Receive Grace: To Present Christ (Together)
Ephesians 4:1-16
Pastor Jim Luthy
What we have learned so far from Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus is that we are to pursue understanding and receive grace. Having pursued understanding, we know that we are blessed in the heavenly realms, awaiting our adoption as sons of the living God. We know that we can receive a spirit of wisdom and revelation to know Christ better, whereby he becomes our one goal. We know that we are God’s workmanship, created—or recreated—to do good works. And we know that we all belong. There is no class system in the kingdom of God.
Understanding these things, the invitation of God is to receive grace. Last week, we talked about the all-critical grace of receiving the grace to possess Christ—to have him dwell within you. Paul’s testimony was that this indwelling made him a servant of the gospel, and he found that his service was also God’s grace, a gift he wouldn’t exchange even for his own physical freedom. The grace to possess Christ and the grace to proclaim Christ are gifts for all who will believe.
In Ephesians 4, Paul will explain that there is even more grace to be received. What we’ll discover, though, is that this grace is not the same for everyone. This grace-gift is not like the grace to possess Christ or the grace to proclaim Christ that is the same gift given to everyone who will receive it by faith. This grace-gift is unique to each individual, like Santa Claus bearing gifts that say "To Timmy from Santa" or "To Sally from St. Nick." In most cases, it is more than one gift. Your gifts are for you—they are unique to you. They are addressed to you. They bear your name, fit your personality, and are profitable for God’s significant plans for your life. They are God’s personal touch of love and grace to help you know even more how much he loves you and values you.
And although the gifts he offers you are uniquely yours and speak of God’s personal love for you, they serve a greater, corporate purpose. When you receive your grace-gifts, and Timmy receives his grace-gifts, and Sally receives her grace-gifts, the use or exercise of these gifts results in one corporate effect. Together, you and Timmy and Sally and whomever receives their unique gifts, become a visible presentation of the person of Christ through the employment of thoes gifts. The invitation of Paul is to receive grace to present Christ together.
Before we can understand these unique gifts, we must first understand the importance of this word "together," primarily because this is where Paul begins, but also because the gift will be useless unless we understand its corporate value.
Let us say, for example, that my grandmother wanted to give my sister and I the ability to go places when we were in our teens. To provide this for us, she gave us, for our October birthdays, unique gifts toward that end. Suppose she gave me a car and my sister a credit card for the unlimited purchase of gasoline. Unless we understood that the car needed the gas and that the gas needed a car, these gifts would have far less meaning to us. And, until we brought our gifts together, we would not have the ability to go places as my grandmother intended. In order to receive our unique gifts to present Christ, we must begin with understanding the importance of "together."
"As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." (Ephesians 4:1-3)
Using the words "together" and "unity" interchangeably, the lesson we need to learn about together is this: Unity happens. Paul did not tell us to receive the grace to be unified, nor did he say to get unified. "Make every effort," he wrote, "to KEEP the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." When you and I receive grace, unity happens. When Jesus stands among us and his presence and his words proclaim, "Peace be with you," that peace is our bond. We are united by that peace. The peace comes through the grace of God and that peace is our common joy. That peace frees us from competing against one another and comparing ourselves to one another. We are who we are in Christ, and with Christ as our peace, we share a common bond. You and I keep the unity of the Spirit by keeping Christ as our peace.
"There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called—" (Ephesians 4:4).
It takes one body to contain one spirit. Anything else is impossible! If you have one body, but more than one spirit, chaos reigns within that one body. If you need an example, I submit to you exhibit A—the United States Congress, primarily made up of two spirits, the spirit of the Democrats and the spirit of the Republicans. Now, because we are talking about sinful people trying to make the best of a chaotic world, it is perhaps good to have the checks and balances of two parties. But when we are talking about the inner being of a living organism, it is not good to have competing spirits. This is why God hates double-minded men! We cannot have one body and several spirits.
It is likewise impossible for us to have several bodies and one Spirit. If this were the case, where would the Spirit go? You might argue that the Spirit is able to fill heaven and earth and could indeed be in several bodies at one time, but the completion of that argument rejects the unifying power of the single-minded Spirit!
In the beginning, "the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being." (Gen. 2:7) This is the account of how God made us human. How has he made us his? You and I, before we believed, were the dust of the ground. We were dead in our trespasses and sins. Through faith, God has formed us from dust into one body. We have, Paul wrote, "one hope…one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." Then he breathed into us the breath of life—which is his Holy Spirit. We are, together, one body with one Spirit. (Ephesians 4:5-6). There is no other way by which the church is alive.
