being enlightened in the eyes of your heart, so that ye should know what is the hope of his calling, [and] what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
Paul has just listed one blessing after another, and now he stops teaching and starts to pray. He does not ask for more blessing but for sight — that God would open the eyes of the heart to what He has already given.
The prayer assumes the blessing is already given. What is missing is our perception of it.
At verse 15 the apostle stops being a teacher and becomes someone praying for others. You will find that he never pulls down in prayer what he had built up as a teacher. You will sometimes hear people asking God to love them. I could never make such a prayer... To ask God to love me, to make me a co-heir with Christ, to appoint me to heavenly places in Him! I will make a prayer much more humbling than that. I am so blessed in my calling, so poor in my enjoyment! If God has lit a candle, I will not ask Him to light it, but to take the film from my eyes, that I may see what He has done.
Paul says the eyes of the heart, not the eyes of the mind. That difference decides how this knowledge comes.
The knowledge of Christ that the apostle prays for is not just intellectual knowledge. It is a heart acquaintance with a Person. That is why he says (as the text should read), "being enlightened in the eyes of your heart." Again and again we see in Scripture, and learn by experience, that God teaches through the affections.
This does not shut the brain out. It says where such knowing takes root.
There is no point in making anatomical distinctions between head and heart... All knowledge must in fact involve the brain — head knowledge, as people say. So what does "the eyes of your heart" mean? The verse has just insisted that this knowledge comes from God by the revelation of His Spirit. It can only mean that this knowledge is also tied in a special way to the affections.
The earlier verses of the chapter already spell out the calling. Paul asks for the hope of it — what it will look like when it is all out in the open.
What then is the hope He has called us to? In Ephesians it is not the Lord's coming, and this is because of the height of the position we are set in, seated in the heavenly places in Christ. His coming would, as it were, disturb the seated ones. The hope of it is the full realisation, in the eternal glory, of all that God has called us into in Christ. It is the fruit of what He planned from a past eternity. If only we were more struck by how completely heavenly and eternal such a calling is! God planned it for us in Christ before the world was founded. We have it in Him in the heavenly places. And we will know it in full when we are made completely like Him in the glory of God for ever. No link with time or the course of this world: the Christian belongs to eternity.
Commentators differ here. Others read the hope more directly: "This hope involves the coming of the Lord Jesus to transfer all believers into His heavenly glory" (Leslie M. Grant).
The second thing Paul asks for moves from hope to inheritance. He keeps the two apart.
With remarkable clearness the apostle distinguishes the hope from the inheritance of glory... The earlier verses of the chapter detail the calling of God. The central verses develop the riches of the glory of God's inheritance. He does not take that inheritance directly and personally, so to speak — not in Christ alone. He takes it in the saints too. The saints are not the inheritance. They are the heirs — heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ.
The little word "in" carries the weight. It also settles when our own portion arrives.
Just as a king might occupy conquered territory by putting his troops and officials in possession, so it will be then. We shall get our inheritance when Christ gets His. This is what the apostle means when he prays that we may know "what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints." It is not that the saints are His inheritance, but that He takes up His inheritance in His saints, by putting His saints in possession.
This sight is not a bonus for advanced Christians. It is where practical Christian living starts.
We must first grasp the mind of God about the wonderful position the believer and the church have before God and the Father. Only then can we intelligently value a walk that matches it here on earth.
- Ask for sight — Paul does not pray for new blessings. He asks God to take the film off our eyes, so we can see what He has already done.
- Heart, not head — the text says "eyes of your heart"; God teaches through the affections, so study alone will never give it.
- Hope — the first thing to see: the full display in eternal glory of everything God's calling has put us into in Christ.
- Inheritance — the second: Christ takes up His inheritance in His saints. We get our portion when He gets His.
- Then walk — sight of the position comes first; a life that matches it can only follow.
and what the surpassing greatness of his power towards us who believe, according to the working of the might of his strength,
Paul's prayer for the Ephesians ends by asking about power. He does not ask God to send more of it. He asks that believers would know the power already aimed at them. The measure he gives is startling. It is the same force that lifted Christ out of the grave and seated Him at God's right hand.
Paul's prayer moves in three steps, and this one breaks new ground.
"The hope to which he has called you" is the bright prospect of the saints themselves, as they are in Christ before God. "The riches of his glorious inheritance" take in, of course, that vast scene of creation which God will put under the glorified saints... But then he adds a third point, which was not given in the previous part of the chapter.
The verse stacks several different terms for strength on top of each other, and each carries its own shade.
Three words describe this power here, and each one carries the thought of strength or might... A free translation of them might be: the ability of His all-prevailing strength. The first word is the well-known "dunamis", the word from which we derive our word "dynamic" or "dynamo"... The word translated "mighty" is "kratos". It comes from the same root as the divine title "Almighty". The third word, "iskus", is usually translated "strength".
