One Diverse Body Ephesians 4:7-10

So our response is to be rivers not reservoirs to allow the gifts we’ve been given by God to be given for His glory and the edification of one another.

Introduction - Realizing our own limits/insufficiency OR realizing our own greed and pride - dependance on God and others

This past week my wife was playing soccer, and as she was running she felt something in the back of her leg and so thinking someone kicked her, she turned around to the sound of a loud “pop!”. Shortly she was on the ground in pain and because she is a Physical Therapy Assistant, she began doing all the tests, and confirmed in that moment her Achilles was torn. Immediately she called me and asked me to come pick her up. I run over to the field, carry her off, bring her home and immediately my entire schedule shifts to how can I help. You see in that moment my wife experienced a limit in her physical capabilities due to this injury and it caused her to ask for help. Then for me, I all the sudden was also in need of help. Not because I had a limit in my capabilities to serve, but I had a limitation in my capacity to go to work, pick up Isaiah, prep for this weekend, get V to the hospital for a MRI and many other tasks that had to be done that day. So I had to ask my mom if she could pick up Isaiah from school because I had a limit in my capacity.

There are many moments in life that we become acutely aware of either a limitation in our capacity or our capabilities and often these limitations are revealed through moments of challenge, adversity or newness. But our limitations aren’t always physical, sometimes they’re intellectual.

I remember when i left for college, I didn’t really know how to cook well/at all so i had my mom make me a list of the basics, here’s how to make spaghetti, eggs, pancakes, etc. but the reality is in this scenario it wasn’t my physical ability that was at it’s limit, but my skill set and knowledge. (Could also talk about Organic Chem)

Other times it’s not a limit in our physical or intellectual bandwidth, sometimes it’s our emotional capacity that is depleted. Perhaps as a parent you have felt the exhaustion that comes from having to parent 24/7. You just want to go take a nap sometimes. Or perhaps like me you have battled depression and anxiety and there have been moments where you were so overwhelmed you just wanted to die. In those moments, i’ve needed my brothers in Christ to surround me in prayer.

My guess is that you have experienced at least one of these examples b/c the reality is that none of us as humans are self-sufficient. We all have limits in capability and in capacity. And this causes us to lean on one another.

The lie that we tend to believe is that we are self-sufficient and that we can do it on our own. Why do we succumb to this belief? Because when we’re a child we are completely dependent. Isaiah is 17months old and is completely dependent on Victoria and I for life. But as he gets older and matures he will become more independent. The problem then is that we begin to go a step past independence and begin to associate self-dependance with maturity. The reality is none of us were wired to be self-sufficent or self-sustiaining. If we were, we’d be God. No, all of us are interdependent on God and on one another, and I believe that there is beauty in our need for one another. We’ll see that in today’s passage.

Last week we looked at Eph 4:1-6 and how there is One God, who has established us as One Body. Today we are going to look at Eph 4:7-10 and see how within this ‘one body’ is made up of many ‘ones’, many individuals.

See in Eph 4:1-6 we see that God acts as an emulsifier uniting us all in Christ. The mathematical expression for that is 1+1+1+1=1

Today we will look at the individual 1 that makes up the body and see although there is unity there is also diversity.

Ephesians 4:7–10 (NLT)

7 However, he has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ. 8 That is why the Scriptures say,

“When he ascended to the heights, he led a crowd of captives and gave gifts to his people.” 9 Notice that it says “he ascended.” This clearly means that Christ also descended to our lowly world. 10 And the same one who descended is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens, so that he might fill the entire universe with himself.

“However” - creates a shift in thought between v 7 and v 6, so lets backtrack three verse. Eph 4:4-6 “For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, in all, and living through all.”

each one” gifts.

“One body” - body comprised of multiple cells, same DNA, different presentation. Diff anatomy and diff physiology. All works together to form one body. Unity not uniformity. Uniformity is superficial. it’s a common resemblance or apperance. Everyone in the military, same haircut, same uniform. Unity is a deeper bond that unites a people under a common cause, purpose or person. For us, that person is Jesus. But true unity actually requires diversity.

3 Unity and diversity must work together or one will destroy the other. Unity without diversity is uniformity, but diversity without unity is anarchy.

Warren Wiersbe

A Gallery of Grace (2002)

Diversity without unity is easy to see. We’ve seen it in culture over the last couple of years with so many political and social groups advocating for their own particular causes and causing chaos because there is no unity amongst the various groups.

But unity without diversity, becomes uniformity.

Could you imagine a football team comprised only of lineman? Or only of quarterbacks? A team of lineman would be super strong and powerful, but super slow and ineffective. They probably wouldn’t throw or run as well either. But a team of quarterbacks or running backs would be unable to resist the defense. They would get consumed very quickly by a swarm of men. Again, unable to throw or run because their protective line would be insufficient.

Without diversity you just have uniformity and it is truly ineffective. And we don’t really see this type of team enter the field so where do we see unity without diversity? Sure racially, sure politically, but also in thought. We tend to associate with people who are similar to us not different from us.

I remember studying anatomy and ppl throw out the stat we’re 99% like chimps, but that 1% genetically, anatomically, physiologically is HUGE and important. it speaks to the significance of who we are as image bearers.

