Divine Virtues and God’s Fullness in Us

And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God (Ephesians 3:19, KJV)

Our inheritance in Christ is the glory of God. That glory is not some form of mere supernatural light or fire. It is God Himself filling us to the full, bringing us into the experience of His life and making us expressions of His divine virtues. This is the heart of our calling in Christ. What is this fullness of God that fills us? What are these divine virtues or qualities that make us God’s being which He fills us with?

For simplicity, let me break down divine virtues in a manner that will give us a deeper grasp of what God wants to do in your life. There are many divine qualities revealed to us in the word but they can be categorized in a simple manner. First, there are virtues that describe the divine subjective experience. That means how does God “feel” inside of Him? That includes virtues such as joy and peace. Then there are virtues I call “relational virtues,” which are God’s character as He relates to others —His creation. The most important of this is love, but also includes qualities like patience and longsuffering. Notice how this group is different from the first group. Love is incomplete until there is another person besides you that you can love. Love is not a “one man thing”. It requires a relationship with someone other than yourself. On the other hand, subjective experiences, such as joy do not need a second person.

The third category is what I call “operational virtues.” These are virtues that allow God to operate or get things done. The two crucial virtues in this category are power and wisdom.

Based on this simplistic, certainly imperfect categorization, you can better picture the divine qualities. There are the qualities of His subjective experience, relational qualities, and operational virtues.

Now this is where you come in. God wants to bring you into Himself and fill you with all of His virtues that constitute His being. He wants to bring you into His subjective experience, cause you to relate to others like He does in love, patience etc and make you operate like Him in the fullness of power and wisdom. He wants you to be full with all the fullness of God!

MEDITATE

I want you to take a minute and think through all the three categories I just mentioned above. Then declare that “I am full with all the fullness of God. I experience His life, love like He does and operates with power and wisdom as He operates!”

APPLY THE WORD

You were filled at salvation. You continue to be filled practically every day. He wants you to walk in that fullness. You will have to grow in the Word and in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Keep growing. There is glory ahead of you. Your future is too bright in God to slow down!