The Daily Word of Righteousness

The Body of the Anointed One

It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, To prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up Until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-13—NIV)

The whole measure of the fullness of the Anointed One, the Servant of the Lord.

The Servant of the Lord foretold by Isaiah is Christ—Head and Body. Isaiah describes what is true concerning the Servant of the Lord. Only those who have matured in Christ are qualified to work with the Lord in the task of establishing the Kingdom of God on the earth.

The main purpose of the two thousand years of the Church Age has been to build up the members of Christ's Body so they can perform the work of the Servant of the Lord—now, and especially during future ages. All the ministries and gifts of the Body of Christ serve to bring each member of the Body to maturity as measured by the stature of the fullness of Christ.

The Servant of the Lord will bring justice to the earth.

The Hebrew Prophets provide the vision of the Kingdom of God, the grand sweep of the past, present, and future, and prophesy of the coming of the Servant of the Lord whose task is to bring justice to the nations. The New Testament provides the daily practical details of how God's elect are to become part of the Servant of the Lord that they may be able to participate in establishing the Kingdom of God on the earth.

All the ministries and gifts assigned by the Holy Spirit have a supreme objective. It is that each member of the Body of Christ reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, attaining maturity as measured by the full stature of Christ.

Why is this objective so important? Why are the resources of the Spirit directed to this end?

The reason it is important for the members of the Body to attain maturity is that they have been appointed to return with Jesus Christ and establish His Kingdom in the world. The establishing of the Kingdom of God in the earth will bring justice to the saved nations.

It is true even today that as we grow in the Lord we are able to bring the Presence and blessing of the Lord to other people. But only to the extent we have come to maturity in Christ.

Some of the chapters of Isaiah describe God's mature witnesses. We can study these to discover what it means to come to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

We are being brought to the moral stature of Christ and to untroubled rest in the Father. When the world sees we are at rest in Christ in God the people will then believe God indeed has sent the Lord Jesus Christ.

I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (John 17:23—NIV)

To be continued.