Brethren, grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it is said, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” (in saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is he who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 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.
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Ephesus was a major cosmopolitan city in Asia Minor, a provincial capital as well as a busy port. It was a thoroughfare between the East and West. It was a city full of bustle and idolatry. It was known for its outstanding temple devoted to the goddess Artemis, who was the subject of intense local patriotism and pride and her devotion was attended to with enthusiasm. Paul arrived in Ephesus in approximately 54 A.D. where he found the nascent Christian church struggling to survive. There were approximately a dozen of Apollo’s old converts who knew only of the baptism of John the Baptist. Paul rebaptised them in the name of the Trinitarian Christ and resumed the ministry of the church.
Paul, successfully preaching opposition to the pagan temple of Artemis to the point where the citizens turned on Paul because he was successful in converting in large numbers of people thus endangering their economic activity of making and selling charms of the pagan gods. Paul then left Ephesus to go to Jerusalem and then he found himself in prison in Rome by the spring of 61 A.D.
So, it is from prison in Rome that Paul writes to the Ephesians. The epistle was written at the time when he was on trial for his life yet the Epistle radiates joy and not distress. Despite his peril, Paul is filled with admiration at the goodness of God in his mercy to all.
Paul now writes to the Ephesians extolling them to keep fast in the faith. He reminds them there is only one God, only one body, only one spirit, only one Lord, only one faith and only one baptism, all under God the Father of us all who is over all and through all and in all. Paul now talks of grace which comes to each according to their talents. This implies that there is diversity amongst the congregation but, for all that, there is but one body. Notwithstanding that we all receive God’s gifts; we receive them in accordance with our respective capacity to receive the and the spiritual gifts distributed by the Lord forms part of the riches of His ascended glory for his believing people.
Paul then talks of Christ, who ascended to heaven, and in so doing sent down spiritual gifts to his adherents and disciples. These gifts freely given are many and varied. Some may have been given the gift of being apostles, some are gifted to be prophets, others teachers, others evangelists, others teachers and others shepherds with each one receiving grace in accordance with their respective talents.
Paul then looks at the ascending and descending of Christ. He reasons that if Christ remained as God, then he did not descend to earth. Given that he appeared amongst his people, Christ must have descended and hence he must have taken a human body for that descent to have meaning. It is only after his having taken human body that it can be said that he ascended bodily above all the heavens and, in so doing, filled and fulfilled all things. These things are given by Christ to the church, not in some precious way, but rather as part of his glorification in which we are made to share, which sharing forms an intrinsic part of our own theosis. The ministries given to the church are for building up of the church and for the equipping of the saints. Of course, by saints we mean the faithful laity who prefer the work of service and building the church. It is not just for the clergy. The job of the clergy is to minister to the saints that they may do their work for the church. Saint Paul is not trying to compose a blueprint or handbook for church order. Rather his extolling all to maturity and holiness so that we can all work together to attain the unity of the faith. The spiritual gifts that we are given and the individual diversity which we may have been gifted are gifted to us so that we may strive to build up the church of Christ and to serve our neighbour. All these gifts are given only for this purpose so it is for this purpose that we must all use the individual callings and gifts– not to glorify ourselves and to think that somehow, we are more important that our neighbours but rather to act in the service of others in the body of the church. The ministries declared in the church are for the purpose of equipping the saints, in other words, to complete whatever deficiency they may have. Thus Paul is saying that all gifts and offices of the church have as their purpose to provide the faithful with all they need to do their job. And what is the job of the faithful, of the holy laity? That job is to do the work of service and building up of the body of Christ. It is only as we serve one another that true growth in the body is possible and the church is built.
This equipping of the saints to do their holy work of building the church is to go on until the final goal is reached – and the final goal is that of a spiritual maturity. This maturity is described as unity with one another in the faith and walking with one another in peace and love. Since the church is unity itself, it is reflective of the unity of the Godhead. Thus, our full maturity in God necessarily involves our unity with one another. Therefore, if we have no peace with our Christian brothers, we have no true peace with God, and any perceived peace that we may have with God is an illusion.
Also, it is in this way that we attain a real knowledge of the son of God. As mature believers we don’t just know about the son of God – we know him personally. Our life now consists of a relationship with him in which we know, by experience, the God we serve. We can testify to the words of the great psalm given to the church: “what God is so great as our God? You are the God who does wonders” (77:13 – 14). It is in this way that we become spiritually mature and we put away our childish things and become fully grown men.
This maturity is described as attaining a measure of the stature and fullness of Christ. When we are fully grown we shall be like him and conform entirely to his image. Thus, as we reach spiritual maturity we are no longer vulnerable or at risk as immature children of being gullible and thus easily deceived. In the world there are those who always seek our downfall and the immature are taken in by these tricksters. Our spiritual maturity gives us immunity against tricksters and conmen and all the lies that they promote. It also helps to bring us closer to God – which after all is our purpose on this earth.
