“We must grow up in every way to Christ, who is the head”
(Ephesians 4:15)
“Oh, grow-up!” We’ve probably all said this. We’ve probably all heard it said. For some of us, we’ve been told this. It means stop being a child, act your age, stop acting like a jerk, be mature. It’s one thing if a stranger says this to us because they don’t know us well, but when a family member or someone who knows us well says it to us – it stings. The thing is they may well be right.
You might feel like growing-up is not that easy a task for you personally. Perhaps you berate yourself because you think you’re not as spiritual as others. Maybe you keep struggling with the same sins, bad attitudes, and behavior over, and over again – unable to get a handle on any of them.
Why is that? Why can’t we seem to grow-up? I believe it may be because we have what I call “The Lazarus Syndrome.” Allow me to explain. If you read the account of the raising of Lazarus from the dead in John 11:41-44, something that is actually very striking stands out, in spite of the fact that most of us overlook it at first. First, the stone was taken away from Lazarus’ grave. Second, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” Thirdly, Lazarus obeyed the voice of his Creator, and walked out of the grave. Now, here’s the thing many of us miss at first – when Lazarus came out of the grave, “his hands and feet were wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.” In other words, he still had his grave clothes on. At that point, Lazarus was alive, however, his grave clothes kept him bound up. It was then that Jesus said to those standing around watching, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” When those grave clothes came off, Lazarus was liberated!
Here is the connection between us and Lazarus. When we come to faith in Jesus Christ, we are delivered from of our grave of sin, and are alive to a new life in Christ. However, we still have our worldly grave clothes on. In other words, we still have a deep connection to the selfish worldly life we had been living. We still think and behave the way we did before coming to Christ. So God begins his work of making us liberated. He does this by making us a “new person” in Christ. Colossians 3:10 tells us to “put on a new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.”
God’s work of grace is designed to take us from being alive to being liberated. He desires for us to think, act, talk, and behave like his Son Jesus Christ. Why is it so important that we become not just merely alive, but liberated? The reason is because, what we allow God to do inside us, will affect how we view and live life outside of us. In other words, God wants us to grow-up!
Darlene