Complete part 1
To start this Rant series I really only have one verse and one thought on my heart. But it's an important verse, and a big thought. Ready? "And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power" (Colossians 2:10). That's it. That's all I want to say. You ARE complete. Complete in Him. And here's the picture I had in my head: When you complete a jigsaw puzzle, there are no pieces missing and everything is in it's rightful place. You can see the whole picture. The finished product. But, really, that's where it gets a little bit tricky. Because every time I turn around I see something along the lines of, "I'm not perfect yet, but God's not done with me yet." But if you re-read Colossians 2:10 you will NOT see the phrase, "You will be complete in Him someday when He finishes with you." He IS finished. It IS finished. And you ARE complete in Him. So let's go ahead and dig in a little bit and break this down. "Complete" is number 4137 in Strong's Greek Concordance and it means, "To make replete, that is (literally) to cram a net, level up a hollow, or (figuratively) to furnish (or imbue, diffuse, influence), satisfy, execute (an office), finish (a period or task), verify." There's a lot there, but it's literally all Jesus. Cram a net. Fishers of men. He drew us into Himself. Crammed Himself into us, if I can say it that way. Filled us to overflowing and didn't leave room for anything else. Level up a hollow. He brought the mountains low and the valleys high and made the Way straight and narrow. To furnish. The carpenter Jesus isn't up in heaven making a mansion for you to live in. He made YOU into a dwelling place for HIM to live in, and He furnished you with every piece of furniture--every Spiritual blessing and everything that pertains to life and godliness--that you will ever need! Satisfy. He is the offering that satisfied God's requirements. Execute an office. He is our High Priest. Finish a task. That would be the cross. That would be YOU. It is finished. You were made in God's image, and then on the cross you were CONFORMED to the image of His Son. He showed you that image, by making the Word become flesh. By pouring His Spirit out on ALL flesh. By finishing the work. Bringing us out of the Old Covenant (fulfilling it and nailing it to the cross) and bringing us into the New Covenant. Bringing us out of the power of darkness and into His Kingdom (which is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost and which is within us)! He made all things new. Notice He didn't make all new things. He didn't give up on you and start over. He regenerated you. A new heaven (mind) and new earth (body). A new creature freed from the bondage of sin and death. A New Man with a New Commandment (love one another as Jesus loves you). And to touch back on the last Rant series about "Surrender," I'm telling you, you ARE complete. You don't have to (and can't) make it happen. It already happened. Just accept it. Give in to it. Surrender to it. YOU are the finished work. You ARE complete in Him. Receive it and release it!