New Testament Ministers for the Building up of the Church
In Ephesians, Paul prays, “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.” Ephesians 1:17-23 KJV.
God is subjecting everything to Christ by making Him head over all things to the Church. This is the core of predestination. It’s about arranging every detail in your life so that Christ becomes the head and He becomes everything to you — being supplied to you. You’re being nourished with Him, equipped with Him, clothed with Him, and trained by Him so that He is everything. Christ is the riches in God’s house. He’s what God has to give. He is God’s economy and He’s distributed through the New Testament ministry that announces Him. That announcement is not just information, it’s Life and Light! The Word is Life! It’s Spirit and Life!
The New Testament ministry is not just dead letters. No, the apostles were the stewards, entrusted with these riches, to distribute them as life by means of revelation, and this revelation imparts life. 2 Corinthians describes the New Testament Ministry and also discusses how the Ministers are dealt with in order for this stewardship to be carried out.
We’re brought through afflictions to be comforted by God. We must learn to trust, not in ourselves, but in Him who raises us from the dead, so that the excellency and the power might be of God and not of men, so that when we speak, we’re partakers of the New Testament ministry in which Christ, as a weight of glory, is being wrought into us. It’s more than just words, it’s power! It’s Life! It’s the riches of Christ flowing to us in God’s household as food and as nourishment. We’re becoming filled and the New Testament ministry produces the filling of the spirit.
The New Testament ministry supplies Christ, in all of His riches, to produce the Body as the fullness. Stewards are for the training of the sons…not only do they equip them and supply them with Christ, but they train them to handle Christ. Their speaking serves as training. Quite a few people have picked up this language, but some label it a cult. It’s not cult, however – we’re merely speaking the language of God’s household. This language is Christ as wisdom to train you to handle Him for others. So we are sons but we can also become stewards.
Eph 1:9-10 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Why does He need to make known to us the mystery of His will? Why doesn’t He just “do it?” Well, it’s with a view unto the economy — in the fullness of times to head up all things in Christ.
In reality, we are partakers in the “heading up of all things”, not by ruling in an outward way, but by being filled with Christ as life. This is the emphasis of Paul’s second prayer in Ephesians Chapter 3, “That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.” Ephesians 3:16-19. KJV.
I recommend memorizing Paul’s prayers and meditating on them. His prayers serve to reveal God’s desire and they usher you into a new level of understanding God’s intention to produce the Church as the fullness of Christ. God wants to do this by working Christ into us by supplying Him as Life and Light, food and drink, nourishment, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and clothing. Christ is everything to us. God does this through the New Testament ministry, which discloses the will and the contents of our inheritance. Because it is an inheritance, we are receiving something that’s already complete. Unlike a covenant, there are no obligations that fall on us as a condition of receiving the promise. No, the inheritance is “sure to all the seed through faith”(Rom 4:16). We’ve been made heirs of this everlasting covenant made between Christ and the Father, which secures Christ as life for us, to make Him our Great Shepherd (Heb 13:20). His purpose is for us to be the expression of Christ.