Ephesians 1:11
"In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being
predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things
after the counsel of his own will:"
In the last lesson,
we were looking into the mystery of why God would even want to save
us. We found that He did not talk it over with anyone. This was His
decision and was not up for discussion.
Galatians 3:29:
“And if ye [be] Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs
according to the promise."
In whom, (this is
speaking about Christ) also we have obtained an inheritance may be
read, “by whom we were also made an inheritance.” That is,
believers are God’s treasure. Why would Paul regard this as a
blessing? As God’s treasure Christians are the apple of His eye,
the special objects of His love. He is then determined to care and
provide for his people who are His heritage.
“We have obtained
an inheritance”: This translates a single compound word in the
Greek (eklerothemen). When something in the future was so certain
that it could not possible fail to happen, the Greeks would often
speak of it as if it had already occurred (as here, where Paul uses a
similar Greek tense (aorist active indicative) to speak of God’s
having “seated us with Him in the heavenly places”, verse 6,
although the apostle and those to whom he wrote had not yet entered
into that glorious experience. Their dwelling eternally with the Lord
was just as certain as if they were already in heaven.
In Malachi 3:16-17
we see from eternity past the Father planned and determined that
every person who would trust in His Son for salvation would be given
to His Son as a possession, a glorious inheritance. “Then they that
feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened,
and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him
for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.”
“And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when
I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own
son that serveth him”
“According to the
purpose”: Because we are identified with Christ, our lives should
be identified with His life, 1 John 2:6. We are to love as He loved,
help as He helped, care as He cared, and share as He shared, and
sacrifice our own interest and welfare for the sake of others just as
He did. Like our Lord, we are in the world to lose our lives for
others.
As Paul makes clear
in v.3, our inheritance includes “every spiritual blessing in the
heavenly places in Christ.” In Jesus Christ, believers inherit
every promise God has ever made. God bestows sunshine, rain, and many
other good things on all men, the righteous and unrighteous alike
(Matthew 5:45). But His spiritual blessings are bestowed only on
those who are in Him. Apart from Jesus Christ, the only ultimate and
eternal thing a person can receive from God is condemnation.
Our inheritance is
in Jesus. We are heirs of the Father, because we are sons of the
Father. We are sons of the Father, because we have received Jesus
Christ as our Savior and Lord.
We have obtained an
inheritance. Christ is the source of the believer’s divine
inheritance, which is so certain that it is spoken of as if it has
already been received, 1 Cor. 3:22-23; 2 Peter 1:3-4.
“Being
predestinated”. Before the earth was formed, God sovereignly
determined that every elect sinner, however vile, useless and
deserving of death, by trusting in Christ would be made righteous.
Who worketh all
things? The word translated “works” is the same one from which
“energy,” “energetic,” and energize” are derived. When God
created the world, He gave it sufficient energy to begin immediately
to operate as He had planned. It was not simply ready to function,
but was created functioning. As God works out His plan according to
“the counsel of His will,” He energizes every believer with the
power necessary for his spiritual completion, Phil. 1:6; 2:13.
God works out what
He plans. He energizes every believer with all the power necessary
for his spiritual completion. It is not sufficient to think that God
only makes the plan. He also makes it work out.
Ephesians 1:12
"That we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted
in Christ."
This phrase begins
v.12 in the Greek text, and that order fits logically with what Paul
has been saying about God’s perspective on our inheritance. The
Lord’s perspective and working are seen in His predestination, in
His power, and as we see here, in His preeminence.
The key is that we
first trusted Christ. We who first trusted in Christ should be to the
praise of His glory. The crucifixion of Jesus glorified the Father.
The purpose of being
made God’s “inheritance” and having been “predestinated”,
v.11 is that we should be to the praise of His glory, that is, that
we should glorify God. Who first trusted in Christ refers to Jewish
believers.
Our predestined
salvation including our attendant eternal and boundless blessings,
are therefore designed that they should be to the praise of His
glory.
