Why the Ascension?
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Good to be back.
Thank you Pastor Zach, Jamie Stinemetz, Kyle Waters, and Robert Bragg for filling the pulpit while I was gone.
You may also notice I have a slightly different dialect here this morning, and no its not from spending 10 days in Birmingham Alabama.
Braces
As Robert showed us last week in eph 4.1-6 Paul focuses on unity within the people of God.
Unity has been one of the major themes of Ephesians thus far.
Mainly seeing that through Christ the dividing wall of Jew and Gentile has been torn down and now we are all one in Christ.
Paul mentions in 4.1-6 seven “one” statements
We are all part of One body
We are indwelled and sealed with One Spirit
We all share One hope
We bow before One Lord
We have One Faith
We are marked out as Christians through One baptism
And we believe and worship One God
This is who we are, we are one body, unified together by the triune God himself.
Disunity is horrible - yet we love division.
Now, being unified, being of one mind and one heart, moving toward one hope, is not something we are able to do on our own.
Left to ourselves we tend toward chaos and division, not unity and love.
So Paul moves to describe the grace that we have been given to enable us to be this united people - this one body.
In fact, what we see is that Paul moves his attention from the whole and zooms in to the particular, individual Christians who make up the one body.
In verse 7, Paul moves his attention from the whole and zooms in to the particular, to individual Christians who make up the one body.
We see this shift in verse 7
Paul then turns to the importance of diversity within the body of Christ.
Diversity in Gifts .v7
The Purpose of God: Ephesians Diversity of Gifts
In verse 7, the tone changes as Paul moves away from unity to diversity. One of the beautiful things about the New Testament church is that it is a community. But the New Testament does not advocate uniformity, where everybody has to look alike, speak alike, and do alike. No, the body of Christ is a beautiful mixture of unity and diversity. In that sense it is a microcosm of the universe itself.
In verse 7, the tone changes as Paul moves away from unity to diversity. One of the beautiful things about the New Testament church is that it is a community. But the New Testament does not advocate uniformity, where everybody has to look alike, speak alike, and do alike. No, the body of Christ is a beautiful mixture of unity and diversity. In that sense it is a microcosm of the universe itself.
7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
Eph
Here Paul is saying that grace has been given to each individual Christian in the form of gifts. And these gifts are to be used to facilitate godly unity within the body of Christ.
Now, if you look in your Bibles if you were to take out verses 8, 9, and 10 you will see that verse 7 moves very smoothly into verse 11
so what does Paul mean when he says grace is given to us according in the measure of Christs gift
7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
It would read like this...
English Standard Version Chapter 4
But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
English Standard Version Chapter 4
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,
Each one of us! there is not a person in the room who has the Spirit of God dwelling in you that has not been given gifts for the purpose of building up the people of God.
7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift… 11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,
not all the gifts are the same, but rather there is great diversity with in the body of Christ. Paul gives a more extensive list in and .
proof text
But this is not what Paul did, Paul wanted to make sure the Ephesians understood the significance and purpose behind the giving of gifts, which is why Paul adds this parenthetical section on Christ’s ascension.
11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.
However, is not as concerned with the individual gifts, though he mentions a few, he is more concerned on the giver of the gifts and the purpose of the gifts.
3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
Grace was given to Paul for his ministry to Gentiles (3.2,7,8); now it is said to be given to each individual Christian for the benefit o the whole body.
So what we are going to do this morning is focus on verses 8-10 and explore why Paul pauses here to highlight the descending and ascending work of Christ.
The ascension of Jesus Christ after his resurrection is often viewed as a footnote to the gospel.
We think of the gospel in terms of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.
I think a better paradigm to look at the gospel would be life, death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Jesus.
The bible is very much concerned with the ascension of Jesus, it was prophesied in many way throughout the OT. Most explicitly in
in vv.8 we see that these gifts are given to us by none other than the ascended Christ.
7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
8 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.”
9 (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth?
10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)
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13 “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him.
14 And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.
12 As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.
13 “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him.