Having this unity of the Spirit demands that we keep that unity. Diversity preserves our unity.
But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says: ‘When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men." (Ephesians 4:7-8, quoting Psalm 68:18)
The King James version of Psalm 68:18 reads more accurately, "he led captivity captive." We are all captive! Either we are "the captivity"—slaves to sin and guilt—or we are the "captivity led captive" –slaves to righteousness. Either we are held captive by our sin nature or we have been captivated by Christ. There is no in-between. You might consider yourself fascinated by Christ, or intrigued by him, or leaning toward him, or even believing in him, but it is only those who are captivated by him who receive his grace. When he rose from the dead, he led captivity captive and gave gifts to men. He bears gifts for those who have been captivated by him, those who surrendered all to be his through faith.
Paul does not describe those gifts in his letter to the Ephesians. In other places we learn these gifts are an anointing from God. The word anointed means "having oil spread upon." It is the oil of God’s Spirit spreading upon you and transforming you in a way that allows the Holy Spirit to flow through you in greater measure and in a certain fashion. Some have the gift of prophecy. Others the gift of teaching or evangelism or administration and so on. Paul’s not addressing the question of what those gifts are. Apparently, we can assume he had already addressed that with them. Instead, we only learn in Ephesians what Paul wants to emphasize: The employment of these gifts looks quite diverse, but they serve a unifying purpose.
"It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s 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." (Ephesians 4:11-13).
The grace-gifts you receive make you able to do good works. For some, they receive the gifts that make them an apostle or a prophet or an evangelist or a pastor or a teacher, to prepare the others for their works of service. "But to each one of us, grace has been given as Christ apportioned it." His intent in giving gifts was so that all who are God’s workmanship can perform the works of service he prepared in advance for us to do until we will reach unity in the faith…until we all reach unity in the knowledge of the Son of God…and until we all become mature. It is then that we attain to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. We present Christ through our works of service. He becomes, through us, a gift presented to one another and to the world. He is only so presented when we receive the unique grace-gifts he gives and put them to use. Anything else is like receiving a car and having no fuel. Anything else is like having fuel and no car to put it in. We still can’t get anywhere.
"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 men in their deceitful scheming." (Ephesians 4:14).
Unless we receive the unique grace-gifts of Christ and put them to work, its life as usual for us. Unless we are presenting Christ with the grace we’ve received, we are not living on another level. The presence of God will never be revealed to us, through us, or in us, if we don’t receive our gifts and employ them in unity. In that case, we’re nothing other than ships adrift at sea. The waves decide which way we’ll go. We will be defined by the majority, by the politically correct, the pop culture, or by whatever else is hot for the day. There will be no anchor for our soul, no compass to define our right and wrong, and no hope of ever mooring again on the shores of God. Cunning men will deceive us. Crafty men will take advantage of us. And Christ will be nowhere to be seen.
"Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is Christ. From him, the whole body, joined together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work." (Ephesians 4:15-16)
Have you been captivated by Christ? Have you received the grace to possess him as your own? Then receive your gift, be prepared, and do your work.
Your TLC Group depends on you to employ your gifts. Have you received the gift of hospitality? Invite members of the group over for a meal so that the love of Christ can be presented.
Have you received the gift of evangelism? Then go with your fellow group member to visit that co-worker they brought to the dinner, so that the good news of Christ can be presented.
Have you received the gift of administration? Then keep an organized record of your groups prayers, so that the faithfulness of God can be presented.
Have you received the gift of teaching? Then take some of the other men or women in your group through a study of the names of God so that the glory of Christ may be presented.
Have you received the gift of prophecy? Then speak out for God boldly to your group so that the light of Christ may be presented.
Do you know what your gifts are? If you don’t know, we have a class called "Discovery" that will help you identify them. For now, let it be sufficient to understand and believe that Christ has unique gifts to apportion to you so that you can be prepared for the works of service he has prepared in advance for you to do.
You and I were dust. Now we are ligaments. That may not sound like much of a promotion, but when you put those ligaments together, a body is formed. The body of Christ. We are his hands. We are his feet. We are a visible expression of Christ. The Father has formed a body out of us and breathed life into us by giving us his Spirit. Receive the gifts. As long as there are those who are not a part of the body, as long as there are those who do not have knowledge of the Son of God, as long as there are those who are immature, being tossed back and forth and being blown here and there by every wind of teaching, receive the grace to present Christ…and do your
