Summary on the full stature
of Christ
If you confess that Jesus is the
Son of God, I abide in you, and you in Me, you are then in Christ
and Christ is Mine. Christ then becomes your wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, redemption, your hope of glory with the promise of
life in Him. You then have the mind of Christ and you shall live
with Him by My power towards you.
Jesus loves you, the church,
dearly. He nourishes and cherishes you just as His own body, for
you are part of His flesh and of His bones, for as Jesus is, so are
you in this world.
You as believers have become
partakers of Christ, you are in Him. That is eternal life. Become
brave in Him and imitate Him, for in Him you are holy and without
blame, sons of Mine with forgiveness of sins. You have obtained an
inheritance and are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.
So, My dear children, grow up into
the full stature of My Son, Jesus. Grow up in all things into Him,
who is the head, and start walking as He walked. I will give you
the increase to grow, so that your faith becomes successful,
powerful and fruitful by admitting every good thing which is in you
in Christ. I want My Son to be revealed to the world through you,
labor therefore to shape Him in all believers.
(Excerpt from The New
Covenant by Ilze Henderson)
Detailed verses to support
the summary, plus it will help if you want to delve into the Word
yourself
My love was manifested toward you
by sending My only begotten Son into the world, so that you might
live through Him (1 John 4:9). For if you confess that Jesus is My
Son, I will abide in you, and you in Me (1 John 4:15). You are then
in Christ and Christ is Mine (1 Corinthians 3:23). And when you are
in Christ Jesus, He becomes your wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification and redemption (1 Corinthians 1:30). You then have
the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16), for He is mighty in you (2
Corinthians 13:3, 5). Even though you may feel weak, you shall live
with Him by My power towards you (2 Corinthians 13:4). For when you
were baptized into Christ you have put on Christ (Galatians 3:27),
you are all one in Christ Jesus now (Galatians 3:28), called to
fellowship with Him (1 Corinthians 1:9). This is the mystery hidden
in times past. That the Gentiles were also brought near by the
blood of Christ (Ephesians 2:13), so that today Christ is in all
believers, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27) and the promise of
life (2 Timothy 1:1).
Christ so loved the church that He
gave Himself for her. And you are part of His church. He gave
Himself for you so that He might sanctify and cleanse you with the
washing of water by the word. Due to this He can now present you to
Himself as a glorious church, without spot or wrinkle or any such
thing, so that you can be holy and without fault in His presence
(Ephesians 5:25, 26). Jesus nourishes and cherishes you just as He
does His own body (Ephesians 5:29). For you are members of His
body, of His flesh and of His bones. Love has been perfected in
this, that as He is, so are you in this world (1 John 4:17). That
is why Scripture says:
"For this reason a man shall
leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two
shall become one flesh." (Ephesians 5:31)
This is a great mystery, but it
reflects what happened between My Son and you (Ephesians 5:32). You
have become partakers of Christ (Hebrews 3:14), with peace
overflowing (1 Peter 5:14), the fragrance of Christ to the world (2
Corinthians 2:15) so that through Him you have received apostleship
(Romans 1:5). Christ is the source of every human (1 Corinthians
11:3) and now you can know Him who is true; for you are in
Him who is true, in My Son Jesus Christ. This is eternal life (1
John 5:20). Therefore be bold and imitate Christ (1 Corinthians
11:1), for He who has begun a good work in you will most definitely
complete it (Philippians 1:6). For in Him you are holy and without
blame, you are sons of Mine, you have forgiveness of sins, you have
obtained an inheritance, and as a cherry on the cake, you are
sealed with My Holy Spirit of promise (Ephesians 1:4, 5, 7, 11,
13).
The fivefold ministry in the church
was placed there to equip the saints for the work of ministry and
to edify the body of Christ, until you come to the unity of the
faith and to the full knowledge of My Son, the perfect man. It
helps you to grow into the stature of the fullness of Christ. For
then you would no longer be like children, tossed to and fro and
carried about with every different kind of doctrine, by the
trickery of men, with their dishonest conspiracies. Rather you
would embrace and speak the truth in love, growing up in all things
into Him who is the head - Christ (Ephesians 4:12-15). And once you
grow in Him, you will walk just as He walked (1 John 2:6), rooted
and built up in Him, deeply grounded in the faith, abounding in it
with thanksgiving (Colossians 2:6, 7).
Therefore hold fast to the head,
from whom all the body, are nourished and knit together by joints
and ligaments, continually growing with the encouragement that is
from Me (Colossians 2:19). Then, the sharing of your faith will
become successful, powerful and fruitful by the recognition of
every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus (Philemon 1:4-6).
I want to reveal My Son to the world through you (Galatians 1:16).
Labor therefore to form Christ in all believers (Galatians 4:19)
and go out and change the world.