You see, the ascension is the exaltation of Jesus Christ into his glory.
The ascension is where Jesus is given dominion, power, glory, and cosmic rule over all the nations of the earth.
It is the King receiving his crown and sitting on his throne.
One of the many reasons why its important to us is that if Christ had not ascended, we would have no representation before the throne of God, for when Jesus ascended he ascended as our high priest who now lives to make intercession for us.
The ascension is a massive and glorious topic that Paul wants us to understand before we can truly understand the gifts this exalted king has given us.
So that will be our mission this morning, following the contours of , we will seek to focus in on the meaning and purpose of the ascension.
So look with me at Eph. 4.8-10
8 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” 9 (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? 10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)
Eph 4.
So with that, lets start by looking at verses 9-10 and will will come back to verse 8 in a moment
8 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.”
8 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” 9 (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth?
8 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.”
The Purpose of God: Ephesians Diversity of Gifts
When Paul says in verse 9 that Christ ‘descended to the lower earthly regions’, he is not referring to Christ’s death and burial but to his incarnation, when he became a man and lived on earth. It is the fact that he descended before he ascended that makes his ascension unique from other ascensions.
Here, Paul is quoting and ascribing the ascension to Jesus himself.
When Jesus ascends on high, having rescued his redeemed people, he then gave gifts to men.
But Paul wants to call our attention to Christ’s ascension in vv. 9-10
But the focus here is not on Christ descending, but on him ascending.
9 (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? 10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)
Paul knows for us to understand the ascension we first have to know what it means that he descended into the lower regions of the earth.
The Church Fathers often argued that this descending to the lower parts of the earth refer to Christ’s work between his death and resurrection.
throughout the OT Something powerful happens when one ascends.
When Jesus died he descended into sheol and proclaimed to all the souls his victory over satan, sin and death. As the OT Saints were waiting for the day when their sins would be finally atoned for. Their ultimate salvation was secured by the work of Christ just as much as ours.
To see the ascension the way Paul sees the ascension we have to look to the OT - as the OT is what Paul is pulling from in vs. 8.
And though this is theologically true, I don’t think this is what Paul is referring to here in .
Paul is making a Christological point here, that Jesus Christ, the one who ascended to the right hand of the father, first came from the father. - He is speaking of his incarnation.
Jesus says in when he is talking to Nicodemus
13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.
So the descending here in is speaking of Christ, the eternal God putting on flesh and dwelling with his people.
Jesus descends as a man, so we might ascend with him to God. For we cannot ascend to the father unless we are in Christ. The only one who can ascend is he who first descended from heaven.
This is message of the gospel.
Christ has descended, he put on flesh, he took our sins in his body, was sacrificed for our sins on the cross, and he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places.
For us to draw near to God we must be in Christ, for we cannot ascend to the presence of God on our own.
And this is what happens when we pray, we pray in Jesus’ name, we pray in Christ.
in our prayers we ascend in Christ to the throne room of God where we make our requests known, and thank him for all he had done.
And we do this in Christ, for he is the one who has ascended, and he has ascended on our behalf.
This powerful truth is seen foreshadowed throughout the OT.
In the OT the idea of ascending was linked to two activities:
1. Drawing near to the presence of God
Eph
2. Enthronement after victory
Ascension: Drawing Near to God
Ascension: Drawing Near to God
First, Drawing near to the presence of God
God often meets with people on mountains
Moses had to ascend the mount sinai to meet with God
Abraham went up a mountain when God spoke to him
Eden was on a mountain
Elisha went up mount sinai to hear from God
The people of Babel knew to be like God they had to ascend… thus they built a tower - they tried to ascend on their own.
Even in Revelation we see John taken to a mountain to receive the vision of Christ and his Church.
The Tabernacle was set on a hill where people had to go up to it
The Temple was on a mountain so the people had to ascend to the presence of God
There is a whole section in the book of Psalms called the Psalms of Ascent (120-134), which were the songs and chants of worship the people of God would sing as they approached the temple during the festival time of Israel.
