Daily Bible Reading 24th September 2024 // Ephesians 1:15-22
15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love towards all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power towards us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far 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. 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.
There is something else also that we must note in the words 'to the Church ' (22). Paul is saying that through His redemptive work Christ has been given this place of power and authority. But the question arises, has that not always been His place from all eternity, above all principality and power, as the all-glorious Second Person of the Trinity? Is not Christ infinitely superior to all principalities and powers by virtue of His eternal Godhead? Ah, yes! That is the point. He did not need to go through this great battle with the powers of darkness for Himself, on His own account, nor did He require to be made Head over all things on His own account, because He is eternally Head over them, in His own right, as the Second Person of the Trinity. But it was as man, and for man that all this took place. It is as man and for man that He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, and was highly exalted and given a name above every name. It was as man and for man that He fought and won, in order to give that victory to us. He had no need of victory over the dark powers for Himself; but He did need it as the Representative of His people, the Church. And His victory is a representative victory, in that His people, His Church, are victorious in Him. It is this that Paul prays for so earnestly in this passage, that we might really grasp how great and glorious the work of this mighty Spirit is, and is meant to be in our lives. Well might Paul use superlatives to describe it - the 'immeasurable greatness' of that power, as one modern version renders it.