But
in what sense is the church the fullness of Christ? There is little in the
immediate context to shed much light on it. However, Col 1:19, 2:9-10 claims
that the entirety of God's fullness dwells in Christ, and Christ fills his
people. Thus, the fullness of Christ in his body the church most likely refers
to the fullness of the deity living in them (cf. Eph 3:19). Markus Barth points
to the Old Testament concepts of the shekina (glorious presence), the
spirit or wisdom of God for understanding the fullness of God dwelling in his
people. The glory of God fills the house of God and the whole earth (Jer 4:12;
cf. 23:23-24; Pss 48:10; 119:64), and "God's presence and
manifestation are always described by a form of the verb 'to fill' or by the
adjective 'full.'" (Barth, 203-4) As such, Barth rightly concludes that
the "fullness" in Christ "manes no less than God's presence and
operation in Christ; the dwelling of Christ in the saints is to be identified
with Christ's full and real presence in his body, the church." (Barth,
205)
While
Christ fills all reality with his reconciling presence (cf. 1:10), so the
church is the ultimate expression of his fullness—God dwells within Christ who
dwells within his body. Moreover, as the fullness of Christ, the church gives
expression to his presence in the world. That is, the church is so filled by
Christ that he has a tangible presence on earth through it, even while he is
himself the filling power of the universe. In that sense, the two arenas of his
fullness parallel that of the glory of God which fills the house of God
specifically and the whole earth generally (Jer 4:12). (Constantine R. Campbell, The Letter to the
Ephesians [The Pillar New Testament Commentary; Grand Rapids, Mich.:
Eerdmans, 2023], 80)