All Of God, All The Way Into Our Humanity
A simple meal in warm light, a quiet picture of God’s fullness meeting everyday life.
Devotional Credit: In Christ, E. Stanley Jones, reflecting on Colossians 2:9
Photo Credit: Unsplash
E. Stanley Jones takes us by the hand and points to a wonder. In Jesus, the whole fullness of Deity lives in a human body. Not once upon a time for a moment, but present tense, dwells. God did not flirt with matter, He embraced it. The incarnation does not despise bodies, meals, work, or relationships. It redeems them. It gives them a future and a goal.
Jones pushes back against a split view of life. Spirit good, matter bad, is not the gospel. The Word became flesh. The Father prepared a body for the Son. The Son obeyed in that body. The body was taken up into glory and will bear the marks of love forever. That means your embodied life is not an obstacle course to heaven. It is a meeting place with Jesus.
This changes Tuesday. The Lord does not only sanctify our quiet times. He sanctifies our kitchens, commutes, and conversations. In Christ we find reconciliation between body and spirit, work and worship, earth and heaven. Grace does not bypass your humanity. Grace moves in and makes it a home.
I am grateful for how Jones writes like a friend who refuses to let us live thin, divided lives. If all the fullness of God dwells in Jesus, and Jesus lives in us by the Spirit, then our ordinary bodies become places where the kingdom sounds like music. Not louder noise, but a richer note. The life of God, through real people, in real days.
Journal Entry – Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture
I am the Holy Spirit, and I dwell in you. In Jesus all the fullness of Deity lives bodily, and you are filled in Him. I unite you to the Son so that His life becomes your life. The Word became flesh and dwelt among you. I take what belongs to Him and make it known to you.
Your body matters to God. Present your body as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. You were bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body. I strengthen you with power in your inner person so that the Messiah dwells in your heart through faith. I teach you to do whatever you do, in word or deed, in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to the Father.
Do not divide your world. The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof. Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. I renew your mind so you put on the new self, created after God in true righteousness and holiness. I lead you to present your members as instruments of righteousness. I set the peace of the Anointed to rule in your heart, and I cause His word to dwell richly in you.
I am the Spirit of adoption. I bear witness that you are God’s child. I conform you to the image of His Son. I guide your steps, season your speech with grace, and make your work a service to the Lord. In Jesus, heaven and earth meet in you. Walk in Him, rooted and built up, and let thanksgiving rise.
Real-Life Analogy
Think of slipping on the right pair of glasses. The frame sits comfortably, the lenses match your eyes, and the world sharpens. The street signs are crisp. Colors settle into place. You are still on the same sidewalk, but everything is clear.
Union with Jesus is like that, and the Spirit is the One who fits the frame. The life of God clarifies your life in the body. If you are cooking dinner tonight while tired from work, you might say, Lord, I trust You to express Your patience and joy through my hands as I chop and stir. Then put on music that lifts your heart, invite someone to set the table, and serve the meal with simple thanks. Let the Lord turn an ordinary kitchen into a meeting place.
Prayer of Confidence
Father, thank You that all Your fullness lives in Jesus, and that in Him I have been brought to fullness. Thank You that the Holy Spirit dwells in me and makes my ordinary body a temple for Your glory. Thank You that my work, my meals, and my conversations can carry the life of Your Son. I receive Your peace and Your power for this day. I rejoice that heaven has come near in Jesus and is now at home in me.
Scripture References for the Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture Section
Colossians 2:9-10. John 1:14. Hebrews 10:5-7. Luke 24:39. Philippians 3:20-21. Romans 12:1-2. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. Ephesians 3:16-19. Colossians 3:17. Psalm 24:1. 1 Corinthians 10:31. Ephesians 4:22-24. Romans 6:11-13. Colossians 3:15-16. Romans 8:14-17. Romans 8:29. Colossians 2:6-7. 1 Peter 2:5.