25.3 A Perfect Man
© 2015 Christ Revealed Bible Institute
Till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13).
This is, of course, a powerful and explicit verse, yet I have not drawn it in as a supporting verse until now. I see that I never before understood how to read this verse, but now it fits perfectly as a primary supporting verse for the apocalypse of the sons of God. We have always read this verse, not completely wrong, but with a limited and insufficient perspective. You see, we never before had the right definition of Christ.
Deep Calling to Deep
The travail of creation is simply an outward expression of the travail of God, yet as two matching sides. Desire to be known originates in Father’s heart; that desire to be known then goes forth out from Father as the creation, then, desiring to know God. This desire in creation, then, acts as a pull, a calling forth, that draws an even deeper level of Father’s desire to be know out from His heart. Deep calling to deep. We are speaking of the vision Annie saw – “The Most Holy Thing.” Here is the problem, however: God is invisible, God cannot be known.
Defining Christ
God must change His form before He can be known – Christ – the form of a servant – in appearance a man. Let me define Christ. Christ is the substance of the becoming known of the Father; Christ is the travail of God. He that sees Me sees the Father. Let me define man. Man is the appearance of the becoming known of the Father. Christ, substance – man, appearance – Father revealed.
Thus, there can never by any such thing as a solitary Christ. Christ is the revealing of another Person, Person inside of person, two, always together as one.
Bridging the Gap
The following diagram and table illustrate the bridging of the gap.
| The Becoming Known of God | |||
| Substance | Appearance | Christ | Man |
| Word | Flesh | Spirit | Body |
| Out from Father | As Us | Out from Us | As One Body Together |
Christ – substance. Man – appearance. Father revealed.
Mis-defining Perfect
The knowledge of God, a perfect man, and the fullness of Christ are all the same thing. Paul was reaching for three different ways to say it.
One problem in mis-defining is the word “perfect.” A further problem is seeing Christ as an isolated individuality, a deity, different from and bigger than Thor or Jupiter, maybe, but still a formed “God.” But the Father is ALL HERE NOW and Personal in every place and at every moment – yet not known.
Christ, then, is the becoming known of Father at every point and in every moment that Father is becoming known.
The Coming of Christ
The first part of the becoming known of Father is Word; then that Word becomes flesh, Christ as us.
Yes, there is an experience of coming to know God on our part, but that is not our larger function. Our function is to be part of the becoming known of Father. You and I ARE the appearance, the Parousia, the coming of Christ into outward expression to all creation – heaven/earth. This is why we must be shaped by every word that is the good-speaking of Christ, Christ in our mouths. The false tree of obey/do not disobey, do what is right/do not do what is wrong, NEVER AGAIN enters our thoughts.
A Perfect Man
Then, as the knowledge of Christ flows between us by the Spirit, we together become the fullness of Christ, the body of Christ, the appearance of Father made-known. Christ is the becoming known of Father, Jesus the substance, we the Parousia, the phaneroo, the appearance.
Thus we come to “a perfect man.” We have looked at this word “perfect” before, telos – My strength is made perfect in your weakness (in your mistakes.) You see, we once defined “perfect” as without flaws of any kind, never making a mistake, nothing ever going wrong. But that is all outward appearance, not the truth of anything.
We Already Are
If my “everything going wrong” is the Father’s travail, then how is that not “perfect”?
Perfect means – being what we are supposed to be. A perfect man is you and me as humans being what humans are supposed to be, that is, the appearance of Father becoming known. And here’s the deal: we ARE! – We already are. When we believe it is true, we are.
But those who refuse to believe that all of our human frailty is the showplace of the strength of Jesus made perfect, then stumble with all humans in the vanity of not knowing God.
Our Travail Is God’s Travail
Even worse is to take the word that is Christ and tear it away from Jesus alive in one’s heart, bringing it under one’s own control and trying to “obey” it – trying, trying, trying, and always falling short, after which only lies remain. This is the bondage of corruption, the tree of knowing good AND knowing evil.
Previously, I stated that when we KNOW our travail IS God’s travail, then we are one with Him, then the lights turn on. Recently I encountered a vivid circumstance that plunged me into a (now rare) state of self-pity. I felt very, very, very sorry for myself, with tears streaming down my face over the loss and inability of my life.
The Longing of God
When I awoke that night, I looked at my self-pity, then at Father and said, “Father, You are sharing sorrow with me.” Instantly, what I would have called my own self-pity became the travail of God in my understanding. Excitement leaped within me, underneath the continuing sorrow, now in full expectation, not just of God arising, but even more, the longing of God to travail with intense pressing that something brand new might be birthed into creation.
This we MUST KNOW, that all that we are, ALL of our difficulties, all of our sorrows, all of our mistakes, ARE, ARE, ARE, ARE, ARE the Father’s travail, His Person in our person, longing to become known.
Perfect Rest
When we know that Father and we are one in ALL these things, then look out because something incredible is about to be born.
When I awoke in the night after that evening of gross self-pity, there was NO thought in my mind that I could be in any way separate from my Father. Seeing Father as my own sorrow and my own sorrow as Father’s travail was automatic, made automatic by my continual speaking of Christ my only life. The shadow of the tree of separation/death never reaches my perch inside the tree of life, inside of Christ. Yet my knowledge that Father is utterly with me produces, not self-exaltation, but perfect rest and the deepest contentment.
Father Does All Things Well
Part of my self-pity was a re-considering of what I had been taught that God never makes mistakes and if we are hearing and obeying as we ought, then we will never make a mistake. Thus, if we make a mistake, according to this teaching, it is only because we are not in submission to the Father; that is, if we make a mistake, it is proof that we are in rebellion against God. I cannot tell you how EVIL this teaching is, utterly rooted in the tree of death.
A perfect man is you and me, resting utterly in Father sharing all things as one person together with us, knowing that He is God, that He knows what He is doing, and that He does all things well.
A Complete Study
Yes, a complete study of the manifestation of the sons of God must bring in a clearer picture of the breaking of the hold of demons from off this earth. A complete study will show how each element of the curse is broken and cast off, including and especially the defeat of death. – Victory over death. A complete study will also indicate how we begin to draw all creation into the glorious liberty of Father revealed.
But alas, this is an introductory course, and we are out of space. These things regarding the manifestation of the sons of God, we will explore more closely in an upcoming course, already started, Symmorphy III: Kingdom.
Father Made Known
I am a perfect man; I am what God made me to be. I am the outward appearance of the substance of Christ Jesus filling my heart with His glory, Father becoming known.
I just am. I am.
Yet the fullness of Christ is not me by myself, but all of us together as His body, walking together in love. “My, how those Christians love one another.” Father made known.
That God might be all in all.