Ephesians 1 is a glorious chapter in the letter to the Christians in Ephesus, located just on the coast of the Aegean Sea in modern-day Turkey. Home to one of the Ancient Wonders of the World, the Temple of Artemis (Dianna), Ephesus was an important port city, which made it a crucial outpost for the gospel. Paul’s preaching there led to a riot since the gospel had clashed with their culture and more importantly, their income. After detailing the believer’s union with Christ and the benefits incurred through this, Paul describes the specific prayer that he regularly offers up for these Christians. The apex of these petitions, likely 3 sets of couplets, is the power of Christ “toward us who believe”, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. This power towards believers likely includes, but is not limited to, the daily outworking of the power to save, sanctify, and ultimately glorify. This power is then described not only as the power that resurrected Christ, but the power that He now holds in reigning at the right :hand of the Father. This description of Christ’s ascension is the said to be elevated 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.” Ephesians 1:21 This description of Christ’s rule and reign is capped with the following
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.
Ephesians 1:22-23
Our focus in this post will be on these last few verses of the chapter which specifically highlight and detail the ascended Christ’s current reign. In context, Paul is detailing the exaltation of Christ above all power and authority specifically because of the culture into which he was writing. As previously mentioned, Ephesus revolved around pagan temple life, the making and selling of shrines, and witchcraft practices as well as demonic spirits openly operating in public. When Paul asserts the supremacy of Christ’s power, it’s meant to serve as an apologetic for believers to have confidence and assurance that their Lord was superior to the demonic forces which were dominating their society. In doing so, several narrative themes are pulled together which stretch all the way back to the garden in Genesis.
As we know, in the garden God gave man specific commands and commissions, most notably to: be fruitful and multiply and subdue and take dominion, which some have called the cultural mandate. Man, created in the image of God, was made to be God’s representatives and representation throughout the created world. Being fruitful and multiplying, man would extend his vice-regency reign throughout the created world as more and more image bearers were born. In doing so, man would increasingly subdue and take dominion over creation, not each other by the way. Unfortunately, man failed at this commission, before even getting started, by eating of the forbidden tree. This is the background which makes Paul’s statements about Christ so profound.
As we have seen, in Ephesians 1:19-21 God raised Christ from the dead and seated Him at His right hand, a position of power and authority. This seating is of course the fulfillment of the intra-Trinitarian promise that God the Father had previously made, which was recorded for us in Psalm 110:1 –
The Lord says to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand,
until I make your enemies your footstool.
Psalm 110:1
By raising Christ from the dead, which elsewhere Scripture describes as Christ raising Himself and as the Holy Spirit raising Him, God affirmed Christ as His Son, the validity of His ministry, and the efficacy of His death. The apex of this was His crowning at His enthronement. While inaugurated, this reign of Christ is not yet complete, not yet brought to its fulness. In keeping with the promise from Psalm 110 to make Christ’s enemies His footstool, there are foes which He defeated at the cross and through resurrection which are yet to be defeated in time and space, namely the devil, sin, and death – the last of these enemies. 1 Corinthians 15:25-26 confirms for us the ongoing reality of Christ’s reign and the yet to be finalized defeat of His enemies, “25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” This already/not yet reign and rule of Christ should be seen as the fulfillment of what was originally commissioned to Adam. Our Lord has crushed the head of the serpent through His sacrificial death on the cross in which His heel was wounded (Genesis 3:15). He has therefore fulfilled, at least in part withh a final fulfillment still remaining, the promise which was made subsequent to the Fall. Likewise, He is fulfilling the original commission giving to Adam to subdue creation and take dominion. Jesus’ entire earthly ministry was devoted to this fact as we saw Him assert His power and authority over nature, over demons, over sickness, and yes, even death. But there is yet a second area of cultural mandate fulfillment and curse reversal which Paul likewise includes in His glorious description of Christ’s authority and power.
In Ephesians 1:22-23, as cited above, we see that this power, authority, and rule, also has a reign – over people, and it extends over the earth. In Christ’s resurrection and ascension, He was given dominion and subjection of His enemies under His feet, but He was also given as head over the church, or better the ekklesia. He was given, “as head over all things to the church”, perhaps more clearly stated this means that it was for the benefit of the ekklesia that He was made head over all things. Verse 23 further supports this by added additional description to the ekklesia, “which is His body”. By ekklesia, translated here as church, being equivocated with the body of Christ, we are not talking about the so-called visible church which some have used to describe all those who claim the name of Christ around the globe. Nor are we talking about the invisible church, meaning genuine believers around the globe at present. Nor is it a reference to the local church at Ephesus, or anywhere else for that matter. This use of ekklesia is general, with eschatological implications. In other words, this is a reference to all believers throughout all of history, which together comprise the corpus Christi, or body of Christ. Each one of these image bearers, having then been conformed to the image of Christ, collectively comprise the body of Christ and are said to be the purpose for which Christ has been made the head of all things. Further describing this body, one final phrase informs us that it is the “fulness of him who fills all in all.” While commentors have been divided on the interpretation of this clause, it seems reasonable to conclude that it is both a reference to Christ’s filling of His body and His body filling the earth. The former sense is meant to relate to temple language and the Spirit’s filling of it. In other words, Christ’s body is the new temple in which He makes His residence. The second sense is that in which His body, in the already, extends His reign through it (ekklesia) into the ends of the world. Taken collectively we have here the fulfillment of the other part of Adam’s commission to be fruitful and multiply. Christ has literally done this through His body as they represent Him in all nations, tongues, and tribes. Commentator Clinton Arnold summarizes this aptly,
In conclusion, the final clause of this section of the letter asserts that the church is filled with power and grace from its exalted Lord, who, in turn, extends his reign throughout heaven and earth through the church. The church accomplishes this through dependence on the one who fills her and by proclaiming the gospel and manifesting the kingdom of God to all in an extensive way.
Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, Clinton E. Arnold
Christ the Son of God and Man, the Last Adam, through His substitutionary atonement, powerful resurrection, and glorious ascension now reigns at the right hand of God the Father will all power, dominion, and authority yet He exercises this authority through His body – the ekklesia, as they proclaim the gospel and manifest the kingdom of God. Hallelujah, what a King!
Solus Christus!
