The Giver of Gifts

Ephesians 4:7–8 NKJV

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.”

Focus is on Unity

Ephesians 4:1–6 NKJV

1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

Diversity

7 begins with “but to each one of us” which signals that Paul is moving from speaking about unity to speaking about diversity. Biblical unity is never to be taken as uniformity. God is not making us into identical mass produced robots. This is the interesting thing about the fact that God is making us into the image of Christ, because the end result is not that we will all be carbon copies all exactly the same. It would seem rather that within Christ there is such complexity that even though we will all be in the image of Christ we will not be in the image of each other. In fact diversity is a necessary requirement for Christ to be fully reflected in the church.

1 Corinthians 12:12–19 NKJV

12 For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. 14 For in fact the body is not one member but many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? 18 But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. 19 And if they were all one member, where would the body be?

One of the primary ways that we see diversity in the Church is in the unique gifts that God gives us.

On the topic of spiritual gifts there has been much written. Some have attempted to create exhaustive list. Some of these list have 9 gifts some 12 and many Christians have fixated of three of the more sensational gifts of tongues, prophecy, and healing. However, I’d like to point out that of the five list of gifts in the New Testament there are at least 20 distinct gifts mentioned and no two of the five list are the same. So I would suggest that none of these list are exhaustive and that there are probably many more gifts not listed as the implication in 1 Cor 12:4

1 Corinthians 12:4 NKJV

4 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.

is that they are many and varied. But one thing is clear from all the Biblical teaching of gifts and that is that they are gifts, and they are given by God to man.

And this is what I would like to focus on this morning in our passage.

Ephesians 4:7 NKJV

7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

God Gives, We Receive

Seems simple enough right? Grace is a gift given. God is the one who gives grace we are the ones who receive grace. Yet, I believe that this may be the most difficult aspect of the Christian faith to accept and believe. I also believe that this is what leads to works based salvation and legalism. If you aren’t familiar with those terms don’t worry, I will explain.

Mark 2:23–28 NKJV

23 Now it happened that He went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees said to Him, “Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” 25 But He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him: 26 how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?” 27 And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. 28 Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”

The Pharisees had turned a gift of God into a some sort of work offering that they could give to God. The Sabbath was a day of rest that God instructed Israel to keep. It was a gift of rest but it was also a picture of Christ who said “come unto me all that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” Christ finished the work of our salvation on the cross just as God finished the work of creation on the 6th day. And Jesus declared “it is finished” so that all God’s people can enter into the sabbath rest of the finished work of Christ. As in

Hebrews 4:9–11 NKJV

9 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. 10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. 11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.

So coming back to Christ statement “The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath.” God does not need us to keep the Sabbath. He did not make man so that He would have someone to keep the Sabbath. Rather God made the Sabbath to be a gift of grace, a day to rest from labour in order to bless man. And to be a picture of the grace of the finished work of Christ which purchased in full our salvation. That means no other payment is required.

Unfortunately this twisting of God’s gift is not limited to the Sabbath. Somehow we have found ways to twist all of the beautiful gifts of God to us into chores, works which we do and then proudly attempt to offer then to God as though we can give God anything. Every gift of the Spirit, every commandment of God every spiritual instruction from God’s word is given to us not as a work that we can do to please God but rather grace, a gift of God for our joy and purpose and fulfilment.

Hebrews 11:6 NKJV

6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

So as we come to this part of Ephesians where Paul tells of gifts that Christ gives us of ministry lets consider that these are not burdens. God is not putting together a people of slaves so that we can do work for Him. He does not need our work rather we need purpose. We need to be active serving, we need to be generous and giving so the we can be like our Creator.

I would urge to change the way you think about service, or ministry. Do think of it as you are doing something for God rather think of it as God as given you and opportunity to minister. It is a gift of God to have the opportunity to serve morning tea. It is God’s grace to be able to make someone a cup of coffee. You are blessed to be able to wash the dishes, clean the toilets, wipe down the tables. If you are granted the grace to teach children in Sunday school or lead the worship or mow the lawns. Thank God for that gift, He didn’t give it to you because He needed your help He gave it to you to bless you with the great joy of having purpose and the fulfilment of serving others.