"It's not going to fit," I told her, but she wasn't going to listen to me. She pushed and squeezed and rearranged, but there was no way all those clothes, shoes, and presents were going to fit into that suitcase. "Even if you do fit it in," I hedged my bet. "You're going to rip the zipper." Her confidence just smiled. Stepping away from her masterpiece she turned and asked, "do you want me to help you with yours?"

I am always amazed at how much Rebecca can fit into our luggage. If not for the airline's weight restriction she would be taking the whole house to Bahrain in that one suitcase. Yet, as amazed as I am with my wife, I am blown away by this short description of Jesus.

"For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. (Col. 1:19)."

It is easy to glance over this passage and think, "Yeah, Jesus is fully God," affirming our belief that Jesus is deity and then move on. This sentence isn't just an affirmation, it is an extraordinary description of an unimaginable possibility. The emphasis is on what pleases God. What pleases God is what indwells Jesus. What indwells Jesus is the fullness of God, not in part but in whole. And here is the conundrum,

"But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you. 1 Kings 8:27"

Solomon built a temple dedicated as the dwelling place of God, but God doesn't live in buildings made by man. His own creation cannot contain him. Paul makes that point in Colossians when he says that it is through him (Jesus) everything that has been created was done so through him. He stands outside of his creation and his creation proceeds from his very being.

That is what makes this verse so extraordinary. The God of all creation packaged himself in human flesh so that he could move among us, so that we could see, touch, and hear him. As the Apostle John said, "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us."

But God didn't become flesh just so that he could have a cosmic picnic with us. He did it so that he could have an eternal relationship with us. All the fullness of God dwells in Jesus so that God could reconcile all things to him by  the cross.

Sin separates us from God. Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin. Only God's blood is sufficient enough to forgive all sin, once and for all. God can't shed blood unless he is human, ergo, Jesus.