I.　In order to arrive at a full-grown man for the fulfillment of God's purpose, we need to carry out the stewardship of God to present every man full-grown in Christ—Col. 1:24-29:

A.　The economy of God has become the stewardship of God given to all believers— Eph. 3:2, 9; Col. 1:25:

1.　In Ephesians 3 Paul uses the Greek word oikonomia with two denotations:

a.　In relation to God oikonomia denotes God's economy—v. 9.

b.　In relation to us oikonomia denotes the stewardship—v. 2.

2.　The stewardship of God is according to the economy of God; with God it is a matter of economy, and with us it is a matter of stewardship.

3.　Those who bear responsibility in the churches need to share in the steward-ship of God—Titus 1:7, 9:

a.　The elders should take the lead to dispense the riches of Christ into others.

b.　All those who take the lead in the Lord's recovery and have the responsi-bility for the care of the churches need to realize that they have a part in such a divine stewardship.

B.　If we would carry out the stewardship of God, our concept of preaching the gospel needs to be uplifted—1 Cor. 9:16-17; Matt. 28:19-20:

1.　The first aspect of the God-ordained way to practice the New Testament economy is to save sinners by contacting them where they are—Luke 19:1-10.

2.　We should preach the gospel not merely to win souls but to carry out the stewardship of God for the economy of God by dispensing God into others.

3.　We must go out to disciple the nations in order to make them members of the Body of Christ; this stewardship has been given to the entire Body of Christ—Matt. 28:19-20.

C.　We need to follow the pattern of Paul to be a faithful minister of the church according to the stewardship of God—1 Tim. 1:16; Col. 1:24-25; 1 Cor. 4:1-5:

1.　A steward is a household administrator, a dispenser, one who dispenses the household supply to its members; the apostles were appointed by the Lord to be such stewards, dispensing God's mysteries, which are Christ as the mystery of God and the church as the mystery of Christ, to the believers— Col. 2:2; Eph. 3:4; 1 Cor. 4:1.

2.　The fact that Paul mentions the afflictions of Christ in connection with the stewardship of God indicates that the stewardship can be carried out only through suffering—Col. 1:24; 1 Pet. 4:1, 10; 2 Cor. 6:4; cf. Psa. 91:1-2; 31:20.

3.　Like Paul, we need to labor and struggle to present every man full-grown in Christ—Col. 1:28-29:

a.　In order to present every man full-grown in Christ, we must minister Christ to them as the portion of the saints and as the all-inclusive One who is the centrality and universality of God's economy—vv. 12, 15, 18-19, 27;2:3,9,16-17;3:4,11.

b.　In order to present every man full-grown in Christ, we must minister the unsearchable riches of Christ for the building up of the church to fulfill God's eternal purpose—Eph. 3:8-11.

c.　In order to present every man full-grown in Christ, we must complete the word of God with the full revelation of Christ and the church—Col. 1:25-28.

d.　In order to present every man full-grown in Christ, we must minister Christ as the mystery of God—2:2, 9.

e.　In order to present every man full-grown in Christ, we must minister the church as the mystery of Christ—Eph. 3:4; 1:22-23.

f.　In order to present every man full-grown in Christ, we must minister Christ as life to His members so that they may live by Him and grow with Him unto maturity—Col. 3:4; John 6:57; 14:19; Gal. 2:20; Eph. 4:13, 15.

II.　In order to arrive at a full-grown man for the fulfillment of God's purpose, we need to practice the church life in the consciousness of the one new man—v. 13; Col. 3:10-11; 4:7-17:

A.　The record in the book of Acts regarding the church reveals that the believers were church-conscious—5:11; 8:1, 3; 9:31; 11:22, 26; 12:1, 5; 13:1; 14:23, 27; 15:3-4, 22, 41; 16:5; 18:22; 20:17, 28.

B.　We need to have the consciousness of the Body, a Body-consciousness—1 Cor. 12:26-27; Rom. 12:15; Eph. 4:16; 2:21-22:

1.　In order to live and move with other members of the Body, we need to have the consciousness of the Body.

2.　For the Lord's move in His recovery both locally and universally, we all need to be Body-conscious in one accord—Acts 1:14; 2:46; 4:24; 15:25; Rom. 15:6.

3.　The more we are conscious of the Body, the more we will care for the feeling of the Body and for the peace of the Body—12:4-5, 15; 1 Cor. 12:26; Eph. 2:14-16; 4:3; Col. 3:15.

C.　With Paul there was a consciousness of the universal one new man, and in the Lord's recovery today we also need to have the consciousness of the one new man—Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10-11:

1.　Because Paul, a faithful steward in God's economy (1 Cor. 4:1-2; 9:16-17), was conscious of the one new man, what was in his heart was not simply a particular local church or a certain saint but the universal one new man— Col. 3:10-11; 4:7-17.

2.　Colossians 4:7-17 is a practical illustration of the revelation of the one new man and of the consciousness of the one new man:

a.　Both the saints in Colossae and Paul, and those with him, were members of the one new man in actuality and had the consciousness of the one new man.

b.　Paul's word regarding the reading of letters proves that there was no dif-ference between the church in Laodicea and the church in Colossae; his word implies fellowship, oneness, harmony, and intimate contact—v. 16.

c.　In spite of all the differences among nationalities, races, and classes, there was on earth in a practical way the one new man created in Christ Jesus; there were not merely local churches in various cities—there was the one new man in a real and practical way.

D.　We need to see that all the local churches in the different countries are one new man—Eph. 2:15, 21-22:

1.　All the churches are not merely individual local churches but are the one new man—Col. 3:10-11; 4:15-16.

2.　We cannot say that each local church is a new man; rather, all the local churches on earth are the one new man:

a.　The one new man is not local—it is universal.

b.　The one new man is a matter not merely of individual localities and individual churches but of all the churches on earth corporately.

3.　Since all the local churches are one new man, in deciding a matter in our local church, we need to consider the churches throughout the whole earth— Rev. 22:16a; 1 Thes. 2:14; Rom. 16:4; 2 Cor. 11:28.