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Cultivation – Growing in Christ-Likeness

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2 Peter 3:18; Colossians 1:28
Romans 8:28-30
Acts 2:42-47; Ephesians 4:11-16

INTRODUCTION: Our message series is called “Church on Purpose,” and we have been looking at the four purposes for the church, the four main reasons we find in the Bible why the church exists. Here at ACB we have taken those four purposes and matched them up with four words each beginning with the letter “C” – Celebration, Community, Communication and Cultivation. Celebration stands for worshiping God; Community stands for loving your neighbor, Communication stands for sharing the gospel, and Cultivation stands for growing in Christ-likeness. Today is the last message in our series, and we will be looking at this fourth purpose of Cultivation: Growing in Christ-likeness.

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Well, spring passed on the calendar several weeks ago, but this past week the spring weather definitely arrived. The signs of spring are everywhere. People are out walking and jogging and working on their lawns. You see activity at the farm stands as they prepare for a new season. Backyard gardeners are tilling the soil and getting ready to plant. Crocuses are popping out of the ground, the grass is greening and buds are forming on the trees.

Spring is a wonderful time of the year because it is a time of growth. And so this is a great time for us to be talking about the church’s fourth purpose: Cultivation, or growing in Christ-likeness. The word “cultivation” itself is a gardening term that calls forth images of planting, watering, tending the soil and eventually harvesting. And so it is a very appropriate word to use when we talk about growing in our faith as a Christian.

So what do we mean by “Cultivation” as the church’s fourth purpose?

I. Cultivating spiritual growth and maturity (2 Peter 3:18; Colossians 1:28)

First of all, we are not talking about cultivating plants, but rather cultivating spiritual growth and maturity. Last week we talked about sharing the gospel, and the importance of people putting their trust and faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. But God doesn’t want you just to put your faith in Christ. He wants you to grow in your faith. Christianity isn’t just a one-time decision that you then leave behind. It is a living, personal relationship with God through his Son, Jesus. When you come to Christ, you become a new creation in Christ. You are born again. Spiritually you are a newborn baby, and like all babies, you need to grow.

2 Peter 3:18 says, “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 3:18) We are saved by God’s grace, and we need to grow in that grace. Growing in grace means growing in your understanding that you are accepted by God not on the basis of your performance as a Christian but on the basis of Christ alone. Some people might think that would cause you to sin more, but ironically, the more we grasp the grace of God, the less we will sin. So growing in grace also means learning to live in God’s grace so that God’s grace motivates and sustains us throughout the day.

We are also to grow in the knowledge of Christ. Certainly part of that knowledge is learning about Christ from the Bible as we read the life of Christ in the New Testament gospels, and doctrine about Christ in the New Testament letters, and prophecies and foreshadowing of Christ in the Old Testament. But we are also to grow in our own personal knowledge of Jesus, as we walk with him daily, as we spend time in prayer, as we submit to his Lordship and authority in our lives through the choices and decisions we make.

There is something wrong about a Christian who never experiences Christian growth. Trust me, if you had a baby who was not growing, you would be checking with every doctor you could to find out what was wrong. If you are not growing as a Christian, then that means something is wrong. We will be looking at how we grow as a Christian later in the message, but one question you should ask if you have never experienced Christian growth is: “Am I really a Christian? Have I really turned from my sins and put my faith in Christ?” Because if you haven’t, that would definitely be a reason why you are not growing. You can’t grow as a Christian until you first become a Christian. There must be spiritual life before there can be spiritual growth.

So, when we talk about cultivation, we are talking about cultivating spiritual growth, but we are also talking about cultivating spiritual maturity. Paul wrote in Colossians 1:28: “We proclaim him [Christ], admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.” (Colossians 1:28) The word translated “perfect” is a word that means “mature, fully grown, complete, or finished.”

Now there is a sense in which none of us will be finished growing as Christians until we reach heaven. We will not be fully mature in Christ until we die. And yet there is also a sense in which we can say there are mature and immature believers in Christ. The young believer in Christ has so much to learn about God, the Bible, prayer, forgiveness, sin, temptation, and a host of other Biblical issues. The Christian who has walked with Christ for many years and has spent time in the Bible and prayer has been tested and tried in ways that a new believer has not. And so even though we will never be fully mature as Christians in this life, we can become mature followers of Christ. We should want to become mature followers of Christ. That is part of our goal as believers, and that is one of the four purposes of the church: cultivating spiritual growth and maturity.

II. Becoming like Jesus (Romans 8:28-30)

When we talk about spiritual growth and maturity, we are not just talking about Bible knowledge gained or calendar years marked off since we first trusted Christ. We are talking about character. True spiritual growth and maturity will always result in the Christian becoming more like Jesus in character. That is why we have defined Cultivation as “Growing in Christ-likeness.”

