Enough Now and Forever

Scripture

Colossians 2:10 NIV

and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.

Talk

Man, I’ve had such a great week with you all. Thank you for allowing me to come to Western to share with you from the Word.

I feel so privileged.

I wanted to use what time I have left today, to bless you. Like Paul, I want to encourage your hearts. I want to encourage you in this way:

I believe that God’s very best sits in this room. I really do.

I don’t think your churches or your communities probably give you enough credit. You’re smart. You’re capable. You have agency, and leadership, and vision — and if you’re with Jesus, you’re full of the Holy Spirit, you’ve got real power, real boldness like the early church — we’re not waiting for the next generation, you’re already here! God is waiting on you to lay down your lives and say, “Okay, God! What do you say? What do you want? I’m all yours!”

Yesterday we talked about how God has brought us to fullness. Without Jesus, you’ll always be empty, but with Jesus, you can be fuller than you’ve ever been.

We live under the incomparable, supernatural power of the gospel. We’re living examples of what it means to be taken from emptiness to fullness — Jesus can have the seat of our desires, He can have our whole hearts, our futures.

We’re living in the reality that His truth has taken prisoners like us, who were held captive by lies, and His truth has set us free!

Jesus has died, God raised Him from death, and in those 3 days from Death to Resurrection — our greatest problem was dealt with.

We don’t live under the shadow of shame anymore. Death and sin don’t have a say in your future.

This is Paul’s intention with His phrase in Colossians 2:10, “and in Christ you have been brought to fullness.”

Paul says it another way. “You’re more than a conqueror,” you stand victorious where many have fallen, you remain undefeated on this side of the cross.

You lack nothing, your cup runs over — His goodness and mercy are following you all the days of your life.

There’s no deeper spiritual experience than what Jesus offers you.

With Jesus there is nothing you need to find anywhere else.

I think for some, Jesus is a piece of the puzzle. He’s the way we level up — like a spiritual version of trying harder and doing more, — I think this is the wrong way to view to Jesus.

Jesus is not a means to an end.

Jesus is the means and the end!

Think of it like this way…

You’re thirsty and you need a drink so badly. How awful is it being so thirsty that you’d do anything to have your thirst quenched?

But with Jesus, I’m never thirsty. John 4:14 says that Jesus becomes to us a spring of water, welling up to eternal life,” — any emptiness or thirstiness we feel is just a reminder that there are things out there that can’t give us what we need.

I think for some of us, this can feel like it’s too far out of reach. We either don’t think that Jesus’ sufficiency for us is important, or we don’t think it’s true — maybe some of us, we’ve gotten a taste. We’ve seen a little glimpse of when Jesus has been our everything, but we haven’t been able to find it again. I think some of us are waiting for this whole thing to click, still.

But let me remind you of something we talked about yesterday. I’ll read verse 9 and 10 together. "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness."

The fullness isn't something you attain through your own effort or willpower. It's not earned. It's a gift, purchased by the blood of Jesus at the cross. And it's yours, right now, the moment you fix your eyes on Him and say "Jesus, I surrender everything to you. You are enough for me."

That's when the light breaks through and you realize you've been living as a prisoner when Christ has already set you free, as Galatians 5:1 says, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free."

Imagine it like this… You’re living on the streets of Sioux Falls. Completely homeless, and you’re begging people for money. You haven’t eaten. You’ve hardly slept. And someone walks up to you…

“What are you doing out here? Don’t you have a home? Food to eat? You’ve got family back at home. This is your right since your birth! Go home and get it!”

What they’re saying, is they know you don’t belong on the streets. You’re someone’s Son or Daughter, you’ve always got a place to go home to. This is Romans 8:17 where Paul says

Romans 8:17 NIV

Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

You’re not just free, but you get a share of everything that Jesus has and has promised.

The fullness isn't out there somewhere - it's within you through Christ, waiting to be awakened and unleashed by faith. As Ephesians 3:19 says, you can be "filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."

Fullness with Jesus is always worth more than whatever the world is trying to give you.

Finding fullness in the world is like gulping salt water - it seems to quench your thirst for a moment but quickly makes you thirstier than you were before. But Jesus is the living water, a wellspring that never runs dry, eternally satisfying.

Status in the eyes of the world is based on your looks, your talents, what others think of you… but with Jesus, your value is unchanging.

He’s won you the greatest victory through His death and resurrection. Sin, death, shame, guilt, fear — there’s no power left for any of those things.

The Christian life is an invitation to walk in the fullness of freedom, in the fullness of joy, in the fullness of confidence, in the fullness of purpose that Colossians is talking about.

Listen to Paul's heart here - "In Christ, you HAVE BEEN brought to fullness."

This is a done deal, a reality waiting for you to lean into it.

Christ is the source, the means, the way to experience total and complete fullness in this life and the next.

Why would you ever go chasing after empty substitutes when you can drink directly from the fountain of living water?

Why would you trade what’s already yours at home for living on the streets?

Jesus is enough - more than enough! He's your everything! So tie your soul to His, and let His fullness become yours!

I think the biggest barrier for some of us is that we don’t believe this means anything.

It won’t mean anything if you don’t do anything with it.

Make a decision.

It’s a daily choice to surrender your life to Jesus.

A daily decision to stop walking in the emptiness and step into fullness.

A decision to give Him complete control over your life and let Him fill you in the places you were empty.

Paul says in Galatians 5:1, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Jesus has rescued us. We’ve gone from Prisoners to Freed men and women.

You’ve been changed — it’s time to start living like it.

So here's what I'm gonna do. In a moment, I'm going to get real quiet and let you make that decision.

Some of you are empty.

Some of you are prisoners.

If you’re tired of being empty, if you’re tired of living behind the bars of never being enough — let me just invite you to surrender.

It’s as simple as a prayer.

No special words needed, just a heart totally yielded to Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Make it personal, from the depths of your soul. Tell Him you're all in, that you want to walk in His fullness and freedom from this day forward. As John 8:36 says, "If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."

For some of you, this will be the first time truly surrendering control to Jesus — letting Him be enough. For others, it will be a fresh surrender after walking in bondage for too long. Whatever your situation, Jesus is ready to fill you with His freedom and fullness if you'll just ask.

So think it over for a minute. And when you're ready, go to Him in prayer... [pause for students to pray silently]

If you said to Jesus that you’re tired of being empty — ready to be full — today’s the day you’ve been released from prison, today is the day that Jesus has the desires of your heart — no more sin and death, no more shame, no more hiding behind things that don’t and won’t matter — no more emptiness for you.

Let’s celebrate! Boldly take hold of the abundant life Jesus came to give you. Don't go back to empty things. When you’re thirsty — get a drink from the living water — it never runs dry.

He’s enough. He always will be.

Prayer