Read the full transcript below:
“There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” – Ephesians 4:4-6
As we transition into the second half of Ephesians, Paul wants us to put the truths he expounded on in the first half into perspective. The first three chapters have been very doctrinal; the final three chapters will be very practical. In other words, now that he has told us what God has done for us, he wants us to see what God wants to do through us.
Our role as believers is simply to allow God to use us as His hands and feet to do what He has already enabled us to do. Easier said than done, right? He has called each of us to something specific and significant, and He desires that our calling be lived out cooperatively among all the saints in the body of Christ. We have seen through our study of Ephesians how God desires that all would find their identity in Christ and in Him alone. We are no longer to be identified by the choices we make, the work of our hands, or (gasp!) by the nation we pledge our allegiance to. We are Christ’s and we are one with Him, along with every other true believer in Jesus.
It’s important to note that though there is now no distinction among the saints in regards to our standing in Christ, it does not mean that God wants a bunch of clones running around the church. God celebrates diversity; in fact, the Scripture refers to the manifold wisdom (Eph. 3:10) and grace (1 Pet. 4:10) of God. The word “manifold” in the Greek means “of various colors.” In his 1st epistle, Peter speaks of how God has given everyone specific gifts according to His manifold grace and it is our responsibility to be good stewards over how they are used to edify each other.
The world teaches unity through conformity, which may keep the peace but ultimately it falls short of what God desires for us. This counterfeit, man-made “unity” is achieved by ignoring differences and convincing us that we’re all the same. But our differences, specifically as Christians, are engineered within us by the hand of a multi-faceted, creative God for the betterment of the body of Christ as a whole. Because these differences are from God, the only way we can achieve true unity is by yielding our lives to the Grand Designer of them. His Spirit will reveal our differences, and teach us to love and celebrate them. Not just love in spite of them, which is often the world’s philosophy, but by teaching us to embrace the different quirks and bents of each individual so as to glorify Christ and accomplish the unity that He desires.
We are all a part of His body, and just like any human body each part is different for a reason and has its own role to perform in order for the body to function to its fullest capacity. Perhaps one person has great spiritual vision and would be considered “the eye” in the body of Christ; another person may have an overwhelming love and compassion for others and would represent “the heart.” Me, on the other hand, I would be “the mouth.” Sometimes the “loud-mouth” would be more appropriate, because I love to talk about and communicate the things of God. Unfortunately, many of us live our Christian lives thinking we’re merely “the tonsils” or “the appendix.” We’re a part but not a vital part. We don’t know our exact purpose and therefore we feel like we can be easily removed with no lasting effect on the body.
If that’s you, then ask the Holy Spirit to open the eyes of your understanding so that you may come to the knowledge of Christ, and the integral part that God has prepared for you to play. When each individual member yields to the Holy Spirit, He will use our idiosyncrasies to knit us together under the banner of His Love. Then the world will see our love for one another and the good works God is doing through us and glorify the Father. You see, when we allow God to build His Church, His Way, the Church as a whole is fully able to perform its primary role – to shine as a beacon of faith, hope, and love to a dying world.
“…but, speaking the truth in love, may (we) grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—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.” – Ephesians 4:15-16