Scripture Reading: Eph. 4:7-16
In 2:15 Paul speaks of the creation of the one new man: “Having abolished in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances, that He might create the two in Himself into one new man, making peace.” Then in Eph. 4:13 he speaks of arriving at a full-grown man, and in Eph. 4:24, of putting on the new man. The full-grown man in verse 13 is the new man in verse 24. Hence, in Ephesians the new man is referred to three times.
Some versions make a serious error in rendering 4:24. For example, the Revised Standard Version says “put on the new nature.” What a poor translation! The Greek word here is anthropos, the same word used for man in 2:15. The New American Standard Version also makes a serious mistake by rendering this verse, “put on the new self.” Very few Christian writers have recognized that the new man in 4:24 is the church. In his Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, W. E. Vine points out that the new man in 4:24 is the church which is Christ’s Body. He clearly connects 4:24 to 2:15. No doubt the one new man in 4:24 is the new man in 2:15, for the same term is used in each case.
In 2:15 we have the creation of the new man. We may regard this creation as the birth of the new man. Just as a child is perfected through growth, so the new man created in Christ is also perfected through growth. This is the reason Paul refers to the new man in chapter four as well as in chapter two.
We may distinguish between something that is perfect. or complete organically and something that is perfect according to its function. At birth, an infant is perfect organically; that is, the infant has all the necessary organs. However, a child is not functionally perfect at birth. Organically, a mother cannot help her child, for she cannot add any organs to the child. But she can help him functionally by feeding him so that he will grow normally. Although only God the Creator can produce an organism that is perfect organically, we as parents must help our children become perfect functionally. We fulfill this responsibility by nourishing our children and cherishing them. In order to develop properly and to function normally, every child needs to be nourished and cherished. This principle also applies to the church as the new man. In 2:15 we see the creation of the new man organically, but in 4:13-16 we see the perfecting of the new man in relation to his function.
In this respect, 4:16 is an extremely important verse. Here Paul says, “Out from Whom all the Body, fitted and knit together through every joint of the supply, according to the operation in measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.” Our growth in life is to grow into the Head, Christ, but our function in the Body is to function out from Him. The phrase “each one part” refers to every member of the Body. Every member of the Body of Christ has its own measure which works for the growth of the Body. The Body causes the growth of itself through the supplying joints and working parts. The growth of the Body is the increase of Christ in the church, which results in the building up of the Body itself.
There is no verse such as 4:16 in Ephesians 2. In chapter two we have the birth of the new man, but not the function of the new man. At birth, the new man is organically perfect; however, he is not yet able to function. Just as a child needs to be perfected through nourishing and cherishing, so the organically perfect new man needs to be perfected through the growth of life in order to function in a proper way.
Our physical life portrays this. Only God can create a being that is organically perfect. However, after a child is born, God does not come in to feed him or cherish him. This is the responsibility of the parents, especially of the mother. The more the child is nourished and grows, the more he will function normally.
In the same principle, the new man created by Christ must be perfected in order to function. Through the growth spoken of in chapter four, the new man comes into function. Through the operation in the measure of each part, the Body grows unto the building up of itself in love. The creation of the new man was the responsibility of the Lord alone. We have nothing whatever to do with this. But we must fulfill our responsibility to perfect the new man through nourishing and cherishing. As the new man is perfected in this way, he grows and becomes perfect functionally.
We have pointed out that the new man can become perfect in relation to his functions only through receiving the proper nourishment. This, however, is not a superficial matter. On the contrary, it is one of the deepest concepts in the whole book of Ephesians. In Christianity today the ministers, pastors, and preachers mainly teach the people and thereby build up a religion instead of the Body. Many of those among us who formerly were ministers or missionaries can testify of this. Because those in Christianity rely on doctrine, they mainly build up something else in place of the Body. The Body does not become functionally perfect through the teaching of doctrine. Actually, in Ephesians 4, a chapter that speaks of the perfecting of the new man through the growth of life, doctrine is depreciated. Paul says that when we are no longer children, we shall no longer be carried about by winds of doctrine. What is needed for the building up of the Body and for perfecting the new man functionally is the growth of life. This comes only through feeding.
In 4:8 we are told that the ascended Christ gave gifts to men. The gifts here do not refer to abilities for service, but to the gifted persons mentioned in verse 11 — apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers. After conquering them and rescuing them from Satan and death through His death and resurrection, Christ in His ascension makes rescued sinners such gifts with His resurrection life and gives them to His Body for its building up. Hence, the four kinds of gifted persons mentioned in verse 11 are those who have been endued with a special gift. These gifted ones are given “for the perfecting of the saints unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ” (v. 12). The more the saints are perfected, the more they grow. Through growth their function comes forth, and they function according to the effectual working in their measure.
