Gifts that Grow

Have you ever been to some function and were given a gift of a plant? It’s a beautiful, hope-filled gift. Sometimes those gifts have grown and born good fruit. But not all of them. Many of the plants we’ve been given have died a slow, painful death. Nice gift for us, not for the plant. When it comes to being part of the church, too many people have experienced being part of a church as a slow painful death. But what we’ll see today is that Jesus has given gifts to the church that free us to grow more like Him and make us more fruitful in love. Who wouldn’t want to be part of a church like that?

The imagery in these verses is a king who humbled himself to take a low position and is now ascending to his rightful throne. When a new king is coronated, he would receive gifts from subjects and distribute gifts to friends. In this case, Jesus gives us freedom, His fullness, so that we will be more fruitful in love.

Paul says in verse 7 that grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Jesus has gifts to give us, and every one is an experience of His grace.

Jesus Gives Us Freedom

Verses 7-10 focus on the first gift Jesus gives. It is the gift of freedom from captivity.

Paul misquotes Psalm 68 to help us understand how Jesus helps us grow as His body. Psalm 68 is an enthronement Psalm. Enthronement psalms celebrate the rule and reign of Yahweh. They often highlight God’s power and authority over other gods and nations. In Psalm 68, the rebellious nations who worshipped other gods will give gifts to God as He literally “takes captivity captive.”

Psalm 68:18 ESV

You ascended on high, leading captivity captive and receiving gifts among men, even among the rebellious, that the Lord God may dwell there.

In Ephesians 4, Paul changes the quote so that instead of receiving gifts among men, He is giving gifts among humans. He ascended His throne through humility. He was willing to descend. And as a result He is leading captivity captive.

Ephesians 4:8 ESV

Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led captivity captive, and he gave gifts to men.”

So, what’s the connection between Jesus’ humility and the freedom from captivity? Jesus was fully obedient to God the Father, first to humble Himself to come to earth as a human, and ultimately to sacrifice Himself on the cross for our sins. So, God the Father vindicated Him by raising Him from the dead and exalting Him to His throne in heaven, an event we call the Ascension.

Romans 6:9 tells us that after His resurrection and ascension, death no longer has dominion over Him. He has been freed from death. And He shares this gift with us.

Romans 6:9 ESV

We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.

Jesus fulfills Psalm 68. In His cross and resurrection, Jesus has overcome all our sin and fear and shame, the accusations of Satan, self-defeat, death and the grave, everything that would hold us captive.

Colossians 2:15 ESV

He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

Jesus is Lord. He ascended the highest throne. But rather than demanding tribute, He bestows freedom. He who descended from heaven has now ascended and has made a way for us to join Him in His victory. Paul says He “ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.” One day the glory of God will cover the earth as the waters cover the seas. How does He do that? He starts in the church. He wants to fill the church and send us into the whole world. This is the next gift He gives that grows.

Jesus Gives Us His Fullness

To what extent does Jesus fill our church? Our freedom from captivity has a bigger purpose. Our purpose is that we would grow together in His fullness, as Paul says at the end of verse 13, and minister His presence to the world. Jesus fills the church by distributing His giftedness to people who will help us know Him in different ways.

In verses 11-12, Paul tells us Jesus has given us apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers who equip the saints for the work of ministry. Jesus has all these gifts in their fullness, but He distributes them to different members of the body so that every member will be equipped for ministry. The word here for equip is the word for a complete outfitting. These people will outfit us in five areas of ministry.

Apostles keep us submitted to the authority of God’s word and focused on our mission to multiply gospel ministry in new fields among all nations.

Prophets speak God’s word in direct ways as a correction or encouragement as the Spirit helps them discern the need of the moment.

Evangelists set an example and spur us on to make the gospel clear to others who are still far from God.

Shepherds, or pastors, lead us in caring for one another so no one is left behind and everyone is edified.

Teachers help us understand and apply God’s word to our relationship with God and with one another.

All of these are necessary if we are going to grow as the body of Christ.

Verse 13 tells us what these leaders are supposed to help us grow in two ways: to be fully united in Christ, and to grow in our knowledge of the Son of God. When they serve the church well, they are focused on building unity by helping us know Jesus.

We live in an era when some church leaders have made ministry about themselves or their area of ministry alone. Everyone knows their name and gifts, but maybe don’t know Jesus all that well. And to their own harm, they are working against the Holy Spirit and misusing the gifts God has given them.

But when these gifted leaders focus their ministry on uniting us in knowing Jesus, we become more filled with Christ. We become a more grown-up church.

How does Paul church growth? Verse 13 says we measure according to the stature of the fullness of Christ. We should not measure ourselves according to the stature of our pastor or a gifted evangelist or a bold prophet in our midst. Jesus Christ is our standard. Are we as a body becoming more like Jesus Christ, the humble, generous king?

