OUR FATHER WHOSE SON DISPENCED GIFTINGS AMONG THOSE IN THE BODY

In the letter to the Ephesians chapter 4 verses 9 - 16, the apostle Paul delves into the facilitation made available to the one body of Christ to which we are joined in order for the body to be able to function in the world even though it is surrounded by enemies who constantly seek to destroy it..

He writes of the gifts that Christ provided as per the prophesy recorded in Psalm 68 verse 18 that foretells that the ascension from the underworld to the heights of heaven.

This dispensation that Christ innuagurated as He ascended was to be served by contingents of human ministers who were given supernatural capabilities as apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. These specialists are given understanding and power to equip and edify all believers in various measures of ability in the services needed for the healthy funtioning of the body of Christ on earth.

7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore He says:

“When He ascended on high,

He led captivity captive,

And gave gifts to men.”

9 (Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)

11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

The Lord  Jesus directly appointed those who would carry and exemplify the types of ministry needed to build and strengthen the body of Christ so that the body would be unified and the all would grow in the knowledge of the Son of God until each person the fulness of the stature in Christ.

Paulˋs emphasis regarding the body fo Christ is that there be a reliable conveyer belt that conveys us all to increased maturity where new believers are received at the beginning and the organs of the body function together to lift them to their full potential in Christ over time.

As the body of Christ operates in the world, Paul is concerned about the hazards that it is  vulnerable to;

• Perpetual immaturity
• Unstable and drifting doctrines
• People being gullible
• Infiltration by deceitful men

In this passage, Paul tells us that the remedy for these hazards is that the truth be always spoken in love and that every individual continue to mature in Christ such that they can participate in bringing what their gifting is to the table so that the body of Christ can grow and be healthy as Christ has provided for.

Amen.

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