Yesterday we considered the fact that the members of Christ's body, that is, members of the church, who are born again with the life of Christ, are going to be perfect; and that, to realize this, God uses men who bring them the truth concerning God and His Son, which we must believe.
In Ephesians 4:13 Paul spoke of God uniting us in the faith, so that we will be a perfect body of Christ. He wrote of us reaching "unto the stature of the fullness of Christ."
This fullness of Christ is not a fullness of Him personally. He is full now as God's anointed One. He has reached the fullness of the glory that God eternally decreed for Him. He suffered and died, but He also rose and ascended to God's right hand in heavenly glory, being higher than the highest angels can ever come. In Philippians 2:9-11 we read that God hath exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every name, and that every knee shall bow before Him, and every tongue shall confess that He is Lord.
What Paul means here is that the church, which is called the body of Christ, will be full. That means first of all that all the members of the body will be united to Him by faith. It means that every elect child of God will be born again and have spiritual life. It means that, when Christ returns, all these members will have perfect, beautiful bodies so that the church, as well as its Head, are physically and spiritually perfect, higher than the highest angels.
The day comes when our love of God shall be perfect. Then we who now are called Christian will indeed be Christians, exactly like Christ from a spiritual point of view. We will love God as Christ does, for He will give us the Life which He earned for us. His body shall be full; that is, His church shall be full of love to God and heavenly blessedness.
Read: Revelation 22 .
Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
Job 34; Job 35; Job 36
II Corinthians 4:1-12
Psalm 44:1-8
Proverbs 22:10-12
****
Quote for Reflection:
Our expectation: “Let us learn not to expect too much from anybody or anything in this fallen world. One great secret of unhappiness is the habit in indulging in exaggerated expectations. From money, from marriage, from business, from houses, from children, from worldly honors, from political success - people are constantly expecting what they never find… Happy is he who has learned to say: “My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.“ ( Psalm 62:5 ) -J. Ryle
