In the Old Testament it seems that only a select few had a special anointing from God to ministry for His glory. But Moses himself wished that the LORD would put His Spirit upon all His people! (Numbers 11:29). This wish of Moses has now been fulfilled in the NT era! Now not just a select few have an anointing from God; now it is for all who believe in our Lord Jesus Christ.

As a follower of Christ Jesus, a member of His Body, it is helpful to know what part / role you have in the Body, to be equipped to perform that role well, and to know the greater purpose for that role. While for some this knowledge is not important (they just do it anyway!!), for others it is very helpful so that they can know where they don't fit!! But the interesting thing is that the Holy Spirit can sometimes give you specific gifts for specific seasons, empowering you at just the right time for just the right task. The key thing with God is your availability for Him to use! This being so, it is most common, however, for God to set aside certain individuals for certain tasks, and this stage is to help a person come to that realisation for their own lives.

(Note: whereas my primary ministry commitment should be in the area where I am gifted, I must still be prepared to serve in any other area when I am needed. For example, I may not have the specific gift of 'showing mercy', but if I come across someone lying helpless in the street, I must still help them (cf Luke 10:25-37, James 2:15-17)).

But please note, our identity as Christians is not first and foremost from the gift we exercise - it is first and foremost that we are humans in the image of God! Our gifts, roles, etc, are just 'subexpressions' of who we are in Christ. We must never let ourselves be defined by the gift we exercise or the role we play.

This being so, we can say that any role we exercise must be for the common good. That is, it is to build up and edify others ultimately. It is in this light that we should read Ephesians 4:11-16 :

God has given -

for the purposes of:

Then we will not be infants and be able to withstand strong oppression (both physically and from false teaching). Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow up into Him who is the head (Christ). From Him the body grows & builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

With this understanding let us begin to address how we can discern what role we are (being) designed for as part of the body of Christ. Note that this is best not done in isolation. Whilst you can read through the following information, gift discernment and development occurs best in an apprenticeship model, just like Jesus with His disciples. You should be seeking to share your insights from the following material with other mature believers so that they can help you in your development.

A useful acronym - S.H.A.P.E. - can help us in working out 'where we fit' and how we can best help others and glorify God. The letters stand for:

S piritual gifts (see for example Rom 12, Eph 4, 1 Cor 12, 1 Peter 4)

H eart - what are the desires of your heart?

A bilities - what are you already naturally gifted at?

P ersonality - what temperament are you?

E xperiences - how has your life history fashioned you?

(The following material is adapted from the Balwyn Baptist Church S.H.A.P.E. kit)

One of the most specific tools God uses in helping a person come to realise what spiritual gifts they have been endowed with are other fellow believers in your local assembly. Not only may there be those whom God has given the gift of discernment or prophecy to help you, but the assembly will function as a sounding board - they are the ones who are always in contact with you, and they can just tell! For example, if you feel you have the gift of singing, they will very quickly tell you if you don't have that gift! Always be humble enough to ask others, especially leadership and those to whom you are accountable, to confirm whether you have or do not have certain gifts.

This being said, let us list and briefly elaborate on a number of gifts.

Pray for God to reveal to you which gift(s) He may be wanting you to exercise, and see which ones not only are attractive to you, but also ones in which you find yourself now nearly uncontrollably always exercising! We are new creations in Christ (2 Cor 5:17), and the Holy Spirit has unleashed in you new potential and direction since the day you were born again. Look back to the day of your conversion and begin to note what you since then have been doing differently for the glory of God. You can be pretty sure that this is in line with your spiritual gift(s) !

Note that in summary, the Apostle Peter virtually sums up all the gifts into two categories, either 'speaking' or 'serving'. Listen to what he writes in 1 Peter 4:10,11:

"Each one should use whatever gift he as received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen."

The following sections on Heart, Abilities, Personality, and Experience, will also be confirming factors for the spiritual gifts you have - very rarely will you be asked by God to do something contrary to who you are. But please note, God can sometimes totally overrule who you are for the sake of someone else - consider that God used a donkey to talk once! (Numbers 22:30).

