Col. 1:27-29, To whom God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory, Whom we announce, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man full-grown in Christ; For which also I labor, struggling according to His operation which operates in me in power.
The Apostle Paul was a very good pattern of laboring and struggling to present every man full-grown in Christ (Col. 1:28-29). He didn’t just preach the gospel in a city and “moved on to another city”; rather, he agonized, struggled, and labored to present every man full-grown in Christ.
Our service in the church is, on the one hand, to supply Christ to others for their growth in life, and on the other hand, to perfect others to function as a minister, a steward of Christ.
In a very real sense, it is not that difficult to “give a sermon” (once you prepare and study hard enough) or “preach the gospel to get people saved” (once you pray and are equipped with God’s word and with the Spirit). What takes time and even a lifetime is to take care of the saints and, on the one hand, minister Christ to them for their growth in life, and on the other, perfect them to arrive at a full-grown man.
Don’t look at yourself, don’t look at your current situation, and don’t analyze introspectively to see whether you are “a full-grown man”. We all are called to be stewards of God and perfecters one of another, so that we would each minister Christ to one another and perfect one another for the building up of the Body of Christ, which building up is “of itself in love” through the functioning of all the members in the measure of each one part.
We all need to be perfected and to perfect others. Everyone in the church life is a priest carrying out God’s economy. Every brother and sister needs to be full-grown, and every saint needs to be perfected and perfecting others to be full-grown in Christ.
In Paul’s epistles we see a few indications of what our labor and struggle should be in order to present every man full-grown in Christ, which we list below (inspiration: the ministry of the age, see the Further Reading section).
We Need to Minister Christ to the Saints as their Portion and as the All-Inclusive Christ
In order for us to present every man full-grown in Christ, we must minister Christ to them as the portion of the saints and as the all-inclusive One who is the centrality and universality of God’s economy (Col. 1:12, 15, 18-19, 27; 2:3, 9, 16-17; 3:4, 11).
We all need to first experience Christ in all His aspects as the all-inclusive One, and then we can minister Him as the portion of all the saints to others. If in our daily living we experience Christ and live Christ, we will spontaneously infuse Christ into others. But if we don’t live Christ and if we don’t take Christ as our life and person, we don’t have what to minister to others.
Whenever we meet in the homes of the saints, around the dinner table, out for a snack, on the street, in vital group meetings, and in all kinds of meetings (formal or informal), we need to minister Christ to others. We need to be filled with Christ and experience the all-inclusive Christ daily so that we may have Christ deposited into us to minister to the saints as their portion.
We Need to Minister the Unsearchable Riches of Christ for the Building Up of the Church
In order to present every man full-grown in Christ, we must minister the unsearchable riches of Christ for the building up of the church to fulfill God’s eternal purpose (Eph. 3:8-11).
When we are short of the riches of Christ, when we don’t experience Christ in all His unsearchable riches, we cannot minister Him to others. But those who enjoy Christ’s unsearchable riches and live out Christ are transparent, and what is seen in them is Christ living again.
When we enjoy Christ in His riches together with all the saints and individually, we will be deeply concerned for the building up of the church so that God’s purpose may be fulfilled, and we will minister the riches of Christ to others.
Whether we preach the gospel or we visit someone, we will minister the riches of Christ enjoyed by us and experienced by us, and this builds up the church. If you are filled with the riches of Christ dug out and put out by the ministry of the age, the New Testament ministry, the ministry of the apostles, you will have the riches of Chris to minister to others!
We Need to Complete the Word of God with the Full Revelation of Christ and the Church
In order to present every man full-grown in Christ, we must complete the word of God with the full revelation of Christ and the church (Col. 1:25-28).
What we minister to others are not merely the Gospel stories or the washed-down gospel preached in Christianity today but the complete word of God, including the mystery of God – Christ – and the mystery of Christ – the church.
Paul’s ministry was to complete the word of God, and without his ministry it is not easy to properly understand the Old Testament. In the same way, we need the ministry of the age today to open up the word of God and help us to see the great mystery – Christ and the church.
What we speak to others is not merely “be saved from hell!” but all the word of God concerning Christ as the mystery of God and the church as the mystery of Christ.
