CHAPTER 1: 15 - 23
CHAPTER 1: 15 - 23
Ques Why is it “faith in the Lord Jesus”?
FER The apostle takes them on the ground of the great characteristics of saints — faith and love; they were in that circle, as it were. I do not think that it is faith toward Him, but it is that they were in that sphere, they were in the Lord Jesus, and faith and love characterised them as there; verse 13 had brought them into that circle. There were certain marks about these saints that gave the apostle confidence to pray for them, and that unceasingly.
In one sense the platform is higher in Ephesians than in Colossians. In Colossians, the faith is “in Christ Jesus”; here, in Ephesians 1 the thought of “the Lord” is brought in, as also in chapter 6. His exaltation is more contemplated here. Saints may be looked at as on the border of the land, as in Colossians, or as having gone up into the land, as in this epistle, and therefore here you are more fully in the light of “the Lord”: it contemplates Him in His position as being far above all principality and power. “Groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord”. “In whom” (i.e., in the Lord) “ye also are builded together for an habitation of God”. The higher up you go the more you get into the light of the Lord. The prayer here is to the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory.
Ques Why is it “Father of glory”?
FER He is the source of it all; the thought of ‘God’ brings in supremacy, as “the God of glory” in Acts 7; ‘Father’ brings in that of source. “To us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things ... and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things”, 1 Corinthians 8. The counsels are brought into effect by Him, but the Father is the source of them. The counsels belong to the Father, but the Son is the centre of them, and it is through Him they are brought into effect. Christ having become man, stands in relation to God. God is the Father of glory, the devil is the source of shame. Death and lust are of Satan, but the setting aside of all evil and the introduction of what is in Himself, is what constitutes the glory of God.
Ques Why does it say in Romans 6, “raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father”?
FER Resurrection is the platform now, therefore the Father is the standard for walk: “even so we also should walk in newness of life”. God allows things to operate until all is completely weakened; all that is in the world has decay inherent in it. God will allow things to wear themselves out, and judgments, too, will be inflicted, as in Revelation, in order that He may bring in a new state. Man is utilising natural forces, but I believe eventually they will become too strong for him, and in the end will turn to his own destruction. Think of the immense strain on man which it all brings in! It is a very serious thing the way man interferes with natural forces and things. Man is taken in his own craftiness.
Ques How far does the prayer go?
FER There is a remarkable break in verse 20:
after saying “which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead”, it begins again: “and he set him down at his right hand in the heavenlies”. The might of God’s power is in resurrection, but setting Him at His right hand, is the place given Him, dignity and honour conferred. We, too, are made to sit together in heavenly places, it is a place given to us, but it is not, as with Christ, at His right hand. If we know the hope of the calling and the inheritance, then it is we want to know the power by which we shall enjoy it. We have to be conscious of those two things, but the power is towards us to put us in heavenly places. If we are in the resurrection sphere, where alone we are conscious of these things, then we know that the same power is towards us which was towards Christ, and that, in order that we may enjoy it. It is a great thing to be in the resurrection sphere; it is where God operates. The word ‘know’ here, is what you are made conscious of. There are three parts in the prayer: calling, inheritance, power.
When we come to the middle of verse 20, where the tense changes, we get in that which follows, the statement of what God has done in order to satisfy His heart. He must put you where Christ is, and that is what I call union. Union is the answer to the prayer. In John 17 the request that they may “be with me where I am” is higher, for it is to behold His glory; here, it is to enjoy the inheritance. His ‘glory’ is His peculiar distinction as “with the Father”; this we can behold, but we do not share. It is incommunicable; we cannot share all. The fact of Christ emptying Himself cannot alter what He is personally with the Father. It is the same as in John 1. “We have contemplated his glory, glory as of an only begotten with a father”. We do not know the power of God towards us unless we are in the resurrection sphere. Christians who go to church and pray for victory in war, and to be preserved from famine, etc., are not in [p. 206] the resurrection sphere at all; it is outside all that, and it is there where God is operating. The complete triumph of God was seen in the resurrection of Christ: His resurrection involved the whole thing in principle.
Ques In Colossians we are said to be risen now?
FER Yes, but it is through faith in the operation of God who raised Christ from the dead: it is in this way that we come into it. Israel comes in also on that ground; the resurrection of Christ involves their being raised up. In 1 Corinthians 15 the resurrection of Christ works out eventually, to death being swallowed up in victory. It is life out of death — life superior to death. We have to learn it, for every purpose of God comes out of Christ risen. The church, indeed, every family comes out of Christ risen. God began afresh when all was in death, and that, by the resurrection of Christ from the dead. It is God’s calling, God’s inheritance, God’s power. The hope of His calling is heaven; the calling is sonship. The inheritance is all that is headed up in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth, and in order to take that up, He must be set in heaven above all principality and power.
The prayer in chapter 3 is for state; here, chapter 1, it is for the conscious knowledge of what is of God. It was suitable to God to give Christ the highest place; it is what He is pleased to give to man according to His purpose, and He has found a Man in whom He can give it. He has set man in the Person of Christ, in the highest place. When Christ was here, God was at His right hand (Psalm 16: 8); now, He is set at God’s right hand, and that is His place according to God’s purpose. The right hand of God is high above all principality and power; it is the supreme place of honour and glory. The right hand is emblematical of power. It was in eternal purpose that man should have that place. The “Son of man” is the One crowned with glory and honour. The Son of man [p. 207] was made lower than the angels for the suffering of death. In Hebrews 2 it is spoken of from our standpoint: “we see not yet all things put under him”; but in Ephesians, which looks at it from God’s side, all things are put under His feet. Hebrews 2 contemplates One who was superior to angels, taking, for a special purpose, a place inferior to angels. Angels excel in strength, but the church is to stand in the Lord, and in the power of His might. The church can do what angels never could.
“Head over all” (verse 22), means headship over all, and as such He is given to the church.
The apostle comes, so to speak, to the end of all he can do, and so is obliged to turn to prayer. He cannot touch their state, nor can he give conscious knowledge. God only can do that: it just shows the limit of a servant, and where God has to come in. The servant enlightens, and it is the divine way. God uses men to enlighten men. Paul enlightens the jailor, and Philip is sent to enlighten the eunuch. Light comes through the servant, but the actual growth is from Christ. Therefore the servant’s prayer is very important. The apostle — almost a perfect servant — has to pray. Ministry gives light, but God only can give the state and power for enjoyment. People may run after ministry, but if they do not get to God they never get much. They need to get to their closets and pray individually. If men pray in private they will pray in public.
Christ is given to the church; He stands pre-eminent to the church. Nothing is excepted from His pre-eminence. It is a Greek word which means being ‘first’. The church is His body — that is, it is derived from Him as Eve was derived from Adam; and it is His fulness. There was nothing in the inferior creation which could set forth Adam, and therefore God formed a woman out of himself, that she might set forth man: the woman is the glory of [p. 208] the man. Nothing is more wonderful than that there should be a company here which is adequate for the setting forth of Christ!