Jesus Christ…In the Flesh!

I’ve often heard people say that their faith would be strengthened and they would feel more comforted if Jesus were actually standing in the room with them, here in the flesh. While Jesus did come to earth to live in the flesh over two thousand years ago, that seems little comfort to some now. 

Yet, the idea of Jesus coming in the flesh is more than a hope and desire, it is an established fact and has become a matter of theological interest, particularly for those who focus upon the end times—mainly due to the following found in 1 John. But are those concerns really the focus of what John is saying in the following passage?

“This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.” (1 Jn 4:2,3 NIV)

I propose that this passage has less to do with identifying some sort of false messiah as it has in defining who we are in Christ…or more directly, who he is in us. Christ in us, after all, is the hope of glory. Before we go there, we should first establish that Christ has indeed come in the flesh (Heb 2:15, Phil 2:8). This truth is fundamental to our faith.

“The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us” (Jn 1:14 NIV).

This truth is not in contention and it is evident that this sentiment is reflected in John’s statement concerning Jesus Christ having come in the flesh. But John is concerned about more than recognizing or denying the incarnation two thousand years ago. We don’t worship a historical Jesus who once came in the flesh and left us to our own devices; we worship the one who is the same, yesterday, and today, and forever (Heb 13:8).

We worship the one, as translated in the King James, who “is come” in the flesh. The word translated as is means I exist, or I am and is used elsewhere in passages such as, “I am the way the truth and the life” (Jn 14:6 NIV). Jesus has not stopped coming in the flesh for he has come for that very purpose, to set up an eternal Kingdom—not one that is merely historical or futuristic. Now, I understand with so many passages decrying the flesh as evil and in opposition to the Spirit of God, that the idea that Jesus has come to dwell in our flesh might be difficult to accept at first. The fact is that no good things lies within my flesh (Ro 7:18), but fortunately, this problem was remedied:

“For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Ro 8:3-4 NIV).

God condemned the sin that resided in the flesh so that his Spirit had a place to dwell. Paul, throughout all his writings on this subject, repeatedly decried the flesh as an inferior and evil source of existence. We are not to follow its ways, but instead, overcome the flesh by the Spirit.

“So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (Gal 5:16 NIV).

“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit” (Gal 5:25-26 NIV).

 “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:20 ESV).

All this is to say what is already readily apparent, our flesh is still here, but it must be dealt with by the power of the Spirit. As believers, the Spirit lives within our flesh and was sent that we might overcome the flesh. Does this sound like a new concept to you? It is not new. Ezekiel knew all about it thousands of years ago when through him, God promised (twice) that this would be so.

“I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh” (Ez 11:19 NIV).

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh” (Ez 36:26 NIV).

If our flesh is unworthy, why would God give us a heart made of flesh so that his Spirit could reside there? Because, that is how God's unlikely plan of redemption was meant to unfold.  Christ in us is the fruit of that redemption. Because of what he accomplished, he lives in our flesh just as he lived in his own flesh. We are not worthy of this, except for the fact that he makes us worthy. The spirit of the antichrist is any force or influence which denies that Jesus Christ has come in our flesh to carry on the ministry of Jesus by the Holy Spirit. All we can ever be for Christ is only by what he has accomplished within us that we may be enabled to co-labor with him. As Michael Card wrote in his song, To The Mystery, "He was made like us, so we could be like him." If this were not true, these Scriptures would not have been so clear otherwise:

“Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did” (1 Jn 2:6 NIV)

“This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus” (1 Jn 4:17 NIV).

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (Jn 8:12 NIV).

“You are the light of the world. …let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Mt 5:14,16 NIV).

“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these” (Jn 14:12 NIV).

I especially like the fact that Jesus tells us that he is the light of the world, and then turns around and tells us that we are the light of the world. This was not written as poetry to be admired, but as a truth to be lived. Any voice that purposes to buffet the work of Christ in us is from the Spirit of the antichrist—the spirit of the world. John tells us that false prophets have gone into the world, but these are not necessarily those who take on some sort of grandiose position or public platform! This warning speaks more to the tone and source of their voice than their position or status. John tells us that the spirit of the antichrist was already in the world back then as the voice of how the world thinks and speaks. We are to test those voices to determine their source. Those who deny that Christ has come in our flesh, exist to deter the work of Christ within us.

