Day 151: What is Jesus’ Plan for His Church?
Jesus has a vision for His Church. He has given us what we need – more specifically who we need – so that we can grow to maturity In Him. Understanding Jesus’ purposes for us is critical to understanding the role of the Church in our lives and in the World.
WORDwork:
Ephesians 4:11–16
And He himself [Jesus Christ] gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 4:12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, that is, to build up the body of Christ, 4:13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God—a mature person, attaining to the measure of Christ’s full stature.
4:14 So we are no longer to be children, tossed back and forth by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching by the trickery of people who craftily carry out their deceitful schemes. 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ, who is the head. 4:16 From Him the whole body grows, fitted and held together through every supporting ligament. As each one does its part, the Body grows in love.
What types of people has Jesus given to us according to verse 11?
What is the purpose of giving these people according to 4:12?
What is the goal or the results expected in giving this people to us according to 4:13?
Based on what you know by now, what does it mean to “attain to the measure of Christ’s full stature”?
What are we no longer to be according to 4:14? What does this mean?
Who are we growing up into according to 4:15? What do we do that allows us to do this?
Summarize 4:16 in your own words.
This short passage from Ephesians is one of the clearest, most succinct statements of the Vision and Mission of the Church in the New Testament. It answers many of the questions that we discussed last week. We could analyze it this way: Christ has given us the MEANS (4:11, 4:15a-16) for the PURPOSE (4:12a) of accomplishing the GOALS (4:12b-4:13) and achieving the RESULTS (4:14, 4:15b) He has in mind for us. Let’s take a closer look at all this.
We are all being built up toward two GOALS.
First, let’s take a look at the passage by talking about the GOALS then the MEANS and finally the RESULTS. There are two main Goals in this passage.
Until we ALL attain to Oneness of the Faith. Notice that this Oneness is “of the faith.” The first way to understand what this means is to realize that all of us who call on the name of the Lord Jesus are united in One Faith in One Person. Our shared trust, belief in Jesus is what binds us together in His Body. Our Oneness flows out of the reality that we are all on the same “team;” we are all a part of the same Kingdom in Christ; we are all part of the One Body. Remember, it is this Oneness that we exhibit as believers that gives evidence of the reality of who Jesus is. This Oneness of faith is closely tied together with the next aspect of the goal: knowledge of the Son of God.
Until we ALL attain to the Mature Person/Christlikeness. We have already heard that Father God is now transforming us, conforming us to the likeness, the image of the Lord Jesus (Romans 8:29). In Ephesians 4, the “knowledge of the Son of God” implies a practical, personal, experiential knowledge of Jesus that promotes our spiritual growth and maturity. This is not just knowing facts and information about Jesus; this is knowing Jesus as a living person.
As we “grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus” (2 Peter 3:18) we will become more and more like Him. We become like the people we spend time with. As we spend time with the Lord, we will become like Him. The Lord does not want us to remain “children,” spiritually speaking. We desires that we all grow up in the truth, transformed to reflect His glory, full of grace and truth.
Gifted People are the MEANS Christ has given to us.
In order to attain these goals, Jesus has given Five types of gifted people to us: 1) Apostles, 2) Prophets, 3) Evangelists, 4) Shepherds, and 5) Teachers. Take note: these gifts are people. These are not just gifts of ability and service as we will discuss later, these are types of people Christ has given to His body. We will deal with each of these types of people next week and describe who they are and how they all contribute to our growth and equipping.
For now, simply take note that Jesus has given us a “team” to train and equip us for the purposes that He has called us to. This should not surprise us; God Himself has always been part of a “team”—Father, Son and Spirit, when Jesus came to us He trained a team of 12 Apostles to carry His message forward. As we will see next week, each of these types of people have been given to us both to serve the greater purposes of Jesus in the world and to invest a part of their ministry in us so that we have a complete or full vision of what Jesus is doing.
Take note of this statement about the reason or PURPOSE these people have been given to us: “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, that is, to build up the body of Christ.” These types of people have been given to us all to train and equip us for ministry, service. (In the New Testament, the word for “ministry” is really the word for service, that is what ministry is) Remember: we have all been called to be saints.
The passages highlights the truth that we all have a role, a part to play in this process: “As each one does its part, the Body grows in love.” Love is the context, the “soil,” in which the Body grows. Love becomes the motivation for all we do and Paul sums this up in 4:15: “speaking the truth in love.” The Body of Christ is “held together” by each of us and the ministry/service that Christ has gifted us to share with the rest of the Body.
The RESULTS:
Finally we see the RESULTS of this process: 1) we will no longer be “spiritual children” tossed around by false teaching and 2) we, The Body, will grow up into the Head, Christ. As you can see the GOALS and RESULTS are linked together. These are all ideas and truths that we have touched on in previous study units. The main, BIG PICTURE to keep in mind is simply that Christ is working in us and with us to make us like Himself and we ALL have a significant role to play in that work.
Did anything grab your attention in today’s reading? If so, why?
*Take a few minutes to re-read the Ephesians 4:11-16 passage and make sure you can follow the flow of thought. Ask the Lord to give you insight into the passage as you read.
*You can find a complete list of all the MilktoMeat readings here.
