Arriving at the Oneness, at a Full-grown man, and the Stature of the Fullness of Christ

For the one new man we all need to arrive at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, and at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God. Amen, we need to grow and we need to arrive!

This week our topic in the morning revival is, Laboring according to God’s Operation to Present Every Believer Full-grown in Christ for the Function and Consummation of the One New Man.

If we want to see the bringing forth of the one new man, not only do we need to take Christ as our person in our experience, but also in our service we need to have this view, as we labor with and on the saints, that we would help them become full-grown in Christ.

We may be more concerned with doing a good gospel work, raising up churches, having good meetings, and encouraging the saints to function, but who is concerned about the maturity of the saints? What about ourselves: how much did we grow in the Lord?

Maturity in life has to first take place in us, and then our labor in the churches needs to be checked by that.

Otherwise we may be very busy taking care of many necessary and good outward things, and everything seems to be proper and good, but the one new man doesn’t come into being in practicality.

When the Lord looks at His church and at all the local churches, what kind of stature does He see? There are many saints, there are many churches, but where is the reality of the Body of Christ, the one new man, the full-grown man, the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ?

We need to pray that the Lord would put in us a longing, even a desperation, within us, that we would grow in life unto maturity, and the saints would also grow unto maturity, so that we all may arrive at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

As we minister to the Lord, as we serve among the saints, as we take care of many practical things, and even as we live the Christian life, we need to be conscious of our need to grow in life unto maturity, and we need to care for the Lord’s gaining a full-grown man, the one new man on the earth.

Though we may live in a golden time and it seems that the Lord has cleared up so many things and has brought us to the stage that He really wants to gain the one new man, we need to have an earnest desire that the Lord would grow in us and bring us all on unto maturity so that we all would arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, at a full-grown man.

For the One New Man we all need to Arrive at a Full-grown Man, at the Measure of the Stature of the Fullness of Christ

In Eph. 2:15 we see that Christ created the one new man on the cross in Himself; the one new man has come into being and he is in existence, but what about the practical existence of the one new man today, two thousand years later?

It has been two thousand years since Christ created the new man on the cross, but the stature of this new man is still babyish.

This is something that grieves the Lord’s heart; of course, with Him one thousand years is a day, but He has been waiting to see who cares for the growth of the new man!

The apostle Paul revealed to us the creation of the new man in Eph. 2, and then in Eph. 3 he ministered the riches of Christ into us and prayed that the saints would have Christ make His home in their heart so that they would be strong to apprehend with all the saints the breadth, length, height, and depth, the universal immeasurable Christ!

And then in Eph. 4 he spoke of arriving at a full-grown man. A full-grown man is a mature man; for us to arrive at a full-grown man, maturity in life is necessary.

Let us be brought on to maturity (Heb. 6:1); we cannot keep remaining in the beginning of the gospel of Christ, but we need to grow in life and go forward to arrive at maturity in life. The fullness of Christ is the Body of Christ, which has a stature (Eph. 1:23).

The fullness of Christ is the expression of Christ; the Body of Christ – being the fullness of Christ – is the expression of Christ.

In Eph. 1:23 Paul tells us that the church is the Body of Christ, the fullness of the One who fills all and in all.

As the church receives and enjoys all the riches of Christ, as these riches are digested and become assimilated in the Body of Christ, there’s a growth in life, an overflowing, and the church becomes the fullness of Christ.

Whenever people come to the church, they should sense that there’s something overflowing; in the church there shouldn’t be something that barely meets the need, something meager, but a sense of overflowing, fullness, and expression of Christ.

Christ’s fullness, the Body, has a stature, and with this stature there’s a certain measure; we need to arrive at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

A human being has a certain stature, a certain height and a particular weight, to which he arrives through growth in life.

We are not born as tall and as heavy as we are; through our feeding and growth, there’s a measure of the stature that increases until we arrive at a full-grown man.

There’s a process of growth in the divine life that is necessary in order for us to arrive at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

Merely having a large number of saints in the church life doesn’t mean we arrived at a full-grown man.

Outwardly there seems to be a big number of people in the church, but what about the growth in the divine life inwardly?