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 Jn 4:1-4 NIV).

These voices are in the world and are from the world. But John tells us that the good news is that we have already overcome the world! How could we manage such a thing? There is nothing good that resides in our flesh, right? That is true, except for the fact that the Spirit of Christ has come to reside within the flesh of the believer and guess what…he overcame the forces of the world and the voice by which they speak so that through him, we have done the same:

“When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross” (Col 2:13-15 NIV).

Again, Paul spells it all out. Our flesh was dead because of sin...sin was dealt with along with the principalities and powers connected with it. These contrary voices of influence have been defeated. Paul goes on to connect the dots by defining our mission:

“This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus…His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Eph 3:6,10 NIV).

That is why Christ in us is the hope of glory. He has given us his heart of redeemed flesh that he can carry on his mission through us. That’s why we’re called The Body of Christ! It is his body, made up of his flesh. Any voice that denies this truth is trying to usurp our place and thwart God’s plan. That’s what a false prophet does. They speak a false humility that says that we’re not worthy to carry the cause of Christ. True humility, on the other hand, says that we will lay down our own way of thinking and listen to what the Spirit says:

“The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Co 2:14-16 NIV).

We have been given hearts of flesh so that the Spirit can give us the mind of Christ. Any voice that denies this fact comes from the spirit of the antichrist which has gone into the world where human judgments are born. Jesus has come in the flesh of the Body of Christ with the same mission he’s always had, to destroy the works of the evil one (1 Jn 3:8). That includes these contrary voices which deny that Jesus has come in the flesh. We take these voices captive, just like Jesus did in the wilderness.

“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Co 10:3-5 NIV)

I suggest we stop searching for some kind of personification of the spirit of the antichrist and acknowledge that John was merely pointing out the influence already embedded in the way the world works. Individuals who speak these words will come and go, just as John told us they would, “…as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come.” Many means…many. But he also tells us to take heart because we have already overcome them.

So while many people, even believers have pined for a physical manifestation of Christ that they can hold onto, the truth is that the Church is that physical manifestation. As we express him, he lives more vitally through us. If that idea feels foreign to us, than we need simply to ask for a greater revelation of our place in the Kingdom and the purpose for which we were called.

“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit” (Eph 2:19-22 NIV).

Or flesh is the dwelling place where God lives by his Spirit. It could not be presented more plainly than that.

Persuasive Power

An Unknown God

I’ve always thought it was pretty nifty how Paul ministered to the Athenians. Distressed at pervasive idol worship in Athens, Paul was quick on his feet, referencing an idol to an unknown god that he had found in the city (Acts 17:22-34). He had found a talking point that he believed that he could use to persuade them to follow Christ. Yet however clever he may have thought that he was, his appeal to the Athenians did not bear much fruit. Paul gained only a handful of converts there and we have no indication that he planted any churches in Athens. 

Persuasion to Preaching

And so from Athens, Paul moved on to Corinth where this time he attempted to persuade the Jews. He had about the same luck with the them as he had with the Athenians (Acts 18:4). But when his associates arrived, Paul began to alter his tactics. For whatever reason (perhaps his poor results), he abandoned the power of persuasion for the power of preaching and testifying (Acts 18:5) which, in New Testament terms, are always accompanied by a demonstration of the Spirit's power (Mk 3:14,15, Acts 10:42-44, 1 Co 1:17, 18, Heb 2:3,4). So while up to this point, the Jews had tolerated and even welcomed a good argument, they were in no mood for signs and wonders.

Jews to Gentiles

So, Paul shook off his feet and left the Jews behind and turned to the Gentiles in Corinth. With a handful of defeats behind him, Paul swore off “wise and persuasive words." Instead, he preached to the Corinthians through much fear and trembling, but in return, operated under the Spirit’s power. According to Paul, this resulted in their faith being established, not through human wisdom, but by means of the power of God (1 Co 2:3-5). And so, Paul stayed with them for a year and a half and established a Church there.

