John 1:16-17 (Amplified) says, "For out of His fullness (abundance), we have all received, all had a share, and were all supplied with, one Grace after another and Spiritual Blessing upon Spiritual Blessing, and even favor upon favor, and Gift heaped upon Gift. For while the Law was given through Moses, Grace (unearned, undeserved favor) and Spiritual Blessing and Truth came through Jesus Christ."
Jesus said in John 6:40 (Amplified), "For this is My Father's will and His purpose, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in and cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Him should have eternal Life, and I will raise him up from the dead at the last day."
The moment you received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you entered into the will of God and His purpose. Now, you must listen and be obedient to His Voice, in order to further His will and purpose in your life and the lives of others. Some are called into full-time ministry, according to Ephesians 4:11-13 (Amplified) which says, "And His Gifts were varied; He Himself appointed and gave men to us, some to be apostles, special messengers, some prophets, inspired preachers and expounders, some evangelists, preachers of the Gospel, traveling missionaries, some pastors, shepherds of His flock, and teachers. His intention was the perfecting and full equipping of the saints (His consecrated people), that they should do the work of ministering toward building up Christ's Body (the Church), that it might develop until we all attain oneness in the faith and in the comprehension of the full and accurate knowledge of the Son of god, that we might arrive at really mature manhood, the completeness of personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ's Own Perfection (the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ and the completeness found in Him."
John 1:16 (Amplified) tells us, "For out of His fullness (abundance), we have ALL received, ALL had a share and were ALL supplied with..." Through Christ's work, we've been given the ability to develop into the "measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ and the completeness found in Him." This is the progress that we (as individuals) possess, in order to walk in the will of God. He has given the five-fold ministry as Gifts, to help the Church develop into this fullness of Christ and the completeness found in Him. The Word "Christ" from Ephesians 4:13, doesn't only refer to the Man Jesus as the Anointed One, but refers to His Anointing that was given to those who are in Him.
The Anointing that came from and through Him, is the Holy Spirit Who guided Jesus, throughout His earthly ministry. We've developed faith in God's will to receive Jesus and have eternal Life, but we haven't allowed our faith and the Holy Spirit to bring us into the fullness, completeness and His full stature in the earth. The degrees of God's will vary from Christian to Christian, as we all walk individually on the earth.
Those who Jesus gave as Gifts are chosen by God for a specific work. His will for them, is that they follow what He's directed them to do. We're each responsible to walk upright before Him and be led by His Spirit. Your call or mission, might not include being a prophet, apostle, evangelist, pastor or teacher. Your part of walking out God's will and purpose in your life, is to listen to what He tells you to do, in the world around you.
The Purpose of God's appointing the five-fold ministry, is to help the Body of Christ develop and "attain oneness in the faith and the full (accurate) knowledge of the Son of God, and arrive at nothing less than the standard height of Christ's Own Perfection."
We still have much to develop in this part of God's Own perfect will. God's will was for us to be born-again, but then, we're to grow into this full stature as individuals, by obedience to His will for and to the world. Every person who is born-again, has been given everything necessary to come into this completeness, according to John 1:16. No one has been left out or given a lesser part of the inheritance of Jesus.
Each person is part of His Body and is responsible to learn from the five-fold ministry, but we must use what we've learned, in order to be blessed and a blessing. Nothing we've received is for only personal use, but to teach and help others around us. We are all Blessed with the Blessing of Abraham, through his Seed Jesus. These Spiritual Blessings, favors, Gifts and Graces are to bless our lives, so that we can bless others.
This is God's will and purpose for mankind, through Jesus. These are Super-natural Gifts, Graces, favors, and Spiritual Blessings given "out of His fullness." We have an obligation to Jesus, to carry these Gifts into the lives of others who need Him. That's why Jesus commissioned the Church to, "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel," in Matthew 16:15-20 (Amplified). Jesus said that these Super-natural signs (healing, deliverance, protection and salvation) would follow those who preached the Good News. Verse 20 says, "And they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord kept working with them and confirmed the Message by the attesting signs and miracles that accompanied it."
We sometimes forget that the fullness of Him, is the Super-natural part of His will for mankind. We've failed to arrive at this, in our growing and developing in His stature, but this is also God's will and is the purpose of Jesus and the Gospel. It's the fullness of Him (in us), that brings the world to salvation. It's God's will and purpose for those of us who are born-again, to be ambassadors of Christ into the world. We might walk into a portion of His will and be acceptable, but we can still fall short of His Perfect will, because we won't allow ourselves to go further in proving His will in our lives.
When Paul speaks of our being "transformed by renewing our minds," in Romans 12:2 he's speaking of our desire to continue proving for ourselves "the things that is perfect in God's sight for you." This is an individual growing process that every believer chooses to do. Jesus gave the five-fold ministry to teach the Church, but we've responsible to take what we learn and use it for the good of ourselves and others. The Holy Spirit in you (the Anointing) will prove what is the will and purpose of God in this world, if we will trust Him.
God's will isn't only that we are born-again, but He has a purpose for us. God's Wisdom that He reveals in His Word through Jesus, wouldn't do any good for the world, if no one taught it to others. Through the Holy Spirit, the Father has made unto us Wisdom, through Christ Jesus. This isn't just for personal use, but to set the captives free and proclaim by word and deed that, "Jesus Christ is Lord." This is the will and purpose of God, in and through the Church. Every individual is responsible to determine how much of the Gospel you will believe and reveal to others. We each have a choice to make, as to how far we will believe God's Word and how far we'll go to seek the full measure of the stature of Jesus in our lives. We must each seek out "The perfect will of God, that which is Good, acceptable, and Perfect will of God in His sight for you," according to Romans 12:2 (Amplified).
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