Stature of the fullness of Christ

 A Christian's relationship with God is rightly analogous to that of a human child with his human father. The Bible describes a process of spiritual growth from birth to maturity (and ultimately glorification) that the Father begins through a summons to His Son (John 6:44). Christ then works to bring us to belief and repentance to the point that we accept Him as our Savior and commit to a life of submission to God. God then gives us His Spirit.

When this occurs, regeneration happens (see Titus 3:5); it is a new birth—a new man is created (see Colossians 3:10), born spiritually into true life (Romans 6:4; I Peter 3:18). The recent convert begins to learn and grow—just like a human baby—striving to mature “to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). The apostle John puts it slightly differently: “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and . . . whatever is born of God overcomes the world” (I John 5:1, 4; see John 16:33).

Like a human father, God the Father cares for His children, providing them the benefits they need to thrive in their new life (Psalm 103:1-14; see I Peter 5:7, 10; II Peter 1:2-4). Jesus promises, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. . . . Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full” (John 16:23-24).

We need to press on and grow in life until we all arrive at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ to be a full-grown man, matured, expressing Christ in full as His fullness.

The church is the Body of Christ, the fullness of Christ; the church is not only a gathering of the believers in Christ, a congregation of Christians, or a flock of called-out ones – the church is the organism of the Triune God.

On one hand, the church is the Body of Christ, and on the other hand, the Body of Christ is the intrinsic significance of the church.

If we understand the church as being only the gathering of the called-out ones, we will miss the mark; the church is the organic Body of Christ, the organism of the processed and consummated Triune God.

Since the church is the Body of Christ, something organic, the church surely needs to grow, be built up, and function.

We may be in the church life in the Lord’s recovery and we may enjoy meeting with the saints, reading the Bible and enjoying the ministry, but we may not realize that the church is the Body of Christ.

We may say that the church is the Body of Christ, but do we have the realization that the church is the very organism of the processed and consummated Triune God?

Christians in Christianity don’t pay that much attention to the church; in the church life, however, we emphasize the church very much, and it may be a common concept among us that the church is the Body of Christ.

However, did the vision of the church as the Body of Christ affect us in our daily living and in our experience of the church life?

Or is this just a term, something we speak of habitually, having no deep or rich meaning to us?

The church is the organism of the Triune God, and this Triune God is the God who went through a process to become the life-giving Spirit to dispense Himself into us.

In God’s economy, God became a man, went through various processes, and He became a life-dispensing Spirit to dispense Himself into man so that man would also go through various processes for no other purpose than to produce, constitute, and build up the organic Body of Christ.

Now we as the Body of Christ should grow with the growth of God, and we should arrive at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

We need to hold to truth in love, holding to Christ and the church (Eph. 4:15), not being distracted by any winds of teaching.

Because we love the Lord and the church, we hold to truth in love and we desire to grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ.

As we grow up into Him in all things, out from Him there is a rich supply coming forth, and we as joints of rich supply or each part will just function organically (Col. 2:19).

May we all grow in life unto maturity until we arrive at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, at a full-grown man, to express Christ in His fullness as the Body of Christ!

We need to Grow unto Maturity until we arrive at the Measure of the Stature of the Fullness of Christ

Eph. 4:13 is a wonderful verse showing us that we need to grow until we arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

The fullness of Christ is the Body of Christ (Eph. 1:23); this fullness has a stature, and this stature has a measure.

The stature of the fullness of Christ is the stature of the Body of Christ.

If the Body of Christ is an infant and not developed or grown, then the stature of the fullness of Christ is small and not great.

We need to grow in life unto maturity until we all arrive at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

For us to arrive at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ is for us to arrive at the full building up of the Body of Christ.

As human beings we have a certain fullness, which is our human body; this fullness has a stature (we all differ in stature) and this stature has a measure.

Similarly, the Body of Christ as the organism of the Triune God has a stature, and this stature has a measure; this measure needs to increase and grow by our growth in the divine life until we all arrive at a full-grown man.

We need to grow unto maturity, growing in life every day, until we arrive at a full-grown man.

Today we are on the way toward a full-grown man, toward the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

Having the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ is not a matter for individuals; it is a matter of a corporate Body.

