“And he gave some, apostles, and some, prophets, and some, evangelists, and some, pastors and teachers, For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 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 4:11-13]


If there is any reason why we have groomed pastors in the Church of Jesus Christ, if there is any reason why a man should be preaching and teaching a congregation Sunday after Sundays, if there is any reason why there are apostles, prophets, teachers and/or evangelists operating at one capacity or the other within the body of Christ, it is only for one purpose, and that is for the maturing of believers, it is for the perfecting of the Saints to a pinnacle, a height where Christ is their all in all - the fullness of Christ.


"...unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:"

By implication, when you become a child of God through repentance and conversion, the singular, all important goal of genuine conversion that your life reaches forth to, is to become fully grown, to become a perfect man, and your yardstick is "Christ", your measuring scale is the measure, the stature and the fullness of Christ. The desire of every father always, is that his children be like him in all ramifications.


"...the measure... stature... fullness of Christ"

When a man gives birth to a son, the baby boy will have all the features of the father, he may even resemble him in some body features, either facially, in colour or in some special traits, he will doubtlessly have all the physical features that the father has. The family is not patiently waiting until the first or the second birthday of the child before the child grows his second hand. The child is not growing one finger per annum that we have to painstakingly wait for the next 20 years before his fingers and toes will be complete, we are neither praying nor fasting specially for the eyes and mouth to be freshly manufactured at his tenth birthday, no, the child has all these features of the father in a measure. The eyes may not be sharp, they may not be able to see far, but they are present. The fingers may not be strong to drive a nail through hardwood, the hand and brain combination may not operate with dexterity and skills, but they are available.

The child is a measure of the father even though he cannot operate in the shoes of the father presently. Such is the state of the new birth experience. There is a measure of Christ in every genuine believer. That measure is not a portion, but it is full and complete, even though it may not be perfect and developed to its full potentials yet.
The features of Christ are not grown as the days go by, they are present at birth. Godliness, humility, truthfulness, tenderness, love and the joy of the Lord are not ingredients that show up the more a man waits on the Lord in fasting and prayer, No, these are intrinsic to the nature of Christ, which are immediately available and evident at the new birth experience of the man who has encountered Christ. The growing and the maturing of these features of Christ in the new believer until he conforms totally to the image and fullness of Christ is therefore the daily labours of earnest seekers and the singular pursuits of the new baby.


"Till we all come... unto a perfect man ...”

As a boy grows in the family, he begins to measure up and compare himself to the stature of his father. At 10 years of age, the little lad will one day come, and stand beside his daddy. He will try to locate his height on daddys frame to check how he is making progress with his growth. As far as the young boy is concerned, daddys height is his standard. A sense of full achievement only comes when he measures up to the full height of his father. He says "yes thank God, my height last year was at the hips of Daddy, now I am growing bit by bit". I discover that those little lads are more eager to grow. They even become a nuisance to Daddy, because every day, they want to keep checking their heights using Daddys body as their measuring scale as he has only one thing as his aspiration - to grow to the fullness of his Daddy. Sometimes, he will wear Daddys shoes or trousers. Even though they are obviously oversized, yet, he will drag them along - What is the desire of this small boy? He wants to be able to use everything the father uses. He wants to just be like his father and operate in his shoes. He will sit on Daddys seat and practice to talk like him, and as far as he is concerned, Daddy is the ultimate standard and he measures his growth by conforming to the image of his father. He wants to be like him, as tall as he is, do everything like him. Other men do not interest him, he only measures his own growth by the stature and the stoutness of his father.

Unless a man grows to the fullness of his father, there is no how he can effectively use all the inheritances that the father has or possesses, even if he owns them, he cannot successfully operate in them, he cannot effectively wear his fathers oversized shoes or clothes, they will only become a burden rather than a blessing unto him. My question therefore is, Am I becoming effective in the use of whatsoever Jesus has? Am I becoming of age, growing unto the measure of the stature of the FULLNESS of Christ? Is it my passion to conform to the divine image of Christ only? Am I measuring myself daily, each and every time by the image that I see in Jesus my Lord?


....until we all come in the unity of the faith of the knowledge of the son of God to a perfect man..."

