BECOMING MATURE LIKE JESUS
By Lay Pastor Kasieli Zebua
Lemah Putro, Sunday, August 12, 2018
Shalom,
Thanks to His grace, we may attend today’s service despite the roadway obstacles due to the Independence-Day marathon. The sermon the other day addressed the topic on unity and spiritual maturity or perfection to be like Jesus. May the ongoing preaching of God’s Word excite (instead of distressing) us to hear and practice it on a daily basis more than ever, rather than enriching our knowledge.
Today’s sermon is based on Ephesians 4: 11-16, “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head —Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”
From the above verses, we can draw the following conclusions:
Jesus Christ guides us to become a perfect man like Him.
He has set up five ministries (apostles, prophets, pastors, evangelists and teachers) to equip the holy saints because He wants to lead them on to be perfect like Him. Not only does He show the way but also guides them to reach perfection.
Who are the holy saints? Those redeemed by the blood of Christ. They need to be equipped to reach perfection as the Lord wants them to.
As outlined in the Tabernacle scheme, the Lord not only points out the site of the Gate but also shows the way step by step to perfection. With the help of His servants, He equipped the believers in Ephesus and us as well. To reach the unity of the faith, the true knowledge of the Son of God and full maturity to be like the perfect Christ, the holy saints need to speak the same language and share the same mind as well as desire.
The five ministries take responsibility for bringing people to Christ. Paul, for example, had the gifts as an apostle, a pastor, an evangelist and a teacher. He led believers to Christ, not to man, not even to himself.
Without question, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers have their own ways to address the public. Nevertheless, they all have the same goal, namely, building the body of Christ. Christ longs to see the church, His body, growing more and more mature in the ministries that He has provided and actively participating in building the body of Christ.
True, the body of Christ is there, but it needs to go forward to total completion. For this purpose, we need to be equipped in order to be “mature” like Christ. We, the congregation, should be thankful whenever we get the opportunity to receive the teaching and discipline from the Word of God that shapes us to be members of His body.
It stands to reason that God does not transform us (new believers) into perfect beings all at once, transferring us from the world straight to heaven. Rather, He wants us to have rock solid faith until we gain the true knowledge of Him. In other words, the longer, the better we should know Him as time goes by.
The teaching of the Bride Tidings guides us to maturity. As His bride-to-be, we must know who our heavenly Bridegroom is. Christ lets us know who He is along the way until we reach perfection. Then someday, we will be seated beside Him at the wedding feast of the Lamb. As an illustration: a man or woman should know his bride-to-be or her would-be bridegroom through and through before they tie the knot. Do not rush into marriage after knowing someone on facebook, at the shopping mall or on any other occasion without knowing the person inside and out.
Christ has set an example for us. He knows us very well and prepares us, as His bride, to be holy without blemish. Many claim that they believe in Jesus but, in reality, they do not know Christ well. Therefore, we need strong faith in Him so that our hearts will not easily get tempted like a bride-to-be flirting with one after another in search for a better choice.
The Lord leads us to a fixed goal. He wants us to grow and unite in the faith and the true knowledge of the Lamb of God, namely, Christ. Many teachings preached in churches question Christ as Lord and Savior.
The Lord wants us to grow spiritually mature so that we can discern between the right teaching and the wrong one (cf. 5: 14). Admittedly, our knowledge of Jesus is just a theory (as the Son of God, Savior, etc.). Not more than that. It does not develop into an intimate relationship in which we can know Him personally.
Christ is the model of maturity
Verses 14-15 said that maturity sets us free from childhood. We are no longer children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of false teaching. Instead, we are to hold on to the truth. In another translation, “holding on to the truth in love” reads “speaking the truth in love,“ that is, expressing the truth in love. For that reason, we ought to proclaim the truth about Him – the truth that is in our possession.
Apart from knowing and holding on to the truth, have we walked in the truth? Have we kept the truth alive and proclaimed it in love? Admittedly, we often fail to convey the truth for fear of rejection. Consequently, we tend to make compromises. As a matter of fact, we are not to compromise on our faith and true knowledge of the Son of God under any circumstances.
Never forget that the Lord wants us to express the truth in love. When something goes wrong, parents frequently tell the truth to their children without love but emotion. Didn’t Christ demonstrate love when manifesting the truth? We must take His example. Let His love motivate us to express the truth. In proclaiming the truth, the Apostle Paul was ready or willing to take the risk of being imprisoned. He did all these due to his love for the church he had been ministering to.
The holy saints equipped as members of the body of Christ repond to the sowed seeds of God’s Word in different ways. The seeds fall in different places – on the ground (heart) by the wayside, on stony ground, among the thorns and on good ground (Matthew 13: 4-8).
