«　WEEK 5　DAY 4　»

　　Eph. 4:8 “Having ascended to the height, He led captive those taken captive and gave gifts to men.”

　　16 Out from whom all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.

　　We may distinguish between something that is perfect, or complete, organically and something that is perfect according to its function. At birth, an infant is perfect organically; that is, the infant has all the necessary organs. However, a child is not functionally perfect at birth…. In order to develop properly and to function normally, every child needs to be nourished and cherished. This principle also applies to the church as the new man. In Ephesians 2:15 we see the creation of the new man organically, but in 4:13-16 we see the perfecting of the new man in relation to his function.

　　Ephesians 4:16 is an extremely important verse….Our growth in life is to grow into the Head, Christ, but our function in the Body is to function out from Him. The phrase each one part refers to every member of the Body. Every member of the Body of Christ has its own measure which works for the growth of the Body. The Body causes the growth of itself through the supplying joints and working parts. The growth of the Body is the increase of Christ in the church, which results in the building up of the Body itself. (Life-study of Ephesians, pp. 767-768)

　　In Ephesians 2 …we have the birth of the new man, but not the function of the new man. At birth, the new man is organically perfect; however, he is not yet able to function. Just as a child needs to be perfected through nourishing and cherishing, so the organically perfect new man needs to be perfected through the growth of life in order to function in a proper way.

　　Through the growth spoken of in chapter 4, the new man comes into function. Through the operation in the measure of each part, the Body grows unto the building up of itself in love. The creation of the new man was the responsibility of the Lord alone. We have nothing whatever to do with this. But we must fulfill our responsibility to perfect the new man through nourishing and cherishing. As the new man is perfected in this way, he grows and becomes perfect functionally.

　　The new man can become perfect in relation to his functions only through receiving the proper nourishment. In Ephesians 4:8 we are told that the ascended Christ gave gifts to men. The gifts here do not refer to abilities for service, but to the gifted persons mentioned in verse 11—apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers. After conquering them and rescuing them from Satan and death through His death and resurrection, Christ in His ascension makes rescued sinners such gifts with His resurrection life and gives them to His Body for its building up. Hence, the four kinds of gifted persons mentioned in verse 11 are those who have been endued with a special gift. These gifted ones are given “for the perfecting of the saints unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ” (v. 12). The more the saints are perfected, the more they grow. Through growth their function comes forth, and they function according to the effectual working in their measure.

　　Christ is wrought into us to become our life, our person, and our everything. Then we minister to others the very Christ who has been wrought into us. I believe that the day is coming when everyone in the local churches will be a functioning member….The more we grow by being nourished and cherished, the more we shall function properly in the church life. If the saints are absolute with the Lord, in a relatively short time many will come into function. I have the full assurance in the Lord that soon this will be the situation in the Lord's recovery. (Life-study of Ephesians, pp. 768-771, 773)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Ephesians, msg. 92