Identity in Christ
Let's dive into more of what it means to be "in Christ."In an earlier posting I made it through Ephesians 1:1-14. There is so much more to be gleaned from this chapter and the next verses are such a beautiful prayer. Here is a study on Ephesians 1:15-23.
15 Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,
16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;
There's a few things to even point out in these two verses. The apostle Paul was so grateful to God for these saints at Ephesus, but observe what makes him so grateful. It's the faith in (Greek "en" which literally means in) the Lord Jesus and love unto all the saints. They trusted in Jesus Christ and the gospel committed unto Paul, and because of that, were compelled along with Paul to share that love with all others who trusted in the gospel. The Greek word for "love" there is agape, the unconditional, sacrificial kind of love that God showed us through Jesus Christ on the cross. After hearing of this kind of faith and love in action, it is no marvel that Paul would continuously offer up prayers of thanksgiving to God. Note that the word for "in" in verse 16 is the Greek "epi" which would mean "upon" or "on top of." Now let's take a look at what else Paul was praying.
17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
Wow, such powerful words! Paul was praying that the saints would know God intimately and fully in verse 17. I need to express the Greek here because I feel like it's stronger than the English translation. "That" is more literally "in order that". The word "in" is the Greek "en" again meaning in or within. "Knowledge" is "epignosis" or the full knowledge. The rest is pretty literal to the Greek. With that in mind, here is that verse again with the end of 16 for better context:
making mention of you in my prayers in order that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation within the full extent of the knowledge of Him.
This really correlates well with God's will in 1 Tim 2:3-4
3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth
Again that word for knowledge there is epignosis, or the full knowledge. Quite honestly, Ephesians 1:17-18 and the parallel verse in Colossians 1:9 were what drove me to find out just what I was missing in my young Christian life. I had read the bible several times through, but had a lot of questions. Is baptism in water something we need to do to be saved? What about circumcision? Can I claim the promises that were given in Deuteronomy 28 for those that obey? Those blessings seemed quite nice! It was this prayer of Ephesians 1:17-18 and Colossians 1:9 that when I prayed it, God led to me understand a very important verse. This verse, which I totally agree with the words of my pastor, is the key to understanding the bible in its entirety. It is 2 Tim 2:15:
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth
We need to "rightly divide" the Word of God to know exactly what His will is. This is not a hard thing to do. God says that all scripture is for us, but we need to understand that not all scripture is directed to us today. We have no fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil to avoid, nor are we all directed to build an ark for a coming global flood. We all "divide" the Word of God, but we need to be diligent about it. Simply put, read the address. Is the passage you're reading directed to the church, the body of Christ? Then that is written to you today. Is the passage written to Israel? Then that is written for the past and next age after the fullness of the Gentiles be come in (Romans 11). Sure, there are interdispensational truths to be had, most of which are characteristics of our loving God who doesn't change (Mal 3:6). But these will be come known when we pour ourselves into the scriptures and study them as in 2 Tim 2:15. The word "study" in the Greek is "spoudazó" which more literally means to be diligent, to make haste, to be zealous. In other words, pour yourself completely into knowing the Word of God and understand what He is saying to us today. Let's get back to the rest of Ephesians 1.
19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
Isn't that a beautiful prayer? The apostle goes on to pray that the saints would know what the exceeding greatness of God's power (Greek dunamis) to those of the faith, according to God's strength which He worked in (Greek en) Christ when He raised Him from the dead and set Him at His right hand in (en) Heaven. It is a wonderful thing to know that this same power that God showed in Jesus Christ, this same resurrection, He offers freely to us through Jesus Christ by faith. If we simply believe that this work is sufficient to save us from our sins, He takes our sin and we become His righteousness (2 Cor 5:21) and are baptized into Christ. That is certainly something to desire to know! No wonder Paul is praying this for the saints, especially after hearing about all these other things that we are now "in Christ".
Verses 21-23 go on to describe the position of Christ, which incidentally we share with Him since those that believe are baptized into Him. The Greek is interesting here too. The word for principality is "arche" which has this meaning according to Strong's:
properly, from the beginning (temporal sense), i.e. "the initial (starting) point"; (figuratively) what comes first and therefore is chief (foremost), i.e. has the priority because ahead of the rest ("preeminent")
So Christ is far above what comes first, or chief, indicating His preeminence. This description alone is probably enough to describe our Lord Jesus, but the apostle goes on, inspired by the Holy Spirit, to write that Christ is also far above power (Greek exousia meaning power, authority, weight, especially: moral authority, influence) and might (dunamis = strength/ability), and dominion (kuriotés = lordship), and every name that is named, not only in this world (aion = space of time or age) but that which is to come! And this same God wants you to know Him intimately! He wants you to be saved from sin and separation from Him and know the full extent of who He is! How awesome is our God?
I can't end this without looking at the Greek in verses 22-23 because this is fascinating. In verse 22 God says that Christ has the headship or the place of authority over all "ekklesia". It more literally says that God gave Jesus to be the head over the saints who belong to His body, when getting into the first part of verse 23. Now this last part is what I found fascinating. The phrase "the fulness of him that filleth all in all" is literally "the fullness of the all things in all filling". In other words He is the fullness or completion that makes full or complete all things.
There are so many people who search for something fulfilling or satisfying. They may look for it in video games, movies, sports, drugs, or alcohol, but still find themselves wanting. Even after indulging, there still remains a hole inside and the desire for more. Well, right here is God saying that you will be filled full by Jesus Christ and never lack again. If you haven't placed your faith and trust in the finished work of Christ on the cross, won't you consider it today? If you have trusted in Jesus and are now in Christ, won't you share that with whomever God brings into your life? This is something too great to be keeping quiet about and what I've done here is just a short study on what it is to be in Christ! Many Christians still need to know what it means to be in Christ. So then, may our God bring us to that epignosis kind of knowledge in Him!