If God wanted to show His strength, He might have pointed to the making of the world. He points somewhere else instead.
For a sample we look not to creation but to the grave of Christ. In creation God made everything out of nothing by His Word, and no enemy appeared. At the grave of Christ it was different. Death, the great enemy, ruled that scene, and even Christ gave way to it — though He did so in grace — and died for sins. The power of God raised that blessed Man from the dead and put Him in the highest place at God's right hand. So God displayed a power that no enemy could withstand.
Nor is the cross the sample, though everything depends on it.
The cross, though the most essential of all things for God's glory and our need, does not give us the power of God. It shows us what God calls His weakness, and if I look at Christ there, He was "crucified in weakness."... But when we look at the resurrection, every trace of weakness has passed away for ever, and we see nothing but the most triumphant power of God.
The little phrase "toward us who believe" turns a historical fact into a personal one.
We see Christ in His tomb raised and elevated to the throne of God. Could any power be greater? And yet this same power has worked toward us. It did not only act for our benefit in Christ. We too have been made alive — raised with Christ — as the second chapter shows. The power that worked in Him has worked in us. How amazing!
Writers have noticed that Ephesians speaks of this power in three different directions:
In Ephesians 1:19, His power toward us... In Ephesians 3:16, 20, His power in us... and in Ephesians 6:10, His power with us.
This power is at work right now, and it is not one power among equals.
This power is spoken of as "working", so it is active toward us at the present time. There are other and great powers in the universe, but the power that is "working" toward us surpasses every other power, whether it be the power of the flesh in us, or the power of the devil against us. What a comfort to know that in all our weakness there is a surpassing power toward us and working for us.
So how do we take the measure of it? Not by looking at ourselves.
By attempting to gauge this work by our faith, or feeling, or intelligence, we never lay hold of it. The measure is outside ourselves.
So why do believers still feel weak? There is a plain answer.
Why then are we so weak? Because we so feebly believe it... It is one thing not to deny it as teaching. It is another to apply it and live in it — not only in great trouble or under heavy blows, but in the ordinary run of daily duty.
- Knowledge, not more power — Paul does not ask God to send extra strength. He asks that we know the power already at work.
- Measured at the tomb — God's sample of His own strength is not creation, where no enemy appeared. It is not the cross, which shows what God calls His weakness. It is the raising of Christ and His seating at God's right hand.
- Stacked words — dunamis, kratos, iskus: ability, almighty might, plain strength. Three words, because one could not carry it.
- Aimed at you — the power is toward us who believe, then in us, then with us; what worked in Christ has worked in us.
- Surpassing, so trust it — this power outranks the flesh within us and the devil against us. Its measure lies outside our feelings. Weakness in daily life comes from believing it so little.
[in] which he wrought in the Christ [in] raising him from among [the] dead, and he set him down at his right hand in the heavenlies,
Paul prays that believers would know how great God's power is toward them. To show it, he points not to the stars but to a tomb and a throne. The verse answers two questions: how great is that power, and where is the risen Man now seated?
Paul could have measured God's strength by the making of the world. He chose a different scene.
In Ephesians we have what the power of God is. The Apostle prays that we may know it. To see a sample, we look not at creation but at the grave of Christ. At creation the Word of God made everything out of nothing, and no enemy appeared. But at the grave of Christ, death, the great enemy, had swept the scene. Even Christ, in grace, gave way to it and died for sins. The power of God raised that blessed Man from the dead and put Him in the highest place at God's right hand. So God displayed a power that no enemy could withstand.
People often gauge God's power toward them by their own faith or feelings. This verse sets the standard somewhere else.
The exceeding greatness of God's power toward us who believe has its measure in the working of His own mighty power. He put that power to work in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places. The measure of the might is divine. If we try to gauge this work by our faith, or feeling, or intelligence, we never lay hold of it. The measure is outside ourselves.
God did more than bring Him back to life. He gave the risen Man a place above every other power and name.
God raised Him from the dead. He set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, according to His merits and the dignity of His Person. There He is far above every rule, authority, might and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. So God has raised Man, in the Person of Christ, above everything except the throne that raised Him. And is He alone? No. The same power raised Christ and set Him at the right hand of God. That surpassing greatness of power, which raised the Man who was dead to the right hand of God, works with the same might in everyone who believes.
The phrase runs through this letter. It also sets Ephesians apart from Romans and Colossians.
The 'heavenlies' mark out this letter: compare Eph. 1:3, 20; Eph. 2:6; Eph. 3:10; Eph. 6:12. Romans takes up man as alive in his sins, and grace meets his need. Ephesians shows God's life-giving power for those dead in sins, seen in His raising Christ up from among the dead. Colossians views believers as risen with Christ, but still on earth with their hope in heaven. Ephesians seats believers in Christ in the heavenly places.
