Ephesians 4: 11-16
We saw yesterday that Christ's descending into Sheol to bring Paradise to Heaven was connected to the giving of gifts. Today we will see some of the gifts He has given the church.
And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,
These are the primary gifts that Christ gave the church to build this living building, and to grow this body of Christ.
The apostles were the ones to lay the foundation to this building, for the rest of the builders to lay the living stones upon, to use this picture.
The prophets received the information directly from God to form the doctrines of Truth, and to receive the understanding of what God had already told His people.
The evangelists are the ones who evangelize the people, who tell others the good news of the Gospel that Christ fulfilled the Law and the Old Testament prophets to save us from sin and redeem us into His Kingdom. We are still doing this work, and we will until He returns.
The pastors and teachers are those who also are still working to shepherd God's flock and to educate the believers.
for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;
Those with these gifts we just described are to do their work in order to prepare the people to do the ministry of the church. The evangelists bring the people to faith into the church, and the pastors and teachers help them to grow so they can minister to one another. The people are the ministers. The members of the church are the ones who help the body to grow up.
until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
The body of Christ is to grow up into the full stature of a mature man by each member growing up in the Lord, being nourished on the Word of God, and being helped through all the lessons and tests of this world by ministering to one another.
As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming;
Therefore, we must not be childish in our attitudes, being influenced by all the worldliness that surrounds us.
but speaking the truth in love,
This is key, right here. What we say and how we say it. We must know the truth in order to talk about it, and we must love one another to converse in a compassionate way. Bare truth is harsh, and compassion without truth is deceitful and confirming of evil. We must have both together to succeed.
we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the Head, even Christ,
Only this will promote the healthy growth of each one of us as individual members, body parts, so we can all work together as one body into Christ.
from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
The Head, Christ, fits us all together so that each of our contributions to the health of the body will cause it to grow up into that measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. This will be accomplished in our loving one another as Christ has Loved us. Love is the foundation of all Truth and the Law, because it is the energy of the life of creation. God's Love puts order into the chaos.
The apostles and prophets gave us the body of Truth to form the doctrine we are to believe (as opposed to dogma, what we're told to believe because they say so, without substance). So we have the Truth to believe and teach others, because we love them. This Truth and love must go together--it is not loving to deceive, even if it seems compassionate.
O my Father, Your Word tells us that You are Love! Love is the very essence of Your being. That's why we can trust You and depend on You to always do what is right and good.
Teach us how to marry Truth and Love in our thinking processes, so that we can think Your thoughts, not our own.
Father, sometimes we cannot see far enough ahead to understand what You have allowed in our lives is for our good, because it just seems painful right now. But we know that You see the end from the beginning, and we need to comfort and encourage one another compassionately in Your truth. That will enable us to help one another to grow up in our faith and knowledge of You, and to trust You more in every circumstance. When we can't see the future, we can trust the One we know who holds the future in Your hand.
You have told us that You are working out everything, both good and bad, in our lives, to turn out good for us, for our benefit. We can trust You to do this. Because in Your generosity, You want us to enjoy all the benefits of Your goodness, for all time and eternity.
We will not see the bulk of all the goodness You are planning for us until we are with You for all eternity. But You do let us experience some of it, more or less, in this time while we're still here in the world. And what we do with what You give us here will determine what we will be able to enjoy then. So teach us to use the things of this Earth and the events that happen to us here to build up Your body, Your temple, and to grow up to adulthood in Your family.
Father, help us each to work on ourselves, and to minister to one another, so we can all grow up into the measure of the stature of the fullness of Your Son. When His body has gathered all its parts, and we have all grown up through the schooling we are subjected to in this time-line; then He will return, we will graduate, and this era will end, ushering in the manifest Rule of our King on His throne, governing with Him under His direction, to manage the world on this Earth in the manner in which it was designed! Our Golden Age!
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, Son of the Father, Lord God Almighty, King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
