Full Grown Man

Relevant Bible Verses:-

1) 1 Thes 5:23 God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2) Heb 4: 12 For the word of God is living and operative and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, and able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

3) Eph 4:13 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.
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The Bible says that “as many as received Christ, to them He gave the authority to become children of God, to those who believe into His name.” (John 1:12). Then the next logical step after becoming the chosen children of God is to grow up into a matured person.

Becoming the children of God can be very rich in its implications. It implies that we have received the divine nature of God and grace of Christ in our now regenerated life. In a proper sense we need to boast of our status being bestowed as children of God. Christians indeed are considered very privilege to have received the grace and mercy of God.

God works in a miraculous way. He deals in our spiritual grow gradually. Firstly God takes possession of our spirit through regeneration in the blood of Christ. Secondly by spreading and mingling Himself as the life-giving Spirit with our human spirit to saturate our soul. The full saturation of the soul with the Spirit of God will transform our soul and ultimately enliven our mortal body through our soul and transfiguring our body by His life power. It is mysterious to see God’s miraculous way working throughout our tripartite human being – spirit, soul and body.

I am going to bring you back to the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. This event will illustrate God’s divine intervention and process in our spiritual growth and ultimately leading us into the promised land (Canaan).

God commanded Moses to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt, from which they were delivered. Secondly when the children of Israel were in the desert, from which they wandered. Finally, when they entered into Canaan, from which they experienced the full enjoyment of God and kingdom rest.

“Their history in these three places signifies the three stages of their participation in God’s full salvation. This is a type of us, the New Testament believers, in our participation in the full salvation of God. In the first stage, we receive Christ and are redeemed and delivered from the world. In the second we become wanderers in following the Lord; our wandering always takes place in our soul. In the final stage we partake and enjoy Christ in a full way; this is the experience in our spirit.” (Extracted from footnote Heb 4:12Recovery Version Bible)

Therefore until we take the word of God seriously, as it is living and operative and sharper than two-edged sword, we can still be wandering in the “wilderness”.

We must press on as Caleb and Joshua did with conviction believing in the word of God, obeyed the Lord and entered into the Canaan land with full enjoyment of Christ “at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ."