Fullness of Life Through Faith
Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? — Isaiah 53:1
But these are written, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name. — John 20:31
Author
Faustino de Jesús Zamora Vargas
Summary: Fullness of life in Christ is lived through saving faith, not a faith that seeks God only in times of crisis or mere intellectual assent. This faith, received from the Holy Spirit, puts Christ first and leads us to trust him above our difficulties rather than yield to our own will. Christ redeemed us from sin and, on the cross, won fullness and eternal life for us. Therefore, we can hold fast to faith, turn to him in prayer, and recognize that material wealth offers no security without it. His grace makes us complete so that we may live for his glory.
The meaning of a full life rests on faith. Not the temporary faith that remembers God only when the storm is unavoidable, or the intellectual faith that takes comfort in giving credence as just another exercise of the intellect, but saving faith—the faith that puts Christ first in life, the faith that overflows beyond difficulties. There is no full life in Christ without full faith.
“Full of what?” an ungodly person might ask. Those who are not in Christ cannot understand this fullness. The Bible says that spiritual things can only be discerned spiritually. Our spirituality comes not from our understanding, nor from our appreciation of the fine arts or our inclination toward poetry, literature, or good cinema, but from the Holy Spirit. So it is with faith, saving faith. A full life in Christ does not submit to the dictates of our own will, but to the precepts that point with certainty to a God who is alive and among us. That is the faith we have received from the Spirit: that Christ came to seek sinners, to redeem them from slavery to sin and offer them eternal life.
We all receive from his fullness through the merits of the cross. The fullness of life in Christ points to the cross. He won it for us, and from the beginning it has been the promise for all his children. “From his fullness we have all received grace upon grace.” John 1:16
If there is one indispensable thing to hold on to in life in the Lord, it is faith. Faith that He is always present, that He is within the reach of a prayer of gratitude and love, that He is the helper who does not begrudge the time it takes to come to our aid. Without faith it is impossible to please God. Faith is like a river flowing into a sea of full life if Christ has been the breath that filled the sails of your heart.
The Word confirms it: “and in him, who is the head of all power and authority, you have received that fullness.” (Col. 2:10). The fullness of life in Christ is lived by faith. It is not an empty concept, but a rational lived experience. Without faith, any material wealth becomes unstable, insecure. The barns we enjoy most are those filled by the grace of God in response to our faith. We are complete through his fullness.
My prayer is that the fullness of Him who fills all in all (Eph. 1:23) will also fill you with his power and take your thoughts captive to the true knowledge, through faith, of a full life for his glory.
God bless you!