God's Grace is for All

Ephesians 4 – But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

Ephesians 4:7-12 ESV

Christ Jesus, I ask for an open heart today. I ask you to show me new things as I dive into your Word. Help me to see the wisdom in your literature and reveal new ways for me to grow closer to you. Amen

Hello friends! Last week Marcie reviewed the first verses of our study, highlighting the important theme of unity in the body of Christ. This theme continues throughout the entire chapter, so I encourage you to keep that in the back of your mind as we begin reviewing the next few verses.

Paul states in verse 7, “grace was given to each one of us.” I’m going to pause right there. Let’s remember what grace means: receiving something we did not deserve. This points to the best gift of all, the forgiveness we receive from God for every bad thing we do (aka sin), when we believe the gospel story of Jesus dying on the cross for us. The best part- God's grace is for ALL.

For many years, I ran with the belief that God only blessed the Israelite's in the beginning. He chose them, and thus only worked in “their” lives in biblical times. But my recent study revealed something different- he blessed ANYONE who wanted to follow him. Yes- God chose the Israelite's and they were set apart as a nation, but he also opened the doors for any “alien or foreigner” to serve Him and be a part of his chosen people. He watched over them and asked the Israelite's to treat them well (Psalm 146:9, Leviticus 19:33-34). He allowed outsiders to be in the lineage of Jesus such as Rahab and Ruth (Matthew 1:5, Joshua 2, Ruth 1:4). But as all fallen humans do, the Israelite's changed their rules, ignoring God’s intent and separated themselves fully from Gentiles. They didn’t want them to have the same love and care from God (see our history of Ephesians post for more details). But Paul reminds the people in Ephesus that grace is given to all!

He goes on to quote a psalm “When he ascended on high, he led a host of captives and gave gifts to men.” Paul is quoting Psalms 68:18: "When you ascended on high, you took many captives; you received gifts from people, even from[a] the rebellious— that you,[b] LORD God, might dwell there."

This psalm was written by King David, he was prophesying what Jesus would come to do. He knew that once Jesus ascended, he would free both Jews and Gentiles, all those who rebel, allowing God to dwell everywhere.

Paul goes on to note that not only did Jesus ascend back into Heaven, (Mark 16:19, Luke 24:51) but first descended past earth and into the grave.

Our God decided to take on our earthly problems. He came to experience life and death. The good and the bad. He suffered from hunger, thirst, and weariness. He felt the sun on his back and the toil of a day’s work. He had to learn to live with brothers and sisters. He had to obey his parents. He loved people. He made friends. He laughed. He cried. He experienced it all. Through him coming to earth, he can relate to us.

Through his descent and ascension he built up the apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds to equip us saints for the work of ministry (vs 11-12). It is through Christ that not only the first teachers and apostles were gifted, but they live on in us today.

If you are a worker in the church (teaching, preaching, evangelizing), know that you are doing this through Christ. You are called through his power to equip the church. For those of us saints (the church), we need to remember to listen to those meant to teach us and use this teaching to build up the body of Christ and work in ministry. This ministry could be through loving our neighbors, taking care of the poor, or helping the hurt.

These things are what build up the church and bring people to God. No matter where you sit in the body of Christ- you have a purpose. And that purpose stems from God’s grace.

Romans 12:3 for the grace given to me I say to everyone among you to not think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgement each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

This week we encourage you to dwell on this passage. Pray it over your life, ask for help in the areas where you need it and go out of your way to practice each step along the way.

Serving with you,

Nicole C.