The Church Is the Fullness of Christ

In the book of Ephesians, St. Paul speaks of God’s great and eternal plan for all creation, which has been revealed in our Lord Jesus Christ. Not only has it been made known in time but it is the purpose of time, describing the fulfillment of time. God’s purpose in Christ is all encompassing, and time is the measure of its progress. 

God made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment — to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. (Ephesians 1:9-10)

The operative word for bringing all to unity under Christ is the Greek anakephalaiomai, which means to sum up, to head up, to recapitulate — or as we like to say, to recap. God’s purpose from the beginning is to recapitulate all in heaven and on earth in Christ, with Christ as head. So shall it be at the end of time.

God put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the Church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. (Ephesians 1:22-23)

Christ, as the head of all creation, fills all things in every way with himself. In this way, all creation becomes the embodiment of Christ, and this embodiment is the Church. For just as there is no body without the head, there is also no head without the body. St. John Chrysostom says,

The fullness of the head is the body and that of the body is the head. Observe how skillfully Paul writes and how he spares no word to express the glory of God. The “fullness” of the head, he says, is fulfilled through the body ... Through all members, therefore, his body is made full. Then the head is fulfilled, then the body becomes perfect, when we are all combined and gathered into one. (Homily 3 on Ephesians)

The Church is the fullness of Christ in all things and in every way, but that does not mean Christ is incomplete in himself. Rather, the Church is how his fullness is expressed and made known. Christ ever remains uniquely the head over all things. The Church embodies his fullness not by adding to him or taking from him, but by manifesting him throughout the world. The Church is the revelation of Christ.

In his Treatise on 1 Corinthians 15:28, St. Gregory of Nyssa says, “Now the body of Christ, as I often have said, is the whole of humanity.” Fr. John Behr echoes that and the logical conclusion of Ephesians 1: “The Church is the whole of Creation seen eschatologically; from which we already see islands in the present.” For all in heaven and on earth are made one and headed up in Christ, who is All in All.

Jesus Christ fills everything in every way, 
and the Church is that fullness.