Amazing Blessing from Christ Designed to Enable Faith to Grow
“But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says (Psalm 68:18): ‘When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.’ (What does ‘he ascended’ mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” (Ephesians 4:7-15)
In this Bible text Paul quotes Psalm 68:18. The psalmist portrays God, as the winner over the devil, returns to His kingdom followed by His captives. This was a common practice at that time. In those days, the winning king would distribute plunders to his army and followers. Interestingly, Jesus, as the winning King, adopted His captives, the believers, into His family. So, Jesus gives treasures instead of plunder.
Paul emphasised that these treasures (gifts) were given to specific groups of people in the church, such as apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. The main goal of these gifts is to equip the saints, to support ministry, and to build the body of Christ. All the receivers listed above are church leaders who have to provide responsible teaching to support the church to grow in faith. The ultimate goal is to achieve unity of faith and spiritual maturity.
We are surrounded by many false teachings that evolve from time to time. So, the body of Christ must know how to identify them. As part of this responsibility, OIEF organises Bible study every Wednesday evening. Here, we learn God’s words and spend time in prayer.
So, the ABCDEFG, Amazing Blessing from Christ Designed to Enable Faith to Grow, is a formula to remember that God wants our faith to grow by giving the believers blessing (gifts) via the church leaders. How should we respond to this?
- Read your Bible, it is God’s word, a user’s manual to live in this world
- if you are leaders in the church, God demands responsible teachings that bring faith to grow
- if you are not leaders, God demands your eagerness to learn from God’s word.
(Hany Ferdinando)
