Just as our brains coordinate the efforts of each individual part of our bodies, the Body of Christ is composed of people who have a wide variety of gifts whom the Holy Spirit coordinates to accomplish the work of God’s kingdom under Christ’s lordship.
He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work (Greek: energema - energy), it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. Ephesians 4:16 (NLT)
Following Christ is not a spectator sport. Each of us has a role to play and a job to do.
Therefore, one of our responsibilities is to discover who God created us to be and what he has equipped us to do so that we can cooperate with the Holy Spirit to fulfill that purpose.
For we are His workmanship (Greek: poiema - masterpiece, poem), created in Christ Jesus for good works (Greek: ergon), which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10 (NKJV)
Each of us has some understanding of our identity and our God-given capabilities. A portion of what we think about ourselves is based on truth, but not all of it. The devil lies to us constantly, and imperfect people often tell us things that damage us instead of encouraging us to fulfill our potential in Christ.
We learn the truth about our identity and God-given abilities from three sources.
- The Bible,
- The Holy Spirit, and
- Godly people who speak truth to us.
Being human and having emptied himself of much of the privileges and power associated with divinity, Jesus seemed to have gained the knowledge of his identity and calling through these three sources, just as we must. We are not given a lot of information about how this happened, but below are some clearly identified parts of the process.
The Bible
After reading Isaiah 61:1 to the synagogue, Jesus announced that he was and is the fulfillment of that prophecy.
And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. Luke 4:21 (NASB95)
At some point, while reading the scriptures, he understood that they spoke of him. We too can gain accurate information about our identity and calling from the Word of God, which offsets and corrects the lies spoken over us by our own hearts, ungodly people, the world, and devil.
Every good thing that is true of us is a result of our being “in” Christ.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, Ephesians 1:3 (NASB95)
It takes faith for us to believe the words of the Bible. This is where the Holy Spirit comes into the picture. He is the one who reveals to us the meaning of the Word of God and imparts faith to us.
The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit speaks to us in a variety of ways. One of the most important is when he makes the written scriptures “come alive” to us.
But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. 1 John 2:20 (NKJV)
This happened to the disciples on the road to Emmaus as Jesus spoke to them about the necessity for the Messiah to suffer before entering his glory.
They said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?” Luke 24:32 (NLT)
Another way he communicates with us is by speaking in our hearts. Seldom do we hear an audible voice, but we can “hear” or perceive what the Spirit says. Every child of God has this ability.
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. John 10:27 (NKJV)
It is also possible for the Spirit of God to communicate in an audible voice, as he did at the Mount of Transfiguration. Jesus heard his Father says aloud:
… “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!” Matthew 17:5b (NASB95)
We all need to learn these things from our heavenly Father, whether audibly, through the scriptures, or in our hearts.
- Identity – We are children of God.
- Acceptance – We are well-pleasing to God in Christ.
- Significance – We have something important to say and do.
Godly People Speaking Truth
Our Lord uses other people to speak the truth to us, too. John the Baptist, who was a prophet, was used by God in precisely this way. He publicly identified Jesus as the Messiah and informed us of his four main ministries.
- Lamb of God
- Lord
- Baptizer in the Holy Spirit
- Coming Judge
Paul exhorted Timothy to fulfill the calling on his life that came to him through prophecy.
Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery. 1 Timothy 4:14 (NASB95)
This is one reason why it is so important to be in fellowship with other believers who can speak over our lives and help us fulfill our calling and destiny in God.
And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. Hebrews 10:25 (NLT)
Teamwork
God places people in his Body in a strategic way so that our gifts and callings complement and strengthen each other, thus enabling us to corporately fulfill God’s purposes.
Now there are varieties of gifts (charisma), but the same Spirit. 5 And there are varieties of ministries (diakonia), and the same Lord. 6 There are varieties of effects (energema), but the same God who works all things in all persons. 7 But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good… 11 But one and the same Spirit works (energeo) all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills. 1 Corinthians 12:4–7, 11 (NASB95)
The gifts of God in our lives equip us to do the work of the ministry.
God’s preloads each of us with gifts at birth that some call “motivational” gifts or charismata in Greek. Other gifts are manifested by the Spirit as the need arises in people who are open to them. Finally, we have gifts of service (Greek: diakonia) who are people Christ gives to the church. Some call this the “five-fold” or “ascension gift” ministry. Only a relatively few have this calling.
- “Motivational” gifts (charisma) – Romans 12:6-8 – prophecy, serving, teaching, exhortation, giving, leadership, and mercy
- “Manifestation” gifts (charisma) – I Cor. 12:8-10 – word of wisdom, word of knowledge, discerning of spirit, faith, miracles, healing, prophecy, tongues, interpretation of tongues
- “Five-fold” ministry (diakonia) – Ephesians 4:11 – apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher
In addition to these gifts, we have individual “callings,” which can be individually perceived and corroborated by others through gifts of the Spirit called prophecy and “words of knowledge,” whereby others perceive what God has put in us or called us to do.
Another important factor is ascertaining what energizes or motivates us. Some call this our “passion.”What we are passionate about can be a good indicator of our calling.
A final factor is to consider what natural or learned abilities or capabilities we have. For example, if we are fluent in a foreign language, this can open doors for us. If we are good with computers, this can be an indication that we could serve in this way.
We have a responsibility to discover what God has put inside us that he wants us to use for the kingdom and his glory. Once we figure that out, we have a responsibility to submit ourselves to the transformation process whereby the Holy Spirit works on our character to make us suitable representatives of Christ. When we are ready, then it is a matter of surrendering to what God wants us to do.
Usually, we will be working in teamwork with other members of the Body. This means we will need to humbly recognize our place on the team.
We are to consider others better than ourselves, and, if we have a leadership role, to use that position to encourage the whole team.
Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. Philippians 2:3–4 (NLT)
