The goal of our enjoyment of Christ, our experience of Christ, our going through the cross, and of everything in our Christian life is the growth of the Body, the building up of the Body. If the Body of Christ doesn’t grow unto maturity, the bride of Christ is not prepared, and Christ as the Bridegroom will not return for His bride.
The Lord Jesus is fully in love today, and He will come for a matured, beautiful, fully transformed Bride, one who matches Him in life, nature, expression, and stature. The bride of Christ is not prepared until the Body of Christ is built up in the many local churches as the reality of the Body.
How is the Body of Christ built up? It is by the growth of all the members of the Body. We need to grow in life by holding Christ as the Head, our from whom we receive the supply for growth (see Col. 2:19). When all the members of the Body hold Christ as the Head, the Body growth with the growth of God.
Only God can give the growth (1 Cor. 3:6-7) and so we need to spend time with God to absorb Him, receive Him, and let Him grow in us every day. The more God is added to us, the more we grow in life, and the more the Body is built up. The growth of the Body of Christ is the building up of the Body of Christ. Oh, how we need to grow in life!
Lord Jesus, give us more of Yourself today. Only You can cause the growth. Give us today’s measure of growth in life. Lord, we want to hold You as the Head so that we may receive the supply we need to grow in life today. Cause the element of God to grow in us and in all the saints for the building up of the Body!
The Growth of the Body of Christ comes from God: God Gives the Growth by our Holding Christ as the Head
Paul planted, Apollos watered, but God gives the growth (1 Cor. 3:6-7). Only God gives the growth. Our activities, zeal, and good works for the Lord do not give growth to the members of the Body.
We need to hold the Head, Christ, out from whom the supply comes to all the members. Only what comes out of Christ as the Head supplies the Body of Christ and gives it growth (Eph. 4:15-16). The Body is an organic matter, and Christ as the Head of the Body is the source of life and life-supply.
To hold the Head means to not allow yourself to be separated from Christ, not even by a little thing that can come between. Rather, we need to spend time to absorb God, so that we may have Him added into our being. The more we spend time with God to enjoy Him, absorb Him, and fellowship with Him, the more He can add His element to our being.
Just as we need to take adequate time to eat physical food (and we cannot rush our eating), so we need to take adequate time to spend time with the Lord. Don’t rush your time with God: spend enough time to absorb Him, enjoy Him, adore Him, praise Him, and assimilate Him.
When we contact God we need to exercise our spirit (John 4:24) to enjoy God as the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17). This takes time – coming to the Lord to be in His presence and absorb Him takes time. But when we pay the price every day to have an adequate time with God to contact Him and absorb Him, God will add Himself to us.
This addition of God is the way God grows in us for the growth of the Body, the building up of the Body.
Lord, save us from rushing our time with You! Save us from having spiritual indigestion. May we set aside time every day to be in Your presence, enjoy You, and absorb You. Lord, give us the growth in life. Make our contact with You so real, so rich, and so living. We want to receive the growth from the Head!
The Growth of the Body Depends on the Growth of God in Us
We may think we are OK with the Lord, we may love the church life, and we may even be involved in some of the activities and services in the church (serving the young people, taking care of the children, being involved with the campus, visiting the saints, going on the gospel, etc).
But have we ever asked ourselves, Lord, how much did You grow in me this year? How much of Christ do I have? The growth of the Body of Christ depends on the measure of the growth of God in each member of the Body. If I don’t grow in life, if God doesn’t grow in me, the Body is not growing.
We need to see how important the growth of God in us is, and how important it is to have God added to us and increased in us every day. God gives the growth by giving Himself to us in a very subjective way, in our personal time with Him.
To grow in life is, on the one hand, the increase of the element of God within us, and on the other hand, the decrease of the human element. How much of our human element has been decreased, and how much of God’s element has increased in us? If God were to increase in us, something needs to decrease.
We don’t know what a day’s measure of grace for the growth in life is, but we can ask the Lord to grow in us every day! Only God can give us the growth in life by giving Himself to us every day! Only God can cause the saints in the church to grow in life! So why not open to Him and tell Him,
Lord, grow in me for the Body! Give me every day’s portion of grace for the growth in life. Only You can cause the growth. Lord, add Yourself to me today. Grow in me, and grow in all the saints. Cause the Body to grow more in life! Dispense Yourself into all the saints, and work Yourself into them for their growth in life.
The Growth of the Body is the Building up of the Body
We don’t know or understand HOW does God grow in us, and we cannot comprehend with our limited human mind how the Body of Christ grows.
But in Eph. 4:11-16, we see the mystery concerning the building up of the Body of Christ. The growth of the Body of Christ is the increase of Christ in the church, which results in the building up of the Body by the Body itself.
When Christ enters into the saints and then lives in them, the Christ within all the saints becomes the church (Col. 3:10-11). The church is the totality of Christ living in the saints on the ground of oneness and in the fellowship with all the other members of the Body. From this we see that the growth of the Body is the building up of the Body – the Body of Christ builds itself up by all the members growing in life.
How desperate is our need to grow in life unto maturity every day! All the enemy has to do to delay the Lord’s return for a generation is to interfere with the growth in life. If we – if our generation – don’t grow in life today, the Body of Christ is not built up, and Christ will not return.
If we focus mainly on the many necessary outward activities in the church life and neglect the growth in life, the Lord is hindered from returning for His Bride.
Do you think the Lord will come back after we finish preaching the gospel to all the nations? If all the saints are serving in the church, do you think the Lord will return? What is needed for the Lord to return is a built-up Body, and the building up of the Body is through the growth in life of all the members of the Body.
Lord, grow in us for the Body! Cause all the saints to have an increase of Christ in them. May our generation not miss this. Lord, we desire that You may return for Your Bride. Prepare Your bride through our daily growth in life unto maturity! Lord, build up Your Body through the growth in life of all the members of the Body!
References and Further Reading
- This sharing is inspired from brother Ron Kangas’ sharing and portions in, Life-study of Colossians (msgs. 44, 49, 51-52), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, ITERO spring 2013 “The Experience, Growth, and Ministry of Life for the Body“, week 8 entitled, Living a Sacrificing Life in the Body and Ministering Life to the Body for the Growth of the Body.
- Hymns on this topic:
# In the Body we’ll be fitly framed / As the many members Christ supply; / Working in the measure of each part, / All by growth in love the Body edify.
# Rise up! Grow in life! / Minister Christ to the nations, / Arrive at oneness— / Lord, have mercy, / We would see Your eternal purpose. / Keep us faithful / To recover and build up Your church.
# Holding Christ, as members growing, / Each his function must observe; / Christ receiving, Christ partaking, / To His Body Christ we serve.
Eph 4:16 reveals a wonderful fact – growth is unto the building up. What can I do to build up the Body of Christ? I can take time to absorb God so that the divine element increases in me.
This verse, though well-known and even memorized, is so rich, so deep, and so full of meaning. At the same time, it can be practiced in a very simple way by spending time to absorb God in prayer, in the Word, and in the fellowship! May we be those who practice and live out this verse today!