The crucifixion of
Jesus glorified the Father. Even the healings and raising of the dead
glorified the Father. Over and over the Scriptures say, “And they
glorified God.”
The very greatest
glory of all was the fact that Jesus fulfilled the will of the Father
to save all who believed. The suffering on the cross glorified the
Father and the Son.
John 13:31-32
"Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of
man glorified, and God is glorified in him." "If God be
glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall
straightway glorify him."
The greatest victory
mankind has ever known was the victory of Jesus on the cross. Jesus
defeated Satan and sin on the cross, and defeated death when He rose.
God’s glory is the
supreme purpose of redemption.
In the NASE edition
the rendering of this verse in 12a is “To the end that we who were
first to hope in Christ”, is the first statement given here about
the human side of our divine inheritance in Christ. A more literal
translation is “hope in the Christ”.
A rich factor in
man’s believing the gospel is the hope He is given in His Savior
and Lord. Though Paul mentions hope before belief in the passage, the
chronological as well as theological order is faith and then hope. In
this context, however, hope is used primarily as a synonym for faith.
The first to hope in Christ were the first to believe in Him.
Verses 13-14. Sealed
… Holy Spirit of Promise: God’s own Spirit comes to indwell the
believer and secures and preserves his eternal salvation. The sealing
of which Paul speaks refers to an official mark of identification
placed on a letter, contract, or other document.
That document was
thereby officially under the authority of the person whose stamp was
on the seal. Four primary truths are signified by the seal:
1.
Security – Dan. 6-17; Matthew 27:62-66
2.
Authenticity – 1 Kings 21:6-16
3.
Ownership – Jer. 32:10
4.
Authority – Ester 8:8-12
The Holy Spirit is
given as His pledge of the believer’s future inheritance in glory,
(2 Corinthians 1:21)
Ephesians 1:13
"In whom ye also [trusted], after that ye heard the word of
truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye
believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,"
Here we see the
believer’s divine inheritance in Jesus Christ from our own human
perspective. Throughout Scripture there is tension between God’s
sovereignty and man’s will, a tension that, in his limited and
imperfect knowledge, man is incapable of fully reconciling.
As with all the
other antinomies and paradoxes in God’s Word, our responsibility is
to believe both sides of them without reservation, just as they are
revealed. We know the truths are in perfect accord in God’s mind,
and that knowledge should satisfy us.
Someone has pictured
the divine and human sides of salvation in their way: When you look
toward heaven you see a sign that read, “Whosoever will may come,”
and after you enter heaven you look back to that same sign and read
on the other side, “Chosen in Him before the foundation of the
world.”
Whatever God’s
reasons for designing such humanly irreconcilable truths, we should
thank and praise Him for them. For the very reason that they are
completely true which seeming to be contradictory, we are humbled in
His presence as we stand in awe of that which to us is
incomprehensible. To the trusting believer such truths are but
further evidence that Scripture is God’s doing, and not man’s.
Heard the word of
truth … ye believed. The God revealed gospel of Jesus Christ must
be heard, Rom. 10:17, and believed, John 1:12, to bring salvation.
In whom ye also (or,
“by whom also you”): The first person plural (we, us) in verses
3-12 refers to Jewish Christians. The second person plural (you)
refers to Gentile Christians. This seems evident from 2:11-12 where
the second person is explicitly applied to non-Jews: “Ye being in
time past Gentiles … ye were …aliens from the commonwealth of
Israel.”
Compare that all
those spiritual blessings God has bestowed upon “us” Jewish
Christians. He has also granted “you” Gentile brethren. There is
no difference. In whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed
with that holy Spirit of promise may be read, “By whom also, when
you believed, you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.”
The Christian
receives the Spirit, not “after,” but when he believes in Christ
as Savior. The sealer is Jesus; the seal is the Holy Spirit. In
biblical times a seal denoted both identification of ownership and
protection provided by the owner.
