[Eph. 4:13.] The final purpose is: 'Till we all come . . . unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,' or, as it might be translated, 'the mature stature of Christ.' Many of us are under a missapprehension as to the meaning of that opening phrase, 'Till we all come.' It does not mean 'Untill each of us comes to the measure of the stature of Christ.' There is no authority in Scripture or in the Holy Spirit for the ascription we sometimes hear expressed, 'Let us all be little Christs.' The Apostles were far too full of reverence for, and had far too exalted a conception of, their Lord and Master ever to suggest a thing like that. What they did realize as possible was a more wonderful thing than that. They realized that we all together, being knit in one, might come to represent to the world a body which was equivalent in its effect and influence to the presence of Christ. That is to say, this body is not to remain in the condition in which it was first formed; it is to grow. Paul presses his metaphor boldly. He thinks of this body as though at first it were the body of a little child, which grows by the Word until it becomes the body of the mature man, when the world opens its eyes in amazement as it sees something that suggests the Christ.

How sweetly the weight of each planet is balanced against all the forces which are ceaselessly acting upon her. Instead of being oppressed thereby, she is carried by them, and glides, and blooms, and sings on her way, enjoying the rest of existence, as one who is delivered from the sense of her own weight. Much more will all things, in each member of Christ, be balanced into nicest harmony with all things in the whole body. Every member will be supported by all the members, and all the members by Christ and the Father. The joy of the 'Perfect Man' will sing through each individual. Every one will be 'perfect in Christ Jesus'; but the whole number will constitute the 'Perfect Man.' the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

In Christ timothy. maranatha