What is the definition of this perfection? It is simply to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. When we talk about Christian growth or Christian life, there is something at the back of your mind, you want to grow to the capacity of Christ, to the full height and fullness of Christ. You want to talk the way He talks, reason the way He reasons, how He is, is the way you want to be, you want to be more about Jesus in His word, when you open the Bible to read, there is nothing else you are looking for but that more of Christ may flow into you, your daily passion is to be more and more like Him, your hunger is to love Him with your whole heart. Your singular purpose of going to church or getting involved in any religious activity is not to make a name, display your potentials or to pull crowd, you are only interested in one thing alone, and that is TO FIND GOD, to behold the beauty of His holiness, to have a deeper revelation of His personality, nothing else satisfies you than just to love Jesus, and any religious gathering where even though there may be much singing, much shouting, much jamborees, much dancing, much activities but there is so little of Jesus, you are not interested in such emptiness, you are ONLY looking for Jesus, and until you grow to the fullness and the totality of Christ, you are never satisfied, you keep longing, yearning for His presence, holding communion with Him in sweet fellowship, breaking grounds for new things, deeper truths, glorious treasures hidden even from the foundation of the world, oh! His mouth is so sweet, His voice is so loving and charming, He (Jesus) is all you have.


"...the stature...fullness of Christ"

The stature of a man is his shape, his stoutness, his height and appearance. One could describe a man based on his physical carriage:- his height, the length of his hand/legs, how fat he is..., but when you talk about the fullness, you go beyond the physical, externally visible features you can see with the eyes to some hidden things about him - his wealth of knowledge, his brilliance, his composition, his history, lineage, his health..., which are the main things that make or form the man. I may be able to describe a man (his stature) but I may not know his name or his likes (his fullness).

It is not enough to have the measure of Christ, I must be like Him in His fullness also. The fullness of Christ is the depth of Christ, the knowledge of Christ, the revelations of Christ, the things about him, not just the things on him, there are deep riches and treasures that are not available to the casual comers, there are levels in divine relationships, I must get to the measure, then to the stature, and then to the fullness of Christ, where I will delve deeper, and deeper and deeper.


Misplaced Identity

The first thing about knowing Christ is that I must be able to attach His name to His person. Several people are calling Jesus, but they are looking at the wrong man. Their thoughts about Jesus is wrong, so when they shout Jesus, their expectations are not divine, they seek a misplaced identity, and if you call out a man with the wrong name, be sure that another man who bears the name you are calling is the one that will respond.

Of whom are you learning about? Are you calling "Jesus" but you are learning about "self"?, Have you attached the name Jesus to the right personality, or you are beginning to learn the wrong life, thinking you are learning about Jesus. I must be able to attach the name to the person, the character to the personality, I must be able to separate worldliness from Christianity, I must differentiate between worldly glory and heavenly glory, I must be able to separate religion from Christianity, the form from the substance. It is humility that is found in Christ, not pride. Pomposity, self will, praise of self are never obtainable in Christ. How come you are calling Jesus, but your life is alien to humility and holiness? where did you get this pride, arrogance and worldliness that you are attaching to Jesus, could it be that you have attached the glorious name "Jesus" to the wrong personality? Friend, that annoyance on the pulpit is not from Christ, the love of the world that fill your testimonies, does not emanate from Him, they are all from the wrong person whom you thought was the bearer of the name "Jesus". There is no hooliganism for Jesus, there is no radical for Jesus. Therefore, be careful to know Him and His nature particularly, so that when you are learning of Him, it will be HIM of whom you are learning, and not a wrong identity.

Genuine partaking in the fullness of Christ only comes when the first issue of His identity is resolved. After then, it is sure that when my whole soul is reaching out for God, I will be sure I am not practicing fanaticism, but a quiet desire to be exactly as He is. His desire will then be my desire. What makes him cry will never leave my eyes dry, it will no longer be I that liveth, but Christ that lives in me.

Friend, is there still some space in you, occupied by any other thing but Christ? Is there still a part of you that self is still in charge of? Are you more interested in the things that can increase your knowledge even though Christ is sidelined? Do you go to church to make new friends, show off your dress, display your ego, ignite the air with your splendid performance, or you just want to see Jesus? Are you wholly full of Christ, or part of you is still taken over by self? Are you crying out that "I want Jesus to fill every space and every place in my life, I want to grow unto His capacity, I am measuring my life by Christ, I want to enter his shoes, I want to possess His nature, I want him, I dont want any other thing...
Unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, more about Jesus everyday!!!"