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
Opening Word of the Prophesying Meeting
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
But holding to truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ—Eph.4:15
But you did not so learn Christ, If indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him as the reality is in Jesus—4:20-21
Word of Appetizer
What we need to do for the corporate living of the one new man?
For the corporate living of the one new man, we need to grow up into Christ in all things and we need to learn Christ as the reality is in Jesus.
To grow up into Christ is to have Christ increase in us in all things until we arrive at a full-grown man.
The living of the one new man should be exactly the same as the living of Jesus. The church life is the daily walk of the corporate one new man, a walk that is absolutely new in nature and in manner.
Spiritual Burden
For the corporate living of the one new man, we all need to take Christ as our person, growing up into Christ in all things and learning Christ as the reality is in Jesus.
We all need to grow up into Christ in all things, that is, in every single thing, whether big or small. We learn Christ according to the mold of the life of Jesus, which is reality.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
For the corporate living of the one new man, we need to grow up into Christ in all things.
For the corporate living of the one new man, we need to learn Christ as the reality is in Jesus.
The Experience of Life
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.
By means of baptism God put us into Christ, who is the pattern. By being placed into the mold, we have put off the old man and have put on the new man. We learn Christ according to the mold of the life of Jesus.
Practice and Application
We all need to grow up into Christ in all things, that is, in every single thing, whether big or small. We need to fulfill our responsibility to perfect the one new man through nourishing and cherishing.
Our standard of living must be according to the reality in Jesus. We need to learn Christ and be taught in Him to live a life of reality. The church life is the daily walk of the corporate one new man, a walk that is absolutely new in nature and in manner.
Using Key Verses to Have a Bird’s-Eye View over the Whole Outline
Key Verses (1)
Until we all arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ—Eph.4:13
But holding to truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ—15
Out from whom all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.—16
And put on the new man, which was created according to God in righteousness and holiness of the reality.–24
I For the corporate living of the one new man, we need to grow up into Christ in all things.
A. To grow up into Christ is to have Christ increase in us in all things until we arrive at a full-grown man.
B. We all need to grow up into Christ in all things, that is, in every single thing, whether big or small.
- When we all grow up into Christ in all things, we all will be one in Christ; this is the universal one new man.
- The growth into Christ in verse 15 equals the putting on of the new man in verse 24. 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. The organically perfect one new man needs to be perfected through the growth of life in order to function in a proper way.
Key Verses (2)
But you did not so learn Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him as the reality is in Jesus—Eph.20-21
This therefore I say and testify in the Lord, that you no longer walk as the Gentiles also walk in the vanity of their mind--17
II For the corporate living of the one new man, we need to learn Christ as the reality is in Jesus.
A. In verse 20 Paul speaks of learning Christ:
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- 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.
- 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. 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.
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.
- In verses 17 and 21 we see a contrast between the vanity of the mind and the reality in Jesus. Reality is the shining of light; light is the source, and reality is the expression. That life of reality was the expression of God.
Key Verses (3)
But you did not so learn Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him as the reality is in Jesus—Eph.20-21
That you put off, as regards your former manner of life, the old man, which is being corrupted according to the lusts of the deceit, And that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, And put on the new man, which was created according to God in righteousness and holiness of the reality.—Eph.4:22-24
II For the corporate living of the one new man, we need to learn Christ as the reality is in Jesus.
C. The living of the one new man should be exactly the same as the living of Jesus.
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- Our standard of living must be according to the reality in Jesus.
- We need to learn Christ and be taught in Him to live a life of reality.
- 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.
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.
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.
Prophesying Topics—Twelve Topics per Week
D1
T1. Growing Up into Christ in All Things.(Eph. 4:15)
(Please explain that the meaning of Growing Up into Christ in All Things.)
T2. How much we need to grow up into Christ.(Eph. 4:15)
(Please use your experience to illustrate that We can practice growing up into Christ in all the details of our daily living)
D2
T1. The new man is perfected through growth(Ephesians 4:14-16)
(Please explain that the one new man created by Christ must be perfected in order to function.)
T2. The new man can become perfect in relation to his function only through receiving the proper nourishment(Ephesians 5:19)
(Please explain that the Body does not become functionally perfect through the teaching of doctrine; but the perfecting of the new man through the growth of life.)
D3
T1. The organically perfect one new man needs to become functionally perfect.(Eph. 4:12-13)
(Please use your experience to illustrate that only those who have been properly nourished will be able to function.)
T2. Growth only comes through the experience of Christ.(Eph. 3:16-17)
(Please explain that in order for the new man to grow, we need to experience the crucified, resurrected, ascended, and descending Christ.)
D4
T1. Christ is not only life to us but also an example (John 13:15; 1 Pet. 2:21).
(Please explain that we learn from Him according to His example, not by our natural life but by Him as our life.
T2. Learning Christ according to the mold of the life of Jesus(Eph. 4:20-21).
(Please explain that 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.)
D5
T1. Having been taught in Him as the reality is in Jesus(Eph. 4:21)
(Please explain what The expression the reality is in Jesus refers to? )
T2. Life of reality was the expression of God(John 8:12; 14:6).
(Please explain that the life of Jesus was a life of reality, a life of the shining God Himself.)
D6
T1. The living of the one new man should be exactly the same as the living of Jesus(Eph. 4:20)
(Please explain that the life of Jesus should be our life today in the church.)
T2. The new man is according to God Himself, with God’s life and nature(Eph. 4:24)
(Please give examples to illustrate how we practice the various aspects of our daily life according to the truth as it is in Jesus.)
