Power & Authority Of Christ
The Prayer
Having established a foundation of praise Paul launches into this magnificent prayer. that establishes the power and authority of Christ forming the foundation of the Christian faith and emphasizing His supremacy over all creation. This authority elevates Him to God’s right hand and offers believers hope and inheritance as part of His body, the church. Understanding this dynamic relationship invites us to embrace the wisdom and strength that is from being “in Him.”
Ephesians 1:17-23
17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you a spirit of wisdom to see and know him as he really is. 18 May your minds be enlightened so you can understand the hope he’s called you to— the glorious riches he promises as an inheritance to his holy people. 19 May you also understand God’s amazing power 20 that he demonstrated in raising Christ from the dead. God seated Christ at his right hand in heaven, 21 far above any other ruler, authority, power, or lord, or any leader with all their titles—not only in this world, but also in the coming world too. 22 God has made everything subject to the authority of Christ, and has given him the responsibility as head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, filled full and made complete by Christ, who fills and brings everything to completion.1“
The Prayer Begins
17 …I pray that
This is what Paul does. He becomes a role model for us to follow and places himself in the prophetic role of intercessor, standing at the intersection of Heaven and Earth, holding these people before God.
God and Jesus
1:17 (cont.)… the God of King Jesus our Lord
Is this saying, King Jesus our Lord’s God or King Jesus our Lord God? I have always taken this to mean both. It is a mystery that Paul wants you to accept as he does not attempt to explain how Jesus who is God could have God as his God. The doctrine of the Trinity had not yet formed, but Jewish scripture did not depict God as singular.
1:17 (cont.) …the glorious Father (or the father of glory)
This is Temple language and it repeats throughout the entire letter. When Paul prays “the glorious Father” in verses 17-19, this is temple language, as in the glory in the temple – 1 Kings 8:10 & 11 – gives the gift of the spirit of wisdom to see and know him as he truly is, It is an “apocalypse” (being able to see Heaven’s reality here on Earth) so that their innermost being (“eyes of the heart”) would come to grasp three things:
This is a wonderful title of God. God is the father of Jesus and Jesus is Glory. And we read elsewhere that his glory is the cross. It was through the cross that he was glorified. As Christians, we should constantly remember that the master gained glory through the cross. True glory is through sacrifice.
Glory and The Temple
When God’s glory shows up in the temple, it’s a physical manifestation of Him as creator and ruler of all through cloud and fire and that comes with it.
While Jesus gained glory by being raised on the cross, God’s glory is Jesus. God previously revealed His glory in the temple, but now it is in Jesus. He is the new temple. We in turn are also that temple if we are in Him. If you want to see God’s glory look at Jesus.
Glory, The Reversal of The Honour / Shame System
Whenever Paul talks about churches he established and Glory, such as he does later in Ephesians 3:13, he says, “I’m the one who started your community. I’m your founder. And instead of my imprisonment being a status of shame, it’s your glory. You can be proud that your founder is in prison. It’s your honour and glory because your God was crucified as a Roman criminal. That is your glory.
God has his glory and it is everything. He made the universe and everything in it but is also the father of glory. He created glory itself. (Cf. Ex.14:4, Ex. 24:17, Ex. 29:43). But as impossible as it seems, that glory pails by comparison to the Glory that is Jesus through his death and resurrection. Yet this was, in the mind of the world of the time, originally intended as shame.
This is the kind of wealth and inheritance that is available to us. The Glory that is so vast and wonderful that not even shame can blemish it. Not that we could make use of all of it but we can tap into it. We make use of it like the bird that comes once every year to Uluru to give a single peck and know that it will never be warned down. But that is the vastness of God’s glory and our inheritance.
Wisdom – Potential Gift For an Apocalypse
1:17 (cont.) …may give you
Paul wants this gift, to become an intimate part of our very Christian being. Inseparable to the point that we can’t live without it. Like a transplant that if it doesn’t take we die as Christians.
This gift is another use of the word “charis”, unmerited favour. This is part of God’s unfathomable riches made available to us. Not because we deserved it or earned it in any way but for no other reason than The Father, wants us to have it.
But whilst it comes from the same generosity, this is a different Gift from the Graces above.
Wisdom of God
1:17 (cont.) …a spirit of wisdom
Scripture integrates wisdom throughout, and God’s gift of wisdom is the intended vocation for every human. Proverbs express this wisdom as a woman. God’s wisdom, incarnated in Jesus, is the wisdom by which the world was created. By an act of grace, God forced humans to leave the garden because they relied on their wisdom instead of His. Paul draws on the wisdom tradition of the Bible.
The Jews and the Greeks have all been seeking this wisdom but this gift is given to help us understand the Apocalypse Paul wants us to have. It can only truly be revealed (an Apocalypse) in God’s Glory that is Christ himself.
