In the last post of this series I mentioned that there
are radical implications stemming from our corporate identity in Jesus Christ.
Just what are those implications? Let’s take a look at some of them in Paul’s
letter to the Ephesians.
The Fullness of Jesus Christ
“And he put all things under his feet and gave him
[Christ] 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
An earlier blog post took a look at the biblical meaning
of ‘the fullness.’ The fullness of God the Father, all that He is, was pleased to dwell in Jesus Christ (Colossians1:19). All that Father is can be clearly seen in Jesus Christ. This is why
Jesus could say that we had seen the Father if we had seen Him.
In the same way, Paul says that the fullness of Jesus
Christ is in His body, the church.
All of Christ, all that He is, can be clearly seen in the church. In a very
real sense, brothers and sisters, we are
Jesus Christ in the world! God has set it up so that, while He is visible
in each of us individually, the fullness
of Him is seen in all of us together. We were not made to be loners. We were
made to be together, that our Lord might be seen as He is.
Mature Manhood
“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists,
the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building
up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the
knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature
of the fullness of Christ…” Ephesians 4:11-13
Much attention is given in the church to some of the
gifts Paul mentions here, particularly shepherding (pastoring). But the goal
for these gifted brothers and sisters is not to dominate the meetings of the
church. It is to build up the body until all
attain mature manhood, the stature of the fullness of Christ. There is more to
this maturity than just living a holy personal life. There is more to maturity than
sharing Christ with unbelievers. Paul expands on his point a few verses later:
“Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in
every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body,
joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each
part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in
love.” Ephesians 4:15-16
The whole body is connected with Christ, and Christ works
in the whole body to make it grow. He speaks to and through each of us, not
just for each of us individually, but for the church as a whole. Every part of
the body is important! YOU are an essential part of Jesus Christ revealing Himself
in and through the church!
What a blessing and an encouragement it is to me to know
that Christ works in and through me to build up His body. And the same is true
for you! It’s not just for one or two gifted brothers
and sisters to share Christ, it’s for all of us. May Jesus Christ have the
freedom in each of us to express Himself the way He wants, and may we learn day by
day how to take part in what He’s doing.
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Other posts in this series:
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