The Holy Spirit will also have birthed new passions within you since you became born again. He will also have been purifying corrupted passions from your pre-Christian experience. Discerning what your heart-passions are and were can be truly liberating in helping you to flourish as a child of God. Pray and look through the following list to see what is now really you, and also which traits you now really hate, and also those which you sense God is wanting you to change! :

You are created in the image of God. By definition, then, your natural abilities can also be used for His glory. Take time now to face what you are good at! -

Also take time to consider five myths concerning abilities, skills, and talents:

Although there are many fine and extremely detailed personality assessments available, for the purpose of discovering your gifts and role, consider these four aspects:

Furthermore, consider which of these following words best describe you, and rank them as you think they describe your usual tendency in working with others:

One of the most overlooked factors in determining the ministry God has for us is our past experience, particularly the hurts and problems we've overcome with God's help. Since our greatest life messages come out of our weaknesses, not our strengths, w should pay close attention to what we've learned in the "school of hard knocks".

Remember that God never wastes a hurt, and he can use you to minister to people who are going through what you've been through! (cf 2 Corinthians 1:3-4).

So it is good to look at:

Finally, once having discovered your gift and role (through prayer, working through the above SHAPE, and sharing with other mature Christians), and beyond growing in a gift's "technical proficiency", a person needs to learn how to exercise that gift. To that end, the following training objectives should be considered:

A compassion for people

A vision for the potential of that gift

A servant spirit

A developing participation in a team

A volunteer spirit

A life of example

Zeta

The final step which Jesus has in mind for us is leadership.

You may say that leadership is a gift (see Epsilon), but sooner or later every one of us is called upon to lead - whether as a parent in the home, whether in training up a new employee at work, whether just by example through the proficiency of the exercise of your gift - but we need not be afraid, because it is not some high-powered thing.

In the mind of Jesus, leadership equals servanthood first and foremost. Unless that is grasped, then any leading that we may do is not leading at all within the Kingdom of God. If I may adapt 1 Corinthians 13, if I lead without a servant attitude, I am nothing.

1. The spirit of service. A ruler tells people what to do, but a leader shows people by his own example.

2. Spiritual authority. The evidence of this has nothing to do with status, but with obedience to God, and being filled with his Spirit. Spiritual authority is recognised by others, not taken. The Spirit-filled life by definition will produce the following: high morals, ethical behaviour, right attitudes, pure motives, proper goals, positive habits, quality relationships, good reputation.

3. The willingness to exercise discipline, although always in a spirit of gentleness

eg

Freely I have received, freely I shall give*

[* Note: These six components actually correspond closely to each one of the six steps Alpha to Zeta. The fact that I came up with this philosophy of ministry before I had even developed the concept of the six steps was a great confirmation to me that Alpha to Zeta really do cover all the major bases of the Christian life!]

eg consider the following webs for an apostle / missionary. The dynamic model serves to show that Jesus came to serve us, and that our mentors and shepherding body are there to support us (instead of just being people to 'report to'), and we are to serve others, considering them more important than ourselves:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth ... and it was all very good, including humans. This has never been reversed; humans and all creation are in essence still very good by virtue of creation, even though there is none that doeth good (Ps 14:1). When Jesus says that there is none good except one, and that is God, I believe He is meaning the character, the adjectival description. Where it says that a good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit, he is referring to our sinful nature which we have, but this does not counter who we are by virtue of creation: made in God's image, and along with the rest still very good "in essence".

Christ was crucified "from before the foundation of the world". God's plan was always that we should be one in Christ. The Law was given because of transgressions, to determine/show the boundaries, but gave no power to fulfil. They allowed societal order, and highlighted and reckoned sin.

Christ came in order to fulfil the Law, taking all its stipulations and fulfilling them, and was the 'telos' to which the Law pointed. The Law never offered salvation: it was always through faith.

