SCHOOL OF DIORTHORSIS
29TH NOVEMBER 2022
Minister: Pst Seyi Osayinbi
Text: Ephesians 4:1-32
The fullness of Christ shows all the components we need as a believer for our building up. We need to know what is required for each one of us to develop. An example is Jesus Christ, who at some point, was the Word, then He became flesh and then the Christ. When He resurrected, He had flesh and bones although He does not live any longer on the power of the blood. Everything created in the seen and unseen realm was made for and by Him. Each being or creature is unique and has a trait of the Godhead. This applies both in the physical and spiritual realms. They all carry a part of God’s DNA although not in a perfect form. The lion, lamb, dove e.t.c all show a different aspect of God. In Christ Jesus however, the whole piece scattered across creation is knitted and the fullness of God is seen. There are certain traits we share with God as humans. It does not matter our differentiations and race, we carry God’s image and have things in common we share with him.
Ephesians 4:4 charges us to maintain peace with all men. Although it requires effort and is not often easily arrived at, we need to strive for it. There is just one body of Christ, one spirit and we all have one hope of calling. What some refer to as destiny is actually the hope of calling. We all have one hope of calling.
Ephesians 4:7
The body of Christ each has its measure in the body. The Lord Jesus Himself has the fullness of all the measures and is the head of the body. The principle that played out when God rained manna also showed that each person has in measure. When one person takes more than is needed, the manna gets spoils and if one takes below measure, he goes hungry. We are to work based on the measure we have been given. This is why Jesus gave men gifts in measure of graces. An operation of measure is seen when Jesus fed the multitude, He blessed and broke the fish and bread, and gave his disciples to distribute to the crowd. One disciple gets the food and then a miracle takes place. The miracle of multiplication took place in the hands of the disciple till each disciple had one extra basket left. The gift of Christ is about you sharing and multiplying your life.
The reason gifts were given according to verse 8 of Ephesians 4 is for the perfecting of the saints. Many other translations did justice to explaining this verse. God’s work for the ministers is to prepare the people to do the work of God. They equip the church to do the work of God everywhere. Although in the early church, it was only the apostles that did the great work, the church did not grow till Paul and Barnabas came in and spread the will of God in the church. They were able to discern and equip the church for expansion, church growth, and maturity.
Creation is indeed waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God. The works of service that the church is supposed to do is embedded in the scriptures. Sometimes, a particular gifting might not exist in the units organised in the local church. There are different grace and gifting. The gifts are in the custody of the Holy Spirit and cannot be boxed. We need to understand our calling in other to find expression. The gifts are given for the edifying of the saints and they will continue until the whole body comes to fullness. The gift of the prophets, pastors, teachers, etc will continue to exist until we all come to the unity of the faith. The challenge however is that these gifts are sometimes not recognised and nurtured. What unlocks the work of service is the anointing.
Although gifts manifest differently, it is the same spirit that is at work. How the Holy Spirit works with men in operating these giftings needs to be learned. The mechanism of doing service also needs to be learned. We must know how and when the mechanism of the spirit works. It has to be learned and passed unto others. The scriptures capture all the processes but individual giftings have to be thoroughly known so as to be able to test the giftings and discern when the real and fake are being manifested. Paul had to explain how he is able to claim his identity as an apostle. He had signs to show for it. God may anoint a man to occupy a particular office with a gift. However, the man needs to learn the principles that will show the signs that the calling and anointing are true by manifesting the signs that are associated with that gift.
These four things show the fullness of Christ and the perfect man as mentioned in Ephesians 4:13. Galatians 4:2-3 shows us the place of time in coming to maturity. It is not dependent on physical growth but on spiritual expansion. For growth to occur, we need to have earned the trust of God in handling the status of the gift. Grace can be impacted. When that is done, the person does not have the same measure as the person that impacts. Each person needs to learn from one another to grow equally and mature rightly. God intentionally shared the grace and anointing for us to learn from one another no matter the gifts we have. We need meekness and humility to learn from one another and come to the fullness of Christ while having a portion of each gift that helps bring about maturity.
Ephesians 4:13 explained a measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ that we all need to come into. We may not have the ability to create or give life as Christ would, we can, however, come into the realms of forgiving sins as He did. We can say “your sin is forgiven you” by the authority given unto us. Paul is an example of those who made use of this authority. In his epistles to the churches, there were some commandments he gave and he told them it was from him, not the Lord. Maturity brought him there. We are to come and demonstrate the measure of the fullness of Christ that is given to us as Christ has distributed it. Jesus may not return until we have come into fullness. Creation awaits earnestly for this manifestation. That is when the father can hand over the government of this world to His Christ and some casting down can be done.