Ephesians 1

Ephesians 1:1

I. THE BELIEVER’S POSITION IN CHRIST (Chaps. 1-3) A. Salutation (1:1, 2) 1:1 The name Paul means small. Although physically he may have fitted this description, spiritually his influence was enormous. He introduces himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ. This means he was commissioned by the ascended Lord to perform a special mission. That mission was to preach the gospel to the Gentiles and to teach the great truth concerning the church (Eph_3:8-9). Since Ephesians deals with the church, and since this truth was first revealed to the apostles and prophets (Eph_3:5), it is fitting that Paul should introduce himself as an apostle.

It was not a mark of pride to do so; rather it was an explanation of how he could speak with authority on the subject. The source of his authority is expressed in the words, by the will of God. Paul did not choose his work as an occupation. And no men appointed him to it. It was a divine call from beginning to end (Gal_1:1). The letter is addressed to the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus. Saints are people who have been separated to God from the world. It is a name which is applied in the NT to all born-again believers. Basically the word refers to a believer’s position in Christ rather than to what he is in himself. In Christ all believers are saints, even though in themselves they are not always saintly. For instance, Paul addressed the Corinthians as saints (1Co_1:2), even though it is clear from what follows that they were not all living holy lives. Yet God’s will is that our practice should correspond to our position: saints should be saintly. And faithful in Christ Jesus. The word, faithful, means believing ones and is thus a description of all true Christians. Of course, believers should also be faithful in the sense that they are reliable and trustworthy. But the primary thought here is that they had acknowledged Christ Jesus to be their only Lord and Savior. Two of the oldest manuscripts omit the words, in Ephesus, although they stand in most manuscripts. Many scholars think this was a circular letter, written to be read by local gatherings of Christians in several places, of which the church at Ephesus was the most prominent. Fortunately the question affects neither the authenticity of the letter nor its value for us. 1:2 Next comes the apostle’s greeting to the saints. Every word is loaded with spiritual significanceunlike many of the empty greetings we use today. Grace means divine assistance for daily living. Paul’s readers had already been saved by the grace of God, His undeserved favor to the lost. But now they needed strength from God to face the problems, trials, and sorrows of life. That is what the apostle wishes for them here. Peace means a spirit at rest in all the changing circumstances of life. The saints had already experienced peace with God when they were converted. But day by day they needed the peace of God, that is, the calm, settled repose that is independent of circumstances and that results from taking everything to God in prayer (Phi_4:6-7). It is worth noticing that grace comes first, then peace. This is always the order. Only after grace has dealt with the sin question can peace be known. And only through the undeserved strength which God gives from day to day can the believer experience peace, perfect peace, in all the changing moods of life. Grace (charis) was a characteristically Greek word. The Jews use the word peace (Hebrew: shalom) as a greeting. Put them together and we have, in miniature, the gospel for the whole world. When we unite them we also have the truth of the NT church which Paul expounds so fully in EphesiansJew and Gentile formed into one Body in Christ. Grace … and peace come from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul did not hesitate to put the Lord Jesus on the same level as God the Father: he honored the Son just as he honored the Father. So should we (Joh_5:23). Let us not overlook the marvelous conjunction of the words God our Father. The word, God, taken by itself might convey the impression of One who is infinitely high and unapproachable. The name, Father, on the other hand, speaks of One who is intimately near and accessible. Join the two by the pronoun, our, and we have the staggering truth that the high and lofty God, who inhabits eternity, is the loving Father of everyone who has been born again through faith in the Lord Jesus.The full title of our Savior is Lord Jesus Christ. As Lord He is our absolute Master, with full rights to all we are and have. As Jesus He is our Savior from sin. As Christ He is our divinely anointed Prophet, Priest, and King. How much His name unfolds to every listening ear!