We can’t have the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ in ourselves and by ourselves; we are members of the Body, and we all need to grow in life unto maturity until we all arrive at a full-grown man.

We need to allow Christ to grow in us day by day, allowing Him to spread from our spirit into all the inward parts of our being so that He may make His home in all our heart.

Then, we will be full of strength to apprehend with all the saints what are the universal dimensions of God, and we will be filled with all the fullness of God (Eph. 3:17-21).

As Christ grows within us, we will gradually arrive at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

We all need to press on until we all arrive at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; this is our goal, and we must diligently press toward it until we all reach it together (Phil. 3:12-14).

It is not that some of us arrive at this goal and the rest may not; we all, all believers in Christ, need to arrive at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

Our growth in life is very important, for our individual growth in life is for the building up of the Body of Christ.

Concerning the intrinsic growth of the church, every member needs to grow, and no one can grow in life on our behalf.

On the other hand, this growth is not a matter for the individuals but for the Body, for the growth of all the members of the Body put together is the growth of the Body, and together we arrive at a full-grown man.

On one hand, our growth in life is personal; on the other hand, it is corporate, for our growth is for the Body.

We need to personally come to the Lord in His word to breathe in the breathed-out word of God, and we need to be infused with the Lord’s element and substance in His word. In this way, we grow in life.

Corporately, when we come together, we need to continue to open to the Lord and to His word, and we will be watered by the other saints in the meeting, we will water others, and God will give the growth (1 Cor. 3:6).

Each one of us needs to grow personally, and together we need to grow as the church, the Body of Christ, until we all arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

Lord Jesus, grow in us until we all arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, at a full-grown man. Amen, Lord, cause us to grow in life day by day until we all arrive at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. May we come to You daily in Your word to be nourished and fed by You, and may we be in the meetings of the church to be watered and to water others. Amen, Lord, cause the growth of life in us as we open to You and are willing to cooperate with Your speaking. Grow in us for the growth of the Body of Christ. May there be an increase of the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ in the church, the Body of Christ!

Receiving of Christ’s Fullness to Grow daily and be Constituted and Become His Fullness, the Body of Christ

All believers in Christ, those who are regenerated with the divine life, are on the way to arrive at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

One day is coming when we all shall arrive at a full-grown man; until then, we’re still in the process.

So we should no longer be like little children tossed by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching (Eph. 4:14).

Rather, we should realize that daily there’s a fullness that is growing within us; the church as the fullness is growing in us until we all arrive at a full-grown man.

As the Body of Christ, the church is the fullness that is daily growing within us; the church is an organism constituted fully of Christ and only Christ.

Because the church is the Body of Christ, there is no room in the church for anything of our natural man or our natural disposition.

We may be disciplined, regulated, or improved in our natural man, but this is not the church, neither can it be part of the church, for it doesn’t issue out of Christ.

This is why we cannot and will not promote things such as self-regulation, self-discipline, and self-improvement, things that can produce a better society but can never produce the church.

Nothing of ourselves – nothing that we have or can do in ourselves – has any significance in the building up of the church unless it is done in Christ, by Christ, and unto Christ.

Our natural goodness has no advantage or place in the Body of Christ; our anger and our goodness are both unfit to be part of the Body of Christ.

We simply need Christ, for only Christ is the unique constituent of the church as the Body of Christ.

For the Body of Christ, everything that we are by our natural disposition needs to be swallowed up and even consumed by the indwelling Christ; only Christ can be the element and substance of the Body of Christ.

As John 1:16 says, we need to continually receive of His fullness, and grace upon grace.

We need to not just learn about Christ or imitate Him; we need to receive of His fullness, be filled with His fullness, and even become His fullness.

The more we enjoy Christ, the more we open to receive of His fulness, the more we are constituted with Him and we will even become His fullness.

We need to be saved from receiving or paying attention to anything that is not Christ, and we need to simply receive of His fullness, be filled with Him, and be willing to pay the price to partake of His fullness, so that we may become the church as the fullness of Christ.

The more we as individual believers and also as the church partake of the fullness of Christ, the more we all arrive at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, and we become His fullness, His overflow.

May the Lord have mercy on us that we may daily experience Christ and enjoy Christ in His fullness so that we may become the church as His fullness, His overflow!

We simply need to be open vessels to receive and be filled with Christ, even with His fullness, until we overflow with Him and become His fullness to express Him to the whole universe.

May we remain under the divine dispensing day by day, receiving and being filled with the fullness of Christ until we all arrive at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, at a full-grown man!

Lord Jesus, save us from receiving anything that is not Your fullness. We open to You, dear Lord, to receive of and be filled with Your fullness! Amen, Lord, we are willing to pay the price to enjoy You and to partake of Your fullness! Be merciful to us, Lord, that we may daily experience You and enjoy You and thereby become the church that is Your very fullness, Your overflow! Amen, of His fullness we all can receive and enjoy, and grace upon grace, so that we may be filled with Him and become the church, the fullness of Christ! Keep us under Your divine dispensing, being filled with Your fullness, until we all arrive at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ!

 Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Col.1:27). Read the whole verse carefully, fragment by fragment, to get the full import of its wonderful truth: “God was pleased to make known – what is the riches of the glory – of this mystery… which is, Christ in you.” The riches of the glory, Christ in you!

“Know ye not as to your own selves, that Jesus Christ is in you?” (2 Cor. 13:5). That interrogation of the Apostle is not without point, “Know ye not as to your own selves” – know ye not that Christ is in you? Do you not know this wonderful thing?

“My little children, of whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you” (Gal. 4:19). “Till Christ be formed in you”; this is a step on.

“Whom He foreknew, He also foreordained to be conformed to the image of His Son” (Rom. 8:29). Marvellous words! No man would dare to say this; they are here by revelation of the Holy Spirit.

“Unto each one of us was the grace given according to the measure of the gift of Christ… till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God… unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Eph. 4:7, 13; ARV). “The measure… of the fulness of Christ.”

We want immediately to focus everything in and upon the Lord Jesus Christ for it is He who is in view. What we have before us is not teaching or truth; that is, to be possessed of more knowledge of truth; it is not service; but it is the Lord Himself.

The object of the Father from first to last is that the Son, the Lord Jesus, shall fill all things, and all things shall be filled with Christ. The value of everything in the eyes of God is according to the measure of the manifestation of Christ in it. It is from that standpoint God determines the importance of everything.

If we become focussed there, it will make a great difference, much will have to go because it is not manifesting the Lord Jesus. We must understand that the Father has set the Lord Jesus before His eyes, and the Father’s eyes are full of only one object, that is the Beloved, His Son; and in the eyes of God the value of everything is determined by the measure in which His Son is manifested and glorified; that is His end and that is His object.

The All-Inclusiveness of Christ

Spiritual service, vision, vocation, glorification, have no existence apart from Christ; they are not things as things, and cannot be had except in the Person of the Lord Jesus.

To many salvation is as a thing. It is detached and regarded as something by itself; to be given by itself, for the good of those who receive it. Sanctification is wrapped up in the same way. So often we think of salvation and sanctification in relation to the persons in view, and so some thing for them, but it is Christ Himself who is salvation, He is sanctification, and He is within as these.

It is the same with service and vocation; these are often seen only in regard to the persons themselves. “Saved to serve” is only part of the truth and is a dangerous slogan, for the motive, so often, is the service itself and not the Lord. You may be so driven with the service that He is left out. We have detached the thing from the Person, and we find we are gripped and wrapped in the claims of “service”; it becomes the drive of service, and in the end it breaks us. And again, when service becomes hard and difficult we say we will give it up, we will resign, thus showing we have separated service from the Person, and have been occupied, day in and day out, with it, the work, and not with the Lord Himself.

And so with glorification; yes, this stirs us, we love to sing hymns about our glorification; but God means it to begin now and it must begin now. What is glorification? It is the full manifestation of Jesus Christ in us. God regards salvation, sanctification, vocation, service, glorification, as related to His Son, and of no value apart from Him; He is salvation, He is sanctification, etc.

Salvation and sanctification are often held up to people as things to be received for their good; the object being for them to benefit from something received; often it is salvation for salvation’s sake. God has not saved a single soul for salvation’s sake. God is not after salvation as an end in itself, but for the sake of the Saviour, for the glory of His Son. It is not salvation that is in view, but the Saviour. If people are rejoicing in salvation merely as something received for their own benefit, the full end will be hidden by the first step. Is not this the cause of arrest and hold up?

