The Gifts of Christ
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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,
Last week we discussed the implications of verse 7 namely that grace is given by God and receieved by us. We do not have anything to offer God that He needs, we have nothing to offer God that does not already belong to Him. As Paul says in
Rom 11:33-36
33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!
34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become His counselor?”
35 “Or who has first given to Him And it shall be repaid to him?”
36 For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.
This reality is clearly demonstrated in the gifts of the Spirit. God gives gifts to us to enable us to serve and minister to one another so these gifts are to us to bless us and to bless others through us. We must careful not to become prideful of these gifts because they are gifts and we must never think that is using these gifts we are enriching God, He gave them to us for the purpose of enriching the church.
Who Receives These Gifts
Who Receives These Gifts
Ephesians 4:7 (NKJV)
7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
Every Christian receives gifts from the Holy Spirit. Not just a few special people in the church who are hyper spiritual. If you have receieved Christ as your saviour then you have the Holy Spirit in you.
9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.
10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
The idea that only some believers have the Holy Spirit in not Biblical. The idea that the Spirit of God only comes to as a second blessing is not supported by Scripture. Yes the apostles were believers before they receieved the Holy Spirit and later receieved the Spirit fully on the day of pentecost but that is because of what Christ told them that the Spirit would come only after His ascension.
So all true believers have the Holy Spirit indwelling them because if they do not have the Spirit they do not belong to Christ.
With the Holy Spirit comes the gifts which Paul talks about in Eph 4:7
7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
And they are rightly called gifts of Christ or gifts of the Spirit as Christ is the one who sent the Spirit to us
16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—
17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
So if Christ gives us gifts what are they and how do I use them.
I have attended conferences, as I sure some of you probably have as well, where you take some sort of aptitude test to determine what your Spiritual gifts are. You may have found that helpful but personally I did not find them very helpful. So how do you discover your spiritual gifts? I believe the best way is with a willing heart. Make yourself available to God to serve His people in anyway He leads and be willing to do whatever He leads. You will struggle to find your gifting if you have the attitude that certain things are below you. We should have the attitude that David displayed in Ps 84:10
10 For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
Some have come to me and said that they felt called to this or that and I try to find a place for them to serve in those places because sometimes God has truly called them in those areas. But sometimes they have in their mind that a certain position in the church will give them authority or prestige and for this reason they desire to serve it that capacity. When we serve God with a pure heart it is not for the glory or authority. And if we truly serve God we learn that all authority and glory belongs to Him. So as James says, James 3:1
1 My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.
If God has called you to be a bishop or elder then He will make it known to you when you start serving in the smaller things. If He does call you don’t run from it but surrender to it.
How Do We Know Christ Gives Us Gifts
How Do We Know Christ Gives Us Gifts
In our passage Paul says something that may be a bit confusing. In fact there are a few different interpretation that have be given over the years. I’ll do my best to explain it as I understand it.
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.)
What does this mean? Paul Quotes from Ps 68:18
18 You have ascended on high, You have led captivity captive; You have received gifts among men, Even from the rebellious, That the Lord God might dwell there.
This is a prophetic vs which, as Paul uses it, refers to Christ. The image given here is that of a general who has been victorious in battle and defeated His enemy “led captivity captive”. As a result He has taken the spoils of the battle as “gifts from among men” We then read the next verse which says
19 Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits, The God of our salvation! Selah
So the Good General blesses His army with the spoils taken in battle.
So Paul says that Christ gives us gifts and as a confirmation of His authority to do this He says
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.)
He that ascended first descended into the lower parts of the earth referring either to the incarnation of Christ or His burial or both. Either way in was in His coming to this earth and dying on the cross being buried and His resurrection on the third day that He has secured His victory and therefore our victory of the enemy of Satan and death. It is this same One who ascended far above all the heavens and took His rightful throne at the right hand of the Father. He won the victory and fills all things having all authority in heaven and on earth. So that He is able to give us gifts such as the indwelling of The Holy Spirit which gives us the power to do all that He asks us to do.
I think Paul wants us to know that Christ has all power and authority to give us both to will and to do the pleasure of the Father. I believe He wants us to know this because in the next few verses he tells us the enormity of the work that God calls us to and we must know that He who calls us is able to fulfil all that He calls us to do. The work of the ministry which we will see that we are all called to is impossible for us.
We are all struggling to live godly lives battling with sin. How can we ever serve others when we are so broken ourselves? We all live fast paced lives. Working long hours, and busy with family obligations. How can we serve others when we are so exhausted? Not only that but the task at hand it to build up the church body until we all come to unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man.
This is imposable - for us
But with God all things are possible.
