Preparation work required for God’s people for works of service V1 Live a life worthy of the calling you have received
How?
v2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient; bearing with one another in love.
Humble to receive, gentle with the calling = gift
Patient to wait for results Bearing with one another in love – Tolerating each other – each endure one another as we are all in diversity
Bearing- to suffer without complaining A life worthy of the calling = service to God = constantly attacked by the evil ones:
Ephesians 6:12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
V3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace Why?
V4-6 There is one body and one Spirit – just as you were called to one hope when you were called – one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over and through all and in all.
Let compare V5 and V6
V5 One Lord = V6 Over all. He is Lord, King of King. He is the Lord, thus he can be considered to be Over all, over all things. Where over can means ruler / Lordship.
V5 One faith = V6 Through all. It is faith that brings us through all things. Faith in Lord is one basis, a point in life where we start to ask from him, a trigger for our desire and a direction change of focus to him to become the source of all
V5 One baptism = V6 In all. Baptism, from our church practise involves immersion, which in terms, in water. As there is only one baptism in our life, we can be in all of God’s given life and blessing once we went through that one baptism. After baptism, we are going into a new life, new beginning that God has given us. Thus One baptism can be related to In all.
As these are interesting side point for ponder, we can somewhat agree in a way that unity can be maintained with bond of peace = diplomacy. Incidents and events in history can prove that there exists some situation where peace can be the mediator of unity.
V7 Recognise the grace and blessing that Christ have apportioned
V8b “When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men.” →V1a As a prisoner for the Lord = prisoner of the world but for the Lord!
V11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelist and some to be pastors and teachers The chapter begins with “As a prisoner for the Lord”, coupled with verse 11 that speaks of him being the one who gave us the gifts, which are the appointments of role for us in the family of God. The talents and blessings he have given us for his purpose, for his glory, and also creating chances for us, the best knowing way for us to know him more in depth through ministry and daily walk. Recognising the grace and blessing that Christ have apportioned to us is a gesture similar to acknowledge his sacrificial death as atonement for our sin on the cross. Just as we receive a new life as we believe Christ as our saviour, we too receive the calling, the grace and blessing that Christ have apportioned as we recognise it was him who gave some to be .., and he ascended on high, led captives in his train (his pathway) and gave gifts to men. V9-10 further illustrate he ascend and descend, the details to increase our understanding of his action.
A profound equation between one body and one spirit to one hope that we are all called to. There is a relationship between one body & one spirit with the hope. Body = world, spirit = heavenly. One hope = Christ/ God.
Why prepare God’s people for works of service?
V12b-13 Work of service 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
Work of service allows us to have opportunities to put our faith upon God on things. “Chances” for God to work in our lives, knowing how God works via prayer and his Hand. Just like working together hand in hand with God. More contact time = more chance of interaction = better knowledge of God.
Maturity comes as we experience more with works of service. One can’t deny that through works of service after being prepared for it, that he would be able to understand and learn with the guidance of the Holy spirit, become mature in the way he/she thinks and attain the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Doing the service itself have so much to yield, and the experience taken back are far more valuable that the books that we read. Thus why some experiences are sometimes hard to pen down.
V14 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.
Reasoning, processing verse of the results that are attained for v12b-13. Mature = no longer be infants. Attaining the whole measure of the fullness of Christ = we are saints. Yeah saints that have the wisdom and communication with God that our concern is of God and not of man, thus we will not be blown here and there, just like the spirit, but our spirit is guided by the Holy one. A spirit can be blown here and there by every wind of teaching and the schemes of men. However, one that have the knowledge of Christ, in unity of spirit through the bond of peace, as a saying, the more the merrier, the more the stronger too.
With V 12-14 may be too difficult and wide to cope and comprehend, V15 further simplify matters with: “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ” After reasoning, a generalising point, speaking the truth IN LOVE. We can just plainly speak the truth, but we know that sometime the truth hurts, and the truth may be a hard pill, or a pill that is hard to swallow. The truth, the word of God, in his spirit, that we will in all things grows up into him who is the Head. This reaffirms points that were mention beforehand:
“Grows up into him” – Mature, no longer be infants “In all things”- Attaining the whole measure of the fullness
Combining these two phrases, we will have fulfilled what was mentioned in V13b, mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ
Here, too, firstly introduced that Christ is the head of the Body, where we grow into him. Grow into him, can be interpreted as growing to be like him, growing towards him, growing to know him more. This point is further illustrated in V16, “From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”
From him, whom is the centre of things, the centre focus, we are all joined together. As explained in Biology, the head is where our brain is located. It is too, where all our actions, temperature, movement, reactions are controlled. Similar to Christ, He is the one who control all things, who to be saved, how are we going to save them, who to pray for, what to pray for, how our lives can be lived best for him in order for the best for us with the radiance for the glory of God. As supporting ligament can wear and tear, thus we have to grow and build itself up in love. The key words are grow, build, and in love. We can grow and build, but not in love, only with the objective of getting what we want, what we wish to obtain from God. Then how are we going to attain unity in the Body of Christ? We can grow and build in love, but however without each part doing its work, it is still the same effect. Imagine the heart say one day that he want to take a break from his work, then how would the other part of the body get their fresh blood transport goods, and get their waste transport. Similar to that of lungs with oxygen. As a Body of Christ, with Him as the head, from Him we are that joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. Every word is important and just leaving as one of them out will not allow us to attain the unity in The Body of Christ, Unity of the Spirit.
Application: What are the steps that we should take?
Remember the steps:
1. Live a life worthy of the calling you have received
2. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace
3. Recognise the grace and blessing that Christ have apportioned From these steps on, remember the final stop, where is the ending point.
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