A Roman general, returning from a successful campaign, would hold a triumph, a massive parade, in which he would lead his legions through the city, displaying the captured plunder and slaves. Then a portion of the plunder would be distributed to those he favored. In Ephesians 4:7–13, Paul tells you of a greater triumph, with more wonderful gifts. It began, not with a parade through a city, but with the Savior appearing to women in a garden.
Your ascended Lord has triumphed. First he descended. Your Lord was exalted because he first descended. Included is his entire humiliation, especially his obedient suffering and death. But his death is not the end of his story. Rather, the time in the tomb marks the transition from humiliation to exaltation.
Your Lord has been raised in triumph. First he humbled himself to become a man, a servant, and a sin-bearer. Now he is exalted to be Lord of all things (see Ephesians 1:20–23). He has overcome sin, Satan, and death itself. He marches in triumphant procession. Christ’s resurrection is the beginning of his exaltation, his triumphant march that leads to his ascension and his taking his seat at the right hand of the Father. Psalm 68 celebrates the kingly triumph of JHWH–Paul takes it as a reference to the Messiah. God has marched before his people, and his victory is yours. It begins with the cry with which the Ark of the Covenant began to lead God’s people on their journey through the desert, Numbers 10:35. The scope of the Psalm is sweeping, but it includes the Exodus and the entire victory involved in bringing the people into the promised land and eventually the Ark to Jerusalem. The Psalm really is about Jesus Christ. Similarly, Psalm 24 rejoices in the triumph of the King of glory. That King is ultimately the One who goes up with clean hands and a pure heart. Note the change from receiving gifts to giving gifts (though that concept is not foreign to Psalm 68). Christ fills the entire earth. He is truly triumphant over sin, death, and Satan.
“To understand how Paul interprets this psalm [Psalm 68] depends on an understanding that Scripture is an organic development of redemptive revelation…. Even more pointedly, all Scripture has Christ—his earthly mission and redemption on the cross, and his resurrection and exaltation to cosmic supremacy—as its central orientation from beginning to end. Christ was the rock that followed Israel in the wilderness (1 Cor 10:4), the recipient of the Abrahamic promise (Gal 3:16), which remained valid until he should arrive (Gal 3:19) in fulfillment of the intertrinitarian covenant of redemption (Gal 3:20–22; cf. Eph 1:3–14).”
S. M. Baugh, Ephesians, pages 329–330
The Triumphant Christ has given gifts to the church. Christ’s gifts are men who proclaim his Word. Apostles and prophets were foundational offices in the church. As foundation, there was no need for them to continue. They included the process of inscripturating the Word of God. Evangelists focuses on making the name of Christ known. Christ also gave some as pastors/teachers. That is a gift for which there is a permanent need. The focus is on gifts that proclaim God’s Word to his people. Remember Paul’s initial ministry in Ephesus. It is true that the Lord worked extraordinary miracles through Paul (you might covet those kinds of healings today), but the heart of Paul’s work in Ephesus was what he did daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus, Acts 19. The gifts, plural, have their source, their origin, in the gift, singular, the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. That Spirit had been intimately involved in the messianic work of the Son — his incarnation, his baptism, his miracles (casting out demons by the power of the Spirit), and his resurrection, Romans 1:3, 4. Because you have been raised with Christ, you can share in his victory and in the gifts he gives.
“The gifts given by Christ create diversity-in-unity in the life of the church. Here Paul’s focus is on ‘word gifts’, ministries which involve teaching and preaching the Word of God: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.”
Sinclair B. Ferguson, Let’s Study Ephesians, p. 104
Christ’s gifts prepare you for service. These gifts are all involve making God’s Word known. The focus is not on those gifts. Rather, they fill a serving role — that of preparing God’s people to serve him. The gifts of the risen Savior are designed to build you up in faith, in knowing the Son of God!
“There is great comfort for us in this thought that, however dim our conscious faith and the sense of our salvation, on the Lord’s side the fountain of grace is never closed, its connection with our souls never interrupted; provided there be the irrepressible demand for his presence, he cannot, he will not deny himself to us. The first person to whom he showed himself alive after the resurrection was a weeping woman, who had no greater claim upon him than any simple penitent sinner.”
Geerhardus Vos, “Rabboni!” in Grace and Glory, p. 75
Read Psalm 24 again. The first part of the Psalm is not a self-improvement project, motivating you to be good enough to qualify to go up to worship. Rather, you can go into God’s presence and worship precisely because the King of glory has entered the gates before you and for you. You are united to him by faith. The gifts mentioned help equip all of God’s people to glorify him in every area of life. In that service the body of Christ is built up. In a mysterious way, the very diversity of the gifts Christ gives, builds his body in unity. Paul hasn’t forgotten his plea in Ephesians 4:3 to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Reach the maturity of the fullness of Christ. You are the body of the exalted Lord.
Your Lord has triumphed. Remember his resurrection! Celebrate Christ’s victory — by serving him in his body, the church.