Presenting Everyone Perfect in Christ
"We announce the message about Christ, and we use all our wisdom to warn and teach everyone, so that all of Christ's followers will grow and become mature."
"(vs 27).. whom we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, so that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus."
"We preach Christ, warning people not to add to the Message. We teach in a spirit of profound common sense so that we can bring each person to maturity. To be mature is to be basic. Christ! No more, no less."
"We announce the message about Christ, and we use all our wisdom to warn and teach everyone, so that all of Christ's followers will grow and become mature."
"(vs 27).. whom we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, so that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus."
"We preach Christ, warning people not to add to the Message. We teach in a spirit of profound common sense so that we can bring each person to maturity. To be mature is to be basic. Christ! No more, no less."
CEV; MKJV; MSG (Respectively)
As we can see from Colossians 1:28, we are called to present every person perfect in Christ. Pastor Khong had gone through this passage during his series, "Jesus is Lord!". Let's take some time and look back at this passage and just meditate on it. It was not until Pastor Khong clarified the meaning of "perfect in Christ" that some of us finally understood what it means.
No, the phrase doesn't mean that we have to be perfect, as none of us but God is perfect. The key word to the meaning of this phrase is "growth". As we can see, the Contemporary English Version (CEV) uses the words "grow" and "mature", and the Message bible using the word "mature" as well. The word "mature" naturally signifies "growth" as well, since we all need to grow to a point where we become mature. We are not born mature.
Let us look back at Pastor Khong's illustration during his sermon. He explained to us how when a baby is born, as long as the baby has two arms, two legs, all 10 fingers and toes, bascially having every feature that it is supposed to have, that baby is perfect. The baby then continues to grow, and by about 5 years old the baby has grown to a reasonable size and is able to speak and run about. In this sense, the child is growing and becoming mature (Col 1:28 CEV).
However, supposing the child at 5 years old is still the same size as it was at it's infancy stage, then that child is not "perfect". The child has not grown and become mature as it should have. Similarly in our Christian walk, some of us may have been Christians for some number of years. How well we've grown will reflect whether we are "perfect" in Christ. If we are currently no different from our original stage before we came to know Christ, then we are unable to stand perfect before Christ.
As mentioned before, this is all about growth. We've got to grow stronger in Christ, and with that, we move closer and closer to our goal of standing perfect before Christ when we stand before Him. But as always in our Christian walk, there are challenges. Yes, challenges to growth. What then are these challenges?
Here are four symptoms that hinder growth:
"I'm Hurt."
This is when there are primal wounds of the heart. This could have happened through past trauma or hurts. As long as these wounds exist, our growth will be hindered. We must finally receive healing from God, and be able to let go and let God.
"I Doubt."
This is essentially the cynicism of the mind. One thing I've learnt about human beings is that sometimes we tend to think too much. From my personal experience, our Christian walk is a walk of faith. There are many inexplicable things that happen, things that are beyond our understanding. Don't doubt God. Surrender the cynicism of your mind.
"I Can't."
The paralysis of the will. Some of us have tried and tried again, but we still stumble, fall and fail. Slowly, we learn something called "helplessness". We feel that we are unable to help ourselves and instead of trying to climb up to try again, we are contented with just staying in the pits. We don't even bother trying to push through and complete the race. This is when faith is needed the most. Believing that God has the ability to give us victory. To the measure of your faith you will receive.
"I'm Busy."
Our souls have become overcrowded. This occurs due to us feeding ourselves with earthly desires instead of Godly desires. As such, our new self in Christ is being starved while our old self is being fed. Our soul then becomes overcrowded, and slowly we start to put off God for other things claiming to be "busy". I'll always remember what my G12 father Evan says, "Busyness is a sin". Yes, it is when we are busy with the wrong things. Let us all Live Intentionally For Eternity (LIFE).
"I'm Hurt."
This is when there are primal wounds of the heart. This could have happened through past trauma or hurts. As long as these wounds exist, our growth will be hindered. We must finally receive healing from God, and be able to let go and let God.
"I Doubt."
This is essentially the cynicism of the mind. One thing I've learnt about human beings is that sometimes we tend to think too much. From my personal experience, our Christian walk is a walk of faith. There are many inexplicable things that happen, things that are beyond our understanding. Don't doubt God. Surrender the cynicism of your mind.
"I Can't."
The paralysis of the will. Some of us have tried and tried again, but we still stumble, fall and fail. Slowly, we learn something called "helplessness". We feel that we are unable to help ourselves and instead of trying to climb up to try again, we are contented with just staying in the pits. We don't even bother trying to push through and complete the race. This is when faith is needed the most. Believing that God has the ability to give us victory. To the measure of your faith you will receive.
"I'm Busy."
Our souls have become overcrowded. This occurs due to us feeding ourselves with earthly desires instead of Godly desires. As such, our new self in Christ is being starved while our old self is being fed. Our soul then becomes overcrowded, and slowly we start to put off God for other things claiming to be "busy". I'll always remember what my G12 father Evan says, "Busyness is a sin". Yes, it is when we are busy with the wrong things. Let us all Live Intentionally For Eternity (LIFE).
This concludes the third segment of the Muar Teachings. A lot can be learnt from this, but in the end it's where do we go from here that matters. If we find that the growth in our lives is being hindered, let's settle it with God. Talk to your leaders and your family. We are all here to spur one another on.
Daniel Khong
Evan's Clan
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