Verses 22 and 23 say, "And He subjected all things under His feet and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church, which is His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all." Christ has been made by God the Head over all things, not only for the church but to the church. The church is the Body, the fullness, of Christ, the One who fills all in all.

Now let us read Ephesians 4:13-16: "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, that we may be no longer little children tossed by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching in the sleight of men, in craftiness with a view to a system of error, but holding to truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ, 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."

Verse 14 speaks of every wind of teaching, not every wind of heresy. Even a teaching can be a wind to blow us away, to carry us away, from Christ and the church. We can be carried away by the winds of teaching because we are childish. We are children who have not yet grown up. Thus, it is easy for us to be deceived, to be carried away by something which looks good and which sounds nice. We are carried away not by some heresy but by some teaching. Instead of being carried away, we need to hold to truth in love. The truth is the reality, Christ Himself. When we hold Christ as the reality in love, we grow up into Christ, who is the Head, in all things. Then out from the Head all the Body causes the growth of the Body by the supplying joints and the operating parts.

If we consider before the Lord the above verses from Ephesians 4, we will have a clear vision that God's intention is to work Christ into us, to make Christ everything to us, and to cause us to grow in Christ. God does not want us just to learn some teaching. We should not pay our attention to anything other than to holding Christ as the reality, the center, the circumference, and everything. We hold Christ as the reality that we may grow up into Him in everything. Not just in one aspect, but in all aspects, in all things, we have to grow up into Christ. Christ is everything.

Now we need to read 1 Corinthians 1:22-24: "For indeed Jews require signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." The Jews were looking for signs, for miracles. Religion needs signs, and the Jews continually required them. The Greeks sought wisdom. Wisdom pertains to philosophy and was constantly sought by the Greeks. Paul did not minister these things. Instead, he preached Christ crucified. Here we have a contrast, not between Christ and sin and worldliness. We have a contrast between Christ and signs and wisdom. Even the miracles, the signs, and wisdom can be something in contrast with Christ. Paul preached Christ crucified to the Jews, and this became a stumbling block to them because they were seeking something other than Christ. They were seeking signs, miracles. The Greeks were seeking philosophical wisdom, not Christ. Thus, Paul preached the crucified Christ as the power of God and the wisdom of God.

In 1 Corinthians 2:2 Paul said, "For I did not determine to know anything among you except Jesus Christ, and this One crucified." Paul decided and even determined not to know anything but Christ. He said this emphatically, definitely, and clearly in a book which deals with signs, miracles, and gifts.

These passages which we have read from the Scripture bring us under the divine light and make everything transparent for us to see that in God's intention Christ is everything. He is the center and the circumference.

Now let us consider five items concerning Christ as everything in God's intention.