Gettysburg Seventh-day Adventist Church

Scripture: For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. Colossians 2:9-10 (NKJV)

Observation:  Translate in the Greek order, “Ye are in Him (by virtue of union with Him) filled full” of all that you need (Jn 1:16). Believers receive of the divine unction which flows down from their Divine Head and High Priest (Ps 133:2). He is full of the “fulness” itself; we, filled from Him. Paul implies, Therefore ye Colossians need no supplementary sources of grace, such as the false teachers dream of. Christ is “the Head of all rule and authority” (so the Greek), Eph 1:10; He, therefore, alone, not these subject “authorities” also, is to be adored (Col 2:18). [Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Col 2:10). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.]

Application: A movie released several years ago popularized the words spoken by its main character, Jerry McGuire.  During the main scene in the film, he said to his girlfriend, “You Complete me!”  Those words sounded so romantic that many others have borrowed them to express their love and devotion to the person they love.  Tom Cruise played the part of Jerry McGuire.  Now I know that Tom Cruise didn’t write the script for this movie, it was Cameron Crowe who wrote it and directed it; Tom Cruise was simply the actor repeating Crowe’s words.  Unfortunately, the “You complete me” concept hasn’t worked to well for Cruise.   When Tom Cruise spoke those now famous words, “You complete me,” he was married to his second wife, Nicole Kidman. As you probably know, Cruise and Kidman divorced five years later, after which Cruise entered a romantic relationship with Penelope Cruz, and then a third marriage, this time to Katie Holmes, which was also unsuccessful even though it resulted in the birth of a daughter.  If we were cynics we could say that Tom Cruise has not yet found “the one” to “complete” him.

This romantic view that we need another person to complete us began with the Greek philosopher Plato who wrote that there was once a “super race” of androgynous humans that made an attempt to overthrow the gods. This super race consisted of “round” people, made up of  both male and female in one person, and in that state they were getting too powerful. So Zeus, the king of the gods, said, “I shall now cut each of them in two ... and they will be both weaker and more useful to us through the increase in their numbers.”

This forceful separation supposedly left both halves wondering the world, looking for their “soul-mate,” desperate to be reunited.  When the two halves did finally find each other, all they could do was cling to each other, which sadly led to their deaths “because they were unwilling to do anything apart from one another.”  Zeus was no longer concerned about these powerful beings because deprived and desperate humans were no longer so powerful and no longer such a threat to the gods.

Interestingly enough, in Plato’s view romantic love does not make us stronger but weaker. And yet, many people do, in fact, live this way, on a constant search to find their other human “half,” so they may be “complete,” and then desperately attempting to keep that half.

The Bible’s view is very different. Today’s text reminds us that because the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Jesus, Our Creator, we are complete in Him!  No other human being can complete us.  They can, and do, add to our lives.  But a human being, who is not perfect, cannot possibly meet all our needs.  Jesus, on the other hand, because He is perfect, can an does complete us.  So stop looking for another person to be your perfect soul-mate and to meet all your needs.  When both you and the person you love submit to Jesus, He completes both and meets both their needs.

A Prayer You May Say: Father God, thank You that we can be complete in Jesus.  Help us to draw closer to Him because asa result we will end up drawing closer to one another.

Used by permission of Adventist Family Ministries, North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists.