Growing up into Christ in All Things until we Arrive at a Full-Grown Man, the New Man

For us to arrive at a full-grown man for the fulfillment of God’s purpose, we need to be those growing up into Christ in all things (Eph. 4:15-16, 24).

This expression “grow up into Christ in all things” is a particular expression used by the apostle Paul.

As believers who are seeking the Lord, we all love to grow in life, grow in Christ. Since the time we got saved, we have a desire to grow in the Lord, to know the Lord more, and to be with the Lord more. So we tell the Lord, Lord, I want to grow in You!

In this portion, however, Paul doesn’t speak about growing in Christ but rather, growing into Christ in all things. We want to grow in Christ by praying more, loving the Lord more, and being more fervent to preach the gospel and function in the meetings.

When we do these things, we feel that we grow in the Lord more and become more mature, for we are more fervent than before, we are seeking the Lord, we read the Bible more, and we pray with the saints.

All these are very good, and we don’t deny that there’s a certain amount of spiritual growth that is achieved by this, but this is not the growth that Paul is talking about. Paul speaks about growing up into Christ in all things.

Not just in our spiritual pursuit do we need to grow in the Lord, but in all things that we are involved in, even the things that are not so spiritual, we need to grow into the Lord. In ordinary things, in big and small things, we need to have the growth into Christ.

This word, “into” is crucial, for it implies an organic union. We are not seeking just some spiritual growth but rather, we want to grow into this Person, into the union and oneness with Christ.

So it’s not us growing, strictly speaking, but it is this Person, Christ Himself, who grows in us, and we must grow into Him, in union with Him, both in spiritual things and in all things.

The One into whom we’re growing is Christ, the Head; this implies that our growth is not merely in and for ourselves but in the Body and for the Body.

When we grow into Christ in all things, we grow into Him as the Head; our growth is in the Body and for the Body, and our growth into Christ in all things is for us all to arrive at a full-grown man.

We take Christ as our Life for the Growth of the Body; we take Christ as our Person for the Growth of the New Man

For us to be no longer children tossed about by waves of teachings, we need to grow up into Christ in all things; this is to have Christ increase in us in all things until we arrive at a full-grown man.

To grow up into Christ in all things is to allow Christ to grow in us and increase in us not just when we come to the meetings, when we function in the church, when we pray and serve, but in all things including our eating, our dressing, our talking, and our demeanor.

In the way we handle our mobile phone, in our relationships with people, in the way we do our job at work, in all things Christ has to increase in us and we have to grow up into Christ in all things.

In the way we make our bed when we get up in the morning, in the way we dress ourselves, in our demeanor with others, and in all the small things of our daily life, Christ has to be involved and dispensed to grow in us.

We take Christ as our life for the increase of the stature of the Body, and we take Christ as our person for the growth of the one new man (Eph. 3:17; 4:24). By taking Christ as life we receive His supply and nourishment, which helps us to grow in the Lord and His measure to increase in us.

When we take Christ as our person, the new man is growing and being developed. The one new man has to grow to be a full-grown man who can stand up, make decisions, stand with God, and accomplish God’s purpose.

God needs such a man on the earth. For God to have a full-grown man, we need more than to receive some spiritual supply and nourishment which causes us to grow unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; we need to take Christ as our person, as the decision-maker, so that the new man would be perfected.

If we take Christ as our person, we will surely take Him as our life (1 John 5:11-12); if we take Him as our person, we will be able to grow and mature.

In the eyes of God, the life of Christ and the person of Christ are the same; 1 John 5:12 says that he who has the Son has the life, but he who doesn’t have the Son of God does not have the life.

If we have the person of Christ as our person, we surely have His life; but it is possible to enjoy something of His life without taking Him as our person.

Sometimes in the morning time with the Lord we enjoy Him, we are richly supplied, and we love Him so much; but then, maybe even at breakfast, someone says something to us, and we get upset with them.

We may have been enjoying the Lord as our life-supply for thirty minutes or so, but if we don’t take Him as our person, we may react to things, we may defend ourselves, we may fight back, and we may argue with others.

We need to take Christ not only as our life for the growth of the Body but also take Him as our person for the growth of the one new man!

Lord Jesus, we take You as our life and life supply for the increase of the measure of the stature of the Body of Christ. We take You as our person for the growth of the one new man. Amen, Lord, may we grow up into You in all things, in both the big and the small things in our daily life. What about the way we eat, the way we speak, the way we dress ourselves, and the way we behave when we’re with others? We want to grow up into Christ in all things for the growth of the one new man! We take You as our person so that we may grow and mature in life for the one new man.

Growing up into Christ in All Things until we Arrive at a Full-Grown Man, the New Man

In Eph. 4:15 we see that our need is for us to grow up into Christ in all things, that is, in every single things, whether big or small.

We need to hold to truth in love and grow up into Christ in all things; this is to have Christ increase in us until we attain to a full-grown man (v. 13).

The Christ we grow up into is the Head; this indicates that our growth in life with Christ should be the growth of the members in the Body under the Head. Our growth must be in the Body and for the Body, and our growth in all things should be into Christ.

There are still so many things in which we have not grown up into Christ; in these things we are not in Christ but are outside of Christ.

We may go to the meeting, exercise our spirit, pray, and function, but when we go home, in our private life, do we grow up into Christ in all things? For example we may like to eat dessert, and our spouse may not agree with us eating so many sweets – do we allow the Lord to grow in us or not?

We may like watching certain things or being involved in certain activities that are not necessarily evil but they are not Christ; there’s no ordinance in the Bible what to eat or not to eat, whether to play football or not, or whether we should go travelling or not.

We need to realise, however, that we need to grow up into Christ in all these things.

In so many things and areas of our life, in the way we dress, in the way we take care of the things in our home, in our relationships, in all things we need to grow up into Christ.

One of the hardest thing for Christ to grow in us is our speaking; Psa. 141:3 says, Set a watch, o Jehovah, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips. Because it’s so hard for us to control our speaking, we should make this our prayer also.

We may be able to speak for the Lord in the meeting and have good fellowship with the saints in the home meetings, but what about the way we talk to unbelievers, to our co-workers, to our wife or husband, and to our children?

We may be very rough with some people, and we may be expressing ourselves through our speaking, not taking Christ as our person or allowing Him to grow in us in the matter of speaking.

This is not merely about loving the Lord or desiring to grow in Christ; this is allowing the Lord to grow in us in all the practical and ordinary things of our daily life. When we all grow up into Christ in all things, we will be one in Christ, and this is the universal one new man.

We have our own concept of what growth is; we may think that our reading the Bible more, going to meetings more, loving the Lord more, and having a time with the Lord more – all this indicates we grow in Christ.

These may be an indicator of spiritual growth, but the amount of growth is really the amount of Christ growing in us in all things.

Many of us are concerned with the saints reading the Bible, enjoying the ministry, going to meetings, and functioning in the meetings, but who is concerned with how much Christ grows in them in all the daily things of their living?

We may be concerned with sinners being saved and the meetings being enjoyable, but are we concerned with us and the saints growing up into Christ in all things?

May the Lord save us from merely taking care of outward things without caring for the Lord growing in us and in all the saints in all things.

When the Lord looks at us, what does He want to see? Does He want to see merely a good outward arrangement in the church life, saints being proper and good, the gospel being preached, and the meetings being so lovely?

What the Lord wants is the full growth of His Body as the one new man. What is the stature of Christ today? There are many saints and many churches, but what’s the growth of the new man?

May the Lord put in us a longing and even a desperation that He may grow in us in all things, and that He may grow in all the churches. May our living and service in the church life be checked by our growing up into Christ into all things.

Lord Jesus, it is our desperate need that we would grow up into Christ in all things for the growth of the one new man! You must increase in us in all the things of our daily life. We don’t want to merely take care of many outward things and have a good arrangement in the church; we want that Christ would grow in us and in all the saints for the increase of the measure of the stature of Christ! Amen, Lord Jesus, bring us on to maturity! May our growth in Christ be in the Body and for the Body, and may You increase in us in all the daily things of our living!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. James Lee for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Ephesians, msg. 45 (Witness by Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The One New Man Fulfilling God’s Purpose in Creating Man (2019 fall ITERO), week 5, Laboring according to God’s Operation to Present Every Believer Full-grown in Christ for the Function and Consummation of the One New Man.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – But holding to truth in love / We may grow up in all things / Into Him who is the Head / Christ is the Head / Out from Whom all the Body / Being joined together and / Being knit together through / Ev’ry joint of the rich supply / And through the operation / In the measure of each one part / of each one part / Causes the growth of the Body unto the / building up of itself in love, / in love, in love. (Scripture song)
  – To the Head fast holding ever, / That we may together grow, / From the Head supplies incoming / Thru us to the Body flow. (Hymns #913)
  – It is God’s intent and pleasure / That His Christ be wrought in me; / Nothing outwardly performing, / But His Christ my all to be. / It is God’s intent and pleasure / That His Christ be formed in me; / Not the outward forms to follow, / But Christ growing inwardly. (Hymns #538)