The worker has to be brought, by the way of seeing no deep fulness of result from his work, to the place where he cries out, “I can do nothing.” So he comes to see the true nature of salvation, and that to save another soul is utterly beyond him, and is the work of God. So he comes to see God’s object in salvation, which is the glory of His Son. Salvation is not something, it is the mighty incoming of a Person; “He that hath the Son hath life”; (1 John 5:12). “To as many as received Him” (John 1:12).

This is also true in the matter of sanctification and service. Any service that is not fulfilled on the ground of the indwelling Christ as the Worker cannot effect the purpose of God, for only the Lord Jesus by His Spirit can do the work of God. Yes, you are called to be a servant in a service you can never fulfil! Service is the bringing of the Lord Jesus into view, and any service that does not do that is not the service of the Holy Spirit, but man’s service which does not fulfil God’s ends; it will be tested by the fire, and proved valueless.

Christianity is not a doctrine, not truth as truth, but the knowledge of a Person; it is knowing the Lord Jesus. You cannot be educated into being a Christian. Christianity is the knowledge within of a Person, knowing Him as dwelling within us.

The Universality Of Christ

God has singled out a Person, and gathered into that Person all the Divine perfections; everything is inseparably bound up with His Son; He has put all the fulness of eternity and of the universe into that Person, and bound up all the fulness in Him; not a fragment can be had apart from Him; that which is to characterize the new creation is in Him. The predestined end of God is a full presentation of the fulness of Christ – “The church, His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all” (Eph. 1:23).

Every corner of the universe will speak audibly of Jesus Christ; so that we shall not be able to go into a place, or touch a life, without finding an expression of the Lord Jesus.

“Christ in you, the hope of glory” – this is heaven. You walk in the presence of the Lord Jesus. Think of the whole universe like that; a universal expression of His Son in fulness. That is the end God has in view, that Christ shall fill all things; that, looking into everything, it shall be found to be full of Christ. All is made for Him, and in the new creation all will speak of His presence and show forth some characteristic of Him. Oh! the joy, even now, when you touch a life and find immediately that life is full of the Lord Jesus, and the Lord Jesus is the fulness of that life; what a benediction it is!

God has singled out a Person and set Him forth to be seen of all – the Man Christ Jesus.

The Universality Of The Church

You cannot go outside of A and Z in the realm of literature; you box the compass of language with A and Z; likewise Christ Jesus is First and Last of God’s new creation, and all that is in between; you cannot get outside of that. We must never think of anything as outside of Christ; He Is Salvation; He Is Sanctification; He Is Redemption, Justification, Peace; Wisdom, Love, Heaven. “Know ye not as to your own selves, that Jesus Christ is in you,” this Christ – in you! Do you see the possibilities and the tremendous reach of this?

God will transform His universe, not from without, but from within. How? By putting Jesus Christ within the believer by His Holy Spirit; and thence there will be a two-fold activity – being conformed to Him by His Spirit, and He being formed in the believer; thus He is going to make His new creation.

“Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1: 27). “God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life” (1 John 5:11, 12).

“If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His” (Rom. 8:9).

“The Lord Jesus Christ: who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of His glory, according to the working whereby He is able even to subject all things unto Himself” (Phil. 3:20b, 21; ARV).

“Put on the new man, that is being renewed unto knowledge after the image of Him that created Him: where there cannot be Greek and Jew… but Christ is all, and in all” (Col. 3:10, 11; ARV).

“The church, which is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all” (Eph. 1:22b, 23).

Growing Up Into Him

The Christian life is not by effort, and not by struggle; not merely by trying to put into practice certain maxims, or by trying to attain to a certain measure; but from beginning to end, and all together, it is a matter of knowing the Lord Jesus within. Of course this implies response to Him, and a continual yieldedness to His working by His Spirit within, and so co-operating with Him in His purpose of conformity to His image.

