Five-fold Understanding
 
In the next few devotionals we will delve into the various gifts given by Jesus to the church for the singular purpose of building the church. These may be challenging to you, so I pray that you would engage with an open mind the necessity, and I do mean necessity, of their existence today in the local church.
 
I want to, in a straight forward way and in a simplistic way, display for you how Jesus ministered to others in these various capacities.
 
Please let me to pray for you before we begin.
 
Lord, I agree with You. We agree with You in the prayer You prayed in John 17:20–23 (ESV):  “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Lord, we agree with You that as we dig into these topics over the weeks to come, that we would all draw closer together and become more unified than ever before. Let there be deep bonds of love that grow for all of us.
 
So, let’s talk about the expressions of Jesus while He ministered on earth.
 
Ephesians 4:11–13 (ESV): And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the  unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ…
 
This passage will be a springboard for us as we understand more deeply the facets of the ministry of Jesus.
 
Where are we going with this?
 
Well, here is how my mind is tracking, if Jesus is the Apostle of apostles and He left to go be with the Father in heaven, but in His leaving, He tells us that we are the body of Christ, then we must also be apostling too, just like He did.
 
1 John 4:17 (ESV): By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.
 
Do you catch that last phrase? We can have confidence at judgment if we live out the life of Jesus the way Jesus lived. The way He ministered is the way we are to minister. Since we are the body of Christ, we do the things Christ did.
 
Therefore, we dig into the Bible and gather not only what Jesus did, but how He did what He did, and we adopt those modalities into our life…intentionally…on purpose.
 
Jesus is the Apostle of apostles. He is the greatest Apostle because He was sent from the Father in heaven to bring good news to the earth. There is salvation available to all who repent of their sin and accept the forgiveness of God. Good news indeed!
 
Hebrews 3:1 says that Jesus is our Apostle, Jesus is the blessing of the Father extended to earth. Through Jesus we receive the blessing of the heart of the Father. Our Father in heaven deeply desires for you to live in an eternal blessing. He deeply desires that His love and mercy overwhelms your life, so He sent His Son Jesus to make that happen.
 
Hebrews 3:1 (ESV): Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession…
 
In this verse we see Jesus as the Apostle, the one who carries the message. Jesus distributes the message. The Father’s heart to love and forgive is brought to earth by Jesus. As the High Priest, Jesus is also the one who operates the message, He is the conductor of the salvation orchestra. He is the baker of the bread of redemption. He is the surgeon and healer for the fallenness and brokenness and sin of the world.
 
Jesus is the first one to declare the good news of the kingdom of heaven and He came to declare Himself as the access point to heaven. He really is the messenger and the message all at the same time.
 
John 14:6 (ESV): Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
 
An apostle is a sent one. Someone who goes at the command of another, carrying a message that is not their own. Jesus came to earth at the command of the Father. He came to earth to tell of the Father’s love and redemption. He emptied Himself of all and received the filling of the Holy Spirit and followed the will of the Father His entire ministry.
 
Let me finish today’s devo with this thought.
 
John 20:21–22 (ESV): Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”
 
As Jesus is the Apostle according to Hebrews 3:1, that means that you are sent too. You are an apostle too. He is sending you. We live ever ready following the lead of the Holy Spirit.
 
So, listen apostle… how sent do you feel today?
 
Father, thank You for sending Jesus and thank You for sending us too. We carry the good news that Jesus brought to earth. Praise the name of Jesus! He is our Lord and Savior. When we see Him, we see You!
 
Blessings,
Pastor D