From Servant to Son: Discovering Your True Identity in Christ
Hidden in plain sight within the book of Ephesians is a revelation that will transform how you understand your relationship with God. It's about growing up—not just spiritually, but literally growing up into the head, which is Christ. This isn't about becoming more religious or learning more Bible verses. This is about becoming who you were always meant to be.
The Hidden Word in Ephesians 1:10
Let me share something that stopped me in my tracks. In Ephesians 1:10, Paul writes about God's plan "to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ" (NIV). But here's what's fascinating—the Greek word translated as "bring unity" or "summing up" is actually built around the word kefale, which means "head."
The verse literally means bringing everything into alignment with the head.
Paul is saying that God's entire plan for the fullness of time is to bring all things into proper alignment with Christ as the head. This isn't about control or hierarchy—it's about unity, connection, and life-flow between the head and the body.
The Context of Adoption
This revelation comes right after Paul talks about how we're being adopted into God's family as His sons and daughters. This isn't just spiritual terminology—it's literal family relationship.
When God adopts us, He doesn't adopt us as pets or servants. He adopts us as children who carry His nature and inherit His kingdom.
The daughter of a lion is still a lion. The son of a king is still royalty. When God calls us His children, He's not being metaphorical—He's being literal about our identity and inheritance.
We Are His Fullness
In Ephesians 1:22-23, Paul makes this stunning declaration: Christ is "head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way" (NIV).
Read that again. We are His fullness. Not His diminished servants, not His barely-hanging-on appendages, but His actual fullness—the completion of Christ in the earth.
The Reciprocal Reality
Here's what's beautiful about this relationship: The body is filled with life from the head, and the head is filled with life from the body. It's not a one-way street where God pours into us and we just receive. It's a reciprocal relationship where we actually contribute to His fullness.
This is why Paul can say that we are "heirs with Christ" (Romans 8:17, NKJV) and that God's inheritance is "in the saints" (Ephesians 1:18, NKJV). God actually inherits glory as we increase in glory.
The Proportional Body
Think about a healthy human body. The head isn't enormous with tiny little arms and legs barely attached. The body is proportional to the head—strong, capable, and fully developed.
This is what the body of Christ is supposed to look like. We're not supposed to be Mr. Potato Head with a giant head and tiny plastic parts. We're supposed to be a healthy, vibrant, fully developed body that perfectly complements our head.
The Growth Process
Paul describes this process in Ephesians 4:15-16: "Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of 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" (NIV).
We are literally growing up into the head. This isn't about becoming more religious or following more rules. It's about maturing into the fullness of who Christ is and who we are in Him.
The Mystery Revealed
Paul calls this "the mystery of his will" (Ephesians 1:9, NIV). What's the mystery? That all things are being summed up into the head. That everything in heaven and earth is being brought into alignment with Christ, and we are His body—His fullness—in this process.
We're not just observers of God's plan. We're not just beneficiaries of His work. We are active participants in the completion of Christ's purpose in the earth.
Sealed With the Holy Spirit
Paul says we are "sealed in him with the Holy Spirit" (Ephesians 1:13, NIV). We're not just influenced by God or helped by God—we're literally sealed in Him. We are in Him, and He is in us.
This isn't mystical language that doesn't apply to real life. This is the practical reality of what it means to be a Christian. We are united with Christ in a way that makes us one with Him.
The Power Available to Us
Paul prays that we would know "his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead" (Ephesians 1:19-20, NIV).
The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to us. Not similar power. Not a smaller version of that power. The same power.
Why? Because we are His body. Because we are His fullness. Because we are growing up into the head.
All Things Under Our Feet
Here's something that will blow your mind: Paul says that God "placed all things under his feet" and made Him "head over everything for the church" (Ephesians 1:22, NIV).
But if we are His body, and all things are under His feet, then all things are under our feet too. We share in His authority because we are one with Him.
The Paracritic Relationship
This is what I call a "paracritic relationship"—a term describing mutual interdependence and reciprocal life-flow. We are actually invited into the dance with the Godhead.
We're not dogs coming to the family meal. We actually have a seat at the table. Jesus said, "You are not my servants, you are my friends" (John 15:15, NIV).
The Filling and Being Filled
Ephesians 1:23 says Christ "fills everything in every way" (NIV). But notice the flow: He fills us, and we are His fullness. We fill everything with Him.
When we touch someone and release the Kingdom, we're releasing His love through us. When we bring healing, we're demonstrating that the King is in the room. We are the vessels through which He fills everything.
The Exponential Multiplication
Jesus said we would do "greater works" than He did (John 14:12, NIV). How is this possible? Because it's not just Him anymore—it's Him and me, and Him and you. Unity releases exponential power.
The more we grow into our identity as His body, the more His power is multiplied through us. This isn't about us becoming gods—it's about us becoming fully human as God intended.
The Maturity Process
Growing up into the head means:
Recognizing our true identity as His children
Stepping into our role as His fullness
Operating in the power that's available to us
Releasing His Kingdom wherever we go
Taking responsibility for our calling and gifts
This is spiritual maturity—not just knowing about God, but actually functioning as His body in the earth.
The Alignment Reality
When we understand that we're growing up into the head, everything changes. We stop trying to work for God and start working with God. We stop trying to please God from a distance and start functioning as His very presence in the earth.
This is the administration of the fullness of times—everything being brought into alignment with the head.
The Practical Application
What does this look like practically?
We stop operating from insecurity and start operating from identity
We stop asking "What would Jesus do?" and start asking "What is Jesus doing through me?"
We stop trying to earn God's approval and start expressing His nature
We stop seeing ourselves as separate from God and start functioning as one with Him
The Invitation
You are invited to grow up into the head. Not to become more religious, but to become more fully yourself as God created you to be. You are His masterpiece, His fullness, His body in the earth.
The question isn't whether you're worthy of this calling—Christ's worthiness is your worthiness. The question is whether you're ready to step into the fullness of who you are in Him.
Are you ready to stop playing small and start growing up into the head?
This is your inheritance. This is your identity. This is your calling.
Welcome to the mature body of Christ.
Blessings,
Susan 😊