Growing Together (Ephesians 4:7-16)

It is important when thinking about biblical truth to remember that it usually involves other people in addition to ourselves. Paul here is explaining the unity of the church, a unity that will not be realised fully until Jesus returns. So it is not something that will occur in our lifetime unless we happen to be part of the final generation. He wants his readers to bear that future reality in mind. Yet we have to ask what we should do as the church before its final state appears. Because, after all, we live in a world of spiritual problems. So here are two details to consider and bear in mind.

First, there is the divine provision of grace. Paul continues his explanation of the unity of the church and what the bases are for it. He reminds his readers that every Christian can and should contribute to this unity because each has received grace through Christ’s gift. The apostle knows that there are different types of believers, but we should remember that each has received grace from Christ, whoever they are. Grace has different meanings depending on what a writer means by it. The meaning of grace here seems to be connected to the gifts that Paul mentions.

 

Second, Jesus has fulfilled some prophecies already. In order to appreciate any situation as believers, we should remind ourselves where Jesus is and what he is doing. Paul does this here when he applies some verses of Psalm 68 to the ascension of Jesus. Initially, the verses describe the campaign of Israel from Sinai to Zion, and the psalm may have been written to celebrate the arrival of the ark of the covenant at Mount Zion. A greater fulfilment of the psalm occurred in the journey of Jesus to heaven. The ascension was the reward of a battle that Jesus fought (he defeated the powers of darkness and made them his captives) and now he shows his complete victory by giving gifts to his people.

 

Paul then says that the aim of Jesus since his ascension is to ‘fill all things’. This description in the context indicates at least two things. First, the completed filling has not happened yet and, second, the completed filling will have something to do with the final unity of God’s people. So Jesus is engaged in a process that will bring about a definite result. After all, if everything is filled with the same thing, there must be unity; and if everything is filled with good things, then it will be a wonderful unity.