Growing Up In Christ. Part 1

Deacon Adekunle Adenuga

The Inevitability For Spiritual Growth

Luke 2:39-40, 51-52 KJV

And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth.
(40) And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.
(51) And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.
(52) And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.

Growing up is a process. The will of our Father God is that we grow up. Spiritual growth is a responsibility that every believer must live up to because the level of our spiritual growth determines the extent of our spiritual maturity. Without spiritual maturity we will not be able to fully appropriate and enjoy our inheritance in Christ.

From the opening Scripture, Jesus as a child grew up [increase / enlarge] to become the Son. Jesus was born as the Child but He has to grow up to become the Son.
Isaiah 9:6 KJV For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Jesus was born a child, though He was given as a Son. Then it becomes His responsibility to grow up from childhood to Sonship. For it was the Son Jesus that was to do the work of the Father. Therefore, He became strong [empower / strengthen] in spirit. The Incarnate Word  the God manifested in the flesh  has to grow up and become strong. The young Child was growing up and being strengthened in spirit, filled with wisdom and the grace [favour] of God was upon Him.

This shows that as a born again child of God, you ought to grow up in your spirit man through the Word and be strong in your spirit through the power of the Holy Spirit. God wants you to grow up. God desires that you go through the process of growing up. He desires that you be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. He desires that you be filled with all of His fullness. He desires that you know and appropriate (take possession of) your rights and privileges in Christ Jesus.

Until you grow up spiritually, you would not be able to fulfill Gods purpose and plan concerning your life. 1 Samuel 3: 19-4: 1. It will be good for believers to understand that without growing up spiritually, exercising dominion on the earth will be difficult. If Jesus Christ our Lord has a need to grow up, then we must grow up.

John 13:15 KJV For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.
Jesus Christ the Lord is our example. You are to follow Him. You are to imitate Him. You are to copy and imitate God as His dear children. Therefore, if our Lord grew up in order to become the Son to fulfill the will of the Father, then we ought to do as He has done.

1 Peter 2:2 KJV As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:

The Bible says you should desire earnestly the sincere, unadulterated milk of the Word, so that you may grow through it. You are to grow up through the ministry of the Word of God by the power of the Holy Spirit. Now growing up is a choice. You will have to choose and make a decision to grow up. No one can grow up for you. You have to grow up for yourself. The Scripture say YOU grow up. It is your responsibility to do your growing up. The Word of God is the nourishment recommended for spiritual growth.

Ephesians 4: 11 say the Lord Jesus Christ has given gifts to the church. These ministry gifts  the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers  are given to train and equip you for growth. Because the grown ups are the ones to do the work of service (ministry) for the building up of the body of Christ. Through these ministry gifts and the Word, you grow up. The Word of God is the spirit food necessary for your spiritual growth and maturity. As a believer, you are to live by every Word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Without the Word, there can be no spiritual growth. A wordless Christian is a spiritually stunted, misfit believer.

Luke 4:16 KJV And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read.

Now, Jesus Christ is the Word of God. According to Luke 4: 16, Jesus Christ  the Word  stood up to read the Scripture. And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up: So He was brought up like us in a particular place as you and I were also brought up in a particular place. He was and is the Jesus Christ of Nazareth. As a child, He was taught to go into the synagogue every Sabbath day. As a child, He was taught how to read the Scriptures. This reveals that going into synagogue and reading the Scriptures was part of His childhood life. Hence, He grew up and was filled with wisdom.

According to His custom, Jesus Christ our Lord always went into the synagogue and read the Scriptures. I saw a thing here: if Jesus Christ was used to reading Scriptures in the synagogue, it connotes that he did read the Scriptures while at home. It reveals that Jesus was a diligent student of the Scriptures. Therefore, the child Jesus grew strong in body and wise in spirit. And the grace of God was on Him. Jesus grew up to become the Son. If you have to grow up, then it is necessary that you become a diligent student of the Word. If you have to grow up, then it is necessary that you desire earnestly the sincere, unadulterated milk of the Word. It is a must for a Christian to grow if he wills to take his rightful position in the family of God, or else he will not be different from a slave in the house. Galatians 4: 1. [Begging / complaining / murmuring / crying are a slave mentality].

It Is Growing Up Not Growing Old.

2 Corinthians 4:16 KJV For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

In the kingdom of God, we do not grow old, but we do grow up. The inward man  the recreated spirit  belongs to the class of God, and he does not grow old; but he is renewed day by day. He is always growing up. The family of God is for the grown-ups, not for the growing old. The inheritance of the kingdom is for the spiritual grown-ups, the sons of God. Those who are lead by the Spirit of God these are the sons of God. The Bible did not say, as many as are lead by the Spirit of God are the children of God, but are the sons of God. The word son is from the Greek word huios (derivative of another Greek word huiothesia meaning the placing as a son). The Scripture says that God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts crying Abba Father because we are sons. A son is an heir of God. Romans 8: 14-17.

In the kingdom of God, it is not a matter of how old you are, but how up you are. The Bible declares God has blessed us with all spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Where are the heavenly places in Christ? It is far above all. We have been raised up together with Christ in the heavenly places. We are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ; therefore, we must grow up for us to be able to partake of the inheritance of God in Christ. You see, Jesus Christ grew up to become the Son. He had to learn the process of growing up to fulfill the purpose of His Father. Until we make a choice to grow up, we will not be able to fulfill Gods purpose and come into His Fullness. Hebrews 5: 8-9.

Isaiah 11:1 KJV And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:

A Branch shall grow thats talking about the Christ Jesus. Jesus grew up so you have to grow up. He is the vine and we are branches. If the vine grows, then the branches of the vine must also grow in the same vein, or else they die. The life and water that flows in the vine must flow in the branches, or else the branches will die off. As a branch of the vine, you have to grow to be fruitful. Until you experience spiritual growth, you cannot be spiritually fruitful. Spiritual fruitfulness answers to spiritual growth. Spiritual growth involves consistent connection to the Word of God.

The intensity of your connection to the Word of God determines the upward-ness of your growing up in Christ. The upward-ness of your growing up influences the multiplication of your fruitfulness. Growing up enables you to come into the fullness of God. Growing up is increasing. Gods will is for you to increase in the knowledge of His Word; to increase in the love of God; to increase in His wisdom and to increase in all of His grace. 2 Corinthians 9: 8. Remember: when you stop growing, you start dying.

Gods will for you in Christ is to be productive and be fruitful. That requires you grow up, without which you will be barren and unfruitful.