Christ the Giver

A really special gift can be a source of serious, lasting joy. The best, most joy-giving gifts usually aren’t toys or clothes or things like that, though.

The best gifts grow with you. Or better yet, the best gifts GROW you.

Throughout our Ephesians 4 series, we’ve been focusing on the UNITY that Jesus first gives, and then calls us to cherish.

With verse 7, a lot changes. If you look at your Bible, you’ll see that Paul quotes an Old Testament passage in verse 8. Paul always uses the Old Testament Scripture as an exclamation point in his letters. Notice how focused Paul is on this idea of GIVING GIFTS here. This doesn’t come out of nowhere in verse 7. Chapters 1-3 are absolutely dominated by words related to gifts.

It starts with Paul’s use of the word “GRACE,” in chapter 1:2 -

Ephesians 1:2 ESV

2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace refers to God’s freely-given favor, His undeserved love. Grace is the GIFT behind all of God’s other gifts. 2:8-10 - by grace you have been saved through faith. Salvation is a gift, and so is saving faith.

Paul fills chapters 1-3 with other words and phrases pointing to the idea of God giving gifts. 1:3 - “…has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places”

I won’t quote all the verses, but here are some of the gifts Paul mentions:

He chose us; in love He predestined us for adoption (talk about a gift); redemption and forgiveness, and an inheritance; the Holy Spirit; hope; eternal life

He seated us in the heavenly places with Christ; Christ himself; God Himself; peace, unity, reconciliation to God

I had you think of the best gift you’ve ever received, but what about the best GIVER you know? Who’s the best at giving gifts?

God has every one of them beat.

Today we are going to CELEBRATE some of His gifts. These are the kinds of gifts that you never outgrow. In fact, they’re gifts that grow you.

First, I’m going to give you a brief overview of verses 7-10; then I’ve got 3 application points from the text, and then we’re going to celebrate salvation in the Lord’s Supper; celebrate the gift of Christ’s Body through a fellowship meal; and then we’ll celebrate salvation again in Baptism.

Overview of vv7-10

I’m going to read verses 7-10 again. <<READ 7-10>>

Remember that Paul has spent a lot of time talking about ONE-ness in verses 1-6.

But Now, he turns and says “But grace was given to EACH one of us...”

Paul turns now from the UNITY of the Body to the INDIVIDUALITY of the believer.

Everyone who belongs to Christ, without exception, has received grace - a gift - it says “according to the measure of Christ’s gift” -

Look around at the Church, and you’ll find a very diverse set of gifts given by Christ. The New Testament sets forth lists of spiritual gifts in Romans 12, 1 Cor 12-14, here in Ephesians 4, and 1 Peter 4. The lists aren’t exhaustive, we see the Spirit give gifts in the Old Testament, too.

But notice the variety of gifts we see even in these non-exhaustive lists:

Apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor-teacher, miracles, healing, helping, administration, tongues, interpretation of tongues, wisdom, knowledge, faith, discernment of spirits, encouragement, giving, leadership, mercy, and more

ILLUST: I wonder if you’ve ever tried to play in a Fantasy Football league? If you have, there’s a very good reason why you should never invite me: I don’t have a clue what I’m doing.

Fantasy Premier League Football (AKA English pro soccer). Draft: Literally no clue. No clue about soccer, no clue about fantasy, no clue how to do it.

For all I know, I had the best team ever devised. Or maybe I had too many players of one sort, or too few. The point is that my team was random.

V7 says that Christ has measured out His grace to us. When you look at us, we might seem like a motley crew or the Bad News Bears, but the opposite is true: We are the Body He designed, with the gifts He planned, for His purposes.

In verse 8, Paul quotes from Psalm 68:18 <<READ v8>>:

Psalm 68 is a TRIUMPHANT song of praise. It heralds the LORD as a mighty warrior who delivered His people out of captivity, brought them to Zion, conquered Israel’s foes, and is going to redeem His people again.

Listen to how it begins <<READ vv1-3>> - This is a song of REJOICING. It’s also a song of GOD giving blessing upon blessing as acts of GRACE.

