For the practical existence of the one new man, we need to labor and struggle to present all the saints full-grown in Christ; all the things we do should be with ministering Christ to others in view, so that we may be able to present them full-grown in Christ before God.
On one hand we ourselves need to arrive at being full-grown in Christ by allowing the Lord to grow in us in all things, and on the other hand we need to labor and struggle before the Lord to present the saints around us, the ones He has put us with, full-grown in Christ.
What God desires to gain on earth is not only a lot of people who believe into Jesus and meet as the church; He wants to gain a corporate new man where Christ is all and in all, a new man that fulfills God’s purpose in creating man.
So the Lord Jesus came and created in Himself on the cross the one new man; He tore down the middle wall of partition and terminated all the negative things, including the ordinances, to create us in Himself as one new man.
This new man is perfect organically, just as a baby is perfect at his birth, with nothing to be added to him. However, the one new man needs to grow and develop, and he needs to be perfected in function so that he may function as the new man that God desires.
In Eph. 2:15 we see the creation of the one new man, which was perfect organically; in 4:13-16 we see the perfecting of the new man in relation to his function.
As believers in Christ we need to grow in life for the one new man, we need grow up into Christ in all things for the new man, and we need to be perfected by the gifted members for our function for the new man.
The more the new man grows through receiving the proper nourishment, the more he will function normally; the more we as the constituents of the new man grow through receiving the proper nourishment, the more we will function normally in and for the one new man.
So on the one hand we need to grow in the divine life by experiencing the crucified, resurrected, ascended, and descending Christ so that He may be wrought into us to be our everything, and on the other hand we need to be perfected in our function.
The Lord has given some gifts to His Body for the perfecting of the saints unto the work of the ministry unto the building up of the Body of Christ, so that the new man may become perfect functionally.
The Pattern of Paul in Laboring and Struggling to Present all Saints Full-Grown in Christ
In his ministry Paul dispensed Christ into others so that they would be perfect and complete by maturing in Christ unto full growth.
He saw that Christ in us is the hope of glory, and he announced Christ, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that he may present every man full-grown in Christ (Col. 1:27-29).
For this, he labored and struggled according to the Lord’s operation which operated in him in power. This expression “full-grown” can also be translated as “mature”, “complete”, or “perfect”.
Paul didn’t just preach the gospel to save sinners from eternal perdition and bring them into the church, the kingdom of God; he imparted Christ to others so that they may be perfect and complete by maturing in Christ unto full growth.
Paul was our pattern in the Lord in all he did after his conversion, for he experienced Christ for the Body and he imparted his experience of Christ into others for the building up of the Body.
Paul labored to present every man full-grown in Christ; this is a difficult task, a task which can be accomplished only by struggling according to Christ’s operation which operates in us in power.
We shouldn’t think that to present the saints full-grown in Christ is something that we only do in prayer, and God will do the rest. This is similar to thinking that, in order for us to have dinner on the table, we simply need to pray to the Lord and we shouldn’t go shopping or cook the food. This is a superstitious concept.
Paul didn’t just pray; he preached the gospel, he shepherded the saints by visiting them from house to house, he perfected the saints, and he taught the saints, even rebuking them when necessary.
He did all this because he labored and struggled to present every man full-grown in Christ; the Lord’s operation operated in him in power, and according to this operation he labored and struggled to present every man full-grown in Christ.
He announced Christ, he warned every man, he admonished the saints, and he taught every man in all wisdom. What an example he set before us!
What Paul did in struggling to present all saints full-grown in Christ is an example serving for the perfecting of the saints for the building up of the Body of Christ.
We need to follow Paul’s pattern in our Christian life; on one hand we need to grow up into Christ in all things and allow Him to grow in us unto maturity, and on the other hand we need to labor and struggle to present every man full-grown in Christ.
Thank You Lord for being the Christ in us, the hope of glory! Hallelujah, this wonderful, all-inclusive Christ as our hope of glory is the One we announce, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom so that we may present every man full-grown in Christ! Amen, Lord, may we learn from the apostle Paul to struggle according to Your operation which operates in us in power, so that we may not only do an outward activity for the Lord but minister Christ to others for them to grow in life until they become full-grown in Christ!
For the New Man we need to Labor and Struggle to Present all the Saints Full-Grown in Christ
In order for the one new man to have a practical existence, the Lord needs to gain many saints who labor and struggle to present all the saints full-grown in Christ, just as Paul did (Col. 1:28-29).
