Teachers of God's Word Are God's Gift To Us

We've been taking another look at spiritual gifts in the body of Christ, the church. We turn now to the second pair of texts commonly used in any discussion of gifts. However, before we go further it is vital that we take a look at the several Greek words translated into English as gift.

• Charisma—What is usually called a spiritual gift (1 Cor. 1:7, 12:4-31), including faith, healing, prophecy, tongues, etc. Love (Agape) is the greatest of the three eternal gifts that include faith and hope (1 Cor. 13:13). 
• Charisma—Also used to speak of salvation. The free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 5:15-16, 6:23). Refers to God's mercy toward both Jews and Gentiles. He is the Giver of all things (Rom. 11:29-36). 
• Dōma—Gifts parents give to their children (Matt. 7:11). Sometimes gifts are given and receivers are expected to return the favor (Phil. 4:17), something Paul did not seek. 
• Dōsis—Gifts churches give to support others (Phil. 4:15). A good thing, like Doma, that comes down from God the Father (James 1:17; Matt. 7:11). 
• Dōron—God's free gift is that we are saved by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8; Rom 3:24). Because we have received this gift by grace (charis), in gratitude and praise we offer back our lives (bodies) to God as as living sacrifices  (Rom. 12:1). 
• Dōrehma—Any free gift, also called a complete or perfect gift, from the heavenly Father (James 1:17; Rom. 5:16). 
• Dōrea—The Holy Spirit, the living water (John 4:10; Acts 2:38). Grace is also called a Dōrea (Rom 3:24, 5:15). 

The Apostles and Evangelists exhaust their vocabulary in speaking about gifts in order to emphasize that everything, everything we have is a gift, undeserved, unearned and certainly something that can never be given back to God as a way of earning His mercy and forgiveness. As Paul says, 

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! "For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?" "Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?" For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. - Rom 11:33-36 ESV (cf. Job 41:11). 

With this clearly in mind, we turn to Ephesians 4. We have each received God's grace, says the Apostle. How and when God measures out that grace is in God's hands. Whatever gifts we have are truly gifts, unearned and undeserved (Eph.4:7). We are therefore urged to use our gifts to serve one another as stewards or managers. So Peter writes, confirming what Paul has said,

As each has received a gift (charisma), use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: - 1Pe 4:10 ESV

 Paul continues, 

Therefore it says, "When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts (Dōmata) 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.) - Eph 4:8-10 ESV

What particular gifts (Dōmata) does the ascended Christ give to His people, His body, the church? He lists four groups of people:

1. Apostles
2. Prophets
3. Evangelists
4. Shepherd-teachers (pastors)

Remember how Paul emphasizes the importance of Apostles, Prophets and Teachers in his letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 12:28)? These people bring the Word of God to the Body. The Spirit works through that Word to create, sustain and strengthen faith in Christ (Rom. 10:17; 1 Cor. 4:15). Faith in Christ is the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God's gift. All and everything is God's gift. And since God does everything through His Word, those called to proclaim and teach God's Word are
absolutely essential to the body. Their task, writes the Apostle, is

to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. - Eph 4:12-16 ESV

The body is how Christ manifests Himself here on this earth (1 Cor. 12:27). This body is a living organism made up of many members. The head of the body is Christ Himself (Eph. 5:23). We each are members of His body, joined and held together by the joints, the places and times where and when we come together. Nurtured and nourished by the Spirit through the Word, we grow together into Christ. And as the body of Christ we strive together to share the message of God's love so that others too may receive the grace of God.

Part of the difficulty we face in dealing with this particular text in the context of our discussion of spiritual gifts is the disagreement about this list of four gifts. Are they offices in the church? Are the bishops or overseers (Acts 20:28) the people who have inherited the office of the apostles? Did Christ establish a distinctive ordering of those called into these offices? And what about those spiritual gifts discovery tools that suggest that any member of the church may potentially have the gift of pastor or teacher or prophet or apostle?

To answer these and related questions would take us far, far afield. We'd have to review the long history of clergy vs. laity, the teaching about vocations and callings and the distinctions between various levels of clergy. I'm not going there. Perhaps another day.

Suffice it to say for now that in Ephesians 4 Paul emphasizes the vital importance of those who proclaim and teach the Word of God in the body of Christ. Through those gifted by the Holy Spirit and called to these tasks the Spirit strengthens and grows the body to maturity. These people are gifts for which we give thanks and praise to God. We could not survive without them.