There is a whole section in the book of Psalms called the Psalms of Ascent (120-134), which were the songs and chants of worship the people of God would sing as they approached the temple during the festival time of Israel.
Perhaps one of the most interesting pictures of ascension is found in with the ascension offering.
You see the heart and soul behind the sacrificial system was for God to be near his people.
However, due to sin humanity could not ascend to the God, for if they did they would be destroyed. For God is far to holy, and before his righteousness sinful man melts away.
So God set up the sacrificial system which would be a way for God’s people to draw near.
Illustration
So lets say your a hebrew family during the days of Joshua.
its Sunday morning and you get the kids up to go worship God.
You load up the family drive to the temple.
You would park and begin the ascent toward God - as the Tabernacle was set up on a mountain.
You would enter the courtyard, which is as close as you were allowed to go. You were not allowed into the tabernacle, only the priests could do that.
So how would you ascend the rest of the way to be close to God?
You would send an animal on your behalf to bring your praise and thanks to God.
The first thing you do is You lay your hands on the animal and lean on it.
This language is taken from the ordination of the levitical priests (Numbers 8)
The laying on of the hands was ordaining the animal to be a priest on your behalf.
You need a priest to go into God’s presence for you, so you ordain the animal making him a four legged priest.
You then slaughter the animal
The Priest then takes the blood to the alter
The priests would then help you by taking the blood and and anointing the alter next to the entrance to the tent of meaning.
Fire
the priest would then cut the animal into pieces and lay it on the wood of the alter to be burnt up.
EDEN?
The smoke would then ascend to God and it would be a pleasing aroma.
You see, You don’t want the animal only to die on your behalf, you want it to be burnt up and taken up to God on your behalf.
The animal is turned into smoke, and the smoke goes up and God eats it, it becomes one with God.
You don’t want the animal only to die on your behalf, you want it to be burnt up and taken up to God on your behalf.
This is what ascension means in the bible, it means to draw near to the presence of God.
And this is what Christ has done, he was sacrificed for our sins, and he ascended to God on our behalf.
Second, ascension is connected with a kings enthronement after victory.
Ascension: Enthronement After Victory
Ascension: Enthronement After Victory
When a king would come back from battle he would ascend to his throne showing himself victorious.
This is the context of both and which is quoted by Paul in verse 8
This is the picture we see in which is quoted by Paul here in
8 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.”
tells the exodus story describing YHWH as a mighty king who conquers his enemies.
7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Letter to the Ephesians 2. Diversity in Unity that Leads to Maturity, 4:7–16
In its original context Psalm 68 is a call to God to come and rescue his people (vv. 1–3). He is to be praised (vv. 4–6) for his past acts of deliverance and provision for his people. After the exodus he went in triumph before them (v. 7), so that Mount Sinai shook (v. 8) and kings were scattered (vv. 11–14). The Lord desired Mount Zion as his dwelling (v. 16), so he came from Sinai to his holy place (v. 17), and ascended the high mount leading captives in his train
Preaching the Word: Ephesians—The Mystery of the Body of Christ Essential for Growth: Gifted Leadership (vv. 7-11)
Here Paul borrows a line from Psalm 68:18. In verse 7 of that psalm God is pictured as marching in triumph before all Israel after the Exodus. When he comes to Sinai, the earth shakes under his feet (v. 8). Then in verses 11–14 kings and armies are described as fleeing before him while his people sleep peacefully before their fires. Finally, in verses 16 and 17, from Mt. Sinai God sets his sight on Mt. Zion and moves with “tens of thousands and thousands of thousands” of chariots up the slopes of Jerusalem in victory, leading captives in his train and receiving gifts from men (v. 18).
The Psalm starts with a call to God to rise up and rescue his people. He is praised for his victorious acts of deliverance and provision for his people.
YHWH is then described as one who marched in triumph before his people, causing Mount Sinai to shake and the kings of the earths armies to scatter in fear.
And YHWH, this warrior king, come riding his chariots (20,000 of them) and transforms mount Sinai into his sanctuary.