Fear and Weakness

The humbling effects of Paul's fruitless encounters with both the Athenians and the Jews likely affected his demeanor, leaving him weak and fearful. I like how some of the words used here are defined. In the Greek, trembling, or weakness, speaks of either an illness or a problem that comes from being wrongly overdependent upon something. Being very wise and learned, it would have been very easy for Paul to have become overly dependent upon his intellect. What’s more, the word used for fear in this passage has to do with a feeling of inadequacy that would make one withdraw. In this case, these would be considered healthy fears.

Weakness to Power

“Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.…For Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Co 12:9, 10 NIV). 

Paul discovered that his real weakness was his reliance upon his greatest strength...his intellect. While he did not abandon his ability to persuade, he learned to subjugate it under Christ's power—the same power that raised Christ from the dead (Eph 1:19-20, Ro 8:11). This fact should inspire each of us to ponder what drives or hinders our own effectiveness and how we can submit what we can do to what he can do. 

[This post was inspired by a teaching from Ray Lander Vaan]

An Ongoing Invitation

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavily burdened [by religious rituals that provide no peace], and I will give you rest [refreshing your souls with salvation]. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me [following Me as My disciple], for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest (renewal, blessed quiet) for your souls. For My yoke is easy [to bear] and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30 AMP)

Jesus is good at inviting people to live as he did, but the Church does not yet excel at this practice. Our most noticeable attempt and success at invitation is expressed through some of our efforts in evangelism.  We've learned how to throw out the welcome mat and establish a short-lived atmosphere of invitation. Then quickly afterwards, we change our tone and bring others into our world of obligation.

Somewhere along the line, we lost the concept that we were not only invited to see and enter the kingdom, we’ve been invited to run the race all the way to the finish line, and that we should invite others along with us. As Jesus tells us, this race carries a light burden because he is the one carrying us. But he can only carry us as far as we ask him to. If we stop and camp out too long, the burdens pile back up.

“Ask and keep on asking and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking and you will find; knock and keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who keeps on asking receives, and he who keeps on seeking finds, and to him who keeps on knocking, it will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8 AMP)

When we turn the smile of invitation upside-down, it becomes the frown of obligation. Still, many of us have learned how to force a smile while trudging through a life that we feel obliged to live. Even worse, we've learned to don an undeserved smile, thinking we’ve somehow achieved something without God. All these examples represent lives lived below what's been provided for us. 

So how do we transition ourselves from a life of obligation towards a life that draws us forward? Jesus already gave us the answer. He invited us to come, and to continue to both ask and to seek, with the promise that we will find. He calls us forward, beyond the obligations he already fulfilled, so that we can find the open door to more. “More” is what he died for, and more is what he provides so that heaven can show up here on earth—you know, like that prayer we all know (MT 6:9-13). 

Once we ourselves become established, we're able to cultivate a transformed environment so that others can move forward. Those who have yet to pass beyond the mire of obligation will always question why they're “doing all the right things,” yet aren’t living the abundant life that Jesus promised. Fortunately, there is more!

Invitation > Exchange > Transformation…Rinse and Repeat!

Invitation

The Gospel is an invitation. It is a royal proclamation of what God accomplished for the world. Within that proclamation is an invitation to believe this Good News. Until we accept that invitation, we can’t even see the Kingdom. 

Exchange

After accepting that invitation, our citizenship papers are rewritten. We now have legal rights and a view to see that citizenship fulfilled (John 3:3). We have not undergone an upgrade, but our eyes become open to an exchange—his life for ours, making us a new creation.

Transformation

Transformation is the ongoing process of entering the Kingdom (John 3:5). The same faith and the same power that allowed us to recognize and accept the invitation for the exchange, enables us to be transformed. The more mature we become in the Kingdom, more becomes accessible to us.

Transformation happens within the midst of life’s circumstances and life's circumstances make way for the process to continue, over and over again—producing an overflow that invites others into the process.

The Process

Life isn't always quite that simple. In fact, sometimes these processes overlap in such a way that it's difficult to discern one from the other. What's important is that we continue to accept each invitation, recognize each exchange, and allow the life it produces to change us and the world around us. 

His life in us is the hope of glory (Col 1:27). Glory is when the atmosphere around him affects the atmosphere around us. 

A Fisherman's Dream

A fisherman’s dreams are perhaps not much different from yours and mine. Their dreams are often conceived within the context and boundaries of the world they know and understand, and as with you and me, their dreams are not often realized as desired or expected. But what happens when a fisherman’s wildest dreams actually do come true? What does he do then? 