Apocalypse
Apocalypse and Knowing Him
1:17 (cont.) “…to see and know him as he really is”
Or
“a revelation (Apocalypse) of God”
The Greek for revelation (“of seeing things people can’t normally see”) is Apocalypse (Grk. apokalupsis) which in Paul’s time, did not mean the end of the world. Instead, it means revealing something that has been hidden. Things are shown (revealed – Apocalypse) that were always there but were not seen. Things that are unexpected and surprising and sometimes shocking.
According to Paul, growth involves always discovering (having an apocalypse, revelation) about God and Our faith.
He prays that believers would experience a “revelation”, an unveiling to see what can only be seen with the eyes of faith, the exaltation of the crucified and risen Messiah.
That is they would know and continue to come to know Him and the exaltation of the crucified and risen Messiah as they (we) grow closer to Him and as God reveals Himself and that exaltation of the crucified and risen Messiah.
Enlightened Minds
18 “… and to have the eyes of your inmost self opened to God’s light.” 2
18 “May your minds (Literally – “the eyes of your hearts”) be enlightened” 3
You will see with your heart what your understanding has revealed. That is your understanding will be enhanced by your heart, your spirit by your true self. This is about a transformation of our personality and through that coming to know God’s wisdom.
These are the eureka moments, that it took God’s direct intervention to reveal. We can claim no contribution whatsoever. This gift, reveals that which we do not see without it. To have our eyes of our innermost self open to God’s light.
Apocalypse and The Introduction The Call: Knowing Hope
18 (cont.) so you can understand the hope he’s called you to— the glorious riches he promises as an inheritance to his holy people.
True hope is an integral part of being called by God. Without the call, there is no hope, without hope being called is meaningless. God calls us to hope.
It is this hope that we inherit. It is our true wealth. But it cannot be explained or codified. There aren’t enough words to do it. It can be outlined as Paul does here but as Paul himself says it has to be experienced to be understood and you cannot experience it without responding to God’s call.
Apocalypse and God’s Glory and Power
The question is now, what does this mean, what sort of things will be revealed (Apocalypse) and what will we come to know?
Paul goes on to say as if to answer this very question. There are three things that you will come to know as God’s glory is revealed (Apocalypse) to you: the call, Hope, inheritance
1. Hope
This is not just the hope of being with our Lord when we die but that we will be part of the new creation. Humans will, in the new earth, rule as they were intended to in the garden, in the new creation. This requires us to experience now a revealing, however small, of what that will be like.
This is where artists of all ilks play such an important role. They help us express through painting, photos, sculpture, drama, music, poetry, writing etc. the many things of God’s glory that are otherwise hard to express. They give us a vehicle we can all use to communicate these hidden things and what they will be like. We get to know God’s glory, an “apocalypse” where we will get to peel back the curtain and begin to see and experience the excitement of the hidden things, our hope. Our eyes and imagination need to be opened and enhanced. What will this new earth be like? What will we be doing in it?
This does not diminish the idea of continuously singing praises. No matter how some try to disparage that, such will not and can never be boring. I once had a dream in which I was taken to heaven (hence before the new creation). I resisted and fought because I was afraid of being bored. But the moment I got there all such fears fell away. It was indisputably wonderful. But there will be work to get on with in the new creation. As I said we will rule as intended in the garden. This is what we can hope for. Let your God-guided spirit and imagination run while with that.
2. Experiential True Wealth
This wealth is not just that of material things, although it may be functionally expressed in that way. True wealth, is the joy of experiencing all the beautiful things of this world. Things that are not corrupted by selfishness and sin. It is experiential wealth. Available only to those set aside by God. That’s what “holy people” means those that are set aside. In the sense of a calling, not in the sense of predestination. Without this call, we could not come to God. But now God is calling us through Jesus.
Have you noticed that Paul expresses, at least in part, this wealth and inheritance and glory as people? All these things are relational. The way we relate to God’s people “is wealth and our inheritance” and glory that Paul is talking about. Thus we will be able to see that our wealth is not in worldly things but true wealth is in the relationship we have with Jesus and each other as God’s children. This is not a picture of fine clothes expensive cars or large houses. This is not about the extent of our possession. Not even close. Our wealth is in our relationship with Jesus and each other who are “in Him”.
This is not to say one should have thoughts stuck in everything heavenly. In Self-defence classes, I say, “We walk with our heads in a natural position. Not always and continuously looking down or always looking up so that we miss the beauty around us and missing that which may trip us up.”
