A Journey Through Ephesians…1:21-23

If you are just now tuning in… we are scribing our way through the book of Ephesians. Grab a pen and write out the scriptures. Reflect on every word, letter, meaning, phrase. What jumps off the page to you? Otherwise, you can just read along!

Now he [Christ] is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else – not only in this world but also in the world to come. God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made Him head over all things for the benefit of the church. And the church is His body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with Himself. v. 21-23

Gosh so many things surface as I read this over and over.

1. Thank you GOD for making Christ “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion” as the Amplified Bible says. This makes the Blount County girl in me wanna snarl my lip at the devil and say in my best southern drawl “get cha summm.” But that would be way immature so… I won’t.

2. The fact that Christ is FAR above ALL authority does allow me a deep sigh of relief when considering the seemingly unstable state of power in our country. When all hope seems lost remember … Ephesians 1:21.

3. The New Living Translation DOES leave out one of my favorite visuals here! The NIV gives the word picture of God placing all things under Christ’s feet. Remember this? There is something very satisfying about this image to me. Two things about it: 1) This picture physically puts Christ in a HIGH place. I am under his feet. You are under His feet. Our problems are under His feet. All other authority is under his feet. We are down here. He is up High. I can submit to this. And 2) Every now and again, I like to ask Him to smoosh a problem or two for me. Because, well, they are just right there at His shoe and all.

4. Last thing – and this is important contextually for the whole book of Ephesians – the primary thrust of this letter is to show us, the Church, as the physical presence of Christ here on earth. We are HIS BODY (He’s in heaven, we are down here) and we are filled with the Holy Spirit to minister the good news, tell of His love and show His power to those around us. We are missional beings on earth, on purpose, assigned by our Lord Jesus. It is important that we do not miss this. Otherwise, I could make this whole story about me real quick like. And it’s just not.

This is what the Lord showed me this morning. Sure. But what I LOVE about Scripture is it is LIVING. He might highlight other things from the VERY same passage to you. Remember, sit with the reading each day. It is active and Jesus speaks to us through His Word. It is HIS PRIMARY WAY to talk to us. What does He want to say to you today?

Love to you all…. see you tomorrow.