We have all grown since we were born. How did we grow? Not by sitting down and considering that we ought to increase our stature; not by determining to grow so much to-day, and a little more to-morrow; not by painful efforts to increase our dimensions, and so on; but we “just growed!” – like Topsy. But while we “just growed”, we had to respond to the laws of growth. So in the spiritual realm, we have to recognize the laws of growth, and where these are not responded to, or are violated, there can be no growth, but arrest, weakness and loss.

Why is spiritual growth so slow in some and so gloriously quick in others? Because some kick and question, or argue with God; go round and round the point asking, Does it mean this? Must I do this? Is it necessary? Can I, may I do this? and so on. Yet these very people are loudest in saying they want only the will of God; but their very affirmation often shows a struggle is going on, and their growth is fraught with a good deal of friction.

Others in a beautiful sincerity and purity of spirit are immediately letting go to the Lord, so He is able to lead them on, without waste of time in controversy with the will of God; and there is no weakness through there not being an utter abandonment and whole-hearted obedience and surrender to that will. There is a passion for the Lord Himself, and for Him to have His full way at whatever cost.

It all depends on our appreciation of the Lord Jesus. When we get a true value of Him, and see all that He is for us to the Father, and as by faith we appropriate Him, we quietly grow – “Beholding… the Lord, are changed (transformed from within) into the same image, from glory to glory” (2 Cor. 3:18).

The hindrance to growth is the regarding things as apart from the Person, the Lord Jesus. We would never walk round the Scripture, as we sometimes do, debating whether we would or would not, if we had a full appreciation of Him, if our passion was for Him to get the fullest glory possible; we should instantly yield, that Christ might get more glory.

Is not the difficulty often in our regarding aspects of the Christian life as something in themselves?

An adequate appreciation of the Lord Jesus gets rid of all the strain of spiritual growth. Christ is most glorified where Christ is most in the heart. Growth is bound up with the Beloved One; and growth is the outcome of being occupied with Him, giving the Lord Jesus His place in everything; He the first, and He all, and in all. Conclusively it is a matter of the measure of Christ, we must see that everything is bound up with the Lord Jesus Himself.

Everything is a matter of knowing the Lord in our hearts, then the Lord has a clear way in us, and through us.

Get focussed on Him, and see that He Himself is everything.

The Gospel of God is that we are saved to be conformed to the image of His Son; to come to the fulness of the “measure of Christ,” “unto a full-grown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13).

Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. —Ephesians 4:13

When an individual is saved by the blood and sanctified by the Holy Spirit, he is then equipped to serve the Lord in holiness. There will always be things that the Lord is perfecting and areas in which a child of God will grow. Our purpose is to become more and more like Christ as we daily yield and surrender ourselves to the will of God. A saint of God need never be afraid of acknowledging a failure or a weakness. It is then that we can obtain greater victory and power. Never be discouraged when the Lord reveals a spiritual need. That is the mercy and love of God to help us prepare for the judgment.

This quarter, the subject is not as intensely theological as it is more exhortational in manner. The burden is to share some of the scripture relating to the necessity of self-examination. It is so hard for us to see ourselves, for most people tend to view themselves in the best light possible. We will never be able to grow in Christ if we are not willing to examine our life and be honest about the needs that exist. God is never going to ask us to change something without also giving us the grace and ability to change.

Our world is filled with people who profess the name of Christ but still live in sin. What would happen if everyone were to honestly weigh their lives by the Word of God without making excuses or pointing fingers at other people? Sinners need to recognize their sin, but I am more burdened this quarter with people who profess to be saints and yet are living substandard to the Word of God. None of us are exempt from the instruction of the Word. Many people are acting as if they can set their own rules and standards and fit God in the middle of it all. God is not changing, and we must change our life to be in accordance to His will. This is where we will find true peace and satisfaction in serving the Lord. It is a miserable condition to profess to be a child of God and yet cover up wrong, hoping no one will find out. It is sad that people are becoming more unashamed of worldly living among God’s people.

While it is needful to examine our doctrines and beliefs, it is even more important to examine our attitudes and affections. People can have the doctrines right and yet have attitudes or things in their lives with which God is not pleased. Let us open our hearts to the Spirit of God. Let us take heed when we read the Bible and hear messages from God’s anointed vessels. As we examine our life and follow Christ, we will experience more and more of His fullness.