The victory for all
mankind in this is that now, all who believe will be saved. Salvation
was not available to whosoever will, until the cross. The gospel
{good news} of salvation is that all who believe in the Lord Jesus
will be saved. It seems that there are two statements "after ye
believed" "sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise".
The Holy Spirit, we
Christians receive, is called the earnest of the Spirit. Look, with
me, at a couple of Scriptures on this.
2 Corinthians 1:22
"Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in
our hearts."
2 Corinthians 5:5
"Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing [is] God,
who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit."
The sealing of the
Holy Spirit guarantees the benefits of our salvation, as a person
might seal an envelope to guarantee its enclosures. The Holy Spirit
is the seal to the believer and is also a “down payment” of His
commitment to someday give him all other things God has promised.
Faith is man’s
response to God’s elective purpose. God’s choice of men is
election; men’s choice of God is faith. In election God gives His
promises, and by faith men receive them.
As one means of
guaranteeing His promises to those who have received Jesus Christ,
God has sealed them in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise. Every
believer is given the very Holy Spirit of God the moment he trusts in
Christ. “You are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the
Spirit of God dwells in you,” Paul declares (Romans 8:9a).
Conversely, he goes on to say, “If anyone does not have the Spirit
of Christ, he does not belong to Him” (v.9b). Incredibly, the body
of every true Christian is actually “a temple of the Holy Spirit
who is in him” (1 Cor. 6:19).
When a person
becomes a Christian, the Holy Spirit takes up residence in his life.
Life in Jesus Christ is different because the Spirit of God is now
within. He is there to empower us, equip us for ministry, and
function through the gifts He has given us. The Holy Spirit is our
Helper and Advocate. He protects and encourages us. He also
guarantees our inheritance in Jesus Christ. “The Spirit Himself
bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if
children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ”
(Romans 8:16-17). The Spirit of God is our securing force, our
guarantee.
When the Holy Spirit
seals believers, He marks them as God’s divine possessions, who
from that moment on entirely and eternally belong to Him The Spirit’s
seal declares the transaction of salvation as divinely official and
final.
Ephesians 1:14
"Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of
the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory."
Which is the earnest
of our inheritance means “who is the guarantee of our salvation.
The Holy Spirit is here called “the earnest of our inheritance.”
The word earnest means “down payment”; as such the gift of the
Spirit is viewed as an installment or as part of our salvation.
The Holy Spirit not
only guarantees our inheritance in Jesus Christ with His seal but
also with His pledge. An arrabon (pledge) originally referred to a
down payment or earnest money given to secure a purchase. Later it
came to represent any sort of pledge or earnest. A form of the word
even came to be used for engagement ring. Believers are assured and
guaranteed with an absolute certainty that only God could provide.
The Holy Spirit is the church’s irrevocable pledge, her divine
engagement ring, as it were, that as Christ’s bride, she will never
be neglected or forsaken.
God therefore
assures the Christian that the realization of the rest of his
salvation is forthcoming. How long is the believer assured of his
salvation? Until the redemption of the purchased possession may be
read, “Until God glorifies and perfects the believer (the purchased
possession) whom He has bought by Christ’s blood.”
The Spirit, that we
receive, gives us power to be able to live a victorious life here on
the earth. This strength that we receive within ourselves is the fact
that the Spirit of the Risen Christ has taken up residence in us. It
is His strength that we draw from. The Spirit not only verifies that
we belong to Christ, but also helps us in our day to day walk.
When we allow the
Spirit to be our teacher and our guide, we are assured of the
decisions we make. It is a knowing that all is well with our soul. It
reassures us of our coming inheritance. Notice we are the purchased
possession.
Although our divine
inheritance in Christ is a marvelous, awesome and guaranteed promise
to us from the Lord, it is not the primary purpose of our salvation.
Our salvation and all of the promises, blessings and privileges we
gain through salvation are first of all bestowed with a view to the
redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.