Let us consider in more detail how Christ gave the gifts to His Body. How are the believers constituted as gifts and presented to the Body? The case of the Apostle Paul is an excellent example. Paul was not perfected by attending a theological seminary. As we all know, when he was Saul of Tarsus, he was an extremely religious person. Having been born into Judaism and raised in it, he opposed Christ and persecuted the church. He had even been authorized by the high priest to go to Damascus for the purpose of arresting and imprisoning those who called on the name of the Lord Jesus. But when he was on the way, the Lord Jesus appeared to him. In Galatians 1:13 Paul said, “For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews’ religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it.” Then Paul went on to say that “it pleased God...to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen” (Gal. 1:15a, 16a). God caused Christ to be wrought into Paul so that he could minister Him to others. In this way, Christ presented Paul as a gift to the Body. By this process Christ constitutes us into gifts that are given to the Body. Firstly, Christ is wrought into us to become our life, our person, and our everything. Then we minister to others the very Christ who has been wrought into us.
Only the ascended Christ can produce gifts for the Body. Notice that in 4:8-11 the gifts are spoken of in relation to Christ’s ascension. Verse 8 says, “Having ascended to the height, He led captive those taken captive and gave gifts to men.” The height refers to the third heaven to which Christ has ascended. “Those taken captive” refers to the redeemed saints who had been taken captive by Satan before they were saved by Christ’s death and resurrection. In His ascension Christ led them captive; that is, He rescued them from Satan’s captivity and took them to Himself. Having rescued us from Satan, He constitutes us into gifts for the Body.
The ascension was the peak and the climax of Christ’s work. The other basic steps of Christ’s work are incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection. Ascension is related to the coming of the Spirit. After Christ had accomplished redemption through His crucifixion and after He had resurrected and ascended to the heavens, He came down as the life-giving Spirit. Through the crucifixion of Christ all the enemies were conquered. Hence, the cross is the center of Christ’s victory. Furthermore, by His death on the cross, Christ solved all the problems in the universe. This was the reason that after His crucifixion He could rest in the tomb and thereby enjoy a real Sabbath. Then in His resurrection He released all the divine riches. Following this, He ascended to the third heaven, and all the divine fullness was committed to Him along with all of God’s chosen people. Saul of Tarsus was among these chosen ones given to the ascended Christ.
It is important to be clear concerning Christ’s descension as the Spirit after His ascension. As we have pointed out, according to Ephesians 2, Christ even came to preach the gospel of peace. This indicates the coming of the ascended Christ. When Saul of Tarsus was persecuting the churches, he did not realize that what he was persecuting was related to the heavens, that the church on earth was related to the ascended Christ. The Lord Jesus appeared to Saul of Tarsus, and spontaneously, even in his ignorance, Saul called upon His name, saying, “Who art thou, Lord?” Because Saul opened himself to the Lord and called on Him, the Lord with the divine fullness could enter into him and then proceed to constitute him into a gift to the Body. In this way the one who persecuted the churches became one who could perfect the saints. Paul became such a gift not through education, but by being saturated with the divine fullness. Therefore, Saul of Tarsus eventually became the Apostle Paul who could feed the saints, preach the unsearchable riches of Christ, and minister Christ to his fellow believers so that they would be nourished, grow, be perfected, and come into their function.
In today’s Christianity there is not the proper function of the members of the Body. Hundreds, even thousands, of believers may meet together, but they sit in their pews without functioning. The reason for this is that in Christianity there is not the feeding that leads to genuine growth. Only those who have been properly nourished will be able to function.
In the Lord’s recovery we need to return to what was in the beginning. In the beginning, especially with Paul, the saints were richly fed and nourished. If we would be perfected, what we need is not doctrine. Rather, we need to be constituted with Christ. Like Saul of Tarsus, we all were once enemies of Christ and persecutors of the churches. But one day the Lord Jesus came to us and captured us. I can testify that as I was on the way to my Damascus, the Lord appeared to me and interfered with my plans. Although I was ambitious to become successful in the world, I had no choice except to follow the Lord. Many of us have had the same kind of experience. The Lord Jesus came to us, and we were caught by Him. Now we need to take Him into us more and more until we are saturated with Him. In this way we shall become functioning members of the Body, gifts constituted by the Christ who has been crucified and resurrected and who has ascended and descended.
We have seen that by His death Christ conquered all the enemies and solved all the problems. We have also seen that through His resurrection He released all the divine riches, and that through His ascension He received God’s chosen people with the divine fullness. From the time of His ascension, Christ has been working to constitute the vanquished foes into gifts for His Body. Firstly, He comes to these vanquished foes and gets into them. Then He gradually fills them and saturates them with Himself. Eventually, those who once were His enemies are transformed and constituted into useful gifts that can be presented to the Body. These gifts will not merely teach others, but will transfuse Christ into them. In this way the members of the Body receive nourishment and are cherished. Then they will be sanctified, purified, and transformed to become functioning members. As a result, the whole Body will be fitly framed together and compacted by every joint of supply, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part. This will make growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.
I believe that the day is coming when everyone in the local churches will be a functioning member. Consider how children grow by receiving nourishment. The more they grow, the more they function. The principle is the same with our spiritual growth as members of the Body. The more we grow by being nourished and cherished, the more we shall function properly in the church life. If the saints are absolute with the Lord, in a relatively short time many will come into function. I have the full assurance in the Lord that soon this will be the situation in the Lord’s recovery.
