The Interprenetration of Heaven and Earth

By Creation, the Incarnation and the Cross, our Lord Jesus Christ is the interpenetration of heaven and earth, of eternity and time, of divinity and humanity – of God and humankind. He is the image of the invisible God, in whom all the fullness of divinity dwells in bodily form, and in whom we are made complete and become partakers of the divine nature. All are created through Christ, by Christ, for Christ and in Christ. All are in Christ, and Christ is in all, giving being to all. 

The Son is the Image of the Invisible God, the Firstborn Over All Creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the Head of the Body, the Church; he is the Beginning and the Firstborn from Among the Dead, so that in everything he might have the Supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all, whether on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. (Colossians 1:15-20) 

The eternal purpose of God in Christ is the reconciliation of all in heaven and on earth to himself and to each other, through Christ, through the blood of the Cross — to bring all together in unity, everything in heaven and on earth summed up in Christ. The word St. Paul uses for this in Ephesians 1 is anakephalaiomai, using a root, kephale, that refers to the head. 

God did this when he revealed to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, toward the administration of the fullness of the times, to head up [anakephalaiomai] all things in Christ – the things in heaven and the things on earth. (Ephesians 1:9-10 NET)

Christ has not merely come in the fullness of time but he himself is the fullness of time, in which all in heaven and on earth are made one — with Christ as the Head. What does this mean, then, but that all in heaven and on earth finally become the Body of Christ? For there is no Head without a Body. Just a few verses later, Paul deepens the significance of this:

That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be Head [kephale] over everything for the Church, which is his Body, the Fullness of Him Who Fills everything in every way. (Ephesians 1:19-23) 

Christ is the one who fills all things, the whole of creation, in every way — and the Church is that fullness. Christ and His Body, the Church, are the interpenetration of heaven and earth. Heaven and earth mutually indwell one another, yet there is no separation or confusion. They truly meet and participate in one another, but neither loses its identity. Nothing is erased but everything finds its true meaning and purpose as all are gathered together in Christ. 

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.