One of the most important passages in the Bible is found in Romans 8:28-30. Many of us are familiar with verse 28 in this passage, but let me read all three verses for you: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” (Romans 8:28-30)

Why does God work all things together for the good of those who love him? Because God is using everything that happens in your life as a Christian, including the painful time and the trials, to make you more like Jesus. If you are a Christian, God’s ultimate plan for you is that you will be “conformed to the likeness of his Son,” and God will not let anything interfere with his plan. Indeed, God in his sovereignty will take the good and the bad in your life, your cooperation or lack of cooperation, and he will use it all to make you more like his Son.

God is far more interested in the development of your character than he is in what you do for work or where you live or how much money you have in the bank. Spiritual growth is all about becoming more like Jesus. You could know the Bible backwards and forwards, you could be a Christian for fifty years, but if you are not becoming more like Christ in your character, then what’s the point? God wants you to become more like Jesus. (ex. Keith Green song)

God develops the character of Christ in you through the Holy Spirit living in you. The Bible calls this the fruit of the Spirit. The Bible lists nine aspects of the fruit of the Spirit in the letter to the Galatians: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23) Those are all character traits that Jesus expressed perfectly in his life. The ultimate measure of spiritual maturity is not how much you know, but how much do you exhibit these character traits? Cultivating spiritual growth and maturity means becoming like Jesus.

III. Bible, prayer, fellowship and service (Acts 2:42-47; Ephesians 4:11-16)

So how do you do this? How do you grow as a Christian? Do you just wait for God to do a work in you by his Spirit? Or is there something you can do that will help? Four things that are absolutely essential to growing as a Christian are the Bible, prayer, fellowship and service. These were the marks of the early church. We read in Acts 2:

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common.
Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:42-47)

Wow! What a great description of the church. And did you notice what they did? They devoted themselves to the Bible, fellowship, prayer and service. This was a church that took full advantage of all those things that would help them grow in their faith.

The Bible is essential because it is God’s word. It is a trustworthy guide for life. The Bible teaches you about God and Christ and gives you wisdom for making right choices. The Bible gives you encouragement when you are down, comfort when you hurt, and precious promises when you feel like giving up. The Bible is your offensive weapon in the battle against temptation and sin. The Bible brings you closer to God as you meditate on God’s words in Scripture and allow God’s word to shape and renew your life. The Bible is essential to Christian growth.

Prayer is essential to Christian growth. Prayer is your lifeline to heaven. If the Bible is the fuel for Christian living, then prayer is the oxygen that feeds the fire. God speaks to you through his Word, and you speak to God through prayer. Prayer often changes things around you, but true prayer offered in faith always changes you. And so we need to be praying every day. The cumulative effect of praying daily to God over a lifetime is immeasurable. Prayer is essential to Christian growth.

Fellowship is essential to Christian growth. We need each other’s encouragement and prayers in order to grow. You were not meant to go it alone as a Christian. God does not just save individuals. He brings them into a family. Jesus is building his church, and he calls you to be a part of it. True Christianity always takes place in community. It is in the church that we love and serve each other and present a witness to the watching world. You cannot grow as a Christian in isolation. Fellowship is essential to Christian growth. And finally:

Service is essential to Christian growth. We read in Ephesians 4: “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:11-13)

We looked at these verses a couple weeks ago under the second purpose: “Community, and loving your neighbor.” But I want you to notice what these verses also say about service and maturity in the body of Christ. We serve each other so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and become mature. Serving each other is one of the ways we help each other grow into maturity in Christ.

Paul goes on to say: “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” (Ephesians 4:14-16)

You see, the end result of service in the body of Christ is spiritual growth. We are no longer immature infants blown back and forth by the wind, but we become mature, solid adults in Christ, knowing the truth of God’s word and speaking that truth in love as God shapes our character to become more like Christ.

So, back to our question. Is there anything you can do to assist your spiritual growth? Yes! Most definitely! You need to commit yourself in all four of these areas so that you may grow as a Christian.

1. The Bible: Read and study God’s word. Become a lifelong learner of the Bible.
2. Prayer: Develop a pattern of daily prayer. Talk to God throughout the day. Read about prayer, learn about prayer, but most of all, pray.
3. Fellowship: Commit to a local church membership. Attend regularly. Get involved in a home group or Bible study. Get together with Christian friends. Don’t neglect your non-Christian friends, but don’t neglect the fellowship of believers either.
4. Service: Look for ways to get involved. Volunteer at church. Don’t just be a spectator. Use your spiritual gifts and talents to serve others.

These are four essential things that you can do to help cultivate your relationship with Christ so that you can experience growth in your life as a Christian.

CONCLUSION: Celebration; community; communication; cultivation – worshiping God; loving your neighbor; sharing the gospel; growing in Christ-likeness. Those are the four purposes of the church. Those are the four purposes of every Christian believer in the church. If you have lost your vision or passion for church lately, perhaps it is because you have lost sight of these four biblical purposes. It is easy to get into a routine sometimes, and just go to church each week without really thinking about it. But that gets old really quick. The best way to do church is “Church on Purpose.” Ask God to help you fulfill his purposes for the church.

© Ray Fowler

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