Fullness of Character
Suppose you want to buy a Mercedes-Benz SL from the 1990s. Good choice. The R129 SL, built between 1989 and 2001, was a superb iteration of Mercedes’ two-seat grand tourer that now had even broader character. You’ll find it surprisingly sporty compared to its competition, and way ahead of its time with luxury and tech (including a power-folding hardtop, adaptive dampers, ABS with lateral acceleration sensors, traction control), and a spectacular array of engine choices.
In fact, picking an engine may be the hardest part. The horsepower spread begins with the 189-horsepower 2.8-liter SL280 and ends with the thunderous 518-horsepower 7.3-liter V12 in the SL73 AMG. If you’re a speed junkie, hold out for any one of the AMG engines. But if you want the fullness of the R129 – the car Mercedes fans can point to and say “Ja, that there is what the R129 is all about” – what should you seek?
Car folks can debate the definition of fullness of character of any car, especially ones with so many powertrain choices and such a long production run. But in Colossians 1:25-26, the Bible explains to its readers today what the “word of God in its fullness” truly means:
“I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness – the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints… this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:25-26, 27b)
In this letter to the early church in Colossus, Paul is starting things off by explaining what this whole Christ-following business is all about. There’s Jesus, who suffered the punishment of the wrongdoing of humankind and was killed but then came back to life, all of which followed roughly three intense years of miracles and teachings that flipped the old order of things upside down yet retained and even strengthened scriptural truths that had been established since the beginning.
It’s a lot to process, and parts of it can seem like a mystery, but Paul explains it to new believers in several of his writings. The whole book of Ephesians centers on this mystery: “This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 3:6). The image of “one body” is profoundly significant, since a few paragraphs earlier Paul describes the oneness that followers now have with Jesus. The wrongdoing that once was a barrier is now gone. Later, in Chapter 5, Paul describes the “one body” relationship within marriage, and perfectly clarifies the whole message with this sentence: “This is a profound mystery – but I am talking about Christ and the church.” (Ephesians 5:32)
Throughout the Bible, the body of Christ-followers is described as a bride waiting to be united to Christ. It’s a beautiful image of unity and love, and Paul deliberately applies that unity to the work of the Word of God – Jesus – as described in the words of God – the Bible. The whole purpose is destroying any separation between God and anyone who would follow him, as well as anything that separates these followers from each other. Yeah, that’s a profound truth to comprehend, which is why it’s a bit of a mystery. And the exact configuration of multiple entities constituting one body has perplexed Trinitarians for millennia. But that unity and reunification are the fullness of the Bible. That’s what Christ-followers today point to and say, “Yes, that’s what the Bible is all about.” It’s God’s 7.3-liter fury, 2.8-liter accessibility, ABS-like stability, and grace in the form of life-saving traction control. God’s fullness is all of these things, yet so much more, together without separation in one body.
Believe it or not, Mercedes fans have reached something close to consensus on the ideal representation of the R129. AMG fans admit that those models are a bit too rare, costly, and hard-edged, and stick-shift purists acknowledge that the extreme rarity of 5-speed models (and the underpowered engines that they came with) make them outliers. They come together on the 1993-1997 600SL, later called the SL600, with its just-right 389-horsepower 6.0-liter V12. You can pick that one and have at least one thing in common with any other R129: the same body.
