AIA Staff Devo

Main Idea: When we give our gifts (to God and one another) we allow our diversity to display our unity.

Skeleton Overview:

We all need help from one another

Read the text

“each one” amidst one body

Uniformity v unity

Unity & Diversity

Diversity of? Gifts (what gifts? List them)

Read Eph 4:8-10 Why this and why here? B/c the gospel is the culmination of Christ’s generosity

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

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.

Ephesians 4:4-6 “4 For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. 5 There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all, in all, and living through all.”

we’re united under a common Coach, a common Lord (authority) and common mission/purpose, to win = glorify God and bless others. In college athletics it doesnt matter what high school you went to, you now play for a new team, a new banner.

How does Jesus unite us?

Ephesians 1-3 The gospel

Specifically in

Eph 2:1-6 “1 Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else. 4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.”

As well as

Ephesians 2:11–14 NLT

11 Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. 12 In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. 13 But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ. 14 For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us.

Here in this passage it says

Ephesians 4:8–10 NLT

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 the way we are united under One God as One Body is through the Cross.

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.

But we also see in the txt that our diversity is a critical component of establishing true unity

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.

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.”

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.

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

When we do this, when we use our gifts to glorify God and bless others we are choosing to walk in unity. We are allowing our diverse composition to work together in the gospel advancement

AIA is great at discpleship and fulfilling the great commission, my encouragment is continue making an effort not to create unity but to maintian unity, to walk in it, when we do we are evangelizing to the World!

John 13:35John 13:35 “35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.””