We Need to Minister Christ as the Mystery of God
photo credit: Scripture Jewels – Col. 2:9-10, For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, And you have been made full in Him, who is the Head of all rule and authority.
In order to present every man full-grown in Christ, we must minister Christ as the mystery of God (Col. 2:2, 9). We need to experience Christ and enjoy Him as the embodiment of the Triune God, the mystery of God, the One in whom all fullness was pleased to dwell.
As we daily experience Christ as the embodiment of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, we can minister such a mystery to others. We need to read the Bible and see all the processes that Christ went through such as incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, and we need to speak of Christ’s earthly ministry and Christ’s heavenly ministry.
Christ is a mystery, but when we exercise our spirit and the divine Spirit enlightens us, we will see the mystery of Christ and we will minister this Christ to others also.
We Need to Minister the Church as the Mystery of Christ
In order to present every man full-grown in Christ, we must minister the church as the mystery of Christ (Eph. 3:4; 1:22-23). The church is the mystery of Christ, the Body of Christ, as the expression of Christ.
Satan wants to cover the truth about the church, and much division has occurred in the Body of Christ because the vision of the church as the mystery of Christ has not been clearly seen. We need to follow not the diluted and compromised situation in today’s Christianity but the pure word of God to see the church, know the church and minister the church as the mystery of God.
This is what we speak to others – not our opinions, our thoughts, our feelings, or our good intentions, but the Christ we experience and the church as the mystery of Christ. If you see it, you speak it; if you don’t see it, you will bring in confusion through your speaking. May we see the church and speak of the mystery of Christ, the church!
We Need to Minister Christ as Life to His Members so that they may Live by Him and Grow with Him unto Maturity
In order to present every man full-grown in Christ, we must minister Christ as life to His members so that they may live by Him and grow with Him unto maturity.
This is what the apostle Paul did – he enjoyed Christ and experienced Christ, and then he did his best to struggle and labor to present every man full-grown in Christ by ministering Christ to them for their growth in life and living Christ.
We cannot make others grow – we cannot make ourselves grow! – but we can minister Christ, and this One in the saints will cause them to grow in life unto maturity! Christ is our life (see Col. 3:4) and He wants to be lived out of us (John 6:57; 14:19; Gal. 2:20).
As we enjoy Christ and live Christ, we will grow with Him unto maturity (see Eph. 4:15, 13). Let us give ourselves to enjoy Christ and experience Christ, and let us be faithful to the Lord according to the stewardship of God to minister Christ into others for their growth in life and living Christ!
Lord Jesus, make us those who have the work that will bring into being the one new man, the full-grown man who fulfills Your purpose. We want to follow Paul’s pattern to labor and struggle to present every man full-grown in Christ. Save us from taking the easy way in Christianity today. Lord, we want to grow in life and help others grow in life! We want to pay the price to enjoy Christ, experience Christ, and minister Christ to others for the building up of the Body of Christ! Gain so many who, just like Paul, struggle and labor to present each of the saints full-grown in Christ!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Andrew Yu’ speaking in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Colossians (see msgs. 16-17, 49), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Entering into the Fourth Stage of the Experience of Life to Arrive at a Full-Grown Man for the Fulfillment of God’s Purpose, week 9 / msg 9, Arriving at a Full-grown Man (3) Carrying Out the Stewardship of God to Present Every Man Full-grown in Christ and Practicing the Church Life in the Consciousness of the One New Man.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Christ to minister is service / Both to God and others too, / Christ, the surplus, e’er supplying, / Off’ring Him as service true.
# Only Christ, our Person, must remain; / From our aims, our goals we must refrain, / Till the church be only Christ Himself / Built up as the one new man, / Thus fulfilling God’s great plan of— / Mingling fully with the human race / To obtain a proper dwelling place, / ’Stablishing His kingdom’s rule and grace; / Over all the earth.
# To the lost world minister Christ, / By daily walk making Him known; / Imparting Christ by whom you live, / Share with all men what you own.
# As Christ is God’s true mystery, / God to explain and God express; / So is the Church Christ’s mystery, / Christ to explain and manifest.
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