And there he ascended on high, to his throne, and in doing so he lead a host of captives into his presence and they gave gifts to YHWH.
8 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” 9 (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? 10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)
Eph
This is a picture of the Ark of the Covenant being brought into the temple and the offerings people would bring to God.
context
Paul takes the Psalm and applies it to Christ, Jesus has now ascended on high, in victory to the presence of God.
In its original context is a call to God to come and rescue his people (vv. 1–3). He is to be praised (vv. 4–6) for his past acts of deliverance and provision for his people. After the exodus he went in triumph before them (v. 7), so that Mount Sinai shook (v. 8) and kings were scattered (vv. 11–14). The Lord desired Mount Zion as his dwelling (v. 16), so he came from Sinai to his holy place (v. 17), and ascended the high mount leading captives in his train
And instead of receiving gifts from the people he has freed, the risen and ascended Christ distributes gifts to his people.
And the gifts he gives to his people are gifts to be used to advance the kingdom of which Christ now rules. (we will look at this next week).
Look with me at verse 10 and we will be able to view the ascension from one more angle.
10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)
The one who descended...
put on flesh, took the form of a servant, humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death
Is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens
ascended in glory, as the risen king, the one who crushed the head of the serpent with the bruised heal, who fulfilled all the law and the prophets, who was raised from the dead and has ascended, like the smoke of the sacrifice, to God on our behalf and now sits at the right hand of the Father where he rules and reigns his creation.
And as the ruling king has given gifts to all the captives he has freed. ..
Now, this is important
the purpose of the descending, the purpose of the ascending, the purpose of the gifts, the purpose of rescuing and leading the captives free is so that he might fill all things.
This language of filling should remind us of two things:
Creation and Temple
First: Creation
Decend, asend, fill.
Creation is process of forming and filling
A House for My Name: A Survey of the Old Testament Three-Story House, Genesis 1:1–2:4
Dividing
Filling
Day 1: Light/dark
Day 4: Sun, moon, stars
Day 2: Waters above/below
Day 5: Birds and fish
Day 3: Waters/land
Day 6: Land animals and man
7. Sabbath
The first three days he forms creation while on the second three days he fills creation.
Day 1: Light and darkness -
Day 4: Sun, moon, stars
Day 2: Waters above/below -
Day 5: Birds and fish
Day3: Waters and Land
Day 6: Land animals and Man
God fills the heaves and the earth with a creation that declares the glory of God.
as the Psalmists says, the heavens declare your glory.
And Job tells us to...
7 “But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; 8 or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. 9 Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? 10 In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.
Job 12.7-
DON’T READ SLIDE ONLY
10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)
God has created the world in such a way, from the stars in the heavens to the fish of the sea, to declare his power and glory. The earth is filled with a creation the shines forth the glory of God.
When we see Paul say in verse 10, “that he might fill all things”, we should not only think of creation, and God filling the earth with his glory, but we should also think of when God fills the Temple with his glory.
Yet, this glory does not compare to the dwelling glory, shikina glory, of God himself.
Do you remember when the glory of the Lord filled the temple?
The holy place is “filled” with the glory of God.
34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
38 For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys.
When the glory of God filled the temple Moses himself was not able to enter.
We see a similar story in 2 Chron. 7 when the glory of the Lord filled the temple.
1 As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.
when the priests saw the fire come down and the glory of the Lord fill the temple they were not able to enter.
And look how the people Israel responded when the saw glory of God fill the temple.
3 When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.”
where the glory of God is present it results in worship and giving thanks.
10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)
10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)
So now,
So the reason for Jesus’ descending incarnation, and his ascending power is that he might fill all things, that all creation would be filled with his glory, as the glory of the Lord filled the temple.
And how has Christ determined to fill the whole earth with his glory? How is it that Christ will fill all things?
Jesus is filling the earth with his glory by sending his image bearers into all the world in order to reflect the glory of God throughout the whole world.
Look back at
22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
We, the church, are the fullness of him who fills all in all!
God has called YOU! as his body to fill every square inch of the whole world with his glory.