As Paul has already
twice declared in verses 6 and 12, God’s ultimate goal in redeeming
men is the praise of His glory. We are not saved and blessed for our
own glory but for God’s, Isaiah 43:20-21. When we glorify ourselves
we rob God of that which is wholly His. He saved us to serve Him and
to praise Him. We are saved to be restored to the intended divine
purpose of creation, to bear the image of God and bring Him greater
glory.
This is fully
accomplished at the believer’s glorification, when we receive full
glory and redemption and are made the perfect possession of God.
In verses 3-14
Paul has set forth the amazing and unlimited blessings believers have
in Jesus Christ, blessings that amount to our personal inheritance of
all that belongs to Him. In the remainder of the chapter, verses
15-23, Paul prays that the believers to whom he writes will come to
fully understand and appreciate those blessings. In this prayer he
focuses on believers’ comprehension of their resources in their
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In verses 15-16 he praises them, and
in verses 17-23 he makes petitions to God for them.
Ephesians 1:15
"Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord
Jesus, and love unto all the saints,"
In light of their
marvelous inheritance in Jesus Christ, Paul now intercedes for the
possessors of that treasure, (faith). These initially included not
only the believers in Ephesus but probably those in all the churches
of Asia Minor.
It had been about
four years since Paul ministered there, and he was now in prison.
From letters and reports from friends who visited him in prison, he
had received considerable information from and about the churches.
From that he had
heard two things that indicated the genuineness of their salvation,
and for those two cardinal marks of a true Christian, faith in Christ
and love for other Christians. Those two dimensions of spiritual life
are inseparable, 1 John 2:9-11.
Now, we see the
glorious report. Love of the saints is automatic with faith in the
Lord Jesus. We cannot directly do anything for Christ. The way we
give to Him is through His saints.
Love for other
believers evidences saving faith, John 13:34-35; 1 John 4:16-18;
4:20; 5:1 and is a cause of thanksgiving, v.16.
The emphasis in 15b
is on true saving belief, with the lordship of Jesus as the object of
that belief. Some Christians, perhaps intending to protect the gospel
from any taint of works righteousness, underplay Christ’s lordship
almost to the point of denying it. Others would like to accept the
term Lord only as a reference to deity, not sovereignty. But such a
separation is artificial, because deity implies sovereignty. The One
who alone is God rules alone.
The New Testament
does not separate Jesus as Savior from Jesus as Lord. He is both, or
He is neither. Jesus becomes Savior when He is accepted as Lord. “For
to this end,” (Paul explains later in Romans, “Christ died and
lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the
living”, 14:9.
Only believers can
say “Jesus is Lord” because they possess the Holy Spirit (1 Cor.
12:3), who was given to them when they were saved (Rom 8:9).
In verse 15c we see
a second mark of genuine salvation is love for all the saints, and
because of such love Paul offers thanks for the Ephesian believers.
“We know that we have passed out of death into life,” John says,
“because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in
death” (1 John 3:14).
True salvation
produces true love and true love does “not love with word or with
tongue, but in deed and truth” (1 John 3:18).
Always in the New
Testament true spiritual love is defined as an attitude of selfless
sacrifice that results in generous acts of kindness done to others.
It is far more that a feeling, and attraction or emotion.
Sadly the love the
Ephesians had for all the saints did not last. In the letter to the
churches of Asia Minor in Revelation, the Lord says of the church at
Ephesus, “I have this against you, that you have left your first
love”, Rev. 2:2-4. They had lost within a few decades, the great
love for Christ and their fellow believers for which Paul had so
warmly praised them.
It is unfortunate
that some Christians have a loveless kind of faith. Because it is
loveless there is reason to doubt that such faith is even genuine.
True faith cannot exist apart from true love. We cannot love the Lord
Jesus without loving those whom He loves. 1 John 5:1 says: “Whoever
believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God; and whoever loves
the Father loves the child born of Him”.
