Tues.’s Devo - Gifts to the Church

Read: Ephesians 3:1-5:14
The fact that God had planned from the foundation of the earth to extend the same grace and mercy to the Gentiles as to the Jews was a new revelation God had kept a secret until now. It was Paul’s mission to get this revelation out to the people. It came through much suffering on Paul’s part but he told the people that he was honored to to suffer for them.
I have been reading in the New Living Translation but today they totally missed the meaning. When it says that Christ descended they implied that he descended to earth but the Greek words mean that Christ descended to Hades. He left the grave and went down to the cities of refuge under the earth where the ones that died were sleeping. He preached “captivity captive” and took the keys to death, hell, and the grave with him as well as the many people that believed in his preaching. These people had never had the opportunity to accept Christ because he hadn’t come yet. These were the people that Matthew 27:51-53 talked about walking the streets of Jerusalem after his ascension.
Paul listed the gifts Christ gave to the church: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. Many churches are functioning without all of Christ’s gifts - how much better they would function if they received the gifts God had for them. These gifts are to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. They will continue to operate in these gifts until we all come into unity, mature and become the complete standard of Christ.
Paul rebuked them for telling lies, letting their anger get out of control, stealing, using abusive language, sexual sins and not forgiving. Instead he told them to live a life full of love, following Jesus’ example. We are to flee evil and live in righteousness that comes from knowing God.
Lord, help us to hate evil and love good. May we embrace the gifts that you have given the church and seek to find the gift that we are.