We must have strong confidence that our faith and hope are directed only to Christ. However, this does not mean that we have to lead an exclusive life or shy away from those who do not know Him (yet).
Further, we must grow up in all aspects into Christ who is the Head. It is obvious that Christ is the ultimate goal in our lives. Of course, we may admire amazing servants of God but we must keep growing up into God since He is the Head of the church.
How can we grow up and become perfect like Christ?
- The Word of God provides what we need to boost our growth in order to be perfect like Him.
- We must learn from Christ because He is perfect. He has set a perfect example with His forgiving heart. With this in mind, we are to forgive one another and get rid of bitterness, wrath, anger, quarrels and slanderous talks (Ephesians 4: 31-32).
True, it is awfully hard to forgive someone when hatred and bitterness take control of our hearts. Only His love can empower us to forgive those who hurt our hearts.
- We must be filled by the Holy Spirit to stay humble (Ephesians 5: 18-21) like Jesus who is humble (Matthew 11: 29). If we are filled by the Holy Spirit, we will speak to each other in psalms, hymns and always give thanks for all things. Unity will never become a reality unless humility is present because quarrels trigger split-ups. It is indeed difficult to be humble and forgiving. We, therefore, need the Holy Spirit.
The action of humility alongside forgiveness springs from husband-wife relationnship (cf. Ephesians 5: 22-23). It takes humility and forgiveness to keep this relationship united. In reality, husband and wife need humility in order to be able to forgive each other. If not, quarrels will crop up day by day since both parties will not give up their egos.
How did Christ build His relationship with His church? He sacrificed His life for the sake of His church. Are husbands and wives ready to make sacrifices for their respective spouses? Do not make believe. In public places, a couple may look romantically harmonious. But at home, their romance and harmony flee, leaving their relationship in a terrible mess.
A marriage relationship grows into a parent-child relationship (Ephesians 6: 1-4). Do parents, particularly fathers, have a heart like the heart of Christ and treat their children properly, that is, they do not mistreat or beat their children so that they know how to repect thir parents?
Do parents care for their children’s spiritual lives so that they can grow together in the body of Christ?
Likewise, do servants or employees obey their masters or employers with fear and trembling in the sincerity of their hearts as to Christ (Ephesians 6: 5-6)?
By knowing Christ, our hearts will obey Him. We will be empowered to live our daily lives because of the honesty of our hearts. We no longer deceive others and manipulate whatever we do. We do not make excuses when God assigns us to do something. We pay respect to our superior and accomplish our tasks because we fear God. This way, we do not do things just to please our employer, leader or pastor, but simply to please the Lord.
- We are strong in the power of His might, putting on the whole armor of God so that we may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil (Ephesians 6: 10-12).
To be able to operate the military weapons, we need special trainings. That way, we will not miss the targets. Having been spiritually mature, we are equipped with the armor of God to fight against our enemies – the principalities, rulers of the darkness of this world and evil spirits in the heavenly places.
It requires maturity to use the whole armor of God and to detect the real enemies. The Apostle Paul firmly said that we do not fight against blood and flesh (Ephesians 6: 12). The fact is that many Christians do not know how to use the weapons. Instead, they consider those close to them (husband, wife, children and friends) as their enemies, rather than evil spirits.
What sort of armor to take up?
The belt of truth and the breastplate of righteousness (vv. 13-14)
How can we put on the belt of truth if we do not know what truth is? The true knowledge of Christ and His Word is crucial indeed as we are currently on the battlefield.
The shield of faith (vv. 15-16)
This shield is needed to put out the flaming arrows of the evil one. When confronted with marriage problems, do we still have faith with us? Can we put on the shield of faith when the evil one shoots his flaming arrows at our families and work?
The shield of faith has been given to us. Have we put it on properly? The Word of God has been given to us. Do we use it when coping with the fiery arrows of the evil one? Or, does the Holy Spirit remain idle because our thoughts and desires are playing first fiddle?
The sword of the Spirit, namely, the Word of God (v.17)
The stab of a sword hurts. Similarly, the Word of God is like a two-edged sword. It hurts but for our own good (Hebrews 4: 12). Do we know how to use all these weapons to ward off all ”enemies” so that we will come out winning?
We need to spiritually grow mature until we can understand what truth is and who Christ is. If we strongly have faith in the truth, we will stand firm every time. We do not take other members around us for enemies anymore. Rather, we grow together, holding hand in hand, into Jesus as the Head.
Growth towards maturity and perfection takes a process (either slow or fast). Despite our equipment, let’s stay alert, or else we will suffer a defeat.
The Word of God has exposed the process towards maturity in line with God’s will. Let’s take God’s perfect model of maturity as an example until we get ready for our marriage to the Heavenly Bridegroom. Amen.