Ephesians 1:16
"Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my
prayers;"
Paul immediately
began to pray for them, when he realized they were believers. All
leaders in the church should pray for all of those who come to
Christ. The congregation should pray for their leader, as well. Pray
ye, one for the other. We Christians all need each other, and should
give thanks for the believers.
The Christians to
whom Paul wrote his Ephesians letter had the right balance, and it
was for their great faith and their great love that the apostle
assured them, “I do not cease giving thanks for you, while making
mention of you in my prayers”.
Verses 17-18,
the spirit of wisdom … hope. Paul was praying that believers will
have the disposition of godly knowledge and insight of which the
sanctified mind is capable, v.8, so as to grasp the greatness of the
hope, Romans 8:29; 1 John 3:2 and the inheritance that is theirs in
Christ, verses 3-14.
Ephesians 1:17
"That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may
give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of
him:"
The remainder of the
chapter is a petition in which Paul prays for God to give believers
true comprehension and appreciation of who they are in Jesus Christ,
in order that they might begin to have some idea of how magnificent
and unlimited are the blessings that already belonged to them in
their Lord and Savior.
In essence Paul
prayed that the Ephesians would be spared from frantically searching
for what was already theirs, but rather would see the great God who
is their God is the source of all they need and has it ready for them
if they are open to receive it. Such a receptive attitude requires
that God Himself give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in
the knowledge of Him.
It is tragic that
many believers become entangled in a quest for something more in the
Christian life, for something special, something extra that the
“ordinary” Christian does not possess. They talk of getting more
of Jesus Christ, more of the Holy Spirit, more power, more blessings,
a higher life, a deeper life, as if the resources of God were
divinely doled out one at a time like so many pharmaceutical
prescriptions or were unlocked by some spiritual combination that
only an initiated few can know.
To say, “I want to
get all of Jesus there is, “implies that when we were saved Christ
did not give us all of Himself, that He held some blessings in
reserve to be parceled out to those who meet certain extra
requirements. Such searching undermines the essence of God’s
revealed truth about salvation. (Ecclesiastes 3:4)
God of our Lord
Jesus Christ, this is a designation of God that links Father and Son
in essential nature, as deity.
The Christian’s
primary need is for wisdom and obedience to appropriate the abundance
of blessings the Lord has already given. Our problem is not lack of
blessings, but lack of insight and wisdom to understand and use them
properly and faithfully. Only the Holy Spirit Himself can search the
deep things of the mind of God, and only the Spirit can bring them to
our understanding.
God’s deeper
truths cannot be seen with our eyes, heard with our ears, or
comprehended by our reason or intuition. They are revealed only to
those who love Him.
The spirit of wisdom
and revelation in the knowledge of him means “a disposition
consisting of wisdom and revelation in knowing Him.”
"Wisdom"
is a gift from God. "Knowledge" is accumulated learning.
The Spirit of wisdom would be a gift through the Holy Spirit of God.
This would be above the natural ability of man.
Paul prays
specifically that God may give the faculty of understanding so that
we can know our resources, which he calls a spirit of wisdom and of
revelation in the knowledge of Him. The spirit of wisdom is given
through the Holy Spirit, but this spirit does not refer to the Holy
Spirit Himself, as some interpreters suggest.
Pneuma (spirit) is
anarthrous here, meaning that it has no article before it. In such
cases the indefinite article is usually supplied in English, as in
our text: a spirit. Believers already possess the Holy Spirit, Romans
8:9, for whom their bodies are temples (1 Cor. 6:19). Nor does it
seem that Paul was speaking of the human spirit, which every person
already possesses (1 Cor. 2:11).
Revelation, though
used here as a synonym of wisdom, deals with God’s imparting
knowledge to us, whereas wisdom could emphasize our use of that
knowledge. We must know and understand our position in the Lord
before we are capable of serving Him. We must know what we have
before we can satisfactorily use it.