Ephesians 1:3

B. Paul’s Praise to God for the Blessings of Grace (1:3-14) 1:3 Following his brief salutation, the apostle lifts his voice in a magnificent hymn of praise, soaring into some of the sublimest heights of NT worship. Here we have the overflow of a heart that adores God for the blessings of grace. In these verses (3-14) Paul traces God’s activity in salvation from eternity past through time and on into eternity future. And this necessarily involves a discussion of the mystery of God’s willbelieving Jews and Gentiles as co-sharers of the glorious inheritance. He begins by calling on all who know God to bless Him, that is, to bring joy to His heart by praise and worshiping love. The blessed One is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. At certain times Jesus addressed God as God (Mat_27:46). At other times He spoke of Him as Father (Joh_10:30). The blessed One is also the Blesser. We bless Him by praising Him. He blesses us and makes us glad by showering us with the riches of His grace. He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Here is a pyramid of grace: Blessing spiritual blessing every spiritual blessing every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Notice first how unstinted are His heart and handevery spiritual blessing. Notice, too, that these are spiritual blessings. The simplest way to explain this is to contrast them with the blessings of Israel under the law. In the OT, a faithful, obedient Jew was rewarded with long life, a large family, abundant crops, and protection from his enemies (Deu_28:2-8). The blessings of Christianity, in contrast, are spiritual, that is, they deal with treasures that are nonmaterial, invisible, and imperishable. It is true that the OT saints also enjoyed some spiritual blessings, but as we shall see, the Christian today enjoys blessings that were unknown in previous times. Our blessings are in the heavenly places, literally in the heavenlies. Instead of being material blessings in earthly places, they are spiritual blessings in the heavenly places. The expression, in the heavenly places, is used five times in Ephesians: Eph_1:3 The sphere of our spiritual blessing Eph_1:20 The scene of Christ’s present enthronement Eph_2:6 The scene of our present enthronement in Christ Eph_3:10 The locale from which angels witness God’s wisdom exhibited in the church Eph_6:12 The region which is the source of our present conflict with evil spirits When we put these passages together, we have a truly scriptural definition of the heavenly places. As Unger put it, they are the realm of the believer’s position and experience as a result of his being united to Christ by the baptism of the Spirit. All spiritual blessings are in Christ. It was He who procured them for us through His finished work at Calvary. Now they are available through Him. Everything that God has for the believer is in the Lord Jesus.

In order to receive the blessings, we must be united to Christ by faith. The moment a man is in Christ, he becomes the possessor of them all. Chafer writes, To be in Christ, which is the portion of all who are saved, is to partake of all that Christ has done, all that He is, and all that He ever will be.In Christ is one of the key expressions of Ephesians. There are two closely related lines of truth in the NTthe truth of the believer’s position and the truth of his practice. First, the believer’s position. Everyone in the world is either in Adam or in Christ. Those who are in Adam are in their sins and therefore condemned before God. There is nothing they can do in themselves to please God or gain His favor. They have no claim on God, and if they were to receive what they deserve, they would perish eternally. When a person is converted, God no longer looks upon him as a condemned child of Adam. Rather He sees him as being in Christ, and He accepts him on that basis. It is important to see this. The believing sinner is not accepted because of what he is in himself, but because he is in Christ. When he is in Christ, he stands before God clothed in all the acceptability of Christ Himself. And he will enjoy God’s favor and acceptance as long as Christ does, namely, forever. The believer’s position, then, is what he is in Christ. But there is another side to the picturethe believer’s practice. This is what he is in himself. His position is perfect, but his practice is imperfect. Now God’s will is that his practice should increasingly correspond to his position. It never will do so perfectly until he is in heaven. But the process of sanctification, growth, and increasing Christlikeness should be going on continually while he is here on earth.

