/karen/

Milk to Meat

Wednesday, 06 April, 2005

(Notes from my Pastoral Ministry 1 lecture.)

The goal of God for us:

To become like Christ (Christlike)—meaning more our behaviour than our physical appearance.

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Romans 8:29)

Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. (1 Corinthians 15:49)

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. (2 Corinthians 3:18)

The goal of all ministry:

To present everyone mature in Christ.

Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. (Colossians 1:28)

How does this transformation occur?

Five ways to help you become mature in Christ:

1. Depending on the word of God: “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation” (1 Peter 2:2);
2. Suffering: “... so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:7);
3. Becoming involved in ministry (bearing in mind the goal of all ministry): “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” (Hebrews 5:12-14);
4. Being a committed and active member of a church (where the body of Christ uses its gifts to edify the congregation): “So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.” (1 Corinthians 14:12)
5. Imitate godly models (men and women in your church who take their Christian life seriously and who are growing as Christians) : “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.” (Philippians 3:12-18)

As I write, I sit here remembering Ben preaching on Hebrews 5:11-6:8. His big point was that you need to keep on moving towards maturity because if you stop, you'll fall away. He illustrated this by getting Simon to ride a bicycle down the aisle of St. Michael's, stop just before the lectern and gracefully fall off (and what a great job Simon did! Perhaps he should become a professional “holy stunt man” ...) Recently at my church, Cameron pointed out in a sermon on the same passage how shameful it is to still be longing for milk—it's like a grown man wanting to go back and suckle at his mother's breast again. Move on to the meat—work at growing in Christ towards maturity. For this is the Lord's goal for us.

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