At the 2024 C.S. Lewis Symposium in Belfast, Rev. Joe Kohm, Vice President of the C.S. Lewis Institute, presented a thoughtful lecture titled “The Weight of Glory” and “the Fullness of Time”: Where Paul and C.S. Lewis Meet. Drawing connections between Scripture and C.S. Lewis’s celebrated sermon The Weight of Glory, Kohm explored how Paul’s vision of God’s redemptive plan in Ephesians 1:10 finds rich echoes in Lewis’s understanding of eternity, glory, and Christian hope.

Exploring the “Fullness of Time”

Central to the lecture was Paul’s phrase “the fullness of time” (pleroma tou chronou), which points to God’s perfect timing in bringing His plan for creation to completion in Christ. Kohm reflected on how Lewis’s writings help readers imagine this future fulfillment—not as wishful thinking, but as the culmination of God’s redemptive purposes.

Using an everyday illustration, Kohm encouraged the audience to think about “fullness” not simply as something being filled, but as God’s work of bringing what is incomplete to its intended perfection through Christ.

Themes from The Weight of Glory

Kohm highlighted several themes from Lewis’s famous sermon that resonate with Paul’s teaching:

• The longing for something beyond this world. Lewis argues that our deepest desires point beyond earthly satisfaction toward the eternal joy found in God.
• The promise of true glory. Rather than seeking approval from the world, believers are invited to live in anticipation of hearing God’s commendation and sharing in His eternal kingdom.
• Seeing others with eternal significance. Echoing Lewis’s famous reminder that “there are no ordinary people,” Kohm encouraged Christians to view every person as someone created with eternal value and worthy of love, dignity, and compassion.

“A cleft has opened in the pitiless walls of the world, and we are invited to follow our Great Captain inside.”
— C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

A Call to Live in Light of Eternity

Kohm concluded by encouraging believers to live with confidence in God’s unfolding plan. The hope of Christ’s kingdom is not merely a future expectation but a present reality that shapes how Christians worship, serve, and share the gospel. By bringing together the Apostle Paul’s vision and C.S. Lewis’s imaginative theology, the lecture reminded attendees that the fullness of God’s purposes is ultimately found in Jesus Christ.

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