Believers are perfect (Heb_10:14)Believers should be perfect (Mat_5:48)Believers are dead to sin (Rom_6:2)Believers should reckon themselves dead to sin (Rom_6:11)Believers are a holy nation (1Pe_2:9)Believers should be holy (1Pe_1:15)The first column deals with position, the second with practice. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians itself is divided into two halves that parallel this truth: (Chaps. 1-3): Our positionwhat we are in Christ; (Chaps. 4-6): Our practicewhat we should be in ourselves. The first half has to do with doctrine, the second half with duty. In the first three chapters our position is often described by such phrases as in Christ, in Christ Jesus, in Him, in whom. In the last three chapters the phrase, in the Lord, is often used to express the believer’s responsibility to Christ as Lord. Someone has well said that the first part of the letter pictures the believer in the heavenlies in Christ, whereas the last part views him in the kitchen. Now we are ready to consider some of the spiritual blessings in the heavenly places which are ours in Christ.1:4 The first is what is commonly known as election. Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.Notice first the positive fact of election in the words, He chose us. Then there is the positional aspect of the truth, in Him: it is in the Person and work of the Lord Jesus that all God’s purposes for His people are brought to pass. The time of God’s election is indicated by the expression, before the foundation of the world. And the purpose is that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. This purpose will not be completely realized until we are with Him in heaven (1Jo_3:2), but the process should be going on continually in our lives down here. Prayer: Lord, make me holy now, since this is Your eventual purpose for me. Amen. EXCURSUS ON DIVINE ELECTION The doctrine of election raises serious problems in the human mind, so we must consider more fully what the Bible does (and does not) teach on this subject. First, it teaches that God does choose men to salvation (2Th_2:13). It addresses believers as those who are elect according to the foreknowledge of God (1Pe_1:2). It teaches that people can know whether they are elect by their response to the gospel: those who hear and believe it are elect (1Th_1:4-7). On the other hand, the Bible never teaches that God chooses men to be lost. The fact that He chooses some to be saved does not imply that He arbitrarily condemns all the rest. He never condemns men who deserve to be saved (there are none), but He does save some who ought to be condemned. When Paul describes the elect, he speaks of them as vessels of mercy which He had prepared beforehand for glory (Rom_9:23); but when he turns to the lost, he simply says, vessels of wrath prepared for destruction (Rom_9:22). God prepares vessels of mercy to glory, but He does not prepare men for destruction: they do this for themselves by their own unbelief. The doctrine of election lets God be God. He is sovereign, that is, He can do as He pleases, although He never pleases to do anything unjust. If left alone, all men would be lost. Does God have the right to show mercy to some? But there is another side to the story. The same Bible that teaches sovereign election also teaches human responsibility. No one can use the doctrine of election as an excuse for not being saved. God makes a bona fide offer of salvation to all people everywhere (Joh_3:16; Joh_3:36; Joh_5:24; Rom_10:9, Rom_10:13). Anyone can be saved by repenting of his sins and believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, if a person is lost, it is because he chooses to be lost, not because God desires it. The fact is that the same Bible teaches election and free salvation to all who will receive it. Both doctrines are found in a single verse: All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out (Joh_6:37). The first half of the verse speaks of God’s sovereign choice; the last half extends the offer of mercy to all. This poses a difficulty for the human mind. How can God choose some and yet offer salvation freely to all men? Frankly, this is a mystery. But the mystery is on our side, not on God’s. The best policy for us is to believe both doctrines because the Bible teaches both. The truth is not found somewhere between election and man’s free will, but in both extremes. W. G. Blaikie summarizes: Divine sovereignty, human responsibility and the free and universal offer of mercy are all found in Scripture, and though we are unable to harmonize them by our logic, they all ought to have a place in our minds.

1:5 The second spiritual blessing from the treasury of God’s grace is predestination, or foreordination. Though somewhat related to election, it is not the same. Election pictures God’s choice of people to salvation. But predestination is an advance on this: it means that God determined ahead of time that all who would be saved would also be adopted into His family as sons. He could have saved us without making us His sons, but He chose to do both. Many translations link the last two words of verse 4 with verse 5 as follows: in love having predestined us. This reminds us of the unique affection that prompted God to deal with us so graciously. We have the fact of our glorious adoption in the phrase, having predestined us to adoption as sons. In the NT, adoption means placing a believer in the family of God as a mature, adult son with all the privileges and responsibilities of sonship (Gal_4:4-7). The Spirit of adoption plants within the believer the instinct to address God as Father (Rom_8:15). Our adoption as sons is by Jesus Christ. God could never have brought us into this position of nearness and dearness to Himself as long as we were in our sins. So the Lord Jesus came to earth, and by His death, burial, and resurrection He settled the sin question to God’s satisfaction. It is the infinite value of His sacrifice on Calvary that provides a righteous basis on which God can adopt us as sons. And it is all according to the good pleasure of His will. This is the sovereign motivation behind our predestination. It answers the question, Why did He do it? Simply because it was His good pleasure. He could not be satisfied until He had surrounded Himself with sons, conformed to the image of His only begotten Son, with Him and like Him forever. 1:6 To the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved. As Paul has contemplated the grace of God first in electing us and then in predestining us to be His sons, he punctuates his meditation with this refrain that is at once an exclamation, an explanation, and an exhortation. It is an exclamationa holy gasp at the transcendent glories of such grace. It is an explanation that the object and the result of all God’s gracious dealings with us is His own glory. Eternal adoration is due to Him for such matchless favor. Notice the terms of His graceHe (freely) made us accepted.