The regime of the Law, with its stipulations, is now ended; we don't follow circumcision, the sacrifices, etc, but it still reveals the righteous requirements of God. The Holy Spirit now is God's empowering presence to fulfil the Law and its just requirements (which Jesus showed in his Sermon on the Mount is actually much narrower than the 10 Commandments).

We are justified by faith, reconciled through Christ's death.

Paul, as to the righteousness under the Law, was blameless, meaning that he fulfilled all its sacrificial obligations, but it could never save and give power to live a righteous life! "Hence I find in my body a law which is contrary to what I hold in my mind. Aaah! Who will deliver me from this body of death?! I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord". It is now the Holy Spirit who enables us to fulfil the Law's requirements.

We now can live in love (the presence of the future age!); the Law is still holy & just & good, ordering 'evil society' and providing the boundaries which people need in order to realise they are transgressing, but it is never through keeping the Law that we are saved!

Christ died for all! All has been done! It is only through faith that we are made right with God, and all people should have the opportunity to hear and respond: just believe! But it is not merely predestination of the individual, but a predestination to be in Christ, and not apart from Him. The Spirit still blows where it wishes, and there are still hard hearts, but it is not a 'dualism' of predestination - 'us' & 'them'. We all need to repent (not a negative, heavy thing, but a metanoia - a change of mind - toward God (don't worship the creature, but worship the Creator)) and have faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Pride and unbelief are the biggest obstacles to coming to Christ, the biggest sins.

The Holy Spirit is in the world, talking to people; people are free to make a choice; the strong man sometimes has to be bound. Remember, we are dealing with RELATIONSHIP at ALL LEVELS; we are not robots. God can also choose not to talk to a person and leave them to their own destructive ways! (cf Romans 1). But can also choose to overrule by so influencing our minds through the Spirit part of us (or to our minds directly, or through 'circumstances') that we cannot but do what He wills.

The Father is directing the unfolding plan of salvation across the world. God even uses 'hardened Pharaoh' to try to get His glory to all the world to save the world (the great Exodus would be spoken about in all the world, as a trigger to believe in this God !!). God even uses hardened hearts for the purpose of saving. God can and is using evil for good, not as His prime tool, but as His only/best/respectful tool (maintaining/upholding the rights of people to be free) to achieve the greatest good in the long run (ie the most people in heaven). God's divine strategy is His choosing!! WOW! And who are we to question God (cf Romans 11:33-36).

[Note that in the above I have tried to integrate Divine Sovereignty with Human Responsibility. But perhaps ultimately they cannot be brought together. I don't know.]

This world (& the possibility of death, rebellion, etc) was necessary in order to be able to create a "faithful bride" for Christ.

Consider Satan and his fall; God is wanting to create a people who will never be rebellious [again] like Satan, so He had to create a cosmos like this in which death was possible, so that it is only through mercy, humility, etc that people are saved/eternally secure, & NOT just by divine creation; it seems that a created personality in the image of God can only not usurp God by means of having humility taught to him/her (but in the process of humility being taught, sin must arise, & death, which thus have to be conquered). Thus we read that it was already before the foundation of the world that we were destined to be in Christ, indicating that His whole saving work was already foreordained (cf Eph 1:4,5; Rev 13:8; Mt 25:34). And thus we read that in heaven we shall always be beholding the Lamb that was slain (cf Revelation 5).

The only way God would not have had to have Christ slain from the foundation of the world was if He created us as other Gods, which is impossible, for He alone is and can be God!!

As Brian Houston says: "Your life was meant for living". There is no other purpose than that (if one may even label that phrase as a purpose). We were not made to be God's slaves, just as women were not made to be men's slaves. Life is all about relationship and walking hand-in-hand in harmony with each other as we go about doing the delightful beautiful tasks God has laid before us, which by definition bring glory to God.

But ever since Adam & Eve's fall into sin, God has been working out a plan of salvation on the earth, and those who now join with Him are also entrusted with this work as well.