This additional
wisdom goes beyond intellectual knowledge. It is far richer; and Paul
desired that the Christians, like those in Colossae, would “keep
seeking the things above, where Christ is” (Col. 3:1).
Verses 18-19. When
the figurative terms are removed from the eyes of your
understanding being enlightened, the clause means that “your
mind’s understanding may be fully enlightened.” This clause
further explains verse 17. That ye may know signifies that the
believer comes to know three things upon being enlightened:
1.
What is the hope of his calling; that is, he realizes
how sure and certain is his heavenly destiny;
2.
What the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the
saints; that is, the illuminated Christian recognizes more and
more both the priceless value of his salvation, and what a priceless
treasure he is to God; and
3.
What is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who
believe: perceiving how God’s power has changed him since
conversion, he experiences to a greater extent this divine strength
in daily living.
Ephesians 1:18
"The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may
know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the
glory of his inheritance in the saints,"
In the NASE bible
version, the scripture states: “I pray that the eyes of your heart
may be enlightened”. In most modern cultures, the heart is thought
of as the seat of emotions and feeling. But most ancients such as
Hebrews, Greeks, and many others, considered the heart (Greek Kardia)
to be the center of knowledge, understanding, thinking and wisdom.
The New Testament also uses it that way.
Pray therefore prays
for the minds of the Ephesians to be enlightened. Emotions have a
significant place in the Christian life, but they are reliable only
as they are guided and controlled by God’s truth, which we come to
know and understand through our minds, That is why we are to “Let
the Lord of Christ richly dwell within us”, Col. 3:16.
When the Holy Spirit
works in the believer’s mind, He enriches it to understand divine
truth that is deep and profound, and then relates that truth to life,
including those aspects of life that involve our emotions.
The eyes of your
understanding enlightened, would mean that God has allowed your
innermost being to understand. The Light has shined on you from
within and revealed the meaning to you.
This is
approximately what had happened to Paul on the road to Damascus. It
is a revealing from within. Also the two disciples on the Emmaus
road, their hearts (that is their minds) burned within them; but it
was not until “their eyes were opened that they recognized Him?
Luke 24:31-32.
A spiritually
enlightened mind is the only means of truly understanding and
appreciating the hope and inheritance in Christ and of living
obediently for Him.
“The hope of His
calling”: Paul prays for God to enlighten them about the
magnificent truths that summarize God’s master plan for the
redemption of mankind which is His eternal plan that will bring men
back to Himself through His own Son, thereby making them His
children.
Jesus is the Light,
so this means that His light has shone brightly within you revealing
secrets. When the Light of Jesus shines within, there are no hidden
corners left. His Light does away with darkness. Then you can see
clearly what your calling is. You, also, can see clearly what your
inheritance in Him is. This "knowing" is not with your
mind, but with your heart.
“Inheritance of
the saints”: It is truth too magnificent for words to describe. Our
being glorious children of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ of
all that God possesses is the consummation and end of salvation
promised from eternity past and held in hope until the future
manifestation of Christ. There is nothing more to seek, nothing more
to be given or received. We have it all now, and we will have it
throughout eternity.
Verses 19-20:
“Exceeding greatness of His power”. God’s great power, that
very power which raised Jesus from the dead and lifted Him by
ascension back to glory to take His seat at God’s right hand, is
given to every believer at the time of salvation and is always
available, Acts 1:8; Col. 1:29.
Paul therefore did
not pray that God’s power be given to believers but that they be
aware of the power they already possessed in Christ and use it, 3:20.
Ephesians 1:19
"And what [is] the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward
who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,"
This second request
of Paul is for the Lord to give the Ephesian believers understanding
of His great power that will bring them to their inheritance in
glory. Paul uses four different Greek synonyms to emphasize the
greatness of that power.
1.
“Dunamis” (power), from which we get dynamite and dynamo.
This power is only for Christians, for those who believe. It is all
the power we are ever offered or could ever have.
2.