A Fish Story

“One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.’ Simon answered, ‘Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.’ When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, ‘Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!’ For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.’ So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.” (Luke 5:4-11 NIV) 

Up until the time of this event, Peter had but one means of making his way in the world and that was to bring in each day’s haul and maybe… just maybe, bring in the “big catch.” That’s what fishermen dream about — bringing in the big catch. Whether it’s the size of the fish, or the number, this is the prize that they feel will affirm their hard work and will prove their worth. 

The Big Catch

Then suddenly one day, it happened. Peter brought in a catch so epic that it nearly sunk two boats. Such a haul was unheard of. This isn’t one of those fish stories he was probably used to telling about the one that got away. This is a story about a massive haul that was so abundantly more than Peter could ask for or think about, that it brought a finale to his dream. When it was over, Peter got exactly what he wanted and his dreamed was finally fulfilled. But, that was also the problem.

For, where does one go when they realize that they’ve achieved it all, especially when they discover that achievement alone doesn’t bring real fulfillment? What does a fisherman do when at a young age, he's reached the zenith of his career? That’s where Peter found himself—undone and at the feet of Jesus. There, his heart was laid bare, realizing that it was by Jesus' intervention that God had moved to fulfill his dreams. And, it was this same realization which prompted him to declare, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” I guess nothing makes us feel more unworthy then when God moves on our behalf when we know deep inside that without our selfish ambition, we don't have anything else to live for. But it was not Jesus’ plan to throw Peter back for being too small. It was his plan all along to lure him in, skillfully choosing the right bait, knowing just how deep and how shallow to go to attract his attention and catch this fisherman. 

Daring to Dream

And so we might ask whether it was wrong for Peter to dream such dreams, and more directly, is it wrong for us to aspire to more than what we are? If that were the case, Jesus might have set out instead to squash Peter's dreams of a big catch instead of fulfilling them. God is not opposed to a fisherman’s dreams, nor is he dead-set against the dreams we dare to dream. It is God who gives us the power to imagine and to set up goals for ourselves. But we must also realize that he gives us this gift of imagination and ambition so that we may put ourselves in a position to seek for the greater and to desire those things which go deeper than what we ourselves can imagine. 

Be warned, however, once we are hooked, God will not hesitate to upset our dreams so that he might reveal himself to us amidst the process and that's what happened to Peter. In one instant, he was given everything he desired, but also in that moment, he realized the futility of those dreams in light of meeting Jesus. But that does not mean that Peter’s dreams were wasted. Not at all. For, Jesus was able to turn this fisherman's dream on its side, using it to awaken Peter to discover his own identity and calling—not as a catcher of fish, but as a fisher of men. 

Dream Upgrade

What do you dream about? It is not a foregone conclusion that if fulfilled, your dreams will lose their attraction, but once encountered by God, it is a certainty that you will view and gauge your dreams from a new, and perhaps even a heavenly perspective. Maybe you too will leave your nets behind and discover that God has repurposed your dreams, enabling you to see outside of yourself and live to propel others forward, bringing their destinies to the surface. 

If Peter had been content to stay where he was, his encounter with Jesus may have fallen flat. So just maybe, dreaming, hoping, expecting, and placing the goal just out of reach is not as futile a practice as it sometimes seems. For Peter anyway, a fisherman's dreams led him to connect with God in such a way that his story is still being told today. Do you have your own fisherman's dream?

Another Paul?

Another Jesus?

There will never be another Jesus. That’s not to say that the world can’t see Jesus expressed in his body today, but Jesus came and finished his earthly ministry. I think we all understand that. But here’s a question—will there ever be another Paul? 

Another Paul?

Many look to Paul and see him as their model in ministry. But, many also see his life as a goal beyond reach. So again I ask, when God created Paul, did he “break the mold?”

Paul is unique. He was a man who, in his own words, was “abnormally born” (1 Co 15:8). He was set on this earth for a certain place, a certain time, and for a certain task, yet still speaks to us today. He likely shines as the greatest voice for the Gospel outside of Jesus himself. Yet Paul is not the pinnacle. Jesus is the goal. While Paul told his readers to look to him as a model, he did so within the context of how he followed Christ.

