Under & Over

My San Diego Padres are the oldest baseball team to have never won a World Series despite having made it to the World Series twice. However, my husband’s team, the Chicago Cubs, have been to the World Series eleven times and have won three times. The most recent win was in 2016, one hundred and eight years since their last win. You can imagine the celebration. Each player received a ring, and the team received the Commissioner’s trophy. An estimated five million people watched the celebratory parade, doubling Chicago’s usual population for a day. Millions of fans hoisted their “W” flags. Fans across the United States celebrated the defeat of the rival team and the triumph of their championship team over all other teams in American baseball. The win wasn’t just for the team. It was for all Chicago and Cubs’ fans everywhere.

Although this was a joyous, victorious day for the Cubs’ and their fans, it is a pale shadow of what we read in Ephesians.

15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.[1]

Ephesians 1:15-23 (emphasis added)

Today we will look at the conclusion of how Paul prayed for the Ephesian believers. We’ve examined four ways of growing in our knowledge of God: knowing the hope to which God has called us, knowing “what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints” (vs 18), knowing His power (vs 19-20a), and knowing His greatness (vs 20b-21). Verses 22 and 23 continue to reveal God’s power and greatness, they also show us that God’s power protects and blesses the church.

“And he [God] put all things under his [Jesus’] feet” – Paul quotes Psalm 8:6 which is also quoted in Hebrews 2:8 naming Jesus as the ultimate fulfillment. The writer of Hebrews states that “he [God] left nothing outside of his [Jesus’] control.” All things are under His feet. We learned last week that Jesus was seated at God’s right hand. His enthronement makes His final victory certain. Paul writes as if this victory is already accomplished because it IS certain. Nothing will hinder God’s plan and purpose.

All things are under Jesus’ feet, but God also gave Jesus as head over all things to the church. Jesus is over all creation including all rule, authority, power, dominion and every name that is named (vs 21). Benjamin Merkle defines head as referring “to one who is of supreme rank or preeminent status and possesses ruling authority.”[2]

We read this in Paul’s letter to the Colossians: “For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority” (Colossians 2:9-10).

And as we read last week: “15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent”[3] (Colossians 1:15-18).

Paul declares that God put all things under Jesus’ feet and gave Jesus as head over all things to the church. In Christ, we experience total safety and security (Romans 8:28-39). We are being conformed to the image of Jesus. We have been predestined, called, justified, and glorified. God is for us at the cost of His own Son. He has graciously given us all things. No one can bring a charge against us because Jesus is at God’s right hand interceding for us. We are more than conquerors through Jesus. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. What a precious gift we have in Jesus as our head.

But Paul isn’t done. He says that the church is Christ’s body. We are His. We are forever joined to Him. We are under His loving, sovereign care and protection. We are the fullness of Him. We make known His glory. Paul will later write “so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Ephesians 3:10-11). John MacArthur summarizes that all God’s power will be used on behalf of the church to fulfill His loving purpose for us. We have the privilege of making God’s manifold wisdom known, the privilege of bringing Him glory and praise forever.

“fills all in all” – sums up Jesus Lordship over all creation. There is nothing that is outside of His sovereignty and omnipresence. Sinclair Ferguson gives a helpful understanding: “The church is the community which Christ, in whom God’s fullness dwells, now indwells, filling it up, as it were, with his presence, flooding it with his grace, conforming it to his image until it is filled with his likeness”[4]

We have worked through Paul’s incredible prayer for believers to know God and taken in this glorious picture of Jesus. In the first half of Chapter 1, we learned God has chosen us for adoption, He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing, in Jesus we have redemption and forgiveness, all things will be united in Christ, we have an inheritance guaranteed by the Holy Spirit.

In the second half of Chapter 1, through Paul’s prayer, we began to grasp God’s power to bring us to glory and acquire the inheritance He has promised – eternal life with Him.

Reflection

1.    In light of Chapter 1, R.C. Sproul challenged readers to consider all God has done to secure our salvation and glorification. Go back through the chapter and write down all that God has done.

2.    What is your response to God giving Jesus as “head over all things to the church?” What specifically will you do in response?

3.    Take verses 15-22 and adapt them to your own prayer to pray for others. Pick one or two people to pray for using your adapted prayer. Paul told the Ephesian church what he was praying for them. Share with the people you are praying for how you are praying for them.

4.    Listen to “I Know Whom I Have Believed,” a hymn written by Daneil Webster Whittle in 1883 and praise God for who He is and what He has done.

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Eph 1:15–23.

[2] Merkle, Benjamin L. Expository Commentary, Vol. XI: Ephesians – Philemon. Wheaton, Crossway, 2018.

[3] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Col 1:15–18.

[4] Ferguson, Sinclair. Let’s Study Ephesians. Edinburgh, The Banner of Truth Trust, 2015.