The recipients of His graceus. The channel of His gracein the Beloved. Finally, it is an exhortation. Paul is saying, Let us praise Him for His glorious grace. Before we go any farther, let us do it! Great God of wonders! All Thy ways Display Thine attributes divine; But the bright glories of Thy grace Above Thine other wonders shine: Who is a pard’ning God like Thee? Or who has grace so rich and free? Samuel Davies 1:7 As we trace the sublime sweep of God’s eternal plan for His people, we come next to the fact of redemption. This describes that aspect of the work of Christ by which we are freed from the bondage and guilt of sin and introduced into a life of liberty. The Lord Jesus is the Redeemer (In Him we have redemption). We are the redeemed. His blood is the ransom price; nothing less would do. One of the results of redemption is the forgiveness of sins. Forgiveness is not the same as redemption; it is one of its fruits. Christ had to make full satisfaction for our sins before they could be forgiven. This was done at the cross. And nowStern justice can demand no more And mercy can dispense her store. The measure of our forgiveness is given in the words, according to the riches of His grace. If we can measure the riches of God’s grace, then we can measure how fully He has forgiven us. His grace is infinite! So is His forgiveness! 1:8 It was in grace that He chose us, predestined us, and redeemed us. But that is not all. God has superabounded that same grace toward us in all wisdom and prudence. This means He has graciously shared His plans and purposes with us. His desire is that we should have intelligence and insight into His plans for the church and for the universe. And so He has taken us into His confidence, as it were, and has revealed to us the great goal toward which all history is moving. 1:9 Paul now explains the particular way in which God has abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, namely, by making known to us the mystery of His will. This is the dominant theme of the Epistlethe glorious truth concerning Christ and the church. It is a mystery, not in the sense that it is mysterious, but that it is a sacred secret previously unknown but now revealed to the saints. This glorious plan originated in the sovereign will of God, quite apart from any outside influences: it was according to His good pleasure. And the grand subject of the plan is the Lord Jesus Christ; this is indicated by the clause, which He purposed in Himself.1:10 Now Paul begins a more detailed explanation of the secret of God’s plan, and in this chapter he is thinking particularly of the future aspect of the mystery. Chapters 2 and 3 will add further light on the present aspect of the mystery. The time which Paul has in view is indicated by the expression, the dispensation (administration, Greek, oikonomia) of the fullness of the times. We understand this to refer to the Millennium, when Christ will return to the earth to reign as King of kings and Lord of lords. God has a special economy or plan of administration for the final era of human history on this earth. The plan is to head up all things in the Christ (JND). During the Millennial Reign, all things in heaven and on earth will be summed up in Christ. The Savior who is now rejected and disowned will then be the preeminent One, the Lord of all, the object of universal worship. This is God’s goalto set up Christ as Head over all things, heavenly and earthly, in the kingdom. The extent of the dominion of Christ is found in the words, the things in the heavens and the things upon the earth (JND). Bellett writes: This is a secret never made known before. In the prophet Isaiah, we get a beautiful picture of the millennial earth; but do we ever get the millennial heavens with Christ at their head? Was it ever said by Isaiah that all things in heaven and earth should be headed up in the glorified Man? Verse 10 is sometimes used to support the false doctrine of universal salvation. It is twisted to suggest that eventually everything and everyone will be restored and reconciled in Christ. But that is quite foreign to the passage. Paul is speaking about universal dominion, not universal salvation! 1:11 One vital feature of the mystery is that believing Jews and believing Gentiles have their share in this grand program of God. The apostle speaks of the mystery in relation to Jewish believers in verses 11 and 12; in relation to Gentile believers in verse 13; then he combines them both in verse 14. As for the Christians of Jewish ancestry, Paul writes, In Him also we have obtained an inheritance. Their right to a share is not based on their former national privileges, but solely on their union with Christ. The inheritance here looks forward to the time when they and all true believers will be manifested to an amazed world as the Body of Christ, the Bride of the Lamb. From all eternity these Jewish Christians were marked out for this place of privilege by the sovereign will of God, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.1:12 The purpose of this predestination was that they should be to the praise of His glory. In other words, they are trophies of the grace of God, exhibiting what He can do with such unlikely raw materials, and thus bringing glory to Him. The apostle