God has given a succinct description of His design for the Body of Christ in Ephesians 4:1-16. This passage describes a truly godly relationship that should be experienced by individual believers and Christian groups on a global scale. It is evident from an analysis of these verses that it is imperative for all members of the body to be actively involved with the global body to ensure a healthy and growing global church.

• The attitude that must exist between all believers

  • Eph. 4:1-2 (NKJV) I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love,

  • The attitude which must exist between believers both in a local church and in the Global Church is one of love, lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love.  While there may be great differences in spiritual or material resources between different members of the Global Church, each must view the other with the understanding that it is God who has given them their calling and their task is to walk worthy of that calling.

• The true unity of the Body of Christ

  • Eph. 4:3-4 (NKJV)  endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 [There] [is] one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who [is] above all, and through all, and in you all.

  • The true unity which the Global Church experiences is the result of the "unity of the Spirit" founded on the baptism of the Spirit, I Cor. 12:12.  While the Global Church emphasizes the experiential unity which believers of like precious faith enjoy, there is a greater unity which binds all true believers in Christ in His body.

• Christ the Gift Giver

  • Eph. 4:7-13 (NKJV)  But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. 8 Therefore He says: "When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men." 9 (Now this, "He ascended"--what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)

  • Paul again reiterates the fact that each believer is what he/she is because of the work of a sovereign God.  It is according to the "measure of Christ's gift that we can experience our new life.

• Results of the Body Functioning as God has Designed

  • Eph. 4:11-13 (NKJV)  And He Himself gave some [to] [be] apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love;

  • God has given leadership to His Church, which is His Body.  The work of this leadership is to equip the saints for the true work of the ministry, which is the edifying of the body of Christ.  It is God's design that each member of the body have a part in edification of some part of the body with the goal of seeing the outworking of the "lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love."

• Results of the Body not Functioning as God has Designed

  • Eph. 4:14 (NKJV)  that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,

  • Failure of the body to minister in the ways established by God will result in a church which is weak and susceptible to doctrinal and methodical error.

• The Interdependence of the Body

  • Eph. 4:15-16 (NKJV)  but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head--Christ-- 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

  • Whole body
    • Paul made reference to not only the church at Ephesus, but to Christendom on a global scale
  • Joined and knit together
    • Paul emphasized the interconnectedness of the body, 
  • By what every joint supplies
    • Every member of the body is responsible to supply for the needs of the other members of the body
  • According to the effective working by which every part does its share
    • Every member of the is designed by God to contribute to the body, whether it be focused on material or spiritual resources
  • Causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love
    • The result of the each member of the body supplying its share for the body is growth of the body and a building up of the church