Fullness

Emptiness is nothing. It is a place that is empty. A place where God is not present, where it is dark and cold, where there is no hope for an eternal future. The place where God comes, where He is present with His Holy Spirit, becomes filled with meaning, light, and love.

Fullness is harmony in relationships with God. It is the alignment of a person's thoughts, feelings, and actions with God's will. It is unity with Deity at the level of intelligent worship and reverence of the Creator.

God created this world and all living in it for Himself. He instilled in every breathing and thinking soul a need for relationship with Himself. The spiritual world is arranged to be filled with knowledge of God, which in turn gives life meaning.

Jesus defined this meaning in John 17:3: "Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent."

The Lord knew that in the last time, emptiness and godlessness would be present in everything and abundantly offered to the world, and this would become a serious problem even among God's people, who by God's design should offer the world fullness and the Source of life.

In the message to Laodicea from Revelation 3:14-22, the Faithful Witness voices the problem of our time, and He does not stop at just rebuking the lukewarm state. He also offers a way out.

Verse 18 contains God's plan of fullness in knowing God. By offering us eternal goods, the Lord seems to hint that obtaining them should also become eternal and turn into a habit. It is impossible to taste food once and have it last a lifetime. We are designed to always eat, otherwise hunger, exhaustion, and death will come. The same can be said about the spiritual bread of life offered to buy according to the Faithful Witness's counsel. If a lukewarm person once entered into trading relationships with Jesus, was filled with the fullness of God's blessings and decided that this would be enough for a lifetime, they will cool down again and become lukewarm, but now with a fleeting trading experience. They once tasted how good the Lord is and how Heavenly gold can enrich and change everything in their life. But our world is constant in its temptations of cold and darkness, and to resist this, a constant source of fire and light is needed, otherwise one will cool down and freeze.

If the most hardened person is placed in conditions of eternal permafrost, at some point their internal resource will end, and they will become as cold as this surrounding world.

God's plan, expressed in the message to Laodicea, is for the lukewarm Christian to recognize their true condition, accept what is offered in Jesus' counsel, enter into eternal trading relationships with Him, be zealous in continuously buying what is offered, and repent of their previous way of life. To such followers, Jesus will come daily for evening meals and teach them how to use the acquired knowledge and gifts.

Filling can also occur outside the message to Laodicea. A person who unceasingly seeks God and has constant relationships with Him receives the Bread and Water of life and is alive. But in the counsel to Laodicea, Jesus also offers spiritual growth. This is a kind of higher spiritual military academy, where Christ's disciple receives the skills of a victor and conqueror and becomes one.

If a soldier wants to become a general, in their routine service they can only rise to the highest sergeant rank of a senior sergeant. By submitting a report for promotion, they can study to become a warrant officer, and if they want to study further, they can enter a military school and become a junior officer. The obtained education will help them serve up to the rank of lieutenant colonel. For further career growth, they need to undergo training at a military academy, after which they can serve up to the rank of general and even become a marshal. The military education system excludes a quick transition from the lowest group of military personnel to higher command echelons of leadership and power.

By offering His training program for victors, the Faithful Witness does not teach that without effort, everyone can become the victor that God intended for a human.

Think about it: by buying love from Jesus, you will not become a loving person in an instant. Many old habits will need to be left behind, many unnecessary stereotypes will interfere with development. A dirty glass needs thorough washing before it becomes suitable for use and storing clean water.

Entering military service, I cannot avoid learning without facing severe punishment. The military education system simply excludes this. Christ's School is more loyal, and it takes into account my desires. It considers my will and choice. But it is also military and expects self-discipline from its students in obtaining valuable knowledge and applying it in practice.

We learn on the battlefield. In the spiritual world, there are no peaceful corners. Even far from civilization, a lonely person will be pursued and tempted by their own lust and the enemy of souls. And in this battle, one needs to be armed with a victor's spiritual weapon. And this weapon is offered to us to buy by the Faithful Witness from Revelation 3:18.

The Lord does not just wish to fill us with Himself, but to overflow us so that we willingly share the excess of Deity with other people.

A room that has light turned on is immediately filled with it, but dim light is not enough to illuminate everything around. The sun is needed for this task. To water my garden, a few liters of water are sufficient, but this is not enough to irrigate all nearby fields. A downpour is needed for this task. To understand that the Lord loves me, my faith and reading assurances of God's love are enough. But this is not enough to convince the surrounding world of love. The power of the Holy Spirit is needed.

By offering us to buy gold refined by fire, white clothing, and eye salve, the Savior hands over in these symbols a strategic fullness for global victory over oneself, over the spirits of evil in the heavenly places, and over this world.

It is impossible to become a spiritual general on the battlefield, bypassing God's educational plans.

Any soldier, practicing their skills in battle, learns the art of warfare and can be a victor in local skirmishes. But they will never see the entire picture of battle deployment and without the support of all armed forces will never completely defeat the enemy. Any army, ultimately defeating the enemy, becomes a victor from private to commander-in-chief.

By offering us trading relationships, Jesus invites us to service and training in the Victor's army. He has already won this war but desires that we become skilled warriors in our own battlefields and triumph over the enemy with God's weapon of mass destruction.

Unlike earthly weapons, God's weapon does not destroy but builds, heals, restores, treats, lifts, inspires, and gives wings for creative perspectives. God's fullness gladdens the heart, brings peace, and fills life with light and love for all near and far, for relatives and enemies.

What is surprising is how modestly the Lord offers us a way out of the lukewarm state. He advises something better. So unobtrusively and tenderly. He does not pour His fullness upon us but modestly waits.

Reflection Questions for this Chapter

1. Please read Colossians 1:19-20; 2:8-10; John 1:16; Jeremiah 29:11; Revelation 3:18; Proverbs 14:12; Psalms 15:11; Ephesians 1:19-23; 3:16-19; 5:18; James 1:2-4 in light of this chapter.

2. What other Bible verses came to your mind?

3. What did you understand from this chapter?

4. What is fullness?

5. How can one obtain fullness?

6. Do you think the message to Laodicea is still relevant in our time?

7. Did you see the offered fullness in the symbols from Revelation 3:18?

8. How is the fullness expressed in the proposed Heavenly goods?

9. Why does the Lord want to have eternal trading relationships with us, not temporary ones?

10. Can a believing person be filled with God's fullness? How?

11. Can a lukewarm person lead another lukewarm person out of a lukewarm state?

12. Do you think the promise from Revelation 3:21 extends to those who ignore the counsel from Revelation 3:18?

13. Is it worth understanding that the message to Laodicea describes not only the state of God's people but also provides a way out?

14. Is the Faithful Witness's Testimony contained in the fullness of the entire message from verses 14 to 22, or are there important verses and unimportant ones?