God wants Christians to be unified in the Spirit. And to help that to happen, he gave gifts to each believer.
Read Ephesians 4:7-10.
God wants all of us to live together in unity. But he doesn’t intend for all of us to be exactly the same. Jesus himself has graciously given each believer gifts to help each of us to do what he wants us to. In verse 8, Paul quoted Psalm 68:18 to emphasize the gifts God gives. But he didn’t quote it exactly. In the psalm, God received gifts from men, but Paul says that he gives gifts to men. Why did he do that? Let’s take a look. In Psalm 68, David is talking about God conquering his enemies and taking the spoil of war. But it also talks about the women dividing the spoil of war. When a king defeated another country, he would take things from the conquered and give them to his people. So, Paul seems to be thinking this way when he quotes Psalm 68. Not only did God receive gifts, but he also gave to his people. In Ephesians 4, Jesus is the king who has conquered sin and now gives gifts to each believer. In fact, with these gifts from God, each of us becomes a gift to God. After descending to the earth, dying on the cross, and being buried, Jesus ascended above all the heavens and fills everything. What that means is that Jesus rules over every part of the universe. In that sense, he fills everything in the universe. In our next lesson, we will see what gifts he has given to us.
- 1. True or False: God intends for all Christians to be exactly the same.
- What Psalm does Paul quote in verse 8?
- Paul doesn’t quote the psalm exactly right. Why did he do that?
- How does Jesus fill all things?
