EPHESIANS 1:22

By Stan Brown

Ephesians 1:22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, 

Paul continues with the evidence for the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.  It is demonstrated by the fact that God raised Jesus from the dead.  It is demonstrated by the fact that Jesus is seated at His right hand.  Flowing out of the seating of Jesus at His right hand are two additional truths.  (1) All creation is subject to Jesus and (2) Jesus is head of the church.  It is fitting that the One who is creator of all things is the One to whom all things are now subject.  Jesus is creator (All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being (John 1:3)) and sustainer (And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together (Col 1:17)) of all that is.  

Here, Paul quotes from Psalm 8:6 Thou dost make him to rule over the works of Thy hands; Thou hast put all things under his feet.  Adam was given authority over God’s creation, (AND HAVE APPOINTED HIM OVER THE WORKS OF YOUR HANDS;(Heb. 2:7)) but lost it when he sinned.  In His perfect humanity, Christ has regained that control.  In His deity, control was never a question.  His control is over all that is.  Paul has just described His control as far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. 

So, I have been meandering around for a few minutes this morning, perhaps circling around the issue.  If Christ is in charge of all that is, what, in the name of all that makes sense, is going on as it seems that all of these things (rule and authority and power and dominion) are spiraling into oblivion?  If the steering wheel falls off the car I am driving a hundred miles an hour down the interstate, I am unlikely to be able to regain control.  Jesus remains in control of this monstrous God rejecting culture heading pell-mell into chaos and if you think it is in trouble now, just think of the chaos that will ensue when the restraining work of the Holy Spirit is removed as the saints meet Jesus in the air.  Jesus is not wringing His hands in despair over what might happen.  He isn’t even concerned about who might win the upcoming election.  The author of Hebrews expresses it this way, Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet.  “For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him (Heb. 2:8).  Note: he says that all things are now in subjection under his feet.  The problem is not that Jesus has lost any control.  It is rather that we cannot yet see it.  Although we are sometimes in anguish about the direction of evil in the world, Jesus is not.  Our hope is in Him, not in the world and He is already in charge forever.  He is the only One who can quell the disaster that approaches and He has the effective plan in place.  Indeed, He is the only One who can defeat the discords of our lives and He never fails.  Our hope remains in Him.  Remember that the surpassing greatness of His power is operating for our benefit. 

I meant to get to the second half of this verse today but that will have to wait until tomorrow.  The problem with studying Ephesians is that it is so jam packed with truth that I cannot possibly get to it all.
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As we draw near to the close of this stunning chapter that extols God’s unfathomable gifts, I cannot help but feel great sadness for those who reject the price that has been paid for us to be the inheritance of God.  We must pray for their salvation as we are God’s message to them.