Ephesians– overview of 1:20-23 – What Christ brought about in the world, part 3Wednesday May 22, 2019
Eph 1:19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might
Eph 1:20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
Eph 1:21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion [all angelic creation], and every name that is named [all humanity], not only in this age, but also in the one to come.
Eph 1:22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church,
Eph 1:23 which is His body, the fulness of Him who fills all in all.
It must be clear to us that the church does not fulfill Christ, but the other way around.
The church does not fulfill Christ, but rather she is filled with Him.
The fact that we can still be so very selfish at times simply means that there are times when we don’t allow Him to work in us, as He and the Holy Spirit indwell us for the purpose of willing and working for their good pleasure, Phi 2:13.
We might get depressed when we recognize our selfishness, our lack of charity or love, but we must actually get more determined and therefore more excited, knowing that our hope in our calling, the end goal of our faith, will bring us more and more into conformity with the resurrected Christ more often and for longer periods. Never lose hope!
Read C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, last pages.
The resurrection of Christ and His ascendency above all opened the way for any fallen man to obtain His glory through simple faith.
Heb 2:5 For He did not subject to angels the world [oikoumene: inhabited earth] to come, concerning which we are speaking.
Heb 2:6 But one has testified somewhere [“in a certain place”, which they all know] saying, "What is man, that Thou rememberest him? Or the son of man, that Thou art concerned about him?
Heb 2:7 "Thou hast made him for a little while lower than the angels; Thou hast crowned him with glory and honor, And hast appointed him over the works of Thy hands;
Heb 2:8 Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet." For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him.
Adam was crowned with glory and honor and the world was subjected to him, but he fell, and that is the last phrase of vs. 8. “Now we do not see all things subjected to him.”
The fall of Adam is when the earth and the animal kingdom, nature, became red in tooth and claw.
Heb 2:9 But we do see Him who has been made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.
Heb 2:10 For it was fitting for Him [and only for Him], for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings.
The righteous demands of the Law had to be satisfied. A God of love cannot dismiss or overlook a righteousness that He loves, yet at the same time, a God of love cannot abandon His fallen creatures to judgment. It was fitting or becoming that sin had to be either paid for or judged, and only the Son of God was fitting to be the sacrifice that would fulfill the Law for us. The blood of Christ was the price and it was the only fitting payment.
The fact that all things are for the Son of God and through Him, means that only in Him would there be a way to deliver us from our loss of God’s glory. And now stated, there was only one way to do it. He had to become a man.
Heb 2:11 For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren,
Despite what we were, from Adam, the believers are now from one Father, and so we are sanctified, righteous, and justified. The resurrected Jesus is not ashamed to call us His own brethren.
Heb 2:12 saying, "I will proclaim Thy name to My brethren, In the midst of the congregation I will sing Thy praise." [Psa 22:22]
Heb 2:13 And again, "I will put My trust in Him." [Isa 8:17] And again, "Behold, I and the children whom God has given Me."
Now the incarnation will overcome the prince of death.
Heb 2:14 Since then the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil;
God does not have flesh and blood, but the Son of God became man to have a common element with humanity, but not with angels. He took hold of humanity, which was not natural to His divine nature. By taking on flesh and blood He could die, and also resurrect, and by doing so, He rendered Satan inoperative or powerless. The same word is used of the Mosaic Law. It wasn’t destroyed, and neither is Satan just yet, but both of them have been rendered inoperative in the life of believers by the death and resurrection of the humanity of Jesus Christ.
Being freed from death, as our Lord was in resurrection, there is a great implication for life, which is to be delivered from the fear of death, and so, fear of anything.
Death is no longer a punishment. It is actually a joy since it is the means by which we enter heaven and finally meet our Lord face to face.
Heb 2:15 and might deliver those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.
Heb 2:16 For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham.
Heb 2:17 Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
Heb 2:18 For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.
The background of vv. 14-17 is the OT concept of the kinsman-redeemer. Christ Jesus purchased us, satisfied the righteous requirements of the Father, and gave us His very life.
Being His brethren means suffering and temptation, and Jesus promises that He will run to our aid. We can try and document or list the ways in which He will do that, but we will come up short. He will enable us to overcome if we desire to overcome. “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” He will do it. And we know that He sympathizes with our weaknesses, because He Himself has been tempted in all things as we are. He is Jesus the Author of our salvation, Jesus the sanctifier, Jesus the Satan-conqueror, and Jesus the sympathizer.
Look at Him resurrected and put your faith in the fact that you are just like Him.
It was a prophecy for Jesus and His brethren, so in Eph 1:22, the ascendency belongs to the church along with Christ.
Eph 1:19b These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might
Eph 1:20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
Eph 1:21 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.
Eph 1:22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church,
Eph 1:23 which is His body, the fulness of Him who fills all in all.
The second clause of verse 22 begins with an emphasis upon the object, “and Him He gave”. Victorious, ascended above all angelic realms, and every name named on the earth, and seated at the right hand of God until all enemies are made His footstool, and the church, full of us nobodies and sinners, is not left behind. As great as He is and is finally revealed to be, Jesus Christ is given to the church. He is given to you.
As the spirit belongs to the body, by the like fitness Christ in His surpassing glory is the possession of believing men. The church is the body and claims the Christ as her Head and her Husband.
The church is not merely an institution ruled by Him as President, a kingdom in which He is the Supreme Authority, or a vast company of men in moral sympathy with Him, but a Society which is in vital connection with Him, having the source of its life in Him, sustained and directed by His power, the instrument also by which He works. |