Gifts And Growth

Alba 5-21-2023

GIFTS AND GROWTH

Ephesians 4:7-16

Last Sunday was Mother's Day and my wife, Janine, was given several gifts. One of the gifts was a pre-paid card for a restaurant where we sometimes go. Guess what, we went there this past week and she intended to share, but when I paid, I forgot to use the card!

Several years ago USA Today reported that one in five gift-card recipients never used their cards in 2005, representing about $972 million in un-redeemed cards. According to Consumer Reports National Research Center, the top reasons for not using gift cards were:

• Didn’t have time: 50 percent.

• Didn’t find anything they wanted: 37 percent.

• Lost the card: 14 percent.

• Card expired: 12 percent.

You have probably received a gift card at some time. In fact, you may have received several gift cards over the years. Have you ever not used a gift card? According to Consumer Reports, there is a high likelihood that you have not used a gift card that you have received. That's a waste!

Ephesians chapter four teaches us that each and every Christian has been given a gift from the Lord, and I think He would be disappointed if we didn't use it. And He has a purpose for every gift that has been given.

Turn to Ephesians 4:7-16 as we read. “7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore He says:'When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.'

“9 (Now this, 'He ascended' what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)

“11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”

In these verses we learn that our Lord Jesus Christ has given spiritual gifts to each believer. And that there is a purpose for the gifts.

Too often many believers do not use the spiritual gifts that have been given to them. Surely our Lord does not want us to waste them.

In the first verses here in chapter four, we are encouraged to hold to the unity of the body of Christ and the oneness of our our faith in God. This is often stressed in scripture. In John chapter seventeen Jesus prayed that those who follow Him be one, even as He and the Heavenly Father are one.

And then verse seven begins with an interesting word. It says, “But to each...”

This term “but” could be translated “in spite of that” or “on the other hand,” contrasting the previous subject matter of the unity of believers, with what is about to be said of the individual diversity or distinctiveness of each believer.

Verses nine and ten use a vivid picture from Psalm 68 to say that the Lord Jesus Christ, having won the victory over sin and death, the grave and hell, ascended on high to the Father.

And as part of his victorious ascension, He gave spiritual gifts to the believers on earth so that they could continue His ministry in the church. What a glorious picture!

So, while there is unity in Christ, each believer has been gifted in ways particularly suited for that individual.

That means that you may have a gift that I do not have, and I may have a gift that you do not. Jesus doesn’t gift us with His grace just for our own personal benefit.

As the Head of His body, Jesus knows what is good for His body and so He bestow gifts on every single disciple based on what is good for both the individual and the body as a whole.

Romans 12:3-6 tells us, “3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.