THE GOAL OF THE LORD'S RECOVERY—TO BRING FORTH THE ONE NEW MAN
Message Three
Growing Up into Christ in All Things and Learning Christ as the Reality Is in Jesus for the Corporate Living of the One New Man
Scripture Reading: Eph. 4:13-16, 20-21, 24
I. For the corporate living of the one new man, we need to grow up into Christ in all things—Eph. 4:14-16, 24:
A. To grow up into Christ is to have Christ increase in us in all things until we arrive at a full-grown man—vv. 13-15.
B. We all need to grow up into Christ in all things, that is, in every single thing, whether big or small—v. 15:
1. There are still many things in which we have not grown up into Christ; in these things we are not in Christ but are outside of Christ.
2. When we all grow up into Christ in all things, we all will be one in Christ; this is the universal one new man—v. 24.
3. Growing up into Christ in all things is for the practical existence of the universal one new man—v. 24.
4. The growth into Christ in verse 15 equals the putting on of the new man in verse 24.
5. The full-grown man in verse 13 refers to the one new man in verse 24, who has become full-grown.
C. Ephesians 4 speaks of the perfecting of the new man through the growth of life; the one new man created by Christ must be perfected in order to function:
1. In Ephesians 2:15 we see the creation of the new man organically; in 4:13-16 we see the perfecting of the new man in relation to his function.
2. The organically perfect one new man needs to be perfected through the growth of life in order to function in a proper way—vv. 12-15:
a. The one new man can become perfect in relation to his function only through receiving the proper nourishment; this is one of the deepest concepts in the book of Ephesians.
b. We need to fulfill our responsibility to perfect the one new man through nourishing and cherishing—5:29.
c. The more the one new man grows through receiving the proper nourishment, the more he will function normally.
3. For the growth of the corporate new man, we need to experience the crucified, resurrected, ascended, and descending Christ so that the all-inclusive Christ is wrought into us to be our everything; then the organically perfect new man will become perfect functionally—3:16-17a; 4:13, 24.
II. For the corporate living of the one new man, we need to learn Christ as the reality is in Jesus—vv. 20-21:
A. In verse 20 Paul speaks of learning Christ:
1. Christ is not only life to us but also an example; in His life on earth the Lord Jesus set up a pattern, a mold—John 13:15; 1 Pet. 2:21.
2. To be saved is to be put into Christ by God—1 Cor. 1:30.
3. By means of baptism God put us into Christ, who is the pattern; to be baptized is to be placed into Christ as the mold—Rom. 6:3; Gal. 3:27.
4. By being placed into the mold, we have put off the old man and have put on the new man—Eph. 4:22, 24.
5. We learn Christ according to the mold of the life of Jesus, which is reality—vv. 20-21.
6. To learn Christ is to be put into Christ as the mold; it is to be molded into the pattern set up by Him during His years on earth—v. 20.
B. The expression the reality is in Jesus refers to the actual condition of the life of Jesus as recorded in the four Gospels; the life of Jesus was a life of reality—v. 21:
1. In verses 17 and 21 we see a contrast between the vanity of the mind and the reality in Jesus.
2. Reality is the shining of light; light is the source, and reality is the expression—John 8:12:
a. The Lord Jesus is the shining of God, who is light—Heb. 1:3; 1 John 1:5.
b. Because in every aspect of the Lord's living on earth there was the shining of light, His life was a life of reality, a life of the shining God Himself; that life of reality was the expression of God—John 8:12; 14:6.
C. The living of the one new man should be exactly the same as the living of Jesus—Eph. 4:20:
1. The way that the Lord Jesus lived on earth is the way that the new man should live today—Matt. 11:28-30; John 6:57; 4:34; 5:17, 19, 30; 6:38; 17:4.
2. Our standard of living must be according to the reality in Jesus—Eph. 4:20:
a. He was one with God, and He lived a life in which He did everything in God, with God, and for God.
b. The human living of Jesus was according to the reality, that is, according to God Himself, full of righteousness and holiness—v. 24.
3. We need to learn Christ and be taught in Him to live a life of reality—vv. 20-21; 2 John 1; John 4:23-24.
4. As a corporate person, the one new man should live a life of reality, as the reality is in Jesus, which is a life of expressing God—Eph. 4:21.
5. If we live according to the spirit of our mind, we will have the living of the corporate new man—a living that corresponds to the reality in Jesus—v. 23.
D. The church life is the daily walk of the corporate one new man, a walk that is absolutely new in nature and in manner; everything related to the one new man is new—vv. 17-32.
E. Since the one new man is according to God Himself, with God's life and nature, the one new man must have the life that is divine; such a life will be corporate, not individualistic—v. 24.