In Christ you have ascended to God in heaven, and from this place we are given gifts to then go out into the world and transform it to look like heaven
Think about this, as the Temple was filled with the glory of God, so one day the whole earth will be filled with the glory of God.
We do this by filling all creation with the glory of Christ
If you think about all of life, from your own personal habits, to your relationships, to legislation and entertainment.
and by all creation I mean all things
In all areas of life you see voids that are not filled with the truth and glory of Christ.
From individual habits to every cultural or political expression under the sky.
Church Christ has called us as his body to move into every gap and fill it with the truth and glory of God.
We take hold of all creation and rework it so that it might be submitted to the glory of God.
Example**
A few weeks ago my family attended a mega-church in Colorado.
There were many things that stood out to me as both really great and really unfortunate.
These two observations crashed together during the worship time.
The quality of the music was outstanding, yet i noticed that in a room with roughly 1200 people i could not hear the congregation singing at all.
You would think that 1200 people worshiping the ascended Christ would be able to make the windows rattle. But that was not the case, the people were completely passive during the whole service.
This reminded me of the dark ages.
It used to be that when the church gathered together they would follow a liturgy (the work of the people)
The services were dialogical, with Christ and his bride speaking to each other.
However, during the dark ages church services became different, the clergy would do all the work and the people would be passive, and only observe.
I had a discussion with someone who works there about their church service wanting to learn how they form their service.
The gal I spoke with said that they try to follow the culture so they would not how to be relevant.
I then responded, “do you think thats a good idea?”
I had a conversation with someone who works at a mega church a few weeks ago
mega church = church of the dark ages (passive in worship)
her response was, some churches want to follow the culture so we know how to be relevant.
my response was, “do you think thats a good idea”
The church is not to conform to the culture, we are to conform the culture to the Church.
Church, Christ has ascended to the right hand of the father. and we are in Christ thus seated with him in the heavenly places.
Now, lets not leave Christ filling “all things” in the abstract. Abstraction rarely rubs up against our sensibilities.
what are the all things in your life Christ wants to fill?
And it is from the ascended Christ that we receive gifts in order to build up the body of Christ and see the whole world filled with the glory of God.
Our lives are so often bifurcated, separated, keeping us from truly being unified to one another or with God.
How about your free time?
Let us go about our lives this week as men and women who take hold of God’s creation, take hold of our habits, take hold of our relationships, take hold everything under Christ’s dominion, and by the power of the ascended Christ fill it with the glory of God.
How about your family time?
Lets pray.
How about your workplace?
How about your health, anxieties, depression?
How about your hobbies?
How about your kids?
how about your bank account?
We do this by growing up. By pressing forward into maturity.
We do this by maturing in the faith, maturing in wisdom, maturing in Faith and Love
Society celebrates childhood, immaturity, and adolecence as if being a child is something we should seek to never let go, or even strive to maintain.
And to be honest, the church is even more guilty of celebrating and fostering adolesence and immaturity.
Music lyrics call men and women into teenage foolishness as if it something worthy of pursuit.
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
11-
Christ did not save you, he did not rescue you, just to leave you in your current state. You were not born again to be left as a spiritual infant. But rather you are to be nurtured, fed, equipped, and sent out to do the work of the ministry.
We are to be men and women who feed not on spiritual milk our whole lives, but we must mature to the point where we can feast on the meat of God’s word.
Maturing in Faith
When was the last time
Maturing in the faith looks like a life that move from one stage of glory to the next (this is sanctification). And as we grow and mature in Christ our lives are to reflect more and more the image of Christ.
Now, by God’s grace he has not called us to do this alone, but he has given us gifts to lead us down the path of growing up.
How do we mature in the faith?
Look with me at vv.11-12
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
Christ did not save you, he did not rescue you, just to leave you in your current state. You were not born again to be left as a spiritual infant. But rather you are to be nurtured, fed, equipped, and sent out to do the work of the ministry.
And for this to happen Christ has given the church Apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers.