Following Christ

We are all called to follow Christ. In doing so, what can we hope to attain? Can we attain to the stature of Paul, or Peter, or John? What did Jesus mean when he said that those who believe in him will do greater works than he? Was he speaking only to those whose lives fell within the confines of canonical Scripture? Do the apostles set the high-water mark while we operate at a lower water pressure? What goal should we set for ourselves and what can we set our faith towards?

Imagine a Kingdom

Imagine for a moment that there is no penalty for over-reaching. Consider a Kingdom that allows believers to pursue the highest ability to love and one that encourages a burning desire to be extremely effective ambassadors for Christ. Like I said, imagine that in this scenario, there is no penalty for over-reaching and along with that, there is a limitless supply to draw from. Imagine that in this kingdom that within this generation, there is not only the ability for people to have the same impact as a Paul or an Apollos, but that there is a demand for such people—and not just them. Imagine that there is a great need for people today who can fill the shoes of a John or a Timothy, a Barnabas or a Luke,  a James, or a host of others we’ve read about.

The Stars

In this storyline, every believer gets to shoot for the stars. But you may ask, "What if they reach for the stars and fail?" Did I mention that there is also forgiveness, restoration, and second, third, and hundreds more chances to overcome? I know this sounds too good to be true, but perhaps that’s been the problem all along. What if many have turned down the gospel they heard because they felt like it was setting them up for failure? And even worse, what if the gospel some have accepted has done the same thing?

Comparison

Perhaps we've made the mistake of not heeding Paul's admonishment that we don't compare ourselves to each other, or to him. If we compare who we are today to what Paul ultimately accomplished, we will always come up short. Instead, we must set our hopes upon what is not yet seen, but what has been promised to us. “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed…Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20 NIV)

Laying Hold

“I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:10-14 NIV)

When Paul called us to follow him as he followed Christ, this is what he was talking about. He believed that he could take hold of it, and more importantly, he believed that we could as well.

Transforming Transformation

When Jesus turned water into wine, He did so with no fanfare—quietly demonstrating the secret to the health and viability of the Church. Jesus commanded a handful of unnamed servants to fill six stone pots with water, then draw that water out and serve it as wine. That’s not how wine is usually made and served. Now while Jesus might have begun with grapes and sped up the wine-making process, or multiplied a half-filled cup of leftover wine, he chose instead to have water drawn out that it might be transformed into wine.

There is obvious symbolism here—the water of the Word transformed into the wine of the Spirit, and of course, allusions to the marriage supper of the Lamb. But there is more here than what lies on the surface.

Jesus commanded that water should fill these six stone water pots—containers used for ceremonial washing of hands and utensils. But Jesus repurposed these pots that he might reveal his glory and demonstrate Kingdom transformation. While it’s true that believers have been transformed from the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of the Son by being born anew, our transformation was not meant to end there.

These six stone water pots represent the transformed heart of man, stone hearts repurposed for Kingdom use. Filled to overflowing with the cool, cleansing water of the Word, the servants dipped deep below the surface of these pots so that they might draw out the treasure within. That's when the transformation took place. What lies within the hearts of believers is real and substantial, but it often sits idle in the midst of a depleted supply of yesterday’s wine. But through this miracle, the servants demonstrated a better way. The moment they drew out the water, it turned into wine. Through this act, one form of transformation birthed another.

While it is the role of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers to equip believers for ministry, each one of us has the ability to draw out the wine of the Spirit. This is what we refer to as encouragement. While we might already be familiar with and perform healthy acts of encouragement, complete encouragement involves the act of drawing out the gifts deposited within each other. This is what builds up the Church.

Our gifts must be manifested both within the church and to the world around us. While all believers might strive to be continually filled, we must also be constantly encouraged that we might realize our full potential and reach that goal. Deep calls to deep, transformation to transformation, and glory to glory. John tells us that Jesus revealed his glory to his disciples through this miracle. As his disciples today, we too must believe and therefore strive to draw from each other what He put there.

The wine produced that day was more than enough to satisfy all in both quantity and quality. Each and every gift of the Spirit together represent the tangible expression of the ministry of Jesus through the Holy Spirit and therefore must be drawn out until all are satisfied.