15 Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,
16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;
There's a few things to even point out in these two verses. The apostle Paul was so grateful to God for these saints at Ephesus, but observe what makes him so grateful. It's the faith in (Greek "en" which literally means in) the Lord Jesus and love unto all the saints. They trusted in Jesus Christ and the gospel committed unto Paul, and because of that, were compelled along with Paul to share that love with all others who trusted in the gospel. The Greek word for "love" there is agape, the unconditional, sacrificial kind of love that God showed us through Jesus Christ on the cross. After hearing of this kind of faith and love in action, it is no marvel that Paul would continuously offer up prayers of thanksgiving to God. Note that the word for "in" in verse 16 is the Greek "epi" which would mean "upon" or "on top of." Now let's take a look at what else Paul was praying.
17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
Wow, such powerful words! Paul was praying that the saints would know God intimately and fully in verse 17. I need to express the Greek here because I feel like it's stronger than the English translation. "That" is more literally "in order that". The word "in" is the Greek "en" again meaning in or within. "Knowledge" is "epignosis" or the full knowledge. The rest is pretty literal to the Greek. With that in mind, here is that verse again with the end of 16 for better context:
making mention of you in my prayers in order that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation within the full extent of the knowledge of Him.
This really correlates well with God's will in 1 Tim 2:3-4
3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth
Again that word for knowledge there is epignosis, or the full knowledge. Quite honestly, Ephesians 1:17-18 and the parallel verse in Colossians 1:9 were what drove me to find out just what I was missing in my young Christian life. I had read the bible several times through, but had a lot of questions. Is baptism in water something we need to do to be saved? What about circumcision? Can I claim the promises that were given in Deuteronomy 28 for those that obey? Those blessings seemed quite nice! It was this prayer of Ephesians 1:17-18 and Colossians 1:9 that when I prayed it, God led to me understand a very important verse. This verse, which I totally agree with the words of my pastor, is the key to understanding the bible in its entirety. It is 2 Tim 2:15:
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth
We need to "rightly divide" the Word of God to know exactly what His will is. This is not a hard thing to do. God says that all scripture is for us, but we need to understand that not all scripture is directed to us today. We have no fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil to avoid, nor are we all directed to build an ark for a coming global flood. We all "divide" the Word of God, but we need to be diligent about it. Simply put, read the address. Is the passage you're reading directed to the church, the body of Christ? Then that is written to you today. Is the passage written to Israel? Then that is written for the past and next age after the fullness of the Gentiles be come in (Romans 11). Sure, there are interdispensational truths to be had, most of which are characteristics of our loving God who doesn't change (Mal 3:6). But these will be come known when we pour ourselves into the scriptures and study them as in 2 Tim 2:15. The word "study" in the Greek is "spoudazó" which more literally means to be diligent, to make haste, to be zealous. In other words, pour yourself completely into knowing the Word of God and understand what He is saying to us today. Let's get back to the rest of Ephesians 1.
19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
Isn't that a beautiful prayer? The apostle goes on to pray that the saints would know what the exceeding greatness of God's power (Greek dunamis) to those of the faith, according to God's strength which He worked in (Greek en) Christ when He raised Him from the dead and set Him at His right hand in (en) Heaven. It is a wonderful thing to know that this same power that God showed in Jesus Christ, this same resurrection, He offers freely to us through Jesus Christ by faith. If we simply believe that this work is sufficient to save us from our sins, He takes our sin and we become His righteousness (2 Cor 5:21) and are baptized into Christ. That is certainly something to desire to know! No wonder Paul is praying this for the saints, especially after hearing about all these other things that we are now "in Christ".
Verses 21-23 go on to describe the position of Christ, which incidentally we share with Him since those that believe are baptized into Him. The Greek is interesting here too. The word for principality is "arche" which has this meaning according to Strong's:
properly, from the beginning (temporal sense), i.e. "the initial (starting) point"; (figuratively) what comes first and therefore is chief (foremost), i.e. has the priority because ahead of the rest ("preeminent")
So Christ is far above what comes first, or chief, indicating His preeminence. This description alone is probably enough to describe our Lord Jesus, but the apostle goes on, inspired by the Holy Spirit, to write that Christ is also far above power (Greek exousia meaning power, authority, weight, especially: moral authority, influence) and might (dunamis = strength/ability), and dominion (kuriotés = lordship), and every name that is named, not only in this world (aion = space of time or age) but that which is to come! And this same God wants you to know Him intimately! He wants you to be saved from sin and separation from Him and know the full extent of who He is! How awesome is our God?
I can't end this without looking at the Greek in verses 22-23 because this is fascinating. In verse 22 God says that Christ has the headship or the place of authority over all "ekklesia". It more literally says that God gave Jesus to be the head over the saints who belong to His body, when getting into the first part of verse 23. Now this last part is what I found fascinating. The phrase "the fulness of him that filleth all in all" is literally "the fullness of the all things in all filling". In other words He is the fullness or completion that makes full or complete all things.
There are so many people who search for something fulfilling or satisfying. They may look for it in video games, movies, sports, drugs, or alcohol, but still find themselves wanting. Even after indulging, there still remains a hole inside and the desire for more. Well, right here is God saying that you will be filled full by Jesus Christ and never lack again. If you haven't placed your faith and trust in the finished work of Christ on the cross, won't you consider it today? If you have trusted in Jesus and are now in Christ, won't you share that with whomever God brings into your life? This is something too great to be keeping quiet about and what I've done here is just a short study on what it is to be in Christ! Many Christians still need to know what it means to be in Christ. So then, may our God bring us to that epignosis kind of knowledge in Him!
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