodies the essence of the meaning of law thou shalt and thou shalt not the requirement the demand of the righteousness of God the law the law is holy the law is good and yet somehow the law becomes our enemy why? because as we stand before the law we are found to be guilty it is contrary to us and it is opposing us it says here the handwriting in ordinances handwriting your signature there is a contract with all these conditions stipulated and then you sign your name underneath it and

after you have signed it the contract is valid and as long as it is valid if you do not fulfill the condition you are cursed you are under obligation to fulfill it or you have to suffer the penalty of it and dear brothers and sisters this the people of God did you remember in Exodus chapter 24 when the people of God reached Mount Sinai Moses related to the people all the statues of God and you remember the people said all that God has said we will do and not only once Moses put all these into words written this and read it to them that there was no mistake and after Moses had read all these to them again they cried out all that God has said we will do alright Moses sprinkled the blood on the book and on the people that is the handwriting the signature and dear brothers and sisters even if

we were not Israelites of old in a sense in our conscience we have all put our handwriting on the ordinances of God is it not true that every person in this world somehow somehow in their conscience they feel an obligation to do the law of God we have our handwriting over there in one sense it is very good but in another sense we are being brought into bondage the law is holy and spiritual but we are in the flesh we cannot do the law and the law stands in our way to the fullness of God we cannot come to God because the law is against us and we find that our very nature the nature of our flesh is contrary to the holy nature of the law of God oh Paul Paul used an illustration of a marriage relationship the husband and the wife the law is the husband and we are the wife and because there was

a marriage ceremony and marriage vows have been given so the husband and the wife are bound together and later on the wife discovers the husband is very exacting she cannot say the husband is wrong every time the husband demands anything it's a right demand but he is so exacting and particular that the wife discovers it is beyond her ability he tries and tries to please her husband but she just cannot and she is thrown into depression she doesn't know what to do it is a life long contract she cannot just pack up and walk out and yet the more she tries to please her husband the more her husband is displeased and she is in a very nervous state almost breaking down and one day the husband dies she is free from the law of her husband and of course the law never dies but thank God we die in

Christ and now we are married to another one even Christ his demand is not less exacting and demanding even more but thank God this husband is very considerate he not only demands but he helps to meet the demand he is our very life in us he supplies us with the means to answer the requirement we offer so dear brothers and sisters here you will find another thing the handwriting ordinance he has explained blot it out cancel it put it away nail it on the cross and take it out of the way that we may enter into the liberty of the sons of God to the fullness that is in Christ and then lastly verse 15 of chapter 2 having spoiled principalities and authorities he made a show of them publicly leading them in triumph as our brother has mentioned already that we have an enemy and here you will find

the principalities and authorities they are around us oh how they try to cling to us and try to lead us astray to tempt us but thank God Christ he has solved that problem there on the cross he has spoiled disarmed completely defeated all the power of Godness principalities and authorities he just stripped them off on the cross oh you remember in Psalm 22 all the bull bulls are bashing all around him and it is a picture of the principalities and authorities the evil power they surround the cross they try to cling to Christ who was on the cross they try to destroy him and yet the Lord on the cross stripped them off from him completely stripped them off defeated them publicly and there by the cross he leads them in triumph and make a show of them openly the triumph of the cross dear brothers

and sisters today we do not need to be afraid many people today are living in constant fear and many Christians today even are living under a kind of unreasonable or unknowing fear but we need not fear because he has delivered us out of the one who is the power of death we are today joined with him in life in triumph we can enjoy the power the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ now dear brothers and sisters I just mentioned these things in a very superficial way and I believe that as we go on these days we shall hear more and we shall enter into more of the meaning of the cross but one thing I want to say is this all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ and by the cross he communicates his fullness if we want his fullness we need to accept his fullness not in an objective way only

but also subjectively we need to accept his cross and by accepting his cross all the barriers to his fullness will be removed and we will enter into the joy of the fullness of God which is in Christ our Heavenly Father we do thank thee that it is thy good pleasure to place all thy fullness in thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ that nothing may be lost and how we praise and thank thee that it is also thy good pleasure that we shall be partakers of thy fullness that we may be filled with the fullness of God in Christ Jesus oh how we praise and thank thee it is not something that is beyond our reach but we praise and thank thee that thy fullness hath come down to earth in thy Son and there on the cross he has released that fullness to the world oh we praise and thank thee that by the cross we may

enter into the fullness of God which is in Christ make the cross very real to us that we may also experience the reality of the fullness of God we ask all in the name of our Lord Jesus and for his glory