But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ….

Ephesians 4:15

Between Christ and His people there is an organic unity.  This unity is the result of an indissoluble union.  The union is so vital and integral to all that it means to be Christs’ that Paul describes it in very graphic terms.  He refers to Christ as ‘the Head.’  In the next verse he refers to us who are Christs’ as ‘the whole body.’  As Paul is discussing spiritual maturity, he speaks of the purpose of God that we ‘may grow up in all things, into Him which is the head, even Christ.’  To this purpose, God has given the gifts to which he referred earlier to build up the Body that there may be ‘the unity of the faith and…the knowledge of the Son of God.’  This advance of spiritual maturity will enable us to ‘be no longer children’ and will preserve us from deceptions.  It will enable us to speak ‘the truth in love.’  All these things taken together indicate that Christ our Head is developing us as His Body to perform all He intends to accomplish by us.  This is good for the Body, good for the world, good for the advancement of the Gospel, and good for the growth of the Kingdom of God.  We only ever profit by our relationship to Christ, Our Head.  He is the reason we have spiritual life and gain spiritual strength.

O God of Grace and Truth,
we rejoice in Your manifold wisdom.
We praise You that in that wisdom,
You have united us to Christ our Head,
and that by Your power, You will develop us as His Body.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ….

Ephesians 4:15

The end of sanctification is for us to become like Christ. It is to that end that the Holy Spirit ‘renews us in the whole person.’  When we see Christ ‘we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.’  The exercise of true spirituality aids and abets our spiritual growth.  As Paul is writing to his Ephesian children in the faith, he is exploring with them how their spiritual maturity will look and what will assist its’ advancement.  If we read a little farther on, we will see how specific Paul gets about the practices that go with spiritual maturity.  We hope to discuss them in a few days.  For the moment, Paul remarks that our ‘speaking the truth in love’ along with the other edifying things which he has mentioned before, will all work together so that we ‘may grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.’  This ‘growing up’ has an intrinsic value for us personally, and a wider value for us corporately.  It makes us more like Christ as individuals and increases the overall development of the Body of Christ.  It is our making use of the available means of grace that will expose us consistently to all the things to which Paul has been referring which will aid us in growing up.

Our Great God and Savior,
we rejoice that You will have us to be
a fully developed people.
We praise You that You will cause us
to grow up before You
until we become like Christ.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ….

Ephesians 4:15

One of the evidences of spiritual maturity is ‘speaking the truth in love.’  We see this in the life and ministry of Christ.  Because Christ is truth, all that He spoke was truth.  Because He is love personified, He always spoke the truth in love.  Therefore, Christ stands as the ever-present example of that to which we aspire.  If we are to be genuinely Christlike, then we will of necessity, speak the truth.  In order to do it in a Christlike way, we must speak that truth in love.  This is beyond all our natural abilities.  Only the work of the Spirt within us will bring us to such spiritually mature behavior.  Having said that, if we do, by the grace of God, speak the truth in love, we may expect the same sort of reception that Christ received.  There were some who ‘heard Him gladly.’  There were others who became His enemies because when He told them the truth, it conflicted with their own thoughts and deeds.  The same will be true for us.  As we proclaim the truth of Christ, there will be some who receive it with joy and gladness; others will not.  What we can hope for, regardless of how others receive us, is that for our part, we continue to consistently go on ‘speaking the truth in love.’  This is Christlikeness.

Our God of Grace and Love,
we rejoice that You have sent us Christ,
Who has not only redeemed us,
but also set forth before us the great example of how to do.
We praise You that as Your Holy Spirit works within us,
He will enable us to, like Christ, speak the truth in love.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ….

Ephesians 4:13

One of Paul’s great passions was to know Christ.  He did not just desire this for himself, he also wanted it for his children in the faith.  In Philippians 3, Paul speaks of his own interest in knowing Christ when he says, ‘but what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ…and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but rubbish, that I may win Christ.’  If we take a moment to read the context of that statement, we realize that Paul had discounted every earthly advantage as ‘rubbish’ in the interest of knowing Christ.  As Paul writes to the Ephesians he speaks of the gifts which Christ has given to the Church, to equip the saints and to build the Body of Christ to the purpose that ‘we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.’  For us to know Christ, intimately, personally, and thoroughly, is the result of all that Christ has done to make it so.  This results in our becoming as a body ‘a perfect man.’  It is the knowledge of Christ that bring us to resemble Him as the Holy Spirit works in us to bring us to that resemblance.  This brings us to the Scriptures, to the place of prayer, to the place of worship, to the things we read, and the things upon which we meditate with the ever-increasing desire to see and hear more of Christ, ‘that I may know Him.’

Our Wise and Holy God,
we rejoice that You will bring us unto full maturity as Your people.
We praise You that this maturity will conform us, ultimately,
to the Image of Christ.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.

Ephesians 4:12

Christ said, ‘I will build my church.’  The Church is, at the same time, all of the redeemed of all ages and The Body of Christ.  In order for Christ to build his Church, He must do all that is necessary to bring His people unto Himself.  He also gives gifts unto His people, as we discussed yesterday.  The purpose of these gifts are ‘the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry and for the edifying of the body of Christ.’  What is important to remember from our perspective, is that we have no certain knowledge of who these people are, because we may encounter them at a stage of their experience before Christ has actually brought them unto Himself.  This will revolutionize our approach to every single person we encounter.  If Christ intends that we should build up His Body, and we do not know exactly who is who, then we may approach anyone, and everyone with the intention of edifying them, or building them up.  This puts the knife into the heart of the spirit of competitiveness, which results in personal advancement at the expense of others.  It brings us to imitate Christ ‘who went about doing good.’  By this exercise of what Christ has given us, we accomplish His larger purpose to build His Body.

Our Gracious Master and our God,
we rejoice that Your people are scattered over the whole earth,
and that we may encounter them at any time.
We praise You that You have given us the opportunity
to build others up in order that by all means,
we may point them to Christ.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning