HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN

Eph.4:7,8 – But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says,

“WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH,

HE LED CAPTIVE THE CAPTIVES,

AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO PEOPLE.”

The Lord could have chosen a million other ways to fix this broken world but He chose to do it by fixing us. He became one of us to show us the way and then change and empower us to display His glory in this fallen world. One of the often ignored ministries of the Lord has to do with His ascension and His heavenly ministry. When He ascended on high after His resurrection He set the captives free and gave gifts to men. Apparently the captives were the people who had died in faith during the Old Testament days as well as those who were alive after His resurrection. Notice what the scriptures say that He did. First He liberated fallen man, He set the captives free. Secondly, He poured out His gifts on all of us. This was the supernatural enabling He placed upon our lives to spread His kingdom throughout the earth. Here is how Matthew Henry describes this.

“Still another thought strikes Paul. Jesus ascended up on high. But he did not ascend up on high to leave the world; he ascended up on high to fill the world with his presence. When Jesus was here on earth in human form, he could only be in one place at one time; he was under all the limitations of the body; but when he laid this body aside and returned to glory, he was set free from the limitations of the body and was able then to be everywhere in all the world through his Spirit. To Paul, the ascension of Jesus meant not a Christ-deserted but a Christ-filled world.”

So you and I are now His chosen vessels to reach this generation. These two truths are still applicable to us today. First, He liberates us from whatever bondage that had ensnared us; He sets the captives free. Next, He pours His diverse gifts on all of us. This is His supernatural enabling He places on us to change our world. This is the most unbelievable part, He takes messed up people, restores them and then anoints them with spiritual gifts to change our world. This is the amazing plan of God.