Continuing on the theme of God giving according to need, Jesus quotes Paul's letter to the Ephesians (Ch 4), saying there is one Lord, faith, baptism, and God, who is the Father of all. Yet each of His children is unique, and because of this, we are each given grace (divine help) according to the degree of our need and circumstance. One of the Lord's primary aims in this life is for us to come unto Him; however, because of the uniqueness of our situations, understanding, and spiritual intelligence (see Abraham 3:18-19), there's no one-size-fits-all solution.
As Paul says, and the Lord reiterates to Elisha, He has prepared various means by which all of His children may increase in knowledge and wisdom, come to Him, understand His word, and eventually become perfect with the whole (the body of Christ analogy). Some of us progress the most in following the counsel and direction of apostles or the words of prophets; others thrive under the watchful care of pastors; and still others catch the vision through the preaching of evangelists or instruction of teachers. Christ explains that the purpose of this Swiss-army-knife approach is to optimize comprehension and inspiration among all of His children scattered throughout the earth that they might be uplifted according to their degree, do good works, and spread His word. He says the better teacher will uplift the many rather than the few.
This pattern, then, will remain in effect until a millennial condition is achieved, when all believers in Christ become unified in the faith, grow closer to and come to a more perfect knowledge of Him, are safe from deceitful schemes and false doctrines, and speak only truth and love. In that condition, the body of Christ is whole, with Christ at the head and every unique part fulfilling its role and working together for the perfection of all. That is unity of heart, mind, and purpose. That is God's Kingdom. That is Zion.
Jesus then recites the Parable of the Talents known from Matthew 25 and Luke 19, and maybe it's me, but I've never made or seen made the connection between Ephesians 4 and this specific parable. As with any other gift or talent, the capacity for faith and knowledge and the circumstances we find ourselves in differs from person to person. Some are born into blessed situations (e.g., freedom of religion; strong, believing families; etc.), others are not, to varying degrees. It doesn't matter to the Lord what or how much we've been given; all that is asked is that we show an increase in faith and good works.
This short mortal life is essentially a school (see Abraham 3:25-26) in which lessons are individually designed and meted out according to the differing knowledge, abilities, weaknesses, etc. of each student. Again, as the Lord explained above, each of us possess a unique set of strengths and weaknesses, of spiritual power and character flaws, and thus, will have to pass through a unique set of strengthening and purifying tests and trials. Outwardly, some of these tests might seem relatively easy compared to the soul-crushing difficulty of others, but they are all designed to allow us the greatest opportunity to grow and progress in that moment. And despite all of our differences, the end goal is the same for each student--that we make it to the next grade.
No comments:
Post a Comment