speaks of himself and other believing Jews as we who first trusted in Christ. He is thinking of the godly remnant of Jews who responded to the gospel in the early days of Christianity. The good news was first preached to the Jews. Most of the nation of Israel flatly rejected it. But the godly remnant believed on the Lord Jesus. Paul was one of that number. It will be different when the Savior returns to the earth the second time. Then the nation will look on Him whom they pierced and will mourn for Him as for an only Son (Zec_12:10). And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob (Rom_11:26). Paul and his Christian contemporaries of Jewish background trusted in the Messiah before the rest of the nation. That is why he uses the description, we … who have trusted beforehand in Christ (FWG). Those who fore-hoped in Messiah will reign with Him over the earth. The rest of the nation will be the earthly subjects of His kingdom. 1:13 Now Paul switches from believers who had been born Jews to those who had been born Gentiles; he indicates this by changing from we to you. Those who have been saved from paganism have a share in the mystery of God’s will, as well as converted Jews. And so the apostle here traces the steps by which the Ephesians and other Gentiles had been brought into union with Christ. They heard the gospel. They believed in Christ. They were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. First they heard the word of truth, the gospel of their salvation. Basically, this refers to the good news of salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus. But in a wider sense it includes all the teachings of Christ and the apostles. Having heard this message, they made a commitment of themselves to Christ by a decisive act of faith. The Lord Jesus is the true object of faith. Salvation is found in Him alone. As soon as they believed, they were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. This means that every true believer receives the Spirit of God as a sign that he belongs to God and that he will be kept safe by God until the time he receives his glorified body. Just as in legal matters a seal indicates ownership and security, so it does in divine affairs. The indwelling Spirit brands us as God’s property (1Co_6:19-20), and guarantees our preservation until the day of redemption (Eph_4:30). Our seal is called the Holy Spirit of promise. First, He is the Holy Spirit; this is what He is in Himself. Then, He is the Spirit of promise. He was promised by the Father (Joe_2:28; Act_1:4), and by the Lord Jesus (Joh_16:7). In addition, He is the guarantee that all God’s promises to the believer will be fulfilled. Verse 13 rounds out the first of many mentions of the Trinity in this Letter: God the Father (v. 3) God the Son (v. 7) God the Spirit (v. 13) 1:14 Again Paul changes his pronouns. He merges the we of verses 11 and 12 with the you of verse 13 to form the our of verse 14. By this deft literary device, he drops a hint of what he will more fully explain in chapters 2 and 3the union of believing Jews and believing Gentiles to form a new organism, the church. The Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance. This is a downpayment, pledging that the full amount will be paid. It is the same in kind as the full payment, but not the same in amount. As soon as we are saved, the Holy Spirit begins to reveal to us some of the riches that are ours in Christ. He gives us foretastes of the coming glory. But how can we be sure that we will get the full inheritance some day? The Holy Spirit Himself is the earnest or guarantee.As the seal, He guarantees that we ourselves will be kept safely for the inheritance. As the earnest, He guarantees the inheritance will be kept securely for us. The Spirit is the guarantee until the redemption of the purchased possession. The guarantee looks forward to the full redemption, just as the firstfruits look forward to the complete harvest. The Spirit’s role as earnest will cease when the purchased possession is redeemed. But what does Paul mean by the purchased possession?1. He may mean our inheritance. All that God possesses is ours through the Lord Jesus: we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ (Rom_8:17; 1Co_3:21-23). The universe itself has been defiled through the entrance of sin, and needs to be reconciled and purified (Col_1:20; Heb_9:23). When Christ returns to the earth to reign, this groaning creation will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God (Rom_8:19-22). 2. The expression, the purchased possession, may mean the believer’s body. Our spirits and souls were redeemed when we first believed, but the redemption of our bodies is still future. The fact that we suffer, grow old, and die proves that our bodies have not yet been redeemed. When Christ returns for us (1Th_4:13-18), our bodies will be fashioned anew so they can be conformed to the body of His glory (Phi_3:21). Then they will be fully and forever redeemed (Rom_8:23). 3. Finally, the purchased possession may refer to the church (1Pe_2:9 : His own special people). In this case, its redemption also looks forward to the Rapture, when Christ will present the church to Himself a glorious church without spot or wrinkle or any such thing (Eph_5:27). Some believe that in this view, God’s own possession may also include the OT saints. Whichever view we hold, the ultimate result is the sameto the praise of His glory. God’s marvelous plan for His people will then have reached a glorious consummation, and He will be the object of continual praise. Three times in this chapter Paul has reminded us that the intended goal and inevitable result of all God’s actions is that He should be magnified and glorified. To the praise of the glory of His grace (v. 6) That we should be to the praise of His glory (v. 12) To the praise of His glory (v. 14)

