The Body of Christ: Scene Ten
As we bring this drama to a conclusion let’s remember why God chose a community of people to represent Him: He promised His Son a Bride. She would be holy and blameless, without spot or wrinkle, and recreated in His image. The Body of Christ, the Church, is empowered by God, the Holy Spirit to accomplish all He has destined us to be and to do; we’re not in this alone.
We learned that a healthy body grows as it’s equipped and built up by the Spirit and each other; we’re interdependent, joined, and in harmony as we work side-by-side in ministry using our unique gifts. That’s God’s way.
The last aspect of the Body of Christ is that we are expected, like a human body, to mature.
Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. 1 Peter 2:2-3
Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of His body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. Ephesians 4:15-16
What does spiritual maturity look like? How do we know, practically, that we’re growing in Christ-likeness? Ephesians 4 gives us many attributes of Christ that we can imitate and grow more comfortable in as we honor Him with our life.
Forgiveness, compassion, truthfulness, generosity, encouragement, kindness, thankfulness, this is a good place to begin but maturity means that we show more and more of these characteristics as we work together.
This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Ephesians 4:13
After Jesus taught His last parable (Matt. 25:14) where He stressed using our gifts to minister to others He launched into a teaching of His Return and our receiving of the predestined inheritance: the Kingdom of God in its fullness.
And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you did it to Me.’ Matthew 25:40
Living in the Kingdom of God, our new culture, expresses a life of victory as we overcome, in His strength and power, the enemy of our souls. We recognize the enemy faster, we’re not ignorant of his devices, and we know what to do because we know who we are: the triumphant Church.
As this drama comes to completion, scene after scene, Jesus will return for His Bride who looks and acts just like Him. As we follow His charge we can be assured of His response, “Well done.”
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