When our kids were little, we kept trying to come up with a plan to slow down the mad dash of gift opening on Christmas morning. “Wait, wait!!” I shouted, “Who gave you that? What is it? Pause a second while I write it down!” They groaned and rolled their eyes.
They knew where we were going with this. Tomorrow morning they would have to start writing ‘thank you’ notes to each person who had given them a present. It was the small price they had to pay for all the loot that lay under the tree.
Jesus’s ascension makes Christmas morning look like baubles from the discount store. There was booty that came from his conquest, the spoils of his great war against the evil one. Paul explains by quoting Psalm 68:18, but changing the phrase “receiving gifts from men” to “he gave gifts to men” to make his point:“But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says, ‘When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men’” (Eph. 4:7–8).
Most conquerors keep the spoils of war for themselves. Jesus gave them away.
The Grace that Came From Jesus’s Ascension
What is “the measure of Christ’s gift” that Paul refers to? First, he tells us about gifted leaders. Our pastors. Those who teach us. Those who administer the big picture as well as the details. Those who lead and protect the local congregation. Each one is a gift from our ascended Lord, servants given to care for his people while he is away. We tend to think of spiritual gifts as personal. This is my gift to be used by me to serve Christ. But these gifts are given to the church. And I am placed in the church. They are given for us, not just for me.
But like children, when we read these verses, each of us gets excited to tear into the wrapping paper and see what gift Jesus has given to you and me personally! We start browsing the lists of spiritual gifts in Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4, and 1 Peter 4. We take spiritual gift inventories to discover which ones are ours. Figuring out our gift sounds like it could help us solve our deepest questions, like,who am I? And what should I be doing with my life?
But Peter, in his brief list (1 Pet. 4:11), doesn’t go there. Our identity is already established, Peter tells us. We are God’s elect (1 Pet.1:1–2), chosen and saved by the work of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We have been born again to a living hope through Christ’s resurrection (1 Pet. 1:3). And we “through him are believers in God (1 Pet.1:21). No, Peter’s purpose in telling us about our spiritual gifts is twofold. First, he wants us to see them as useful tools to serve our church: “As each of us has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace (1 Pet. 4:10). Second, since the variety of gifts is God’s idea, we don’t need to compare our gifts. He tells us to simply begin using them. There’s no better way to take our eyes off ourselves than to start serving others. Peter’s counsel is very practical. Don’t wonder if you have a gift; the fact is, you do. Now simply start to serve in ways that make sense and you will discover your gifts along the way.
Gifts Are Great But … Who is the Giver?
What children tend to forget is this: behind every gift, there is a giver. That’s why we write ‘thank you’ notes. When we were children, the gifts under the tree seemed to appear by magic. We were completely unaware of the work involved—shopping, comparing prices, reading labels, and making decisions. Every gift represented thought, effort, and love. That’s because every gift has a giver. No matter the cost of the gift, the person who gives it is greater.
Who is the giver behind our spiritual gifts? It is none other than God himself, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Father promised, the Son sent, and the Spirit came. God the Spirit is the gift behind all the other gifts. He was given to God’s people ten days after Jesus ascended. Like children, they had to wait. And the gift was greater than they could have imagined.
Why do I say that? Because God sent himself. Twice. First he sent the Son. Then the Father and the Son sent the Spirit. It is one thing to give a gift. It’s another thing altogether to give yourself. The Son laid down his life for us. The Spirit came to stay with us. Why? Because that was God’s intention all the time. First, to be God with us, Emmanuel. Then to be God in us.
The Giver is the Gift
My husband remembers the greatest gift he ever received at Christmas. It was not the guitar. It was not the new set of golf clubs. It was his brother. His brother had spent a year in Vietnam. Three hundred sixty-five days counted down on the family calendar. Fifty-two weeks full of family anxiety. After he returned, he moved to another part of the country. But he made sure he came home for his first Christmas back from war. He was the gift.
God has given us himself. He is the gift—the greatest gift he could give and we could receive. His lavish generosity changes us forever. When Paul wants to encourage his readers to be generous givers, he only needs to turn to the generosity of the Father who gave the Son, the Son who gave his life, and the Father and Son who gave the Spirit. He loves the cheerful giver because he himself is the willing one who gave and gave and gave.
His giving changes us. He makes us generous without it being forced. He fills us with his Spirit so we can pass it on. And so we respond: “Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!” (2 Cor. 9:15).
