To the Fullness of Christ

Ephesians 4:13 “…until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”

As we consider the idea of maturity I think it is best to have some sense of what this should look like overall. By knowing what the overall goal is, we can know where we are headed.

Christ becomes the image of the mature man. It is his earthly life that provides for us a standard by which everything else should be measured. In this way it is not the demands of our family and friends, or even the measure of a particular church group or denomination. How does the life of Christ translate into my world and my culture and how do I apply it to daily living.

Read the gospels, all four of them. By reading them and studying the life of Christ, you will find the great example of what our lives should look like when they are being lived out as mature believers. Consider some of these examples: Jesus is gentle and lowly (Matthew 11:29), yet he is strong and confronts sinful people and sinful practices (Matthew 21:12; John 2:15). Jesus always did the will of the Father (John 8:29), and he was driven by compassion to reach into people’s lives and touch them with the love of the Father (Matthew 9:36; 20:34). He spoke truth (Luke 20:21), even his enemies had to acknowledge this. And Jesus was so unassuming that little children were unafraid to come to him ( Mark 10:13-14).

This is not a call to the simple catch-phrase “What would Jesus do?” This is far greater than some idea of an emotional sense of what Jesus might do. It is purposefully studying His life and ministry to know some specifics of what a mature believer should look like. In Jesus we have real examples, real actions, and real principles by which to live out our own lives.

Lord Jesus, help us to know You and study Your life. Make Your life plain to us and empower us to live as You lived in this world.