Gifts from the Ascended King

When I wrote to you of one body, one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism (Ephesians 4:4-5), I did not mean a sameness that swallows you up. Hear what comes next: "But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift" (Ephesians 4:7). The oneness is not uniformity. To each — to you, and to the one beside you who is nothing like you — Christ has apportioned grace by his own hand and his own measure. You did not choose your portion; he did, and he chose it wisely.

And see where these gifts come from. "When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men" (Ephesians 4:8). The One who ascended is the One who first descended (Ephesians 4:9-10) — down into our low estate, down to the cross, and up again in triumph, that he might fill all things. The gifts he scatters among us are the spoils of his victory. When Christ gives a servant to his church, that gift was purchased in his descending and secured in his rising.

What did he give? "The apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers" (Ephesians 4:11). But mark why — not to do all the work while the rest of you watch, but "to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ" (Ephesians 4:12). The ministry belongs to the saints. Those Christ sets over you are given to make you fit for your own labor, so that no hand and no joint in the body stands idle.

And toward what end? "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 a childhood we must leave behind — "children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning" (Ephesians 4:14). I have watched such waves scatter whole churches. The remedy is to grow up: "speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ" (Ephesians 4:15). Truth without love hardens; love without truth flatters. Held together, they raise a soul to maturity.

So here is the whole of it: "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 itself up in love" (Ephesians 4:16). The body grows only when each part works — including yours. Do not wait to be great before you serve; serve according to the measure given you. Speak the truth to a brother, and speak it in love. Do the small work set before your hand. This is how Christ, the Head, brings his whole body up into himself. Grace and peace to you.