until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God—a mature person, attaining to the measure of Christ’s full stature.

There are things that were accomplished in Christ Jesus, and there are some things that still need to be attained to.

And this verse starts with the word “until,” communicating a process, an ongoing process, with no predetermined end to it.

When the disciples asked Jesus before His ascension, ‘Lord, is this the time when you are restoring the kingdom to Israel?’ (Acts 1:6), He said they should not bother with that but be focused on being His witnesses.

The point is, we do not know when the project is going to be complete, but we are told in Ephesians (the next chapter) that Christ is coming for a church “without stain or wrinkle or any such blemish, but holy and blameless” (Ephesians 5:27).

Which means if there is something that will mark the church now, it is imperfection, and as we read along in this chapter we will see that one of those marks is that we are “tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine” (Ephesians 4:14), which, in my opinion, cuts deep grooves you might call wrinkles, and the blemish are going to be sins.

And the means for ensuring that the church that Jesus comes for will be without spot or wrinkle is “the washing of water by the word” (Ephesians 5:26).

This focus verse is giving us a picture of the church, which is like a construction zone.

Paul said we are God’s building and God’s field, and the activities in those places are not for activity’s sake (1 Corinthians 3:9).

It starts with the vision of the end in mind, and the end is Christ. You take your orders from the owner of the building, who imparts the vision of what needs to be accomplished.

You have your role, and others have theirs also, and there should be a cooperative spirit rather than a competitive one operating, because none is the owner of the building or the field; the only thing that will be yours is the rewards at the end of time.

Paul said each person should be careful how he builds (1 Corinthians 3:10). Therefore, that someone is called does not mean everything he does and says is okay. Paul had to tell Timothy to take heed to himself and his message (1 Timothy 4:16).

That means there are divergent views of what constitutes the faith, and there is to be ongoing labor by those in leadership and, by extension, everyone; faith is about the belief system.

That tells us the priority: knowledge. Not prioritizing knowledge is misguided. To have a low view of knowledge is not good. And it's about what kind of knowledge. Paul calls it the knowledge of the Son of God.

There needs to be a focus on the maturity of the whole person. We see Paul is talking in generalities here, but God knows the end He is aiming for. There is no doubt about that. And it takes time to get the mature person

Here we are introduced to the measure, the design, the aim and the destination. The destination is Christ. He is the be-all and end-all. The alpha and the omega (Revelation 22:13), the start and the direction, the finish, the head and the direction. He is the DNA; he is the one we are to be fashioned into his image. The challenge is to keep our gaze on Him, on His power, His presence, His priorities, His mission, His mandate, and the meaning He gives to everything.

So it starts with

And then

And then

And then