<<READ vv5-6>>

It even points prophetically to the salvation of the nations through the Messiah in vv30-32

And notice how Psalm 68 ends <<READ vv34-35>> This is a Psalm about God as the GIVER.

So Paul singles out verse 18. But notice how verse 18 reads in context: <<READ v18>>

In Psalm 68, God RECEIVES gifts among men in verse 18, but the entire Psalm is dedicated to celebrating how God GIVES those gifts to His people.

So Paul takes this idea and boils it down to its essence: Jesus gave gifts to men.

The host of captives in Psalm 68 includes both the freed captives and the captured enemies.

In His death and resurrection, Christ has triumphed OVER sin and death, and all rule and authority and power and dominion, according to Eph 1:20-21, and He leads US out of captivity to sin and death, like a train of freed slaves. Both of these ideas are in Psalm 68.

“He gave gifts to men,” Paul says.

And then, in verses 9-10, Paul explains how this applies to Christ. How can God ascend anywhere, if His dwelling place is above everything? He must have descended. And this is what verse 9 says.

First, He descended as the Word made flesh, taking on human nature in the womb of Mary the virgin. Second, in His death, He descended to the tomb.

And Paul says, <<READ v10>> - First, He rose on the third day; second, He ascended to the right hand of the Father, restored to the place that He occupied in eternity past, in order “that he might fill all things.”

From the lowest parts of creation to the highest heights of heaven, there is no realm, or rule, that He has not triumphed over. Every human power has a territory, every so-called god has its dominion. The Ephesians were accustomed to thinking of one god having authority in heaven, and another in the air, and another in Ephesus, and another under the ground. But Paul says that Jesus is LORD of all.

And this is directly related to our understanding of His gifts. So with all this knowledge about verses 7-10, we’re going to apply it in three ways:

I. REJOICE that Christ is victorious (vv 8-10)

Remember how I said that GRACE is the gift behind all of God’s gifts? All of the spiritual gifts that Jesus gives have His death and resurrection as their starting point. In Christ, Ephesians 1 - we’ve been blessed with EVERY spiritual blessing in Christ.

God was under no obligation to save anyone from their sins. He did not save us out of necessity, but out of LOVE. Psalm 68 is a celebration of God’s GRACE.

So we REJOICE that Christ is victorious.

In the cross, He is victorious over sin and death; He himself is our peace; He has broken down the wall of hostility and has reconciled us to God and to one another

REJOICE that the same Spirit that raised Him from the dead is the GIFT that He has given to ALL who believe in Him.

I may not be very good at Fantasy Football-slash-soccer, but I know what it looks like when football fans REJOICE at their team’s victory.

Imagine the kind of REJOICING that we would undertake if we understood just how incredible our salvation is?

They watched God judge Egypt’s so-called gods and wipe the floor with them in His might. Israel watched God part the sea, watched God feed them with bread from heaven. They wrote song after song about it.

And it was all a shadow cast back in time by the glorious victory of Jesus for us.

The Author of Life gave up His life to give us life.

The LORD of all became servant of all, in order to triumph over all.

1 Peter 3:18 ESV

18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,

This is worth REJOICING over. More than all the sports championships you’ve been missing this year, the victory of Christ is a revolutionary war. He is a conquering King, who has rescued us from judgment and death and hell.

And don’t lose sight of this truth: Our VICTORY songs are part of the warfare. When we REJOICE together, we strengthen one another. We said several weeks ago that one of the tools God has given us to maintain the unity of the Spirit is WORSHIP. You might also say that REJOICING in Christ’s victory is a weapon for the battle we face today.

This is one of the reasons our gathered worship is so important.

II. REFLECT on Christ’s grace to you (v7)

Verse 7 says <<READ v7>>

So not only should we REJOICE in Christ’s victory, but we should REFLECT on this truth, that each one of us is the recipient of His grace.

How has He poured out His grace to you?

REFLECT on Christ’s grace to you by considering the rest of Ephesians 4 and asking for Him to show you how He has given His gifts to you. Look at 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 and verse 28; Romans 12:6-8.