If we want the new man to be brought forth, we have to consider what is the measurement, the stature of the one new man, and do all things with the growth in life in view.

To arrive at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ is to arrive at the full growth and the building up of the Body of Christ; it is to arrive at the full completion of the building up of the Body (Eph. 4:16).

We are all burdened to see the building up of the church, but this is the growth in life unto maturity for us to arrive at a full-grown man.

When the new man is brought on to full growth, to maturation in life, that is the builded church. How much a church grows determines how much that church is built up.

Lord Jesus, grow in us until we all arrive at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ! Amen, Lord, cause us to grow unto maturity for the one new man! May the Body of Christ grow and be built up until You obtain the new man that fulfills Your purpose on earth. May we all arrive at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ by our daily cooperating with You to grow in the divine life unto maturity. Amen, Lord, may the stature of the Body of Christ increase and grow by all saints growing in life unto maturity!

Arriving at the Oneness of the Faith, at a Full-grown man, and at the Measure of the Stature of the Fullness of Christ

To arrive at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ is necessary for the practical oneness, that is, the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of Christ.

The one new man that Christ created on the cross is uniquely one; He didn’t create many new men but only one new man, and oneness is the condition of this new man.

In spite of the hundreds of thousands of the components of the new man, for us to arrive at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, there has to be the practical oneness.

This oneness of the faith refers not to the act of believing but to the object of our belief, what we believe in, particularly concerning the person of Christ and the work of Christ.

Unfortunately so many of God’s children today are distracted by doctrines and teachings, and they are divided by many peripheral things in God’s economy.

They debate with one another against different doctrines and become divided because of these doctrines.

But a day will come when all the Christians will be brought to the point of forsaking all the different doctrines and come back to the faith, the person and the work of Christ, the content of God’s economy.

We all need to arrive at the oneness of the faith, the oneness of the full knowledge of the Son of God.

This is not merely a mental knowledge but an experiential knowledge. If we can be preserved and brought back just to the faith, all believers will be one; there will be no baptists or Pentecostals, no Presbyterians or Anglicans, but all will be believers in Christ, members of the Body of Christ!

So from the oneness in reality (Eph. 4:3-6) we need to advance and proceed to the oneness in practicality until we all arrive at the oneness of the faith, a full-grown man, and the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

We need to be diligent to keep the oneness of the Spirit; we all have the oneness, but we need to keep it.

And we also need to arrive at the oneness of the faith, which is the oneness in practicality.

These three matters – the oneness of the faith, a full-grown man, and the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, are not three separate things but they are used in apposition.

On one hand we need to be reduced and be brought back from all the distracting doctrines and elements to come back to the oneness of the faith, and in this oneness there is the full-grown man!

Christians today play with “the toys of doctrines”, different opinions of men, for they are still babyish, so we need to grow unto maturity and arrive at the full-grown man, leaving these other things aside, so that we would no longer be tossed about by winds of teaching through the sleight of men in craftiness with a view of a system of error.

When God’s people would be brought back to the faith, back to the enjoyment of the full knowledge of the Son of God, we will be practically one; this oneness will issue forth in the full-grown man, and in this way we arrive at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

Lord Jesus, we want to drop and put aside anything that divides us and return to the faith, the wonderful person and all-inclusive work of Christ! Bring us on to maturity, Lord, that we may arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God. Amen, may all the saints grow in life unto maturity until we all arrive at the full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. May You gain the full-grown man, the built-up Body of Christ, for Your expression on the earth!

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, msgs. 89-90 (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:
  – Until we all arrive / At the oneness of the faith / And of the full knowledge / Of the Son of God, / At the oneness of the faith, / At a full-grown man, / At the measure of the stature / Of the fullness of Christ, / Until we all arrive. (Scripture song)
  – Out of death and into life, / Done with all divisive strife! / Free indeed to love but Thee, / Growing to maturity! / “Amen, Jesus,” is our prayer / To the purging work, whate’er; / Now Thy church must desperate be / More the growth in life to see. (Hymns #1239)
  – Jesus is getting us together, / Come and see the saints in one accord. / His love is knitting us together, / To the stature of the fullness of the Lord. (Hymns #1232)