Now in the sense that Paul is using these words the office of apostle and prophet are not longer offices within the church.
Apostle: One who was commissioned by Christ and had seen the risen Lord
Prophets: those who wrote the scriptures under the inspiration of the Spirit.
In the sense that Paul is speaking Luke would be a prophet, though he was not an apostle.
The Evangelist is one whom God has gifted to bring the good news to the lost. Think of Missionaries.
Shepherds and teachers are connected as one person.
Shepherds and teachers are modern day pastors, men who seek to lead God’s people into Christlike maturity, and they do this primarily through teaching the bible and theology.
transformation into maturity comes through the renewing of the mind. Thus pastors are to be not only shepherds but teachers equipped to handle the word of God.
And how are apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers to lead people into maturity?
by equipping the saints for the work of the ministry (the word ministry means service)
God has called pastors to equip the people of God for the work of ministry. And this work of ministry is for building up the body of Christ.
One think I love about this verse is that it turns a massive of modern day assumption on its head.
Churches often we view the pastor as a hired gun minister. Churches hire a pastor to do the work of the ministry.
Yet, this is not what this verse is saying. This verse speaks more of a mobilized army of ministers, than a hired gun minister.
My primary ministry to Exodus Church is to help equip you to minister the way God has called you to minster.
You are all called to the work of the ministry, you are all called to take hold of this world and fill it with the glory of God. And in this way the church really is a mobilized army, going out and taking dominion for the glory of Christ in every facet of life through the work of the ministry.
He is calling you
And this ministry God has called each and everyone one of you too is for the building up of the body of Christ.
It is going out into the world, plundering it for Christ, and bringing the spoils back in order to build the kingdom.
So this is what we do, we go out and we minister in the way Christ has called us. And the minister in order to build up the body of Christ.
The building up of the body of Christ has a telos, an end, a goal, and that is the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the son of God.
As Ro
Look at verse 13
13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
This is what we strive for, unity in the faith. We are the body of Christ, if we are divided than Christ himself is divided.
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,
12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
We are to build up the body in unity through the knowledge of Christ.
Unity in the local Church starts with its leadership
Eph 4.11-
And this is a pursuit that will find its completion when Christ returns.
Knowledge of the Son of God
We are a church that will preach Christ until God takes us home.
When the church is is equipped, when she is doing the work of the ministry, when she is building up the body of Christ, when she is unified in the faith, and growing in the knowledge of the Son of God… Then she is growing in maturity and being formed into the image of Christ.
And whats the oppiste of this?
WHen the church focus on entertaining rather than equipping?
Rather than being mature faithful followers of Christ, we will end up being little children easily deceived.
When members don’t do the work of the ministry but leave it to “others”
When we are more focused on our own self interests rather than building up the body of Christ
When unity is not worth fighting for, and the knowledge of Christ is exchanged for self-help and ted talks...
What happens to the church when this is the reality?
Instead of maturing, she remains a spiritual baby, abandoned and alone.
She will be tossed to and fro by every popular opinion, and be wooed by the cunning, crafty and deceitful schemes of men.
She will be separated from the anchoring truth of the scriptures, and the God appointed shepherds of the church who are to look over her soul.
This is why we must pursue maturity in Christ...
This is why we must lay our old selves behind and be conformed into the image of Christ, in every aspect of life. So that, as Paul says in v. 14
14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
Paul is here worried about the young believers who are not yet grounded in the knowledge of Christ, who are not yet mature enough to realize the need for the unity of the faith, who have not been equipped, that they might be deceived by all the different winds of doctrine.
As a torch illuminates the darkness so the truth spoken in love brings light to schemes
Paul for Everyone: The Prison Letters Grown-up Christianity (Ephesians 4:11–16)
In verse 14 Paul brings together three ideas: babies, a boat being tossed about on a stormy sea, and cunning tricksters gambling with loaded dice. It’s a bit hard to picture them all together, but we can see what he’s driving at—and if we know today’s world we’ll see that new Christians are every bit as vulnerable now as they were then.
Maturing in Love
15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,
16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.