Ephesians 1:15

C. Paul’s Thanksgiving and Prayers for the Saints (1:15-23) 1:15 In the preceding passage, extending from verse 3 through verse 14 (a single sentence in Greek!), the apostle has traced the thrilling sweep of God’s program from eternity past to eternity future. He has ranged over some of the most awe-inspiring thoughts that can occupy our minds, thoughts so exalted that Paul now shares with his readers his deep prayer burden for their spiritual enlightenment in such concepts. His great desire for them is that they might appreciate their glorious privileges in Christ and the tremendous power which was required to give Christ to the church as Head over all creation. The introductory Therefore looks back to all that God has done and will yet do for those who are members of the body of Christ, as described in verses 3-14. After I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints. It was when he received this information that Paul was assured his readers were possessors of the spiritual blessings just described, and was driven to prayer for them. Their faith in the Lord Jesus brought the miracle of salvation to their lives. Their love for all the saints demonstrated the transforming reality of their conversion. Those Bible scholars who do not think this Letter was written exclusively to the Ephesians point to this verse as evidence. Paul speaks here of having heard of the faith of his readersas if he had never met them. But he had spent at least three years in Ephesus (Act_20:31). They therefore conclude the Letter was sent to several local congregations, of which Ephesus was only one. Fortunately the question does not affect the lessons we can learn from the verse. For instance, we see that the Lord is presented as the true object of faith: your faith in the Lord Jesus. We are not told to believe in a creed, in the church, or in Christians. Saving faith is in the risen, exalted Christ at God’s right hand. Another lesson for us is the expression, your love for all the saints. Our love should not be limited to those of our own area of fellowship, but should flow out to all who have been cleansed by the blood of Christ, to all the household of faith. A third lesson is found in the combination of faith and love. Some people say they have faith, but it is hard to find any love in their lives. Others profess great love but are quite indifferent to the necessity of faith in Christ. True Christianity combines sound doctrine and sound living. 1:16 The faith and love of the believers impelled Paul to praise the Lord for them and to pray for them unceasingly. Scroggie puts it nicely: Thanksgiving is for the foundation already laid, but intercession is for the superstructure going up. Thanksgiving is for past attainments, but intercession is for future advancements. Thanksgiving is for the actual in their experience, but intercession is for the possible in God’s purpose for them. 1:17 What a privilege it is to have this glimpse into the prayer life of a man of God. In fact, there are two such glimpses in this Letterhere and in 3:14-21. Here the prayer is for spiritual illumination; there it is for spiritual strength. Here the prayer is addressed to God; there to the Father. But in every case Paul’s prayers were unceasing, specific, and appropriate to the current needs of the people. Here the prayer is addressed to the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory. The expression, the Father of glory, may mean that God is either:

1. the Source or Originator of all glory,
2. the One to whom all glory belongs, or
3. the Father of the Lord Jesus, who is the manifestation of God’s glory. The prayer continues that He may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of wisdom (Isa_11:2), and of revelation (1Co_2:10). But since every believer is indwelt by Him, Paul cannot be praying that his readers might receive the Person of the Holy Spirit but rather that they might receive a special measure of illumination from Him. Revelation deals with the imparting of knowledge; wisdom has to do with the proper use of it in our lives. The apostle is not thinking of knowledge in general but of the specific knowledge (Greek, epignosis) of Him. He wants the believers to have a deep, spiritual, and experimental knowledge of Goda knowledge that cannot be gained by intellectual ability, but only by the gracious ministry of the Spirit. Dale explains: These Ephesian Christians had already Divine illumination, or they would not have been Christians at all; but Paul prayed that the Divine Spirit who dwelt in them would make their vision clearer, keener, stronger, that the Divine power and love and greatness might be revealed to them far more fully. And