We have seen that in chapter two we have the creation of the new man and in chapter four, the growth of the new man. In order for the new man to grow, we need to experience the crucified, resurrected, ascended, and descending Christ. This means that the all-inclusive Christ must be wrought into us to be our everything. Then the organically perfect new man will also become perfect functionally.
The new man is not perfected mainly by teaching. Teaching may actually be a frustration to our growth in life. Before the new man could be created, all the ordinances had to be abolished. Now for the new man to grow, we must be careful about doctrine. Ordinances are obstacles to the formation of the new man, and doctrines are frustrations to the growth of the new man. I hope that all those who take the lead in the local churches will realize that we should not place our trust in doctrine to produce growth in the saints. Growth only comes through the experience of Christ. The degree to which we can minister Christ is in direct proportion to our experience of Christ. The more we experience Him, the more we can minister Him to others. As we minister Christ, others will be nourished.
The very Christ who was crucified and resurrected and who has ascended to the third heaven is now working within us to constitute us into functioning members of the Body. He carries out this work by making His home in our hearts and by saturating us with Himself. As He saturates us, we are sanctified, purified, nourished, cherished, and transformed. The result is that we become perfected functionally. In this way the Body grows and builds itself up. The Body is not built directly by the Head or by the gifts mentioned in 4:11; it is built up directly by those members who have been perfected by the gifted ones.
Concerning this crucial matter, I pray that we all shall have a clear sky. I can testify that the sky above me is crystal clear regarding the growth of the new man. In these days may the Lord make all His faithful seeking ones transparently clear about the one new man. How blessed we are to be living at a time when the Lord is recovering these things! Ephesians 4 has never been as clear to us as it is in these days.
All those who desire to migrate for the spread of the church life must realize that migration is not a movement. It is the move of the one new man, that is, the move of the all-inclusive Christ in His Body. It is the move of Christ, the heavenly Solomon, in His palanquin. If the Lord is to move among us in such a way, we should not function in an individualistic way. Rather, we should function in the Body in the way of coordination. In order to function in this way, we need to experience Christ and to grow in Him. The measure of our growth will be the sphere, the realm, of our function. If we fail to function, there will be a gap in the Body. But if we function excessively, we shall cause a cancer in the Body. As the Head of the Body, Christ thoroughly knows the situation of the Body. According to His mercy, may the Body be preserved both from any shortage and from cancer caused by overfunction.
We praise the Lord for opening His Word to us. We thank Him for showing us that the vital need is for Christ to be wrought into our being. The more we are saturated with Christ, the more we become in reality parts of the Body with a particular measure of function. Then wherever we may be we shall function properly, and the Body will grow. This will cause Satan, the enemy of God, to tremble. It will also hasten the coming back of the Lord Jesus.