The Cross - the Communication of Fullness — Stephen Kaung

Prayer for Refreshment and the Lordship of Christ

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 our 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 Jesus. Amen. Will you please turn to the letter, to the Colossians, chapter 1.

We'll read from verse 20 to verse 23. Colossians, chapter 1, verse 20. And by Him to reconcile all things to itself, having made peace by the blood of His cross, by Him whether the things on the earth or the things in the heavens.

And you, the ones who were alienated and enemies in mind by wicked works, yet now have it reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present your fully and unblameable and irreconcilable before Him.

The second chapter. We'll read from verse 9 to verse 16. 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, there is with Him a 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 offences and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, ye have taken together with Him, having forgiven us all the offences, having effaced the handwriting in ordinances that stood out against us, which was contrary to us, ye have taken it also out of the way.

Having nailed it to the cross, having spoiled principalities and authority, He made a show of them publicly, leaving them in prime violence. We have tried to consider together the purpose of God concerning us is the purpose of fullness.

The Fullness of God Dwells in Christ

And we try to find this fullness in Christ Jesus. We know that God has put 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 sanctified.

He was in glory. And Moses and Elijah appeared and talked with our Lord Jesus concerning His disciples. And you remember Peter, James, and John were together with the Lord on that mountain, yet somehow they were overwhelmed with sleep.

I think, in a sense, when they saw our Lord Jesus transfigured before them, and Moses and Elijah appearing, I think these three disciples, they would try 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 overcame by sleep. The glory was too much for them.

In spite of the fact that they were desiring to stay awake, still 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 the sea was about to be brought to a close, he was very unhappy about it. And he was really desperate. He didn't want that sea 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 will 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, fear not. 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.

Christ Alone Above the Law and the Prophets

Who is Moses? Who is Elijah? Moses is the representation of the law. 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 bodily.

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 give, 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 enough. We do not feel that we are full. And quite contrarily, very often, we feel that we are very empty.

And even if that 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.

Experiencing Christ's Fullness

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

We are like the stone jars standing there. And we feel great emptiness within us. We need to be healed. Healed to the brim. Overflowing. There's a life of Christ. There's a power of Christ. There's a love of Christ.

The light of Christ. The fulness that is in Christ. May be ours experimentally. And we may be made real to the overflowing.

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.

May fall in Him. But how? Our dear brother Mr. Spock 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?

To 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. The Lord of His creation. There you'll find in Him there dwells the fullness of the Godhead. Full of power.

Full of grace. 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 said in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And then in the second verse and the earth was weight and empty and darkness was on the face of the beast.

There you are. And the earth was weight and empty. And darkness was upon the face of the beast. We know that weight 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 life. And here you find the earth was weight and empty and was in total darkness. Of course we know the reason was there was sin in the creation.

Sin, Rebellion, and the Fall of Creation

In the beginning there was that archangel came 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 has 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 revealed 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 two. Today the whole earth was awake and avoided. 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 the creature had been made subject to vanity not of its will but by reason of him who has subjected the thing 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 pain until now.

The whole creation is now being brought under 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 ceaselessly 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. Weight. Emptiness. Darkness. Vanity. Corruption. Groans.

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 find in Colossians chapter 1, vying 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. Do you find any sign of the fullness of God in any creative thing in this world or in yourself?

There is none. 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.

The Incarnation Reconciles Creation to God

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 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 has 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. He made perfect in Him to reconcile all things.

The Blood of the Cross and the Remission of Sin

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 in Christ is demonstrated and just 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 will find here in verse 20 of chapter 1 having made peace by the blood of His cross. First of all you will 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 sinned. 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 when Peter and Eve were playing in an environment 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 fully 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 say 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 entered 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 terror. 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 a cherubim there with a flaming sword guarding the way to the tree of life. There was no answer. No entrance. 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 on the cross.

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 sin. 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 pastor. 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 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 land and then to put the blood on the doorposts and the lintels.

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 He cries out against us. There was no peace between us and God. But when God sees the blood, God says it has the atonement. So the blood is primarily 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 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 hearts. We came to the cross of our Lord Jesus.

By faith we sprinkle His blood upon our conscience. And there we are clean. All 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.

Continual Cleansing by the Blood

The light of light 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 is the light. This light of light continually sheds 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 us. That we may be clean. That we may have fellowship with God. Very often. 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 light. And then He enters into a cloud. It seems that 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. Do 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.

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 out of purification upon whoever was defiled. And he was, 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. 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 the things to Himself, to His fullness, by the blood of His cross.

The Cross and the Indwelling Power of Sin

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 animated 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, pitiful of sin. Through our very life's blood, it 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. My 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 us. You remember Martin Luther's statement. He said he is not afraid of all the popes and the emperors and the kings and all these title people and so on and so forth, but what he is afraid of is this despot, 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? This may 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, it says, Our Lord has come in the likeness of the body of the flesh, and there he condemns him in his name. I will just use an illustration.

Crucified with Christ

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 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. In other words, this veil sustains between God and man.

The body of the flesh of our Lord Jesus came and put a flesh upon him. The world, the world became flesh. And that flesh is the veil. Is the veil. When he was broken, torn into two, rinsed into two on the cross, the Cherubim that were embroidered on the veil were also torn.

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, you and I, we who were in him, embroidered on the veil, were automatically, together, broken into pieces. Therefore 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 blood. 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.

The Cross Removes the Condemnation of the Law

Then thirdly, you'll find in Colossians chapter 2, having effaced 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 floor.

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 does the Ten Commandments.

But the Ten Commandments embody 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. Now 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.

It is conditionally 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 ordinance itself.

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. In one sense, it is very good. But in another sense, we are being brought into bondage.