Read and pray: “…holding the Head, out from whom all the Body, being richly supplied and knit together by means of its joints and ligaments, grows with the growth of God.” (Col 2:19)
RECIPROCITY FOR THE BUILDING UP OF THE BODY
Now that we have already covered some of the wonderful things that occurred in the book of Acts, illustrating the Lord’s move in life for the purpose of gaining people through the preaching of the gospel, let us go on and see how the building up of the Body takes place.
It is the Epistles that deal with this matter. Instead of being carried out by a move, the building up of the Body comes about through growth in life. For this more excellent and deeper work, there is the need of a more excellent reciprocity.
Holding the Head
Christ is the Head, and we are the members. Colossians 2:19 reminds us that we need to hold the Head, “out from whom all the Body, being richly supplied and knit together by means of its joints and ligaments, grows with the growth of God.”
Holding the Head means that there is direct communication between us and Him. There is no separation between Him and all His members. The members respond to everything that the Head ministers. The result of this response is growth in life.
When we hold the Head, there is an inward growth and not an outward move. In this intimate communication between the Head and the members, all His riches are ministered into the members, and all negative things are consumed by the supply of life that proceeds from the Head.
The way we grow is by holding the Head. Growth does not come from studying the Bible or from understanding doctrine. Such knowledge does not help much in our growth. The Head is the source of life. When we hold Him, that is, when we remain intimately connected to Him, His riches and the supply of life penetrate into our being and become our growth in life.
Growing into Him who is the Head
“But holding to truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ, out from whom all the Body, being joined together and knit together through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love” (Eph 4:15-16).
These verses go a step further than Colossians 2:19. We should not only hold the Head but also grow into Him in all things. Holding the Head is something close and intimate; however, growing into Him is a deeper and more excellent reciprocity. Words are inadequate to convey the meaning of this “growing into Him,” but perhaps some examples may help us to grasp the idea.
In marriage
Married life was ordained by God and should be “honorable among all” (Heb 13:4). Surely the sisters are pleased to have a husband, and the brothers, a wife. If you are not yet married, no doubt you think about how wonderful this must be. Marriage certainly is something wonderful!
Nevertheless, as one who has been married for more than fifty years, I must say that married life is not so easy. If you are not yet married, you are not aware of all the problems that may arise. What is the cause of the problems? Most of the time it is because your marriage is not yet in the Head.
You may desire to grow in the Lord in everything else; however, in the matter of marriage you hold back. Deep within, you may harbor the intention of keeping your marriage outside of the Lord.
Some sisters suffer greatly in married life because of this. You have reservations that perhaps have never been put into words concerning growing in the Lord in marriage. Thus, in this aspect, there is no reciprocity in you toward Him while He ministers in the heavens.
In shopping and in other weaknesses
The sisters in particular seem to like to go shopping. Therefore, they almost always have a problem in reciprocity toward the Lord in this matter. Early in the morning they may have a wonderful time of prayer and enjoyment of the Lord.
But right after breakfast they may pick up the newspaper and discover some special sales. They forget the Lord! They need to go to the stores quickly; otherwise, the things they want will all be sold out.
However, the One who is in the heavens is also within them. His word to them is, “Do not go!” Then they respond, “Lord, just this once give me a little freedom!”
Does this not happen to you? In your prayers earlier there was reciprocity toward Him, but now your desire to go shopping has canceled that reciprocity. Now the Lord has no way out. He will suffer, and you will also suffer.
If you go shopping in this way, you will find it difficult to pray later. Perhaps two or three days will pass without your being able to pray. During this period there will be no reciprocity on your part toward the heavenly ministry of Christ. He is gone, and there is no communication between you and Him during those days.
Not only the sisters have this weakness; I have mine also. In many things I have already grown in the Lord, but in certain other things I would say, “Lord, all this time I have loved You. Could I not have a little rest from this love? How about granting me a few hours off?”
From my own experience I know that this happens to you as well. You do not need to come to me to talk about your weaknesses. I have already been young and had the same kinds of weaknesses. As long as I tolerated these weaknesses, I remained away from the Lord, and there was no growth in life.
In the great things and also in the small things
Sometimes we have difficulties in growing in the Lord in the great aspects of our life; however, many other times, the difficulty is in the small things. We may think that the Lord is not interested in small things, such as, for example, the style of our hair.
Whether the matters are great or small, if we do not grow into Him in each of them, our reciprocity toward Him will be damaged. I would say that it is especially in the small things that we need to grow into Him.
This growing into Him keeps us in direct correspondence with His heavenly ministry, under His headship. Such a ministry requires refined reciprocity on our part. Only then will we grow.
The supply that proceeds from the Head
When we hold the Head and grow into Him in all things, out from Him also comes the supply of life to the Body. As we hold Him and grow into Him, the riches from the Head will flow through us.
I like these two expressions: “into Him” and “out from Him” (implied in Eph 4:15-16). In them there is first the growing into Him and then the supply of life that proceeds out from Him. When this becomes a reality in our life, then we are in reciprocity toward the ministry of the Lord in the heavens. In this way the functions will be manifested for the building up of the Body.
OPENING THE WAY FOR THE LORD
There is the need of our twofold reciprocity toward the heavenly ministry of the Lord. Among Christians today, there seems to be at most the move in life for the preaching of the gospel. There is little growth in life for the building up of the Body. We cannot neglect either aspect.
The Lord needs our reciprocity toward Him so that He may move in us and thus lead people to Him. Moreover, He expects our response so that we may grow into Him, that something of Him may be manifested for the purpose of supplying us and building up the Body.
As there is reciprocity toward the Lord’s ministry in these two aspects, His will will be carried out. If we fail in this reciprocity, the Lord has no way to carry on His heavenly ministry.
It is crucial for us in the Lord’s recovery to see this. For the spread of the gospel and for the building up of His Body through growth in life, the Lord needs to have our reciprocity on the earth with respect to what He is ministering in the heavens. We need to pray much for this reciprocity.
🌿 Enjoy more:
Hymn: Praise to the Lord – “His All-inclusiveness”
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