“Energeia” (working), the energizing force of the Spirit
that empowers believers to live for the Lord.
3.
“Kratos (strength), which may also be translated “dominion”.
(1 Tim. 6:16) or “power” (Heb. 2:14).
4.
“Ischus” (might), which carries the idea of endowed power
or ability. In all those ways the Holy Spirit empowers God’s
children.
Paul did not pray
for power to be given to believers. How could they have more than
what they had? He prayed first of all that they be given a divine
awareness of the power they possessed in Christ. Later in the letter,
(chapters 4-6) he admonished them to employ that power in faithful
living for their Lord.
The main thing it
reveals is the fact that it is not our own power that works within
us, but His power.
Philippians 4:13 "I
can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."
Zechariah 4:6 "Then
he answered and spake unto me, saying, This [is] the word of the LORD
unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my
spirit, saith the LORD of hosts."
His power works in
us, and through us, if we believe. We do not need to pray for power
to do God’s will. “It is God who is at work in you,” Paul
assures us, “both to will and to work for His good pleasure”
(Phil. 2:13)
John 14:12 "Verily,
verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do
shall he do also; and greater [works] than these shall he do; because
I go unto my Father."
He has given us
power of attorney to use His name.
John 14:13-14 "And
whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father
may be glorified in the Son." "If ye shall ask any thing in
my name, I will do [it]."
The greatness is His
power working in us and through us, as I said.
Just before His
ascension Jesus assured the disciples, “You shall receive power
when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” (Acts 1:8), a gift every
believer receives at the time he is saved. God is able to do
exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to
the power that works within us (Eph. 3:20) To ask god for more power
is an affront to His gracious love which already has provided us
everything.
Ephesians 1:20
"Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead,
and set [him] at his own right hand in the heavenly [places],"
That very same power
that was shown at the resurrection of Jesus is the same power that we
have when we pray for the sick, or do mighty miracles in His name.
The power is in Christ. It is in His name. He healed in His own name
when He was on the earth. We can now use that powerful name.
Paul’s prayer here
is that we understand the power of His keeping, His securing us and
His fulfilling the marvelous hope which is ours in Christ. The
resurrection and ascension power, the divine energy that lifted
Christ from the grave to the earth, and from the earth to heaven, is
the power that will lift us to glory.
At times all of us
are tempted to doubt, to wonder if God can do a certain thing for us
or through us or ultimately bring us into His presence. But when we
look at what He brought about in Christ, at what He faithfully
accomplished on behalf of His son, and at His assurance that He will
just as faithfully accomplish His work on our behalf, what ground do
we have for doubting?
Jesus is seated at
the right hand of the Father because the work is finished. He is,
also, The Right Hand of God. In a spiritual way, we believers are
seated in heavenly places with Christ Jesus.
In light of such
assurance, how can a Christian feel insecure, forsaken, or powerless?
The same unlimited divine power that raised Him from the dead will
raise us from the dead, and the same power that seated Him at His
right hand in the heavenly places will seat us there with Him.
In the meanwhile,
that resurrection power is at our disposal for living to His glory
(Eph. 1:19-20; 3:20). It is so certain that this power will bring us
to glory that Paul spoke as if it has already occurred, because it
has already occurred in God’s eternal plan. (Eph. 2:6)
Ephesians 1:21
"Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion,
and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in
that which is to come:"
Moving from Christ’s
might to His majesty, Paul’s third request is for the Lord to give
believers understanding of the greatness of His Person who secures
and empowers them.
Principality, and
power, and might, and dominion refer to various classes of angelic
beings. God’s power has exalted Jesus far above all these spiritual
creatures.
Paul wanted
believers to comprehend the greatness of God compared to other
heavenly beings. “Rule and authority and power and dominion” were
traditional Jewish terms to designate angelic beings having a high
rank among god’s hosts. God is above them all, Rev. 20:10-15.