perhaps in these days in which men are making such rapid discoveries in inferior provinces of thought, discoveries so fascinating and so exciting as to rival in interest, even for Christian men, the manifestation of God in Christ, there is exceptional need for the church to pray that God would grant it a spirit of wisdom and revelation; if He were to answer that prayer we should no longer be dazzled by the knowledge which relates to things seen and temporal, it would be outshone by the transcendent glory of things unseen and eternal.1:18 We have seen that the source of spiritual illumination is God; the channel is the Holy Spirit; and the supreme subject is the full knowledge of God. Now we come to the organs of enlightenment: the eyes of your hearts being enlightened. This figurative expression teaches us that proper understanding of divine realities is not dependent on our having keen intellects but rather tender hearts. It is a matter of the affections as well as of the mind. God’s revelations are given to those who love Him. This opens up wonderful possibilities for every believer, because though we may not all have high I.Q.’s, we can all have loving hearts.Next Paul specifies the three particular areas of divine knowledge which he desires for the saints:
4. the hope of His calling2. the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints3. the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe The hope of His calling points forward to the future; it means that eventual destiny which He had in mind for us when He called us. It includes the fact that we shall be with Christ and like Him forever. We shall be manifested to the universe as sons of God and reign with Him as His spotless Bride. We hope for this, not in the sense that there is any doubt about it, but rather because it is that aspect of our salvation which is still future and to which we look forward. The riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints is the second tremendous vastness for believers to explore. Notice the way in which Paul stacks words upon words in order to produce the effect of immensity and grandeur: His inheritance His inheritance in the saints The glory of His inheritance in the saints The riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints There are two possible ways of understanding this, and both are so meaningful that we present both. According to the first, the saints are His inheritance, and He looks on them as a treasure of incomparable worth. In Tit_2:14 and 1Pe_2:9, believers are described as His own special people. It is certainly an exhibition of unspeakable grace that vile, unworthy sinners, saved through Christ, could ever occupy such a place in the heart of God that He would speak of them as His inheritance. The other view is that the inheritance means all that we will inherit. In brief, it means the whole universe put under the reign of Christ, and we, His Bride, reigning with Him over it. If we really appreciate the wealth of the glory of all He has in store for us, it will spoil us for the attractions and pleasures of this world. 1:19 Paul’s third petition for the saints is that they might have a deep appreciation of the power which God engages to bring all this to pass: the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe. F. B. Meyer says, It is power. It is His power. It is great power; nothing less would suffice. It is exceeding great power, beyond the furthest cast of thought.This is the power which God used in our redemption, which He uses in our preservation, and which He will yet use in our glorification. Lewis Sperry Chafer writes: Paul wants to impress the believer with the greatness of the power which is engaged to accomplish for him everything that God has purposed according to His work of election, predestination and sovereign adoption. 1:20 To further emphasize the magnitude of this power, the apostle next describes the greatest exhibition of divine power the world has ever known, namely, the power that raised Christ out from among the dead and enthroned Him at God’s right hand. Perhaps we would think that the creation of the universe was the greatest display of God’s might. Or God’s miraculous deliverance of His people through the Red Sea. But no! The NT teaches that Christ’s resurrection and ascension required the greatest outflow of divine energy. Why was this? It seems that all the hosts of hell were massed to frustrate God’s purposes by keeping Christ in the tomb, or by preventing His ascension once He was raised. But God triumphed over every form of opposition. Christ’s resurrection and glorification were a shattering defeat for Satan and his hosts, and a glorious spectacle of victorious power. No one is sufficient to describe such power. So Paul borrows several words from the vocabulary of dynamics in his description of the power which is employed on our behalf: according to that working of the strength of His might which He energized in Christ when He raised Him from the dead. The words seem to bend under the weight of the idea. It is hardly necessary for us to distinguish between the different words; it is enough to marvel at the immensity of the power and to worship our God for His omnipotence! Meyer exclaims: A marvelous lift was there! From the grave of