It’s critical to surround ourselves with diversity of thought, talents, gifting that we may collectively be the temple of the Holy Spirit as we saw last week in

Eph 2:21 “21 We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord.”

Ephesians 4:7–10 (NLT)

7 However, he has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ. 8 That is why the Scriptures say,

“When he ascended to the heights,

he led a crowd of captives

and gave gifts to his people.”

9 Notice that it says “he ascended.” This clearly means that Christ also descended to our lowly world. 10 And the same one who descended is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens, so that he might fill the entire universe with himself.

God has given us gifts according to His generosity

the gifts we bring to God and to the body are not our own so we need not keep them to ourselves

Upon receiving Christ, we are not bringing gifts to Christ, we are given gifts by Christ.

Grace & Gift, not through our own merit or effort to attain

Ephesians 4:7–10 (NLT)

7 However, he has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ. 8 That is why the Scriptures say,

“When he ascended to the heights,

he led a crowd of captives

and gave gifts to his people.”

The generosity of Christ on full display in the gospel

Ephesians 4:8-10 “8 That is why the Scriptures say, “When he ascended to the heights, he led a crowd of captives and gave gifts to his people.” 9 Notice that it says “he ascended.” This clearly means that Christ also descended to our lowly world. 10 And the same one who descended is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens, so that he might fill the entire universe with himself.”

So here we see Paul describe the gospel.

Christ descended Philippians 2:6-8 “6 Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. 7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, 8 he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.”

But He didn’t just stay descended, no He rose from the grave! He also ascended!

And when He did He lead the captives - Sin death and the devil, the enemies of the Cross that we were slave to He came to conquer.

Describe the gospel and the gift we receive as the result of the gospel, first and foremost forgiveness. Second restored relationship with Christ, and this being the chief gift, our greatest reward. Yet as if that weren’t enough God in His goodness, in His abundant generosity and grace chose to give us an additional gift. Not a physical gift, but a spiritual gift. And it’s important to note that Paul inserts this gospel message into the narrative of Christ distributing gifts to His people because these gifts are given to those who respond to the gospel, to those who enter the family. I

what kind of gift?? Spiritual gifts

“A spiritual gift is any ability that is empowered by the Holy Spirit and can be used in any ministry of the church” Wayne Grudem

No where in Scripture do we see an exhaustive list of the spiritual gifts and I believe it’s because God has given each of us a uniqueness, there’s diversity and variation in the gifts we all have and that is meant to enhance our ability to glorify God and bless others. So when we look at a list of some of the spiritual gifts, here’s what we see in Romans 12

Romans 12:6–8 (NLT)

In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.

He lists the gifts, tells us what to do with them and tells us how to use them. There’s a qualitative description. “give generously”, “lead with responsibility”, “ show kindness gladly”. He doesn’t just say if your gift is serving, serve, He goes on to say do it well! Do it from the depths of your heart. Don’t just be kind, be kind with gladness!

God has called us to use our gifts to be rivers not reservoirs

2 questions 1) what is your gift 2) how can you use it today or this week to glorify God and be a blessing to others

Other notes:

Psalm 68:18 “18 When you ascended to the heights, you led a crowd of captives. You received gifts from the people, even from those who rebelled against you. Now the Lord God will live among us there.”

At the same time, I am inclined to a different opinion, that Paul purposely changed the word, and employed it, not as taken out of the Psalm, but as an expression of his own, adapted to the present occasion. Having quoted from the’ Psalm a few words descriptive of Christ’s ascension, he adds, in his own language, and gave gifts,—for the purpose of drawing a comparison between the greater and the less. Paul intends to shew, that this ascension of God in the person of Christ was far more illustrious than the ancient triumphs of the Church; because it is a more honourable distinction for a conqueror to dispense his bounty largely to all classes, than to gather spoils from the vanquished.

John Calvin and William Pringle, Commentaries on the Epistles of Paul to the Galatians and Ephesians (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 273.

“He conquered those who had conquered us; such as sin, the devil, and death.” Matthew Henry https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/mhc/Eph/Eph_004.cfm?a=1101007

Other References

One’ was the term echoing through vv. 4–6; v. 7 continues it with ‘each one’ (cf v. 16) and in this way links together unity and diversity. But the ‘one’ of v. 7 also introduces a new turn of thought in setting out the diversity as deriving from the variety of gifts among the members of the church. This variety is not that of natural talent, educational attainment or cultural variation, but has its source in Christ the giver of the gifts of vv. Members do not bring with them the gifts which AE has in mind when they enter the church, but on entering receive them. These gifts are not given for self-promotion, but for the building up the church in unity. The giving of the gifts is supported in v. 8 with a quotation seemingly drawn from Ps 68:18 to which is added a midrashic-type interpretation (vv. 9f); as an exegetical excursus it enables the quotation to be applied to Christ. It might seem that vv. 8–10 could be omitted without disturbing the flow of the argument, but if they were v. 11 would jar with v. 7 in that, unlike the latter, it offers a limited range of gifts to a minority of believers.

Ernest Best, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Ephesians, International Critical Commentary (Edinburgh: T&T Clark International, 1998), 375.

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