No Marriages In Heaven

In my last post I spoke about a trip we we were about to make and about the transiency of life. Our journey is over now. We are back home. We have completed our visit to a family reunion in Illinois. While there, I spoke with several widows. One of them commented that she still misses her husband greatly and is sad that the two of them will not be husband and wife in heaven. That, at least, is what she understands our Lord Jesus to have said, as recorded by the Gospel of Matthew.

The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question, saying, "Teacher, Moses said, 'If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up children for his brother.'

Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no children left his wife to his brother. So too the second and third, down to the seventh. After them all, the woman died. In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her."

But Jesus answered them, "You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven." (Matthew 22:23-30)

Jesus pointed the Sadducees to the Scriptures and the power of God. What Scriptures? Where is it written that men and women "neither marry nor are given in marriage" in the resurrection? Since the Sadducees looked primarily to the Torah or the five books of Moses as the Scriptural source of God's commands, it is best to move there. What does the Torah teach about marriage? We look to the very beginning of Creation and Genesis 2 where we read,

The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man."

Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. (Genesis 2:20-25).

The Apostle Paul interprets this passage as he discusses the relationship between a husband and wife.

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body.

"Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh."

This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. (Ephesians 5:18-33)

 Paul speaks about a great mystery. The mystery revealed through the Apostles is that God is a God of grace. His forgiveness and mercy have been revealed in Christ, mercy that extends to all mankind (Ephesians 3:6). It is grace, a gift. It cannot be earned. All mankind, all races, all genders, everyone is to be one flesh, one body in Christ. This has been God's eternal purpose from the beginning (Ephesians 3:9-11).

Even now in this present age Christian marriage reflects that plan. Wives reflect it by submitting to their husbands in everything just as the church submits to Christ. The word we translate as "submit" has obviously been a stumbling block for many wives. "In everything?" I've heard them ask. "You've got to be kidding."

The point is this: "the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior." What does that mean? Simply this. The body depends upon the head to nourish and cherish it. Eyes, ears, nose, mouth and brain are all located in the head. Cut off the head and the body dies. The head sees, hears, smells and tastes. This information is forwarded to the brain where it is interpreted. The mouth receives food and drink, tastes and swallows it. The body then receives it, absorbs it and is nourished and strengthened.

In the same manner, we are totally dependent upon Christ. We who are His body are utterly, totally and completely dependent upon His grace—all of us, regardless of age, size, race, culture or sex. This is why we respond in faith by exercising our wills, openly submitting, yielding to and obeying Jesus Christ as our Lord and God. We do it out of phobos, a Greek word often translated as "fear", a translation that needs to be expanded. It is more than "reverence" for Christ.  Fear of God in Christ has its roots in the O.T. It speaks of total awe, wonder, terror, dread, reverence, and respect for a perfectly holy, righteous, and just Creator. 


So all of us, male and female, willingly submit, subject and yield ourselves to the other members of the body out of phobos for Christ. We stand in wonder, awe, reverence, and the deepest respect before Him. He is our Head, Savior, Master, Redeemer and Lord. We respond to His grace by submitting ourselves to one another. 


In marriage this means that we husbands submit, subject and yield ourselves to our wives, acting as their heads. We nourish guide, protect and provide for our wives, all because we believe this is what Jesus, our Head, does for us. 


A Christian wife believes the same thing. Out of reverence (phobos) for Christ, she respects, subjects and yields herself to her husband. Paul actually uses the verb form of phobos when he speaks of this respect. His point is that the believing wife treats her husband as if  he were Christ. She shows her love for Jesus by this kind of respect for her husband. 


So where is all this going? Simply here. In the resurrection the mystery will be completed. In the new creation all of us will joyfully and willingly have only Jesus as our LORD and God. We will completely love, honor and serve Him and in so doing we will honor His Father (John 14:9-14). Marriage in this age is a type of Christ's union with His body, the church, His bride. He came to earth to unite us to Himself. We are made to be one with Him, His flesh and bone, but were are separated from Him by our sinful nature (Pss. 51:5; 58:3). We have now come with Him from the "deep sleep" of His death into a new life of oneness with Him. We are bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh. And when He returns the wonder of that gift will be fully realized. 


We have here but a glimpse of what that fullness will mean. On that day we will be like the angels, ever rejoicing together in His presence and power forever. We will certainly know one another in heaven. We will not miss our marriages nor pine away for their loss as do some widows in this age. Something more wondrous awaits us all, as we are bonded to our heavenly Husband and His Father and to one another in ways never before possible, even in marriage.