3. Loyal To Him in Faith Strength and His Power
19 “May you also understand God’s amazing power”
19 “and what the exceeding greatness of His power to us who are believing according to the working of the power of His might” 4–
19 “and you will know the outstanding greatness of his power towards us who are loyal to him in faith, according to the working of his strength and power.” 2
Paul takes great pains to explain this power. It is not just ὑπερβάλλον μέγεθος – exceeding greatness, but he also uses 4 different words for power to describe it.
19 καὶ τί τὸ ὑπερβάλλον μέγεθος τῆς δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ εἰς ἡμᾶς τοὺς πιστεύοντας κατὰ τὴν ἐνέργειαν τοῦ κράτους τῆς ἰσχύος αὐτοῦ – Michael W. Holmes, The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition (Lexham Press; Society of Biblical Literature, 2011–2013)
- ἐνέργειαν – Energy (Greek = energous) Dynamite
- δυνάμεως – Dynamo (Greek = dinomus)
- κράτους – The Greek word Kratos (Devine might)
- and the Greek word ἰσχύος – Iskuos meaning referring to God’s superabundance to make things happen and happen the way he wants them to.
When you learn the above, ” according to the working of the power of His might” takes on a massively new emphasis. This is not just ordinary power. The power and authority of Christ is a true, ultimate, all-encompassing power, available to all those “loyal to him in faith”. Gained through our understanding of the apocalypse it is God’s gift.
Grace: A Power
This power is a gift to all “ïn Him”. A Grace that isn’t a gift that is just a transaction. It’s like an ongoing source of energy and inspiration and personal love and presence to him. Several times Paul uses the word “grace”, where you could put in the word Holy Spirit, and you wouldn’t miss a beat. It is as if the sheer abundance and mismatch of his worth in God’s generosity become vital power.
God’s Power
20 “…[Power] that he demonstrated (Literally ‘worked’) in raising Christ from the dead (Literally ‘dead ones’).“
Here Paul gives us an expression of God’s power. He not only brought someone back from the dead, like Lazarus, but he brought Jesus, God incarnate, who died for our sins, who had our sins so permeate him that, for a time, he felt abandoned by God the Father. God’s power, is so great that he still brought Jesus back from the dead. More than that he did it through the power and authority of Christ Jesus himself.
Now there is a mystery for you. If you want to see the greatness of God and His power, contemplate that. Try and work it out. His power is so great, vast and so inscrutable you can’t. No other god had ever done that. Certainly, no person, no matter how much power, authority, strength, magic or secret knowledge has ever come near to it. That is the level of God’s power. That is true power.
All Power is Available To All in Christ But It is Not Magic
Now, to all who are “in Him”, the power and authority of Christ is available. But it is not about us gaining super or magic powers. Remember, always, that our power is in Jesus. Any attempt to take the power and authority of Christ for ourselves will not end well. Sooner or later, Christ will judge any gift, authority, or strength if it is not subservient to Him. This power is unlike the power of the gods that pagans try to tap into for their benefit alone.
Notice that this power was worked in Christ, “in the King” (messiah, Jesus). God’s power, Paul declares is in Jesus himself. Thus God…
The Sovereign Ruler
20 (cont) “God seated Christ at his right hand in heaven,”
He is drawing on two scriptures. One is Danial 7 (see above), not quoted directly here but hovering in the background as it does in 1 Cor. 15:20-28. Daniel 7 is about the victory of God over all the powers and principalities. Seating someone at the king’s right hand is always about the Inauguration of a kingdom. Christ carries the power and authority.
Jesus as Cosmic Ruler
The resurrection and exultation of Jesus as cosmic ruler was the inauguration of the New Kingdom, the new creation that now rules over the current age (Ps.110 see above & Daniel 7 see above).
21 far above any other ruler, authority, power, or lord (literally “Lordship”), or any leader with all their titles—not only in this world (literally “age”), but also in the coming world (literally “age to come”) too.
Jesus is the ruler and administrator of everything and everyone, everywhere, in heaven and earth. The power and authority of Christ is over all the cosmos and all dominions; natural, human, inhuman and spiritual. All of time and space. Everything is at his feet and nothing is left out.
The Sovereign Ruler of Present and Future – Both the present age and the age to come
This is the common evangelical view of “both in the present age and also in the age to come.” 
22 “God has made everything subject to the authority of Christ,”
Jesus is the victor and ruler over all evil, all the Good rulers and the corrupt rulers and their corruption, spiritual and political. A true and just government brings all the monsters of society that have wreaked havoc to heal.
Sin is still present in this world but it has no power. Its long-term consequences have subjugated those “in Him.” The government of God “The Father” through Jesus has defeated the power of sin.
