Ephesians 1:15–23 · WEB Classic
15 For this cause I also, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which is among you and the love which you have toward all the saints, 16 don’t cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
19 and what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to that working of the strength of his might 20 which he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule, authority, power, dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come. 22 He put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things for the assembly,
23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
Paul has heard of their faith in the Lord Jesus and their love toward all the saints. He gives thanks and continues praying for them. Their faith is real, and their growth still matters. Receiving Christ does not mean we have exhausted everything there is to understand about the salvation we have received.
He asks the Father of glory to give them a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. The prayer concerns their understanding of God. Paul is not encouraging them to seek private doctrines that improve upon the gospel. He wants the truth God has revealed to become clearly understood by the people who have received it. Revelation does us little practical good when we remain content to misunderstand it.
The eyes of their heart need enlightenment so that they may know the hope of God’s calling, the riches of his inheritance in the saints, and the greatness of his power toward believers. “Heart” here reaches beyond emotion to the inner person. Paul is praying for understanding that shapes confidence and judgment. He wants them to grasp what God has done and what it means for the people who belong to him.
Resurrection supplies the measure
The power toward believers is described by what God accomplished when he raised Jesus from the dead and seated him at his right hand. Paul gives an event by which to understand the claim. The crucified Christ was truly dead, and God brought him into the life of resurrection. The measure is an accomplished act of God, not the strength of our impression that something powerful must be happening.
Psalm 110:1–4 · WEB Classic
Yahweh says to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool for your feet.” Yahweh will send out the rod of your strength out of Zion. Rule among your enemies. Your people offer themselves willingly in the day of your power, in holy array. Out of the womb of the morning, you have the dew of your youth. Yahweh has sworn, and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”
Psalm 110 supplies the royal setting. David speaks of Yahweh telling his Lord to sit at his right hand until his enemies are made his footstool. The king rules in the midst of enemies, and the psalm goes on to describe him as a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek (110:1–4). Rule and access to God meet in the same figure. This is no temporary official keeping a chair warm until someone more important arrives.
Jesus uses the psalm to make his hearers reckon with the identity of David’s son. Why does David call him Lord (Matthew 22:41–46)? At Pentecost, Peter announces that Jesus has been raised and exalted, then quotes the same psalm. David did not ascend into the heavens, but the Jesus they crucified has been made Lord and Christ (Acts 2:32–36). Paul’s statement that Christ is seated at God’s right hand belongs within that apostolic announcement. The crucified Messiah occupies the royal place the psalm describes.
The statement leaves no rival power outside his supremacy. Whatever spiritual forces frightened these believers, those forces did not occupy a higher position than Jesus. The church does not need an additional mediator who knows how to negotiate with powers Christ cannot handle. He reigns above them.
Psalm 110 places that reign in the presence of enemies. The king sits at God’s right hand while their subjection is brought to completion. Enthronement and continuing opposition therefore coexist within the very passage supplying the royal image. We do not need to choose between confessing that Jesus reigns and admitting that his people face suffering. The king’s seat has been established before the last enemy’s resistance has ended.
Psalm 8 begins by looking at the heavens and asking why God takes thought for humanity at all. Human beings seem small beneath that sky, yet God has crowned them with glory and honor and put the works of his hands under their feet (8:3–8). The psalm recalls the dominion given in Genesis 1. We were made to exercise responsibility within God’s world, not to become a competing authority against its maker.
Sin made that rule a setting for rebellion and oppression. Hebrews 2:6–9 takes up Psalm 8, acknowledges that we do not yet see everything subjected to humanity, and directs our attention to Jesus, crowned with glory and honor through suffering death. Paul likewise sees the Creator’s purpose fulfilled in the risen Christ. The man who obeyed the Father now reigns over the creation in which human disobedience brought death. Everything under his feet includes the powers that once frightened people into surrendering their allegiance.
For believers whose surroundings included claims about magical power, the highest name was already known. Acts 19:13–20 records both the failure of people who tried to use Jesus’ name as a technique and the public renunciation of magical practices. Paul’s description does not invite Christians to borrow a stronger formula. It teaches them to know and trust the living Lord whose authority makes the old claims unworthy of their allegiance.
That supremacy also helps us understand Christian suffering. Paul writes as a prisoner, yet he does not conclude that Christ has temporarily lost control. The present existence of opposition does not nullify the enthronement of the Son. His enemies are real, and their final defeat is certain. God’s people can endure without pretending opposition is pleasant or treating it as evidence that Jesus is powerless.
Head over all things for the church
God has put all things under Christ’s feet and given him as head over all things to the church, which is his body. The dominion fulfilled in the risen Jesus is exercised for the benefit of his people. The believers for whom Paul prays belong to the Lord who possesses that authority.
The church’s relationship to that Lord is described as a body’s relationship to its head. Its life and direction come from him. This makes the church far more than a voluntary club for people with similar interests. It also prevents the church from treating Christ’s authority as its private property. A congregation cannot baptize its preferences by announcing that whatever its leaders want is automatically what its head wants.
The church is called his fullness, the fullness of the one who fills all in all. Christ is not deficient and waiting for us to supply the part he lacks. The body receives its life and fullness from its exalted head. Our importance comes from belonging to him, and our growth requires knowing him. Paul’s prayer teaches us to ask for an understanding worthy of the Lord we already confess.