So where did God put this power to work? Not first inside the believer.
All of us alike, Jews and Gentiles, were dead in trespasses and sins... What takes place? God gives them life. Is it by a work inside their souls? No, but in a completely different way — "together with Christ."... What is in view here is not a work done in certain people at particular times. It is the work of God, according to the might of His strength. Where and when? "In Christ, when He raised Him from the dead." The power is "toward" us, but the operation itself took place in Christ.
So what does that seat mean for the believer now?
Christ has received a higher dignity, and He holds that place in present association with us while we are here. It is One who not only owns us and is kind to us, and uses the greatness of His glory for our good, but far more. The head of a vast empire can turn his throne to the good of his subjects and to the honour of those he wants to honour. But there is no real, direct, personal association with him. This is what the Christian has with Christ. Nothing less than to be one with Christ is what we have here.
- The sample — God shows His power not at creation, where nothing opposed Him, but at a grave, where the great enemy had done its worst.
- The measure — the standard of this power lies outside us. Our faith and feelings cannot gauge it.
- The Man — God set the risen Man above every rank and title, higher than all except the throne that raised Him.
- The place — "the heavenly places" runs through this letter. It is where Christ sits, and where believers sit in Him.
- The reach — the act happened in Christ, the power flows toward us, and the end is not distant kindness but being one with Him.
above every principality, and authority, and power, and dominion, and every name named, not only in this age, but also in that to come;
God's power did not stop at raising Jesus from the dead. It carried Him past every rank of authority in the universe and seated Him at God's right hand. Two questions follow: who are the powers He now towers over, and what does His place there mean for us?
Verse 21 stacks title on title. One writer weighs whether "far above" claims more than the Greek does:
The meaning is clear. Whatever the rank or dignity of any of the heavenly orders or beings, God has set Christ as the glorified Man above them all. Among the vast number of heavenly beings He is absolutely supreme. The rendering "far above" may not be exactly justified by the word used. But we cannot doubt that our translators seized its spirit. They sought to express that there was no second to the glorified Christ, and that His exaltation is so far beyond words that all the highest ranks of angelic beings are far beneath His feet.
Rule, authority, power and dominion are not human offices. They name ranks in the unseen world, and the sweep takes in all of them:
Chapter 6:12 shows that principalities and powers (or authorities) belong to the spiritual realm — angelic beings, evil in nature in that case. But chapter 1:21 includes all spirit beings, good or evil.
Heaven is not man's native place. That is what makes this seat so startling:
Nothing declares the majesty of God's power and the sovereign supremacy of His will to the whole intelligent creation so strongly as this: the Man Christ Jesus lifted to the throne of heaven. For the natural place of man is earth. The first man was not heavenly. He was of the earth, made of dust... He stood on a level essentially different from, as well as lower than, the heavenly beings. Angels are greater in power and might than man. But Jesus is now made higher than the heavens. God gives Him not only supremacy of place, but supremacy of name as well. The name of Jesus is now named in heaven as well as in the church below, with the worship due to God alone.
Why is the language so strong? One writer points to what had to be beaten first:
Scripture uses no such strong expressions when it is a question of raising the millions who will share the bliss of the first resurrection. The reason, no doubt, is that raising them is a simple matter. It is not complicated by all those tremendous questions of sin, death and Satan's power that were at work in the case of Jesus. Then the real battle was fought. Then every opposing power, whether human or satanic, rose to its highest expression and combined in one last effort to hold the Saviour in the dominion of death. Then the might of God's power rose up. It flung back every assault, confounded the full power of the enemy, and raised Him from the dead, and up until, seated at His own right hand, He is above — and not only above, but "far above all principality and power."
What does "not only in this age but also in the one to come" cover?
The distinction this verse draws between the present age and the age to come is very marked. It is not a comparison of time with eternity, but of one limited period with another. The subject here is the appointed supremacy of Christ, and this relates in a special sense to the present age and the age that follows it at once. This description of Christ's position at the right hand of the Father presses one truth on our minds. God has given Him a name and place of such universal pre-eminence that every claim to independent power or action takes on the definite character of rebellious enmity against God. Whether He is confessed or denied, He is "the Head of all principality and power."
The passage does not stop with Christ's own glory:
In that place of conferred glory, the church is associated with Him. He is not only "head over all things" but "head over all things to the church." The very same power that worked in Christ to set Him on high works in us to set us along with Him there.
- Power — the strength that broke death's hold also carried Him past every rank above.
- Place — "far above" leaves no second; the highest created beings are beneath His feet, not beside Him.
- Person — a Man sits there, with a place earth's first man never had and a name honoured in heaven itself.
- Period — His supremacy covers this age and the age to come. So every claim to independent power now is open rebellion.
- Partners — He is head over all things to the church, and the power that seated Him is at work to set His people with Him there.