In beginning this closing portion of Ephesians 1, it is good to refresh our memory regarding the epoch changing impact of the resurrection of Jesus as Paul described it in 1:20, 21.[1] The reason we do this is because Paul’s dramatic conclusion in verses 22, 23 is based on the triumph of Jesus over sin, death, hell, and the other powers described in verses 20, 21. In 1:19, Paul used four nouns to describe the spiritual meteor impact upon death and hell when God raised Jesus from the dead.[2] Markus Barth rightly calls Ephesians 1:2-23 “a resurrection psalm.”[3] This is because Psalm 110:1 is used in Ephesians 1:20, and Psalm 8:7 is used in Ephesians 1:22.
For a moment in our reflection, let’s pause at the use of Psalm 110:1 in Ephesians 1:20. It is important to remember that the Apostle Paul is a Jew well versed in the only Scriptures he knew, the Law, the Prophets, the Writings, and the Histories that comprise what we call the Old Testament. For Paul it was not “old” in the sense of antiquated, worn out, irrelevant. He understood that the “old covenant” of the Law had been fulfilled in the “new covenant” found in the death of Jesus. But Paul’s understanding of the mission of Jesus was based on what the Hebrew Scriptures had prophesied about Him. I mentioned this in an earlier essay, but I remind you of Paul’s phrasing in 1 Corinthians 15:3, 4, that Christ died and rose again “according to the Scriptures,” the Scriptures being the Jewish Bible that spoke in the Law, the Prophets, the Writings, and even the Histories, about the coming Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth.
Thus, Paul would always be thinking of the Hebrew Scriptures when he thought of what had transpired, and its effect, in the death and resurrection of Jesus. That is what we see in Psalm 110:1, an enthronement Psalm of David for when an Israelite king assumed the throne. Psalm 110:1 is quoted numerous times in the New Testament.[4] I encourage you to read aloud Psalm 110:1 and Ephesians 1:20 and hear the similarity:
Psalm 110:1 – “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.’”
Ephesians 1:20 – “which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places.”
The language is strikingly similar. There is no doubt that Paul knew this Psalm was used by Jesus and by early Christian preachers.[5] Ephesians 1:20 portrays Jesus, raised from the dead by the Spirit of holiness (Romans 1:4), as the rightful Messianic King of Israel and the entire world, prophesied by Judah’s King David nearly a thousand years before Jesus was born. The resurrection of Jesus, accomplished through the Spirit of holiness and “according to the working of His (God’s) mighty power,” (Ephesians 1:19), “is an event without parallel.”[6]
Christ being “seated at the right hand in the heavenly places” is a reference to the Ascension of Jesus, which is tantamount to Jesus being enthroned as the divine King over all creation.[7] The heavenly places are not a time/space physical dimension inside or outside our solar system. But it is a real spiritual dimension where God fully reigns and where sin and death are absent. Thus, Jesus is enthroned at the Father’s right hand, exercising spiritual authority and dominion over the spiritual forces of darkness that operate in our world. These sinful, demonic, Satan-led spiritual forces influence us through temptation, seduction, confusion, lies, and illusions that manifest themselves in the human realms of power, financial structures, sexuality, and more.
This is why Ephesians 1:21 asserts that Jesus is King “far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named.” Just as Paul used four nouns to describe the “exceeding greatness” of God’s power in Ephesians 1:19, now Paul used four nouns to describe the spiritual exercise of those entities that oppose the will of God on earth:
- Principality is arche denoting rulers, controlling spirits that influence rulers.
- Power is exousia denoting authorities claiming the right to influence and enforce.
- Might is dunamis denoting the power that the arche and exousia have to enforce their will.
- Dominion is kuriotes denoting the “lordship” that Satan seeks to impose upon our world through power, mindsets, etc.
The phrase “every name that is named” likely refers to additional spiritual beings, whether angels or demons, which followers of Christ are tempted to worship and obey. Likewise, the letter to the Colossians expresses the same thoughts about the principalities and powers and the false worship of angelic beings (Colossians 2:8-10, 18).
The final phrase of Ephesians 1:21 indicates that the triumph of Christ extends to every age, culture, and language. We will return to this point at the conclusion of this essay. John Wesley expressed this about verse 21, “God has invested Him (Jesus) with uncontrollable authority over all demons in hell, all angels in heaven, and all the princes and potentates on earth.”[8]
Now, we return to the theme of this essay, “The Fullness of Christ” and Ephesians 1:22, 23. In Ephesians 1:20, we saw the backdrop of Psalm 110:1 to that verse. In Ephesians 1:22, we see another Psalm that Paul used, Psalm 8:6. The connection between the two verses is in the phrase, “You have put all things under his feet.” The entirety of Psalm 8 is a reflection on the original purpose of humankind’s creation as reflected in Genesis 1:26-28. Paul viewed Jesus as the “second Man” in 1 Corinthians 15:47.[9] Jesus as the “Second Adam” is God’s solution to the sinful human problem caused by the fall in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3). All that has been lost to us because of the Fall, Jesus began to reverse through His sinless life, His total obedience to the will of the Father, His shameful death on the Cross, and His triumph over death in His resurrection. Jesus is the first fruits of the new creation that will come in its fullness when He returns.
It was mentioned in an earlier essay that there are connections between Paul’s letter to the Ephesians and 1 Corinthians. We see that connection in 1 Corinthians 15:29-28 where Psalm 8:6 is again referenced in terms of enemies under Christ’s feet. We see the “now and not yet” quality of Christ victory in 1 Corinthians 15:26, “The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.” Christ has overcome death “once and for all” in His resurrection. But we still face death and the trauma, fear, and loneliness it brings. But because of Christ’s victory, we will get the final praise over death in our resurrection!
For the first time in Ephesians, Paul referred to the church (1:22). Notice the language associated with “His body” (v. 23): all powers are subdued under the feet of Jesus, and Jesus is the head. The metaphor describes the Body of Christ, the church on earth, as a living organism with Jesus as the head and we as members of His body. Notice that the phrasing of verse 22 is that all things are under Jesus’ feet, and He is head over all things, including things pertaining to the church as well as to the world. Four times in verses 22, 23, Paul uses forms of the Greek word pas, “all.” Have you noticed the four-fold repetitions in 1:19, 21, and now 22, 23? Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, was a Greek wordsmith, arranging words and patterns that his readers would have recognized.
Barth described the impact of Paul’s words in these verses: “The interconnection between the cosmic and ecclesiastic dimensions of the Messiah’s kingship appears to be the very point Paul wants to make in singing the praise of the resurrected Christ. The church cannot claim for herself a Lord other than the one who is also Lord over the world. ‘He fills’ not only the church but “all things totally.’”[10]
In verse 23, Paul gives two definitions of the church. She is “His body,” and she is “the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”[11] Marcus Barth further expands on these definitions by writing about the purpose of the church in the world, “The church is the self-manifestation of the crucified and risen Jesus Christ to all powers, all things, all men. ‘For his own sake’ and/or ‘with his own sake he fills the church in order to reach all creatures.”[12] This point is reflected in the comment by IPHC writer Noel Brooks, “The Body of Christ is a vessel into which and through which the Risen, Exalted Lord pours His limitless resources.”[13]
Above, I referenced we would return to a point about the triumph of Christ. We find the opportunity and challenge as we recognize that the risen Lord Jesus, the Messiah of Israel, fills His Body, the church, with His own Spirit, the Holy Spirit. All of Christendom is meant to be “Spirit-filled.” This is not about denominations or movements that called themselves “Pentecostal, full-Gospel, charismatic, or Spirit-filled.” This is about the entire Body of Christ through the generations and around the globe. Only by the Spirit can we confess that Jesus is Lord (1 Corinthians 12:3). Only by the Spirit can we find spiritual unity that transcends the particulars of time and space. Only by the Spirit can the Body of Christ transcend political and social ideologies that divide us and find common ground at the Cross of Jesus as revealed in Scripture. Only by the Spirit can we individually and corporately experience the flow of grace through our various strands of “vines” that produce the “fruit of the Spirit.”
At the end of Ephesians 1, the church is not about us. The church is about Jesus and His Lordship over all things in all creation.
[1] https://iphc.org/gso/2025/02/19/this-is-my-prayer-experience-gods-great-power-ephesians-118-21/.
[2] See those nouns in the link in footnote 1 above.
[3] Markus Barth, Ephesians: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary on Chapters 1:3 (Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, 1974) 153.
[4] Frank S. Thielman, “Ephesians” in G.K. Beale and D.A. Carson, editors, Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2007) 813-816.
[5] Matthew 22:44; Mark 12:36; Luke 20:42; the Apostle Peter in Acts 2:34; Hebrews 1:13.
[6] Barth, 168.
[7] Regarding Jesus as king, see N.T. Wright, How God Became King (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 2012).
[8] John Wesley, Wesley’s Notes on the Bible edited by G. Roger Schoenhals (Grand Rapids, MI: Francis Asbury Press, 1987) 535.
[9] Compare with Romans 5:12-21.
[10] Barth, 157.
[11] Barth, 158. Barth has a lengthy discussion of Christ as “head,” the “body” of Christ, and the “fullness” of Christ in pages 183-210.
[12] Barth, 199.
[13] Brooks, Ephesians Outlined and Unfolded (Franklin Springs, GA: Advocate Press, 1984) 54.
