Jesus Gave
Out of His love for us, God sent Jesus, His Son, to die, to pay for our sins, and to offer us His righteousness. This transformative act made it possible for us to come under God’s favor and have an intimate relationship with Him as our Father. But that was just the beginning of the journey.
Jesus did much more than just pay for our sins and make us righteous as new creations. He did not want us to continue in ignorance and be ill-equipped as it pertains to the kingdom and its work.
Ephesian 4:11 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.
The plan and purpose are not hidden from us in the Scriptures. The New Covenant way of disciple-making is not a mystery, nor is the proper care of the church.
Jesus called some, not all, to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. Some are called to these functions, but not all. The ones called to these areas have a specific purpose.
These are not mere moments when a person in the church moves a certain way. These were offices or callings carried out by those gifted by Jesus for these functions specifically.
The Scriptures do not say that Paul merely acted as an apostle at times; Paul said clearly he was an apostle called by Jesus, and the same was true of Peter and the others. There were a total of 16 apostles beyond the twelve original ones. So we also know that apostle was not just a title given to the men Jesus initially called. There were also New Covenant prophets, such as Agabas. Philip, a deacon in the first church, was an evangelist. It is evidenced in his ministry. Stephen was a teacher, as evidenced clearly by his clear and concise speech just before he was martyred.
The purpose of these callings is not to become famous, important, or wealthy at the expense of the saints. In fact, they are not at the expense of the saints but rather to the blessing and benefit of the saints, and often, at times, they are at their own expense. These are gifts from Jesus that were given to the church for her edification, not the other way around. The church does not exist to serve these gifts. These gifts exist to serve the church.
What stands out to me is the body of Christ’s need for these gifts from Jesus. These gifts are needed for the church to attain the maturity and ministry meant for her. They lead the church into the unity of the faith and ground the church in proper doctrine so that believers are not tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine. It is not one singular gift that accomplishes this well-rounded and full-orbed development of the church. It is the benefit of all these gifts.
The kind of growth Jesus is looking for is the growth that occurs as a result of these gifts working properly in the church for the church so that He is clearly seen as the head of the church and every member is being edified and built up in such a way as not to be taken over by pet peeves and singular issues. Churches need more than just their pastor or elders to be fully equipped. They need more than just a favorite prophet to be helped to fulfill all that Jesus intends. Jesus wants them to grow up into all things, not just one singular thing. Jesus wants His bride to have a full life filled with Him! These gifts He gives to the church are His way of making sure that happens, and it is not good for any leadership of the church to keep them away from the bride. Jesus gave, and what He gave is good when it is rightly valued and applied. No one man has all there is that the church needs. Every church needs what Jesus gave!