There is, as we may define it, a 'shift in task emphasis'. The task has been expanded beyond (but I believe not annulling) the original "be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it". Not only are we now to personally seek entry into God's kingdom, and submit to His means of obtaining righteousness (which is through faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus), but we are also called to be co-workers in bringing others into the Kingdom of God and practising His righteousness in the world, in accordance with the gifts and talents He gives us. This is the new 'number one priority task' which is delightful and beautiful in God's eyes, to which we should and must direct all of our creative and ingenious abilities. This earth can no longer be our focus since it is riddled with sin and evil, and will soon be done away with (cf 2 Peter 3).

The six steps help us, I believe, to fulfill all the above.

Allow me to use two final illustrations to help us grasp the process.

First, using a gardening analogy, Alpha buys the land back from the enemy, Beta gets rid of all the large deep roots to enemy territory, and many finer ones at the surface, and rocks etc, which will only keep the land unproductive, and replaces the bad soil with good, fertilised soil. Gamma & Delta is seed sowing and watering into the new land, along with pruning of the new growth. Epsilon is pruning and controlling the direction of the growth. Zeta equips one to be a co-helper with God in all the previous processes.

Secondly, the dynamics of human sexuality and child upbringing provide remarkable parallels with Alpha to Zeta. Consider the following scant outline as a guide:

There must first be covenant relationship, ideally between a loving and caring man and woman, else the child is just the product of rape or lust, and thus there will be no good environment for the child to grow up in.

Seed must sown for the baby to be born

Conception does not always occur

Once conception occurs, need to avoid dangers

The growing baby and mother need careful attention

Birth is a bloody, messy, tiring, screaming, but joyful affair in the end

The resulting baby is just the beginning

Only much later in life does it make many many conscious decisions and finally come to maturity, able to stand on its own two feet, able to discern good from evil.

Discipline from birth to maturity all occurs because it is a part of the family; its birth origins are pointed back: "Being part of this family, you do things this way"

This family unit is inter-connected with other family units, either by blood or by friendship, and thus the child has genuine siblings, cousins, uncles & aunties, and 'pseudo' cousins, uncles, aunties etc. All these relationships are necessary for overall growth. The more the family grows, the more these increase, grandparents come on the scene, and so much more.

The Bible is our primary textbook when it comes to all matters of faith and life. Yet to many people it seems to be so complicated, and this concept is perhaps enhanced by the numerous books and 'Bible-study helps' that have been published for (would-be) disciples. Whilst not wishing to undermine all the abundant material available (to which this document also becomes an addition!), my concern is to show how the Bible itself really already is a fantastic 'text-book' in the alpha to zeta stages.

Considering the NT in the first instance, I have noticed and discerned the following structure:

Noting the above, I suggest the following bible-based curriculum to aid 'conversion' and ongoing growth in the Christian life:

Whilst having divided the NT up in such a fashion, allow me say that I believe all the elements of alpha through zeta can be found in the four Gospels, in the 'narrative alpha', since Jesus' life necessarily encompassed all these things. He taught concerning the Kingdom of God, He lived it out in practice, and made it possible for us to be a part of this Kingdom through His death and resurrection. We are called to emulate all these things - teach, live, even sacrifice ourselves for others that they may enter the Kingdom - and the rest of the NT is basically extrapolation or application to new converts around the world of all Jesus said and did! Narrative alpha encompasses systematic alpha plus beta through zeta.

(I also sense that in Romans, the systematic alpha, we also have all of alpha through zeta; A being in chapters 1-11, and B,C,D,E,F being in chapters 12-16.)

Furthermore, the Gospels are what the whole OT always looked forward to, always talked about, and always were pregnant with in its narratives, teaching, and prophecies. Thus the OT is never redundant, and always provides for us rich background and never redundant information for living the Christian life. Thus I suggest a few ways to study and read the OT:

a) in the above curriculum, whenever NT passages refer back to or may be 'similarly found' in OT sections, these sections should be read and studied in their OT context, and then full riches will be abundantly added to you in your faith! (especially when the same themes exist).

b) when reading the OT, note and absorb the following things -

May God bless your journey into the Christian life!

Allow me to finish with the words King David once said: