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Ephesians (Chapter 1)

Chapter 1: God's Counsel

Greetings (chapter 1:1-2)

Verse 1: “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus:”

At the beginning of this letter, Paul introduces himself as "an apostle of Christ Jesus." He introduces himself as His messenger. He was commissioned to witness Him as the glorified Lord in heaven. This distinguishes him from the other apostles called by the Lord Jesus on earth (even after His resurrection; see Mt 28:16-20) and, therefore, had a different mandate. This commission's origin was not man's will, but God's. He writes similarly in the letter to the Galatians (Gal 1:1).

The recipients were the "saints and believers in Christ Jesus who are at Ephesus." They were sanctified by God not only in their position. In this sense, we are all saints. Every child of God is a saint. That is why we find this word so often in the epistles of the New Testament (see verses 15, 18; 2:19; 3:8, 18; 4:12; 5:3; 6:18). All God's children are saints because they have been taken out of the world and set apart for God. This is a great thing. But there is also a practical side: "As He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct" (1 Peter 1:15). This should be manifestly seen. God saw that the Ephesians were holy and faithful. Some Bible translations use "faithful" instead of "believing." It is also possible to translate Greek words this way, although their meanings are very different from those of English. If someone has become a believer in the Lord Jesus and continues on this path, he is faithful. If, on the other hand, he strays, he is unfaithful. We see that the Ephesians were "saints and believers." A similar greeting only applies to the Colossians. So it was a great "compliment" to the Ephesians that Paul could write this to them.

Verse 2: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

The desire for "grace and peace" is found in almost every letter of the apostle Paul. It is evidence of his interest in the churches. This is not about the grace of God that we need as sinners. The believers in Ephesus already knew that. It is about grace in their lives of faith. It is the same with peace: He did not merely want them to have peace with God, nor the peace of conscience they already had. This is about the peace of God in their hearts and the peace among themselves that they were to live in every day. How quickly we can lose grace and peace in our daily lives! Hence the apostle's spiritual wish.

God's blessing (1:3-14)

Now begins the first instructive section of the letter, which can be divided into three parts, each of which culminates - though not exactly - in the word "praise" (verses 6, 12, 14). 

  • In verses 3-8, we see the blessings of God and the way to receive them. The Father is in the foreground.
  • In verses 9-10, the Lord Jesus Christ is presented as the center.
  • Verses 11-14 speak of our inheritance and the way to it. Here, we see the Holy Spirit in the foreground.

The whole passage is one sentence. The context would be lost if it were broken into many small sentences. 

Someone has written that we can only understand this letter if we are spiritually minded and in communion with the Father. Nothing in our lives must separate us from Him, such as carelessness of thought. One trembles to write anything about this wonderful passage. We are aware of the weakness of our understanding and especially our realization of what the Holy Spirit has written here.

Verse 3: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,”

Here, to repeat, we are given a glimpse into the heart of God. So Paul begins - how could he not - with worship: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." Only a few letters begin this way (cf. 2 Cor 1:3; 1 Pt 1:3). Almost all begin with thanksgiving, not worship. Paul addresses his worship to both God and the Father of the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus stood in both relationships. As a man, we hear Him cry on the cross: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" As a Son, He pleaded in Gethsemane: "Father, if possible, let this cup pass from me." Through His death and resurrection, Christ brought all who believe in Him into the same relationship in which He stands as a man with His God and Father. He said this to Mary Magdalene: "But go to my brethren and say to them: I am ascending to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God" (Jn 20:17).

This is followed by a message whose implications we on earth will probably never be able to fully grasp: "Who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ." We can roughly imagine what blessing is: something positive every human desires. It can only be human because God cannot be blessed but can be praised. The two words are the same in Greek. It depends on the point of view from which they are spoken. The verb (Greek: eulogeo) means to talk about something good. When we say something good about our God and Father, it can be praise and worship of the highest order. But when God says something good about us, it is a blessing. 

Everyone wants to be happy, joyful, and blessed. The Christian is. It does not say here that God will bless us but that He has blessed us. So it is not something in the future or a hope. Of course, the latter is also true because the depth of the blessing we have received will only be fully revealed to us in the future with the Lord. But this does not mean that there are things today that we do not already possess in principle. All of God's children are already blessed with every spiritual blessing. What we find here is unimaginable but is nevertheless a cause for praise and worship.

Four things are mentioned:

  1. We are blessed with "every spiritual blessing," so nothing is lacking. How often we feel poor and wretched. Paul, who was in prison and had nothing outwardly, could say: "I have everything" (Phil 4:11-18). He did not think about the external things we are so concerned about, but he saw the blessing of God. What satisfaction and gratitude that can give us!
  2. It is then said that it is "every spiritual blessing." When we think of God's earthly people, Israel, we know God gave them material blessings. That was earthly wealth. It is easy for us today to see this as a blessing. But in the New Testament, we do not find that outward wealth is seen as a blessing. Wealth is only seen in the context of our responsibilities. We must be faithful stewards of all the Lord has entrusted us in His grace. This applies to spiritual things, of which the Lord says in one of His parables that they are actually "ours." By contrast, mammon - earthly, material possessions - is "foreign" and entrusted to us only for a short time (Luke 16:1-12). Here, however, we are presented with spiritual blessings, not material ones, and we shall presently see what this means.
  3. Our blessings are "in the heavenly places." The expression "heavenly places" occurs five times in Ephesians as a kind of keyword (1:3, 20; 2:6; 3:10; 6:12). It does not literally say "in the heavenly places," but only "in the heavenlies.” This means that the heavenly is presented and characterized in contrast to the earthly. Our eyes are turned from earth to heaven. That is where our blessings are, and from there, they come to us because we already have them here on earth, but as something heavenly. In this sense, the heavenly places are not something that we have to put ourselves into, but they have come down to us. It is the invisible world of God in which we already find ourselves while we are still here on earth. The familiar image of this in the Old Testament is the land of Canaan. It was the land God had planned for His earthly people, Israel. He had brought them out of Egypt, the image of the world, and led them through the wilderness, the image of the earthly circumstances in which we find ourselves as aliens. Canaan was the actual dwelling place of Israel, a picture of the heavenly places, the actual dwelling place of Christians. That is where our blessings are. If we do not have fellowship with God, we are not interested in it. We are so preoccupied with earthly and worldly things that we are not interested in those things that open our eyes to the loving heart of God the Father. But for the spiritual Christian, they are the very substance of life!
  4. "In Christ": He is the center. We will see that everything we have and are originates in the Lord Jesus Christ. We will find the cross of Calvary in verse 7, in the middle of our text. Everything originates there because it was given to us through the cross. Christ is the center of God's plan. It is in Him and through Him that God will fulfill all His plans. Everything that people receive through faith has its origin in Him. That is why the title Christ appears so often in this letter, 46 times. Eight times, it says "in Christ Jesus," indicating our special position of blessing. This is the source of all our blessings. Later in this letter, we are taught that we are so intimately united with Christ that we are seen "in Him" (verses 6, 11, 13; cf. 2:6, etc.).

As we continue to read Ephesians, we find many of these blessings that fill us with deep gratitude and worship:

  1. Creatures who were in sin and darkness have become beloved children of God, "holy and blameless in His sight in love," that is, morally conformed to His nature (Ephesians 1:4; 5:1). 
  2. The old man has been replaced by the new man, "created after God in true righteousness and holiness" (4:24). 
  3. We have been predestined to sonship with God through Jesus Christ (1:5). 
  4. We have been sealed with the Holy Spirit, the pledge of our inheritance, and our guide and source of power (1:13, 14; 2:16; 3:16).
  5. In the Lord Jesus, we have "access by one Spirit to the Father" (2:18; 3:12).
  6. We are not scattered children of God but are "well knit together" into the house of God and the body of Christ (2:21, 22; 4:4, 16), and together form the bride of Christ (5:25- 33). 
  7. By faith, we may already "sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus"; His place in glory is also our place (2:6)! 

Verse 4: “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,”

We see the origin of everything in the following verses. We find two things in particular: on the one hand, some of these blessings, but mainly what was necessary for us to receive them. These verses are often interpreted as describing the blessings. But this is only partly the case. They are mainly showing us the steps or conditions. They were necessary for us to become recipients of these spiritual and heavenly blessings that God had in His heart. We find three important points in this passage that show us the blessings and the way to receive them. Verse 4 says: "Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him in love."

This is where we look deeper into the heart of God. What we have received as Christians is not only the result of God's mercy towards humanity but has its origin in eternity, before the foundation of the world. That is, before anything was created. The word "as" shows that this is not an explanatory addition to the previous sentence but a parallel statement. We are blessed, but not because we have been chosen. Rather, it is because our blessing is in full accordance with all God has done with us. 

Chosen

To bestow these blessings, God must first prepare us for them. That is why He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world (verse 4). We find the expression "before the foundation of the world" three times in the Word of God: 

  1. In John 17:24, in His prayer to the Father, the Lord Jesus says: "You have loved me before the foundation of the world." There, we see the Father's love for the Son in eternity. 
  2. In Ephesians 1:4, on the other hand, we see that we have been chosen in the Son. What joy and pleasure God the Father has in His Son, that He had foreknown and chosen creatures who did not yet exist through this "channel"! This can only be explained by the fact that the joy He has in the Son is to be expressed in redeemed creatures. Here, we are not talking about what we need but what God wants. 
  3. In 1 Peter 1:20, we find the expression "before the foundation of the world" for the third time. Here we see the beloved Son of the Father, in whom we are chosen, as the foreknown Lamb of God, without blemish or spot, by whose blood we are redeemed. The only begotten Son in the bosom of the Father was indeed foreknown by Him as the Lamb who would perfectly glorify Him through the work of the atonement and shed His blood as the price of our redemption. But take note: He was not chosen! Who else but He could have fulfilled the Father's plan and purpose? But as a man on earth, He was already announced in the Old Testament as God's chosen one: "Behold my servant, whom I uphold; my chosen one, in whom my soul is well pleased" (Is 42:1; cf. Mt 12:18; Lk 23:35; 1 Pet 2:4, 6). Of all men since Adam, He was the only one whose whole life was a single glorification of God. But the one rejected by men is God's chosen and precious living stone.

But the foreknowledge of God is connected with the election of all who will one day be united with the Lord Jesus, their Savior and Lord, and experience eternal joy in fellowship with God the Father in glory. As Peter writes at the beginning of his first letter, our election is "according to the foreknowledge of God." 

God had also chosen the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as well as the earthly people of Israel. This election is related to their relationship with the other peoples of the earth (cf. Deut 7:6-8; Isa 43:20; Acts 13:17). Likewise, the future faithful remnant of Israel will consist of the elect of God's earthly people. They will enjoy the blessings of the Millennial Kingdom on earth (Matt. 24:22, 24, 31). The Bible even speaks of the chosen angels. They are contrasted with those who have rebelled against God (1 Tim 5:21).

Ephesians describes the personal and corporate blessings of those who believe in the Lord Jesus. We are told that we were chosen before the foundation of the world. The glorious account at the beginning of Ephesians begins with praise to God the Father, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. In Him, whom the Father loved before the foundation of the world and foreknew as a sacrificial lamb, we were chosen before the foundation of the world. Our blessings are not simply the result of God's mercy towards lost sinners. Rather, they are based on a decision He made before the world existed and before any one of us was born or committed a single sin. He has chosen us to be with Him forever in perfect accordance with His nature, which is light and love. Therefore, this divine election's origin and purpose are outside creation. Our eternal election in connection with Christ thus stands in a certain contrast to the election of God's earthly people for this earth. The Millennial Kingdom, in which Israel as a people will play a prominent role, is "prepared from the foundation of the world" (Mt 25:34), while we had been chosen "before the foundation of the world."

Election has not only eternal significance but is already a great encouragement in the present. We can see this, for example, in the fact that believers are referred to in God's Word as "elect" or "co-elect" (Rom 16:13; 1 Pe 5:13). Paul reminds Titus that God's elect have a wonderful faith (Tit 1:1). He encourages the Romans by exclaiming: "Who will bring an accusation against God's elect?"(Rom 8:33).

So, who are the elect of God? According to James 2:5, they are the worldly poor who are despised in the world. According to 1 Corinthians 1:26-29, God has chosen the foolish, the weak, the lowly, and the despised of the world. This does not mean that there are no other cases. But these statements from the Word of God make it very clear that it was not the qualities or abilities of the elect that led to His acceptance of them. His unqualified sovereign grace chose them to be holy and blameless before Him in love for all eternity. 

By going further than God's Word allows, foreknowledge, election, and predestination are sometimes misconstrued. But we must not go beyond what God's Word reveals to us. We find wonderful statements about the eternal thoughts of God concerning those who will one day be with Him in glory. Not a single passage about the eternal predestination of others to damnation! All who perish will receive their just punishment for their sins, but not based on God's predestination (cf. Rev 20:11-15). An important distinction is made in Romans 9:22 and 23: "But if God, being ready to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, that He might make known the riches of His glory in the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory."

- Those who perish (the "vessels of wrath") are prepared for destruction. However, God has not prepared them for this, but they themselves have (cf. Rom 2:5). 

- Those who are saved, on the other hand, God has prepared as vessels of grace for glory.

To the mind of the natural man, this is a contradiction he cannot reconcile. But to the believer, God's Word in Isaiah 55:8-9 gives a simple answer: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts higher than your thoughts." God's wisdom is infinitely higher than our feeble knowledge. But in His Word, He gives us glimpses of His counsel, which He made in eternity, before the world's creation, concerning those He once wished to redeem. If we study this, we will conclude with the Apostle Paul: "Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways unfathomable! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor? Or who has given to Him beforehand and will be rewarded? For from Him and through Him and for Him are all things; to Him be glory forever and ever. Amen." (Romans 11:33-36).

"Holy and blameless in love"

We are told of a wonderful blessing: "that we may be holy and blameless in love before Him." This was the purpose of divine election. Election shows us one of the steps to divine blessing. Now we see in the words "holy and blameless in love" a part of this blessing that has been given to us. We are set apart for God and without blemish, not only in heaven but already now. In perfection, this applies only to God Himself. These are characteristics of God, who is too pure of eye to see evil, but who is also love (Hab 1:13; cf. 1 John 1:5; 4:8, 16). So when these qualities are seen in us, the nature of God is in us. Many passages speak of this. John says that we are born of God, and Peter says that we practically become partakers of the divine nature (John 1:13; 2 Peter 1:4). This expresses our relationship with God as children. The words "holy and blameless in love" apply to every believer. They contain a spiritual, heavenly blessing that we cannot fathom. We can only marvel that it was in God's heart to transform former sinners and enemies of His in this way. 

Verse 5: “having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,”

But we are not only children of God but also sons of the Father (cf. the words "God and Father" in verse 3. The eternal counsel of God is not only His foreknowledge and election of those who believe in His Son. It also includes their predestination to a wonderful, eternal part.

For what have we, the believers of this age, been predestined by God? Not for the forgiveness of sins and not for salvation from eternal judgment. As great and glorious as this is, it is nothing more than the precondition for our real eternal part. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has "predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of His will" (cf. Rom 8:29). But, these powerful words mean nothing less than that God is so pleased with His beloved Son that He wants to fill His house - the Father's house in heaven - for all eternity with redeemed people who are like Him! The eternal Son in the bosom of the Father is the model for this "sonship," as the word sonship can also be rendered. What wonderful grace has been given to unworthy, lost sinners! 

But in reality, it is not just about us; it is about God, who has predestined us to sonship "through Jesus Christ for Himself." How little we think that God has made something of us for Himself, something in which He delights. But everything has its center in the Lord Jesus. 

Verse 6: “to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.”

God stands before us here as the only one who can and does always act in perfect accordance with the "good pleasure of His will" (verse 5). So the origin of His action with us is not our need, our sin, but His eternal will, which is the absolute authority. He has done everything described here according to the pleasure and joy of His will. He did this to emphasize the "glory of His grace." Grace is the special form of God's love for those who do not deserve it. It also focuses on us as its objects. The "glory of His grace" points us to the immeasurable greatness of God's purpose. God wanted to glorify himself in grace, that is, to reveal all His glorious attributes in it.

We are "pardoned [or: made pleasant] in the Beloved," the Lord Jesus, the Beloved of His God and Father. What a wonderful vision opens up before us! Many people - even believers - think of God only as an implacable, severe, and punishing judge who must condemn us. But now, in His grace, the Lord Jesus has saved us from this God by intervening as a mediator on the cross. But here we have the true image of God: It is He who sent the Son of His love as a mediator to us sinners so that in Him we might be forgiven (cf. Col 1:13; 1 Tim 2:5)! The One who should have punished us eternally based on His holiness and righteousness is the same One who, in His mercy, gave His beloved Son for us and pardoned us in Him. On the one hand, the extent of our forgiveness is expressed by the addition "in the Beloved."

On the other hand, it is also expressed in the verb itself, which also contains the idea that we are "made acceptable." God has not only shown us his immeasurable and undeserved grace. He can now look at us 'in the Beloved' with divine delight. When He sees us, He sees His Son first! All that we have become and all that we possess, we have 'in the Beloved.'

Verse 7: “In Him, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.”

Now, we come to the center of the passage. Only here is there anything said about what we need. The first chapters of Romans describe in detail our own need and state of being lost. The letter to the Ephesians presents us primarily with God's side, in which Christ is the center. However, we must also be reminded of our need for salvation. In Christ and through His blood, we have received redemption. Redemption (Greek: apolytrosis) originally meant 'ransom by payment of a ransom.' The Lord Jesus paid the 'ransom' (Greek: lytron, cf. Mt 20:28) for us. The sacrificial death of the Father's beloved Son, who had to give His life and shed His blood on the cross of Calvary, was necessary so that we could be redeemed. The forgiveness of sins is part of the work of the Lord Jesus. But it is before us as the only sign of salvation, which goes much further (cf. verse 14). What a price is the blood of Christ! How much is said in the New Testament about the blood of the Lord Jesus: 

  • It is the precious blood of the Lamb, without spot or blemish (1 Pt 1:19), 
  • In this blood we are washed from our sins (Rev 1:5), 
  • By this blood, we have been redeemed from the captivity of Satan, 
  • Finally, through this blood, we have been brought near to God (Eph 2:13). 

Let us be thankful for what He has done for us! 

God's dealings with us correspond to the "riches of His grace" and point us to the immeasurable fullness of His grace for our blessing. The "glory of His grace" mentioned in verse 6 focuses our attention on Him as the source of grace and leads to worship, for it says: "to the praise of the glory of His grace." On the other hand, the "riches of His grace" show us the full extent of divine grace in our favor and make us grateful.

Verse 8: “which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence,”

Wisdom and understanding are necessary for us to grasp the full riches of His grace, and God has made them "abound" in us. So, this is not about God's wisdom and understanding. It is about our understanding of His grace and what He does. A little later, Paul asks for the gift of the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God for the believers in Ephesus (verse 17). In Colossians 1:9, He prays for believers to be filled "with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding."

Verses 9 and 10: “having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him.”

Here, we turn our gaze to the earth. So far, we have been concerned with heavenly things, but God also has a purpose for the earth. The Lord Jesus is at the center here too. Through His reign over all the works of His hands, Christ will unite heaven and earth in the Millennial Kingdom. He will then be the Head overall. This fact is already revealed in the Old Testament. Verse 7 of Psalm 2 reads: "I will tell of the decree: The Lord has said to me: You are my Son, this day I have begotten you." This refers to the Lord Jesus as a man on earth. Then follow the words of God addressed to Him: "Ask of me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as your possession. You will crush them with a rod of iron ..." Why is this so important? Because God is also just in this respect and will not allow His Son to be despised and rejected on earth, as He still is today. World history will end with Christ reigning as the absolute ruler in peace and justice for a thousand years and being accepted as such. That is the point of this passage. What a perfect balance there is in the counsel of God, both in time and eternity!

But if this was already known in the Old Testament, how can it be called a mystery here? In Psalm 2, we read of the nations and the ends of the earth. In Psalm 8, where we see the Lord Jesus as the Son of Man, all the works of His hands are spoken of.

But Ephesians 1:10 speaks not only of things on earth but also of things in heaven. We do not find this explicitly in the Old Testament. But the essential point is that the church of God, which consists of all true believers and is the Body of Christ, will be united with the King. This was not yet revealed in the Old Testament. The Lord Jesus will not reign alone but in union with His saints. This mystery was hidden in Old Testament times but is now revealed. 

This mystery concerns "the administration of the fullness of times" (verse 10). Eternity is never called the "fullness of times." It is the last time that sums up and ends all other times, the Millennium. The reign of Christ is the "administration of the fullness of time." Then, everything will be gathered under one Head or brought to an end by one Head. This is none other than Christ. He will stand in the highest place and be the Head over all things in heaven and on earth. In other places, there is also mention of what is "under the earth" (cf. Phil 2:10). But we do not find it here because we are concerned with the blessing. 

The Inheritance

Verse 11 begins the third part of this passage. It shows us that we also have temporal blessings originating in Christ in addition to eternal blessings.

Verse 11: “In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.”

In the glorified Christ, we have "obtained an inheritance" [or: "we have been made heirs"]. This inheritance has to do with the Millennial Kingdom. The Lord Jesus is the heir of all that He possessed as the eternal Son and Creator. But now He has also acquired the right to this inheritance as a human being through His death and resurrection (cf. Heb 1:2). In His incarnation, He emptied Himself of all His glory and made Himself nothing. God has returned it to Him as man (cf. Phil 2:6-11). In the Millennium, Christ will exercise this right. We will share not only His position in heaven but also on earth. This is why we do not speak here of the inheritance of the Lord Jesus, although this is the case, but that we have received an inheritance in Him (cf., e.g., Rom 8:17). In addition to the sonship mentioned in verse 5, we are also "predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things after the counsel of His will."

Verse 12: “that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.”

All believers are equally blessed and should be for the praise of God's glory. However, only members of the Old Testament people of God could be said to have "hoped in Christ before." The Gentiles had not hoped in Him. They were without God and without hope in the world (chapter 2:12). But all the Jews hoped and still hope in the Anointed One (Hebrew: Maschiach, Greek: Christ). The faithful remnant, however, not only waited for salvation but also accepted the Savior rejected by the masses of the Jewish people, among whom Paul could count himself. God hardened the remnant until a renewed expectation of the appearance of the once-rejected Christ would arise among the Jews in the last days (Rom 11:7, 25, 26).

Verse 13: “In Him, you also trusted, after you heard the Word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.”

But from the moment the Lord Jesus came and His gospel was preached, the nations could also share in it. In verse 13, where the believers from the Gentiles are now also addressed, we are shown the three steps that lead to the salvation of the soul: 

  1. "After you have heard the Word of truth, the gospel of your salvation." The "Word of truth" shows us God’s side. His Word is truth (John 17:17). Only the Bible contains the truth about God and His mind, about the condition of lost man, and the only way to salvation. The "gospel of your salvation" is the page turned to us. The good news of man's salvation has been proclaimed worldwide for almost two thousand years. Many have heard it, but hearing alone does not help.
  2. "After you have believed." Faith is necessary. It is the only way to receive the Word of truth, the gospel of our salvation. Paul told the jailer in Philippi: "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31). It is so simple. People often say: I can't believe, but they really mean I don't want to believe. No one can say: I cannot believe. If God wants all people to be saved, man cannot say: I cannot. God does not ask the impossible of His creatures.
  3. "In whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Ghost of promise. Everyone who has believed in the Word of truth, the gospel of salvation, is then sealed with the Holy Spirit (cf. chapter 4:30; 2 Cor 1:22). It is God's "stamp" or "mark of ownership" on the believer: "You are mine! Because the Lord Jesus announced to His disciples the imminent coming of the Holy Spirit, He is called the Holy Spirit of promise (Luke 24:49; John 14:16ff.; Acts 1:4, 5).

Verse 14: “who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.”

But He is more than that; He is also a pledge. This word does not really mean 'pledge' but 'deposit.' In other words, He is an essential part, but not all, of what we will receive. We already have the spiritual blessings. But our place with the Lord Jesus and our inheritance in the Millennial Kingdom are yet to come. The "day of redemption" must first come (cf. 4:30). That is why we are told here that the Holy Spirit is the pledge because we can already experience the joy of the future glory through Him. Only when the Lord Jesus comes for the Rapture of His own will we be enabled in body, soul, and spirit to fully know and enjoy the possessions so dearly "purchased" for us through Him in the glory of heaven. All will be eternally "to the praise of His glory."

Incidentally, the "redemption" mentioned here and in chapter 4:30, as well as the "hope" mentioned in verse 18 and chapter 4:4, are probably the only references to the coming of the Lord in this epistle in which we are already considered to have all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places according to the counsel of God.

The word "glory" is used here for the third time. In verse 6, God's actions are "to the praise of the glory of His grace."

In verse 12, saved sinners are "the praise of His glory." Here, all the results of Christ's work of redemption ultimately lead "to the praise of His glory." We may now see more and more the love and greatness of our God and Father revealed in the person and work of His Son. Nothing less was needed for our immeasurable and unfathomable blessing. May this understanding lead us to greater worship! 

The riches of Christians (1:15-23)

This passage is often referred to as the first prayer of the apostle in this epistle. We find a second instance in chapter 3:14-21. In both cases, of course, these are not literal prayers. As Paul says here, he prays unceasingly for the saints in Ephesus and gives the content or thoughts of his repeated prayers for them. 

Verse 15: “Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,”

The close connection with the previous verse can be seen in the introductory connective 'why.' Because of all the wonderful things given to the Ephesians and us, the apostle did not stop praying that they would also become their spiritual possession. 

Although he was in prison in Rome, his connection with the believers in Asia Minor, hundreds of miles away, had not been broken. He had heard "of the faith in the Lord Jesus that is in you, and of the love you have for all the saints." He also gives this beautiful testimony to the Colossians and his brother Philemon (Col 1:4; Phil 5). The faith here is not saving faith in the Lord Jesus as Savior. The point here is that the believer's life is characterized by this faith in the Lord Jesus and thus has the right center and source of strength. For the Ephesians, this was expressed in the fact that there was a circle of all believers in their lives (see verse 1). The Ephesians loved all God's children. Paul had heard this, and it was great to know that the Ephesians knew the right center and fellowship in their life of faith. What about us?

Verse 16: “do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers:”

Faith in the Lord Jesus and love for all the saints are, as it were, the foundations and characteristics of the Christian life.

Like Philemon, Paul was one of those believers who gladly acknowledged all the good things they could see in their brothers and sisters (Phlm 6). That is why he thanked God for the Ephesians and their good spiritual condition. But more is needed to understand the depth of God's mind. So he does not stop giving thanks for them and mentioning them in his prayers. 

Verse 17: “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,”

He addresses his prayer to the "God of our Lord Jesus Christ." In verse 3, we read of the "God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." If we look at the prayer that begins in chapter 3:14, we see that it speaks of the "Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." He is both. On the one hand the God of the Lord Jesus, if we look at Him as a man in His humiliation on earth and now in His glorification as a man at the right hand of God. On the other hand the Father of the Son from eternity and as man on earth. We have been introduced by grace into the Lord's relationship as man with his Father. However, we can never enter into His relationship as an eternal Son with His Father. Through His work, we are brought into the same position before God that He has as a glorified man in heaven. His God is now our God, his Father our Father (John 20:17). What a closeness! There can be no greater closeness than to call God the Father by the same name as the Lord Jesus. 

In this prayer, however, the words "God of our Lord Jesus Christ" only introduce us to one side. This means that everything that follows is about the position of the Lord Jesus as a glorified man in heaven. Chapter 3, on the other hand, speaks of the "Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" and thus of the Father's love for the One who so glorified Him through His work on earth. 

This is also the only time in Scripture that God is called the "Father of Glory" (cf. Acts 7:2: "the God of Glory"). It is a designation for God in His unattainable and unfathomable greatness, seen here as the origin and source of all glory. For whenever God is revealed, His glory is there, even when the Son came to earth in the likeness of a man. John could say: "We have seen His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father" (John 1:14). In the letter to the Ephesians, the glory of God is particularly evident in His counsel (verses 6, 12, and 14).

Three blessings

Paul begins by praying that "the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Himself." It is, therefore, a request for spiritual understanding. The "Spirit of wisdom and revelation" is not the Holy Spirit as a person but what He wants to call forth in us: a spiritual attitude characterized by wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God. All this should lead to increased growth in the knowledge of God. Wisdom is necessary to apply what we have come to know correctly. On the other hand, revelation is necessary to understand what has been revealed. So, we are not talking about new revelations. Since the completion of the New Testament, God has not given any new revelations (cf. Col 1:25).

The knowledge of God here is not the same as in John 17:3, which every child of God must have. Here, it is to be understood more in the sense of Philippians 3:10, where Paul says that he considered everything else as loss and filthiness, that he might know Christ more and better. Peter also wanted believers to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18).

This is a growth in knowledge. Every believer must admit that he is still far from fully understanding God. That is why Paul prays that we may learn more about Him. This is not intellectual knowledge but the knowledge of faith that fills our hearts. If it were intellectual knowledge, some people would be disadvantaged because they are not as gifted as others. But intelligent people are no better off than others in this respect. The knowledge here is of the heart and brings the child of God closer to his God. 

Verse 18: “the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,”

The first condition mentioned here confirms what has just been said. The heart of man also has eyes with which to see spiritual things. But to see, there must be light, just as with our physical eyes. The heart here is part of the inner man, which in the New Testament is another word for the 'new nature' of the believer (Rom 7:22; 2 Cor 4:16; Eph 3:16). The heart is the center of the human being: "Keep your heart more than anything else, for out of it are the gates of life" (Prov 4:23). Decisions are made in the heart. The human heart, polluted by sin, is cleansed by faith (Acts 15:9). The eyes of an unclean heart can see terrible things through fantasy. But here we are introduced to what the eyes of a purified heart, enlightened by Christ and His Spirit, can see (cf. chapter 5:14).

The prayer that follows has three objects or themes:

  1. "The hope of His calling" (verse 18),
  2. "The riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints" (verse 18),
  3. "The exceeding greatness of His power to us who believe" (verse 19).

The Apostle Paul's first prayer request for the Ephesians, and therefore for us, is "that ... you may know what is the hope of His calling." In verses 3-6, we have already seen our calling: our blessing with every spiritual blessing, our election in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight in love, and our predestination to sonship through Jesus Christ for himself. As children, we are born of Him, partakers of His nature and objects of His love (John 1:12; 1 John 3:1). In our position of sonship, we bear witness to our love for Him in worship (Romans 8:15). This is the calling of every Christian in this age. However, it is not called "our calling" but "His calling": Everything comes from God. We are not at the center; He is. When the Lord Jesus introduces us to the glory of heaven, everything in us that is still impaired by weakness and even sin will unfold in all its radiant glory in perfection for us. This is the hope of our vocation. In heavenly glory, we shall enjoy all these things with glorified bodies. That is why we are looking at eternity and the hope of our calling.

Indeed, this letter does not speak of the coming of the Lord, for according to chapter 2:6, we are already considered to be seated in Christ in the heavenly places. However, since we do not yet fully enjoy all things in practice, "the hope of His calling" and "the hope of your calling" are mentioned here and in chapter 4:4 as references to the coming of the Lord. Both passages direct our gaze to the future glory of Christ. 

The second thing the Ephesians need to know is, "What are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints?". Verse 10 tells us what God has in mind for the administration of the fullness of time - the Millennial Kingdom. He wants to "gather all things together under one Head in Christ, ... in whom we also have obtained an inheritance [or: have been made heirs]." According to verse 14, we have received the Holy Spirit as a pledge of our inheritance. The same word (Greek: kleronomia) is used here. So we, the faithful, are heirs or joint heirs (cf. Rom 8:17), and the inheritance is the share we will receive with our Redeemer, the glorified Son of Man, in the Millennial Kingdom.

Our attention is thus drawn to the near future. God has given the Lord Jesus the whole creation as an inheritance, as a reward for His obedience unto death. He will reign over it in peace and righteousness for a thousand years (Heb 1:2). Then comes the moment when He will hand everything over to the Father so that God may be all in all (1 Cor 15:28). However, according to Ephesians 1:11, the Lord Jesus will not exercise dominion alone. Still, He will share it with those whom He has purchased. We will, therefore, inherit and reign with Him (Rom 8:17; 2 Tim 2:12).

The true "owner" of all things is the eternal God (Exodus 19:5). One day, however, He will give everything to the Son of Man as an inheritance, but not to Him alone. Christ takes possession of it with His own, yes, in His own. The land of Canaan also belonged to God. He gave it to His earthly people without ever ceasing to own it. Exodus 25:23 says, "For the land is mine," and Exodus 15:17 says, "You shall bring them and plant them on the mountain of your inheritance," meaning the whole land, especially the city of Jerusalem. It was God's possession, His inheritance, which He took possession of, as it were, in His people, Israel. 

This is how we can imagine the Millennial Kingdom. We should not underestimate it. God has a plan not only for eternity but also for this earth, which is now full of hardship, misery, war, sickness, sin, and death. But it is God's earth, and He says: "It will not simply disappear from the scene." Before it is destroyed by fire (2 Peter 3:10), He will show for a thousand years what He thinks about life on earth. The first man thwarted God's mind through disobedience, but the second man, Christ, will gloriously fulfill it! There will be perfect justice and perfect peace for a thousand years. Everything that people yearn for, and from which they continue to move away despite all their efforts, will then be fulfilled. This is how we understand God saying: "I also have a plan for this earth." All this will come about through the reign of the Lord Jesus. He wants all those who believe in Him in the present time of His rejection to share in this reign. We shall inherit and reign with Him. And God wants us to know and understand even now "what are the riches of his inheritance in the saints."

Verse 19: “and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power”

The third request is for the present: Paul prayed that the Ephesians would know "what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us who believe." This theme, which has yet to be mentioned, is dealt with in great detail below. It is about "the working of the power of His might, which He wrought in Christ by raising Him from the dead." This is what the bracketed phrase in verses 20-23 is about. In chapter 2:1, the thought begun here is taken up again and, after another interruption, is brought to a conclusion in verses 4-7. In short, the writer's thought process is as follows: "I want you to know what power is at work in you. This power was already at work in the Lord Jesus, but through faith, it is also already at work in you.

There was no trace of power or might when the Lord Jesus gave His life on the cross. On the contrary, God's Word says He was "crucified in weakness" (2 Cor 13:4).

But when He was raised from the dead, God's power was revealed as never before. Death was destroyed, and life and immortality were revealed (2 Tim 1:10). But it is not just the demonstration of this power in Christ - as in the following verses - but "in us who believe." The power that has freed us from the power of Satan and death and given us our place as saints and beloved before God is the same power that raised Christ from the dead and gave Him His place in glory! And yet, how easily we lose sight of this inexhaustible source of strength when we find ourselves in difficult circumstances and often do not know what to do! How weak we often feel in the face of our problems! That is why the apostle Paul prayed that we would recognize and experience more of the overwhelming greatness of God's power in us, the believers. 

Verse 20a: “which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead.”

Now, Paul goes into the source of this divine power. He has mentioned hope without adding anything. In the case of the inheritance, however, he spoke of the riches of glory. But when it comes to the present power that has worked and still works in every believer, he says: "This is the immeasurable greatness of His power in us who believe." He then uses three more expressions: efficacy, power, and strength, a total of four different terms for this mighty divine power. It corresponds to what He has already done, and it corresponds to something we can see. And where do we see it? In Christ. Christ has already demonstrated the power of God in His life. Just think of the many signs and wonders, including the resurrection of the dead! But the point here is that He, who willingly took death upon Himself, was raised from the dead by God. This was the greatest demonstration of power that God has ever shown on earth. And He has also demonstrated this power in us, as explained in chapter 2. We, too, have been raised from the dead, though not yet in the body. Our salvation and spiritual resurrection with Christ are something in which God has shown His love, grace, and power. He has brought us out of death into life, out of darkness into light. Every believer can know that this power is at work in him so that he may receive the power of faith. God first demonstrated this power "by raising Him from the dead." Only the resurrection of Christ is mentioned here, and in chapter 2:6, we will also be resurrected.

Christ at the center

The phrase between the parentheses (verses 20b-23) now explains the glorious consequences that Christ's resurrection from the dead had for Himself. His resurrection was His first step back into heaven, where He now resides as a glorified man. God raised Him from the dead and seated Him "at His right hand in the heavenly places." 

Verse 20b: “and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,”

This is the second time we see the expression "heavenly places." In chapter 1:3, we see our blessing that the Lord Jesus is there. He is there at the right hand of God, in His presence. As the Son, He was always with God (John 1:1). But as such, He is not seated at the right hand of God. God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are eternally one. Therefore, the place at God's right hand was not given to the eternal Son but to the glorified man Christ Jesus.

It is the place of the highest honor and the greatest power (cf. Ps 110:1; Mt 22:44). We often feel miserable and weak and do not have the courage to be witnesses. Then let us remember that our Lord, so reviled by men, is at the center of all power and glory! Soon, everyone will see it when He exercises His dominion over the world. But we can already see our beloved Lord at the right hand of God as the source of our strength! How much strength, courage, steadfastness and endurance we could have if we made more use of this power of God that raised Christ from the dead!

Verse 21:  “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 glorified Christ at the right hand of God is above every authority in the whole world. This applies not only to the visible world but also to the invisible, spiritual world. In chapter 3:10, we see how the manifold wisdom of God is made known to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places through the church. In chapter 6:12, we find the world rulers of this darkness, the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. They are also called principalities and powers. "The heavenly places" is a very broad term, encompassing all that is heavenly, almost the entire unseen world. Satan, as a fallen angel, (still) has access to heaven. In both the Old and New Testaments, we find that he has direct access to God as the accuser of the faithful. Only in Revelation 12:9 do we read that he is cast down to the earth. The principalities mentioned here, therefore, refer not only to human beings or good angelic powers but also to the powers of wickedness that the devil dragged behind him when he fell. But the Lord is above all. He has this place not only in the present time, where He is invisible to men, but He will also occupy it in the Millennial Kingdom, the "age to come" (cf. Heb 2:8; 6:5). 

Verse 22: “And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church,”

Not only does He have a relatively higher position than all the powers of the world, but God has also "put all things under His feet." These words from Psalm 8:7 are quoted three times in the New Testament: 

  • Ephesians 1:22, to show the counsel of God
  • 1. Corinthians 15:27, with the qualification that God, who has subjected all things to Himself, is exempt from this subjection. 
  • Finally, in Hebrews 2:8, with the temporal limitation: "Now we do not yet see all things subjected to Him."

He sits at the center of all power and glory. Because of His deep humiliation to the point of death on the cross, God has exalted Him and given Him a name that is above every name. He crowned Him with honor and glory, placing the whole universe at His feet. As a glorified man, He is now the "Head over all." We do not yet see everything under Him. He is now waiting for His enemies to be made a footstool for His feet and for Him to take the reign in the Millennial Kingdom (Heb 2:8; 10:13). But in Ephesians, which reveals the eternal counsel of God, these future events are already regarded as a fait accompli: "(He) has put all things under His feet." He is the center of all power, glory, and grace. We can fix our eyes on Him in faith because He is our source of strength and our goal. 

In Colossians 3:1, we are told to "seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God." In Hebrews 2:9, we see that "Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, was crowned with glory and honor." In Hebrews 12:2, we are encouraged to "look to Jesus, the author, and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." 

Especially in a time of spiritual weakness, these references are very important.

We may sometimes be tempted to despair when we look at ourselves and our surroundings. But when we remember that our Lord sits in the center of power and glory and is constantly active there as our High Priest, we are comforted, strengthened, and experience His power and help even in difficult situations. 

"...given to the church."

According to God's plan, the Lord Jesus, as a glorified man, is now "Head over all." As Creator, God is also the Head of all creation (cf. 1 Chr 29:11), but Christ, as the Son of Man, has acquired this position by virtue of His work (cf. Ps 8:5-7). What the first Adam lost through his disobedience, the latter Adam regained in a much more glorious way through his obedience. And just as Adam received from God in Eve a "helper ... his equal", so the Lord Jesus received from Him the body "of his flesh and of his bones" (Gen 2:23; Eph 5:30). This introduces a new theme. The last two verses of this chapter no longer refer to our personal blessing but, for the first time in this epistle, refer to our corporate blessing as an assembly.

The church is so important to God that He has given it the glorified Christ as "Head over all." Do we value His assembly? If not, we fall short of His mind and lose much. It is easy to see only what seems weak, imperfect and flawed. But that is not the right way to look at the church! It is so precious to God that He has given it none other than the Head of all things, who is now also its Head - even though He is not explicitly seen here as the Head of the church.

Verse 23: “which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”

In the last verse of this chapter, we are given further insight into God's plan with His Son: the church is "His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all." It is seen here not in its present outward weakness, imperfection, and brokenness, but as perfected for eternity. She can hardly be His "fullness" during her existence on earth because she is not yet complete and perfect. But when the Lord Jesus takes her home to heaven, she will stand before Him without spot or wrinkle, holy and blameless; then His fullness, the completion of His glory, will be seen in her. And why? Because she is the greatest and most perfect visible proof of His love and grace. If only His holiness and majesty shone forth, something essential would be missing from His glory.

Incidentally, the church as the Body of Christ and the House of God is seen in the New Testament in three different ways: firstly, as an earthly body that includes all living believers (e.g., 1 Cor 4:4; 1 Cor 3:17; 12:28), secondly, as perfected in glory according to God's will (cf. Mt 16:18), and thirdly, as a local realization and therefore a divine expression of the whole assembly on earth (Mt 18:17; 1 Cor 1:2; 3:16; 12:27).

As the eternal Son of God, He needs nothing to serve His "fullness" or perfection. But here He is, the glorified man in heaven.

He became poor to make us rich, but He, too, has been "made rich" because He is now glorified in heaven. He has fulfilled God's will perfectly and will one day fill the whole universe with His glory and blessing. The church, which is His Body, will then be His complement, serving to complete His glory as the Son of Man.

It is hard to imagine a closer relationship than that between head and body. They are an inseparable unity. This is probably the main reason why the church is presented to us in the Word of God as the Body of Christ. As the house of God, it is His dwelling place and the realm of divine order and holiness on earth, and as the bride or wife of the Lamb, it is the object of His eternal, incomprehensible love. But as a body, she is the image of perfect unity, both with Christ, her Head, and in herself. This also means that she participates in all that the Head possesses. - However, the unity of the members of the body will be discussed in chapter 4.

How important it is to know God's mind. How can we properly understand the gathering together of believers if we do not have God's thoughts about His church as a whole? And how can we have the right thoughts about the church if we do not see the place of the Lord Jesus as Head over all, including His church?

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