Gifts from the Ascended King

I have just told you that there is one body and one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all (Ephesians 4:4-6). One — I said it seven times over, that you might not miss it. And now, lest anyone hear that word "one" and think it means "all the same," I turn at once to speak of difference. For within that one body there is a rich and deliberate variety, and it comes from the same generous hand.

"But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift" (Ephesians 4:7). Hear the word each. Not to the gifted few, not to the ordained, not to the impressive — to each one. If you belong to Christ, you have not been left empty-handed. Grace has been measured out to you, portioned by Christ himself, exactly suited to what he means to do through you. You may look at another believer and think yourself small by comparison. Do not. The measure is his to give, and he has not overlooked you.

And where does this grace come from? I answer by reaching back into the Psalms, for it is written, "When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men" (Ephesians 4:8). Picture the ancient king returning from the battle he has won, climbing to his city in triumph, his enemies subdued behind him — and then, from the height of his victory, scattering spoil to his people. That is Christ. He has fought; he has conquered sin and death and every dark power; and now, ascended, he distributes the plunder of his triumph to us. Your gift is loot from Calvary. It is the fruit of a war already won.

I could not leave that word "ascended" without lingering, so I asked: "In saying, 'He ascended,' what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth?" (Ephesians 4:9). The one who now sits above all the heavens is the one who first came down — down to a manger, down to weariness and tears, down into the grave itself. He descended to the lowest that he might raise us, and he ascended "that he might fill all things" (Ephesians 4:10). There is no place his fullness does not reach, no corner of your life beneath the notice of the King who first went lower than you have ever gone.

Now see what gifts this victorious Lord scatters. "And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers" (Ephesians 4:11). Mark this well: the gift Christ gives to his church is people. Not merely abilities — people who serve. And mark, too, what they are for. He gave them "to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ" (Ephesians 4:12). The ministry does not belong to the few who lead; it belongs to the saints — to all of you. Those who teach are not there to do the work while you watch. They are there to equip you, to hand you the tools, to strengthen you for the labor of building. The whole body is meant to build the whole body. If you have thought yourself a spectator in the church, put that thought away. You are a workman, and Christ has fitted you for the task.

And toward what end does all this labor press? "Until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13). There is the goal, and it is nothing less than Christ himself. We are growing up into his fullness — together, not each alone, but "we all." God is not content to save you and leave you an infant. He means to bring you to maturity, and the measure of that maturity is the very stature of his Son.

Why does this matter so for your daily life? Because a child is easily fooled. "So that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes" (Ephesians 4:14). I have seen the churches battered by clever men and their pleasing lies — one wind blowing this way, another that, and the untaught soul spun about like a small boat in a storm. The remedy is not suspicion of everything; it is to grow up. The mature believer, rooted in the knowledge of the Son of God, is not so easily swept away. Do you want to stop being blown about by every new and confident voice? Then grow. Learn Christ. Sink your roots.

And how do we grow? "Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ" (Ephesians 4:15). Notice the two held together — truth and love, and neither without the other. Truth spoken without love wounds and drives away; love that will not speak the truth is no love at all, but flattery. Bind them together. Tell one another the truth, and do it tenderly, and by this the whole body grows up into its Head.

Then hear how I end, for it is a beautiful thing: "from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds up itself in love" (Ephesians 4:16). Every joint. Each part working. Do you see there is no spare piece in the body of Christ? When you do the small, unseen service given to your measure of grace, the whole body grows. When you withhold it, something in the body limps. You are needed. And the last word is the word I began with — love. It all builds itself up in love.

So, beloved, take the gift Christ has measured to you and use it. Do not sit idle, waiting for others to do the work of ministry; you are the ministry. Do not stay a child, tossed by every voice; grow up into your Head. Speak the truth, and speak it in love. And when your part of the labor seems too small to matter, remember from whose triumph your gift came, and to whose fullness you are being built. He descended to the depths and ascended above the heavens to fill you and to fit you for this. He will not waste you.

Grace be with you, and peace.