Some of us have been given the spiritual gift of faith, mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10. It’s one of the gifts the LORD has given me. This is not something I have produced in myself.

Once God began to show Himself faithful in His Word, and I saw that many of my brothers and sisters needed assurance when doubts arose, that it was a blessing to them to know that God had given others confidence even in the face of those who would attack or attempt to destroy the faith of others.

The Christian who joyfully defends the truth of God’s Word against the plausible arguments of its detractors often has the gift of faith.

But take caution when REFLECTING on Christ’s grace to you. Many of us have taken “Spiritual Gifts Inventories” and tallied up all the scores, but the Gifts of the Spirit aren’t the same as a personality test. The best way to REFLECT on Christ’s grace to you is in COMMUNITY. Gather with a group of believers and discuss these passages together, and reflect together. You may be surprised to find that those who know you well have a better idea of your gifts than you do.

This isn’t just my idea - this is how the Bible tells us to identify gifts in the Church. Look at verse 11 - pastors are a spiritual gift. The New Testament also calls pastors “elders,” and nobody gets to just proclaim themselves elders or pastors. 1 Tim 3 lays out a process whereby the local church identifies those that God has called to be elders.

The same is true of the gift of prophecy - it’s discerned within the community.

So take time today to REFLECT: How has Christ poured out His Spirit on you, and what does the community say?

And this brings us to our third application:

III. REGIFT Christ’s grace to others

I asked before what your favorite gift was. Now I want you to think about something you REGIFTED. Why did you do it?

Have you ever gotten caught regifting something? Kids, if you haven’t figured it out yet, “regifting” is when someone gives you a gift, and you don’t want it, so you wrap it back up and give it to someone else.

SO, here’s confession time. When Heather and I got married, my parents gave us a really nice ice cream maker. My parents. My parents who know I’m lactose intolerant.

So it sat in its box, never opened. And when my friends John and Kelly got married, we wrapped it up and gave it to them, and they loved it.

But not every regifting scenario goes so well. The eternally-regifted coffee mug. The ugly fringed throw pillow your best friend gave you, so you gave it to another friend, who then invited both of you over for dinner and there it is on the couch.

But REGIFTING is exactly what Spiritual Gifts were designed for. According to verses 11-16, the Body of Christ has been given a variety of gifts specifically to build one another up.

1 Corinthians 12:7 ESV

7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

And Peter says,

1 Peter 4:10 ESV

10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:

Jesus has never once saved a single individual for them to live apart from a BODY of believers, and the proof is in the fact that He has given grace to each one of us.

So where can you REGIFT His grace to others?

Here’s what God’s Word has to say to us here in Ephesians 4: Every single one of us is called, according to our ability, to serve one another according to His gift.

We have leaders, administrators, helpers, encouragers, giving their gifts every Sunday on the Sound Team, the Music Team, setting up canopies and chairs and taking them down. We have greeters, counters, nursery volunteers, youth group leaders, giving of themselves for the sake of the Body.

And God has given you, every single one who is saved by grace, gifts for the BODY that you belong to. You, my beloved brothers and sisters, are the household of God by faith, family in Christ. Today is the day that we stand up and say, “Each one of us is a gift from God to the others.”

When you REGIFT Christ’s grace to others, you will find joy unexpected, REJOICING in Christ’s victory in-action. And here’s why:

In Acts 20:35, Paul is speaking with the elders of this church, the Ephesians, and he talks about how he devoted himself to their spiritual needs, encouraging them to serve one another by quoting these words of Jesus, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

The GRACE given to you was designed for regifting.

This is the secret that all great gift-givers have discovered: The best gifts are the ones given, not the ones received. That’s why so many dads sit happily under the Christmas tree with their new socks and shirts, overflowing with joy as the kids open their treasures.

Imagine the smile of the Father, as the Wise Men brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh to lay at the feet of Christ, like a dad with his huge smile on his face. The best gift was in the manger.

And He was given for us, to give to others, to give to others, until the whole world rejoices in His victory.