mortality to the throne of the eternal God, who only has immortality. From the darkness of the tomb to the insufferable light. From this small world to the center and metropolis of the universe. Open the compasses of your faith to measure this measureless abyss. Then marvel at the power which bore your Lord across it. As far as the Scriptures are concerned, the resurrection of Christ was the first such event in human history (1Co_15:23). Others had been raised from the dead, but they died again. The Lord Jesus was the first to rise in the power of an endless life. Following Christ’s resurrection and ascension, God seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places. The right hand of God signifies the place of privilege (Heb_1:13), power (Mat_26:64), distinction (Heb_1:3), delight (Psa_16:11), and dominion (1Pe_3:22). The location is further described as in the heavenly places. This indicates that the phrase includes the dwelling place of God. That is where the Lord Jesus is today in a literal body of flesh and bones, a glorified body no longer capable of dying. Where He is, we soon shall be. 1:21 The glorification of our Savior is further described as far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. The Lord Jesus is superior to every ruler or authority, human or angelic, now and forever. In the heavenlies there are different ranks of angelic beings, some evil and some good. They have different degrees of power. Some, for instance, might correspond to our human offices of president, governor, mayor, or ward alderman. No matter how great their rule, authority, power, and dominion might be, Christ is far above them. And this is true not only in the age in which we live but also in the coming age, that is, the literal Thousand-Year Reign of Christ on earth. He will then be King over all kings and Lord over all lords. He will be exalted above all created beings; no exception can be named. 1:22 In addition, God has put all created things under His feet. This signifies universal dominion, not only over men and angels, but over all the rest of His creation, animate and inanimate. The writer of Hebrews reminds us that at the present time we do not see all things put under Him (Heb_2:8). That is true. Though universal dominion belongs to Christ, He does not exercise it as yet. Men, for instance, still rebel against Him and deny Him or resist Him. But God has decreed that His Son will yet wield the scepter of universal dominion, and it is as certain as if it were a present reality. What follows is almost incredible. This One whose nail-scarred hand will exercise sovereign authority over all the universeGod has given this glorious One to the church! Here Paul makes a startling revelation concerning the mystery of God’s will; step by step he has been leading up to this climactic announcement. With graphic skill he has been describing the resurrection, glorification, and dominion of Christ. While our hearts are still awestruck at the contemplation of this all-glorious Lord, the apostle says, It is in His capacity as head over all things that Christ has been given to the church.If we read this verse carelessly, we might understand it to say that Christ is the Head of the church. While that is true enough, the verse says a lot more. It says that the church is closely associated with Him who has been given universal sway. In verse 21 we learned that Christ is far above every creature in heaven and on earth, in this age and in the coming age. In the first part of verse 22 we learned that all things as well as all created beings are in subjection under His feet. Now we learn that the unique calling of the church is to be associated with Him in His boundless dominion. The church will share His rule. All the rest of creation will be under His rule. 1:23 In this final verse of chapter 1, we learn how close is the relationship between Christ and the church. Two figures are given: (1) The church is His body; (2) It is the fullness of Him who fills all in all. No relationship could be closer than that of the head and the body. They are one in vital union and indwelt by one Spirit. The church is a company of people called out from the world between Pentecost and the Rapture, saved by marvelous grace, and given the unique privilege of being the body of Christ. No other group of believers in any age ever has had or will have this distinction. The second description of the church is the fullness of Him who fills all in all. This simply means that the church is the complement of Christ, who is everywhere at one and the same time. A complement is that which fills up or completes. It implies two things which when brought together constitute a whole. Just as a body is the complement of the head, so the church is the complement of Christ. But lest anyone should think this implies any imperfection or incompleteness in Christ, Paul quickly adds, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. Far from His needing anything to fill up any lack of completeness, the Lord Jesus is Himself the One who fills all in all, who permeates the universe and supplies it with all that it needs. Admittedly, this is too much for us to understand. We can only admire the infinite mind and plan of God while admitting our own inability to comprehend it.