In everything we do in the church life and in our Christian life, we should have as our aim that we would dispense Christ into others so that they would be perfect and complete by maturing in Christ unto full growth.
Our goal in preaching the gospel to sinners and in fellowshipping with the saints should be to minister Christ into them so that they may mature in Him and be presented full-grown in Him; this is all for the growth of the one new man.
However, we may be those preaching the gospel, teaching the saints, and shepherding the new ones, yet we may not be dispensing Christ.
We need to realize that it is only by ministering Christ and dispensing Him into others that they will grow in life unto maturity, and only then can we present them full-grown in Christ.
We need to ask the Lord, Lord, show me how to dispense Christ! What should I say so that I may minister Christ? What kind of action should I take to dispense Christ into others? How do I do this, Lord?
What does it mean to minister Christ to others, and how can we minister Christ to them?
First, we ourselves must be full of Christ; if we don’t have Christ filling us and overflowing in us, we can’t minister Him – we may at most impart some doctrinal knowledge but not Christ. When we are full of Christ, He will flow out of us.
Then, as we contact the saints, preach the gospel, and teach the new ones, we will labor and struggle to present all the saints full-grown in Christ by ministering Christ to them.
When we speak to others and care for them, we are not there to “solve their problem” or pass on some teachings, neither are we there to convince them of something or worse, convict them.
In everything we do, especially as we fellowship with the saints or speak to unbelievers, we need to learn to minister Christ to them; we need to labor and struggle to dispense Christ into others and then present them full-grown in Christ.
There must be a consciousness in us that we shouldn’t be merely passing on some teachings but that we want to impart the Christ whom we have enjoyed and experienced into others also.
And this is not a step 1, step 2, etc thing; there’s no method for this, we simply need to be filled with Christ and cooperate with His inner operation in us.
Then Christ will flow out of us even in an ordinary contact with others, for our vessel is filled with Christ so that we may dispense Him into them.
Presenting others full-grown in Christ is a very difficult task; this task can be accomplished only by labor and struggle; in this we need to struggle according to the operation of God.
In a sense it is not that difficult to preach the gospel of even speak a sermon or a message, but it takes a lot of laboring and struggling before God in prayer for us to present others full-grown in Christ.
Our goal is not only to help others be saved from the lake of fire and from God’s condemnation, and to bring them to experience God’s forgiveness; our goal is to minister Christ into others so that they may eventually be presented full-grown in Christ.
As we contact the unbelievers and the believers, our goal should be to minister Christ so that they may mature in Him, and we would present them full-grown in Christ.
After we contact people, we shouldn’t just “leave it up to the Lord” to do the work and operate in them; we should pray for them, labor and struggle, and be before the Lord in prayer concerning their situation and especially their growth in life and going on with the Lord.
Our prayer is a labor and a struggle, especially our prayer for presenting others full-grown in Christ. But hallelujah, Christ operates in us to bring us to glory, and His operation also operates in us in power, so we can labor by the resurrecting, transcending, and subduing power in us!
Lord Jesus, may we be those who labor and struggle to present all the saints full-grown in Christ. May our goal in contacting others shouldn’t be merely to impart some Bible knowledge into them but to minister Christ to them that they would grow in life unto maturity! Amen, Lord Jesus, may we minister Christ in our preaching the gospel and fellowship with the saints, so that they may mature in Him and be presented full-grown in Christ for the growth of the one new man! Fill us with Yourself, Lord, and grow in us in all things so that we may also minister You to others to present them full-grown in Christ!
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 Colossians, msgs. 16-17, 49 (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:
– By divine regeneration / We the sons of God became, / But we must mature to fullness, / Thus the birthright to obtain. / Born and fully grown to manhood, / God’s adoption we may share; / By the measure of full stature, / We God’s sonship will declare. (Hymns #741)
– Pray to labor with the Lord, / Pray to pave the way for Him; / Pray to move Him and be moved / From the center to the rim. / Pray to labor with the Lord, / Be identified with Him / In His purpose and His aim / Till His blessing floodeth in. (Hymns #786)
– Grant us, Lord, a willing spirit. / To build Your Body we would strive. / By our measure we would function, / Until full grown we’d all arrive. / As the members of His Body, / Each one is now a life supply. / Serving Christ to one another, / In love, His Body built thereby. (Song on, Outpoured for His Body)
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