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Colossians 2:9
9 For [hoti] in [en] him [autos] dwelleth [katoikeo] all [pas] the fulness [pleroma] of the Godhead [theotes] bodily. [somatikos] KJV-Interlinear
9 For in Him all the fulness of Deity dwells in bodily form, NASB
Not to be confused with the term ‘shekhinah,’ the word for dwelleth, ‘katoikeo,’ refers to the total inclusion of the essence of one entity inside another entity which is not a separate entity but one and the same, just in another form. That form being physical rather than spirit.
And so the fullness of God, is all of His essence, became incarnate man.
This does not say that a man was born, and that God simply entered into someone who was already there, but that God Himself became human, and all of the fullness of His existence was included in that person.
They were not separate entities occupying the same body, but one entity, that of God, who manifested Himself as perfect humanity in the person which we know as Jesus Christ.
In all of the philosophies of the world, many aspects of the nature of the incarnate Christ are questioned or even explained away as something that they are not.
In the Old Testament the concept of the ‘shekhinah,’ is a reference to God dwelling or living with His people, and is developed in the stories of God in the clouds, in the mountain, in the Ark of the Covenant, in the Temple and so forth. This concept is culminated in the indwelling of all three members of the Godhead, in each individual Christian, beginning at the Feast of Pentecost, just fifty days following the Passover sacrifice of Christ on the Cross.
Today every believer is indwelled by all three members of the Godhead. An event which did not exist in the Old Testament times. And an event which serves to further seal the believers’ eternal relationship with God. That relationship which was promised to Adam and others, and finalized and made secure and permanent at the Cross.
This indwelling does not interfere with the individuals’ intellect or physical functions in life. Both God and person are separate and unique individuals.
However, Jesus was not a man born, and then entered into by God as though they were separate individuals.
Jesus Christ is the unique person of the universe, both God and man in the same person.
And by the way, Gods indwelling of each believer does not give you any advantage in your spiritual relationship or growth. You still must be positive toward your hearing and learning and application, and obedience to doctrine in order to grow up. You can fail in your spiritual growth just as easily as you can succeed, despite the indwelling of the Godhead.
There are of course many implications of this relationship, which will not become manifest to us until eternity. And those implications can be left with your imagination. For now, your relationship with God is tied to your knowledge and understanding and application of Bible doctrine.
