More Than Full

“'And He put all things [in every realm] in subjection under Christ’s feet, and appointed Him as [supreme and authoritative] head over all things in the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills and completes all things in all [believers]." — Ephesians 1:22-23 (AMP)

Have you ever poured a glass of water just to the edge, watching the surface stretch until it nearly spills? There’s something captivating about that moment. It’s not just full—it’s more than full. That image comes to mind as we read Paul’s words in Ephesians. The Church isn’t simply holding a bit of Jesus—it’s brimming with His life, completed by His presence, filled to the brim and beyond.

In the original Greek, the word translated as “fullness” is plērōma (πλήρωμα)—a word that conveys not just something being full, but the embodiment of all it was meant to be. The Church isn’t a container that God occasionally tops off; it is the living body through which Christ’s presence is fully expressed in the world. 

And the verb used—plēroumenou—suggests that Christ is continually filling, not in a one-time act, but as an ongoing, life-giving movement. It’s like a fountain that never runs dry. As Jesus said in John 4:14, “the water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (ESV) The Church, then, is not a fragile cup that risks running empty, but a vessel connected to the Source himself—always being filled, always overflowing, always completing his work in the world.

What does it mean to believe that Christ is continually completing his work in and through us?

It reframes how we see one another. No member of the Church is merely “part of the crowd.” Each believer is part of the body that Christ is filling with himself. Every believer—regardless of age, ability, or visibility—is part of the body being filled by Christ’s life and love.

This also means we can give freely without fear of running dry. In seasons of exhaustion, compassion fatigue, or spiritual drought, we are connected to a living fountain, not a dwindling reservoir. We are not merely clinging to grace—we are immersed in it.

Where today might Christ be inviting you to stop striving and simply receive his overflowing presence?

Jesus, you are the wellspring who never runs dry. You fill all things in all of us—not just once, but again and again, like a spring that overflows into every corner of our lives. Remind us that we are not fragile vessels easily emptied, but members of your living body, constantly completed by your presence. Let us drink deeply from your love, and pour it out freely into a world that thirsts for hope. Amen.

Peace & Grace,

Pastor Tim

Bible Hub. (n.d.). Ephesians – Interlinear Greek-English Bible. BibleHub.com.. https://biblehub.com/text/ephesians/