Paul says in verse 14 that one sure sign is that we are not tossed to and fro and carried away by fads or popular movements or deceitful schemes that promise churches success by worldly standards but take our eyes off of our need for Christ. There have been plenty over the years. Just in my lifetime, I’ve seen program after program, one new, “progressive” teaching after another, and many church growth plans that sound a lot like marketing. The church in America has created a lot of immature Christians who are not experiencing the fullness of Jesus Christ. It is childish to depend on human teachers and schemes, and some churches get stuck there. But we want the fullness of Christ.

How do we know we are experiencing the fullness of Christ? There is one sure measure.

Jesus Gives Us the Fruit of Love

When we are growing in the fullness of Christ together as His body, there is one gift that should stand out above all others. Verses 15 and 16 bring up the ultimate gift from the Lord Jesus to the church, which is love.

Paul begins verse 15 saying, “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we will grow...,” and ends verse 16 with, “when each part is working properly, Christ makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”

And as we saw in chapter 3, it isn’t the weak, fickle, sappy love we have for one another. It is the wide and long and high and deep love of Christ. When our roots grow deep in the love of Jesus Christ for each of us, we will grow in love for one another. The way we practice every other gift should be marked by love.

Paul compares our growth to the growth of a body. Just like every baby, we have to grow into our head. But in this case, the head of the body is Christ. He directs us. One writer points out that Jesus is humble in that He includes Himself as one of us, one member of the body. But He is the “determinative member”. Verse 16 says it is “Christ from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is supported, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” Just as Jesus embodied love, so should we.

Jesus decides who receives what gifts. The five kinds of leaders are like joints that hold us together, and strengthen the other members so they can work properly. But all the other members of the body have a part, and Jesus wants us to be working properly. And no matter what part you play in the church, you can help the rest of us grow as you lead with love.

Paul introduces the idea of speaking the truth in love in verse 15. He’s going to dig deeper into how we use our words in the next passage, so we’ll focus more on it this week. But for now, isn’t it true that speaking the truth to someone is a real test of love? If I really love someone, I will tell them the truth. But the truth could also be used as a weapon and a lot of damage has been done by people misusing this phrase to speak unkind words to someone to belittle and condemn them. Telling someone the truth tests our love for them. How do I tell them what they need to hear in a way that strengthens them, not to get something off my chest? Who do you think we should look to for help with that? We look to the one who embodied love.

In our life together as a church, we want to continue to grow. We want to grow in our ministry to one another so that no one is left behind and everyone gets to play. We want to grow in our ministry to our community so that people far from God have an opportunity to know His love. If we are going to grow at all, we must take our direction from our head, Jesus Christ. And He has given us every gift we need to do it. In what ways can we grow in inviting people to lead according to their gifts? Which of the five gifted leaders might we we need to hear more from?

Maybe you sure how you contribute to the growth of the church. I would say three things to you. One, if you are a believer in Jesus, the Holy Spirit has granted you some gift He wants to use in ministry. Ask the brother or sister that knows you best to help you discover what that is, and then ask them to help you find a place to use it. Two, you have the truth someone needs to hear. Truth is not concepts or facts. Truth is the person of Jesus Christ. If you have a loving relationship with someone, share Christ with them. Tell them about your encounter with Him. This is the most fundamental ministry in the church, and any believer can do it.

Third, I would say, come to Jesus. Whether you are a gifted apostle or prophet or feel totally inadequate, Jesus gives grace to each one of us. Jesus is a great King who has offered us this gift: freedom from captivity by His body broken and His blood shed, one powerful act of love. Every time we remember what He has done to free us, we can spend a moment to ask Him, “how can I use this gift You’ve given me to build up someone else in love?” And spend another moment listening. This table is for you, but it’s not about you. It is a public declaration that all of us, no matter whether we feel like a leader in the church or a wounded member, we all need the grace of Jesus to receive and share His love.

Communion

Questions for Discussion

What is a memorable gift you have been given? Have you ever received a gift that grows?

What do we learn about Jesus in our passage?

In what ways do you experience the grace of Jesus?

Can you describe a church that is filled with Jesus Christ?

What do we learn about ourselves in this passage?

How do the five gifts (gifted people) in verse 11 work together to help the church grow in unity and knowing Christ? Which of these five is functioning well in our church? Which could be strengthened?

What are some measures of maturity and growth Paul gives us in verses 13-16? Can you think of specific examples from your experience?

What does it mean to speak the truth in love? How does that lead us to grow up into our head, Christ?

Have you discovered the part you play in building up the body of Christ? In what ways would you like to do that more in our church?

How will you respond to this passage this week?

Who is someone you can share this passage with this week?