Once when Timothy
was intimidated by criticism from fellow Christians, he
understandably became discouraged. Paul wrote to him, “Remember
Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to
my gospel, for which I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a
criminal; but the word of God is not imprisoned. For this reason I
endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, that they
also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it
eternal glory” (2 Tim. 2:8-10)
Paul says, “He was
raised from the dead and seated at God’s right hand. He was born of
the seed of David, as a man just like us. He identifies with us,
understands us, and sympathizes with us.”
Every Christian
should continually have that focus. When we look at Him, our physical
problems, psychological problems, and even spiritual problems will
not loom so all important before us.
What great blessing
we can have when we take time to set our own concerns and needs aside
and simply focus on the Lord of glory, allowing the Holy Spirit to do
in us what Paul asked Him to do in the Ephesians, give us deep
understanding of the truth that our Lord is far above all rule and
authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not
only in this age, but also in the one to come.
The following
Scripture says it all. Philippians 2:10 "That at the name of
Jesus every knee should bow, of [things] in heaven, and [things] in
earth, and [things] under the earth;" His name is exalted above
all others.
Ephesians 1:22
"And hath put all [things] under his feet, and gave him [to be]
the head over all [things] to the church,"
It should be noted
that the matter of the cosmic war between God and His angelic hosts
and Satan and his demons is a matter of great importance in
Scripture. Redemption is a demonstration of God’s power before the
angels (3:10). Satan and his hosts have endeavored to thwart the plan
of God from the beginning and are the constant enemy of the work of
the kingdom, but they are destined to be overthrown and eternally
banished (Rev. 20:10-15).
And gave him to be
the head over all things to the church means God appointed Him head
(ruler) over all things for the benefit of the church. Jesus is the
divinely appointed ruler over the entire universe for the church’s
benefit.
Feet … head. This
is a quote from Psalm 8:6 indicating that God has exalted Christ over
everything, Heb. 2:8, including His church, Col. 1:18. Christ is
clearly the authoritative Head (not “source) because all things
have been placed under His feet.
He is our exalted
Leader. He is our Lord, He is our Savior, He is our King, He is our
High Priest, He is our Life.
Acts 17:28 "For
in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your
own poets have said, For we are also his offspring."
He is the head of
the church, who we are. He is the Creator of everything and everyone,
and we are His creation.
There is no limit on
time, as Paul said Christ will be supreme not only in this age, but
also in the one to come, that is, in the eternal kingdom of the Lord
Jesus Christ (2:7).
Ephesians 1:23
"Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all."
Most importantly, as
far as believers are concerned, God gave Him as head over all things
to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all
in all. Christ not only is the head of the church but its fullness.
Since He has such a
unique and intimate relationship with the redeemed whom He loves, all
His power will be used in their behalf to fulfill His loving purpose
for them. He is completely over us and completely in us, our supreme
Lord and supreme power.
His body is a
metaphor for God’s redeemed people, used exclusively in the New
Testament of the church. (4:12-16; 1 Cor. 12:12-27)
Paraphrased, this
verse reads, “For the church is His body. It is the fullness
belonging to Him who fills the universe with all things.” That is,
Jesus, who so wisely and skillfully fills the universe with all
material elements necessary for it existence, also wisely and
skillfully infuse His people (the church) with His own life and
character.
This verse, then,
explains why in 1:22 God made Him head over all things for the
benefit of the church: the church is in such an intimate relationship
with Him, and is of such character, that she is considered His own
body. So it is for her good that Christ is the divinely appointed
ruler of the universe. Since He filleth the church with His
own life and character, she is a receptacle containing the graces and
virtues of God Himself.
We, Christians, are
the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are His bride, we are His
habitation. He is the vine, and we are His branches. He is the Tree
of Life and the Water of Life. He is the spiritual and the physical
Light of the world.
The point of this
great petition is that we might comprehend how secure we are in
Christ and how unwavering and immutable is our hope of eternal
inheritance. The power of glorification is invincible and is
presently operative to bring us to glory.