This is now Apocalyptic language. Jesus, in which God has expressed His glory is God’s fellow ruler. His right-hand man, yes but so much more. This is an awesome, incredible, unexplainable, mystery. God incarnate, king of all creation, saviour of the universe (flash Gorden eat your heart out) inherits His kingdom. A Kingdom that was already His. Additionally, scripture expresses this in terms of God’s glory. God’s son elevated to the status of God’s Son is now elevated to the status of God’s right-hand man who we now know scripture has always declared Him as being at.
We may not be able to get our heads around it. But everybody has to acknowledge that the power and authority of Christ is power on a scale of magnitude that no other being or god has ever demonstrated.
Praise to Jesus!
Temple of Artemis
Paul may be doing apologetics here. He targets the temple of Artemis in Ephesus (Acts 19) because people saw it as the centre of spiritual, cultural, and political power. He declares that Jesus is the true authority to which all other powers are accountable, not the god or the temple of Artemis.
The Sovereign Ruler Given as Head of His People
“…and has given him the responsibility as head over everything for the church”. (Literally – has given him the responsibility “Gave Him and gave him as head over all to the church,”)
God gives Jesus, not as a grace or gift, but as a King to rule over His people, the church. Unlike King David and certainly not like King Saul or any other king in the history of the people of Israel. This King will be the King that King David held all the promise of (2 Sam.7:16). This King will serve as the promised Moses-type leader who takes Moses’ place. (Deut. 34:10 – 12)
Christ with the power and authority, sits on the throne. Head of His people. All that is “in Him” are subject to Him. He gives Himself to His people as their sovereign King. A King who is not only ruler over His people but rules everything that was and is and ever will be in the cosmos.
But much more than that.
The Church His Body
23 “…[Church] which is his body,”
“In Him” we are unified with Him and each other. We are one. The Song of Solomon 2:4 and 16 express this better than any other way:
“He bought me to his banqueting house and his banner over me is love … My beloved is mine and I am his”.
There is a potential euphoria about it. We can express it as young love expresses itself. We belong together and that is now possible “in Him”.
Filled with The Spirit
23 (cont.) “filled full and made complete by Christ, who fills and brings everything to completion”
23. (cont.) it is the fullness of the one who fills all in all.” 2
Don’t get sidetracked here on discussions of being “filled with The Spirit”, “baptised in The Spirit” or any other discussion to do with The Spirit prompted by this verse. Such discussions are not resolvable. You cannot box the Holy Spirit. No matter how hard you try God’s Spirit is not reducable to any system. It may even be blasphemous to try. This is not about that. This is about getting to know King Jesus, Messiah, and Lord, ruler of all. Do that and all that other stuff will take care of itself. Together we are complete.
Power And The Spirit
Redefine power. God reinstates us as the rulers we were meant to be in Eden if we are “in Him”. Those “in Him” sit at God’s right hand because they are His body.
Being “in Him” is not just a theological mystery, it is a gigantic honour and responsibility. We desperately need to be mindful of this when we act as God’s instruments in this world. We carry the power and authority of Christ.
“‘Jesus’ cosmic lordship is focused on one particular place in the present overlap of the ages, the ekklesia (The church, literally “the called out ones”), over which his authority is acknowledged and manifested in their worship and corporate life which is “filled up” by the one who “fills all things. – Tim Makie in his class on Ephesians
How extraordinary!
Take Heed
This is so important!
People have committed so much shame in the name of the church, God the Father, and Jesus Himself. However, none of it has happened “in Him.” We carry the power of His name and those who have tried to corrupt that name historically will receive Judgement.
With all the wonderful things this passage tells us, it comes with an implicit warning. God will not tolerate mockery, and Jesus carries all authority. Authority to judge and he will judge believes. Most passages that people love to quote about punishment refer to believers, not unbelievers. The only way to avoid this judgment is to be “in Him”.
Don’t get me wrong this is not about judging mistakes. Mistakes will have consequences but they do not attract judgment. We can learn from our mistakes. Sin is a deliberate act. Judgment falls on those deliberate acts. So rejoice that if we are “in Him”. Jesus seats us with Him at God’s right hand. But heed this warning: you cannot escape His judgment without being “in Him.”.
The takeaway: if we are “in Him” we have been restored. We carry the power and authority of Christ.
Praise Him!
Praise Him!
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1English: Free Bible Version Provided by: Free Bible Ministry, Inc. and open.bible, licensed under CC BY ND Published:
2Extract From THE KINGDOM NEW TESTAMENT: A CONTEMPORARY TRANSLATION by N.T. WRIGHT.
Copyright (c) 2011 by Nicholas Thomas Wright. Courtesy of HarperCollins Publishers.
3W. Hall Harris III et al., eds., The Lexham English Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012), Eph 1:18.
4Robert Young, Young’s Literal Translation (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 1997).
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