Ephesians Series: Ephesians 1:20b-The Father Exerted His Power By Raising His Son From the Dead

Ephesians 1:15 For this reason, after I myself heard about the faith among each and every one of you in the one and only Lord Jesus as well as you are practicing divine-love, which is on behalf of each and every one of the saints, 16 I never permit myself to cease regularly expressing thanks to the one and only God because of each and every one of you. I do this while disciplining myself to make it my practice of remembering each and every one of you during my prayers. 17 I make it a habit of occupying myself with praying that the God, that is, the glorious Father of the one and only Lord ruling over each and every one of us as a corporate unit, who is Jesus Christ, would cause each and every one of you to receive divine wisdom, specifically, divine revelatory wisdom provided by the one and only Spirit with respect to an experiential knowledge of Himself. 18 Namely, that the eyes of your heart are enlightened in order that each and every one of you would possess the conviction of what constitutes being the confident expectation of blessing produced by His effectual call, what constitutes His inheritance, which is characterized by glorious wealth, residing in the person of the saints. 19 Also, what constitutes being His incomparable, great power on behalf of each one of us who believe which is equivalent to the exertion of His sovereign, omnipotent power to overcome. 20 This He caused to enter into the state of being exerted on behalf of the incomparable Christ. Specifically, by causing Him to be raised out from the dead ones. Then, by causing Him to be seated at His right hand in the heavenlies. (Lecturer’s translation)

Ephesians 1:20 continues Paul’s thought from Ephesians 1:15-19 since it continues to discuss the exertion of the Father’s sovereign, omnipotent power, which is mentioned in Ephesians 1:19.

Specifically, the contents of Ephesians 1:20 describes the means by which the exertion of the Father’s sovereign, omnipotent power to overcome the sin nature, Satan and his cosmic system manifested itself.

This verse is composed of a relative pronoun clause, which is then followed by two participial clauses.

The relative pronoun clause makes an assertion about the exertion of the Father’s omnipotent power to overcome the sin nature, Satan and his cosmic system.

It asserts that the exertion of the Father’s omnipotent power to overcome the sin nature, Satan and his cosmic system was caused by the Father to enter into the state of being exerted on behalf of the one and only or incomparable Christ.

The first participial describes the means by which the Father caused the exertion of His sovereign, omnipotent power to overcome was manifested in time.

It describes it as taking place by means of the Father causing Jesus Christ to enter into the state of having been raised physically alive out from those who are physically dead.

The second participial clause describes the second means by which the Father caused the exertion of His sovereign, omnipotent power to overcome was manifested in time.

It describes it as taking place by means of the Father causing Jesus Christ to enter into the state of being seated at His right hand in the third heaven.

Now, as we noted, the first participle clause describes for the reader the first means by which the exertion of the Father’s sovereign, divine omnipotent power to overcome sin, Satan and his cosmic system was caused by the Father to be exerted on behalf of His incomparable Son, Jesus Christ.

It was by means of the Father causing His Son to enter into the state of being raised physically alive out from those members of the human race who were physically dead.

In this first participial clause, the nominative masculine singular aorist active participle conjugation of the verb egeirō (ἐγείρω) refers to the Father causing His Son Jesus Christ to live again after having died physically.

It speaks of the Father causing Jesus Christ to be raised out from those who are physically dead.

The genitive masculine plural form of the adjective nekros (νεκρός) functions as a substantive and means “the dead ones” referring to members of the human race who have died physically.

The word is the object of the preposition ek (ἐκ), which is a marker of separation indicating that the human nature of Jesus Christ was raised “out from” those who are physically dead by the Father exerting His divine omnipotence.

The aorist tense of this verb egeirōis an ingressive aorist which refers to the Father causing Jesus Christ to enter into the state of being physically alive again after having been dead physically for three days.

The participle conjugation of this verb can be interpreted as a temporal participle, which in relation to its controlling verb, answers the question, “when?”

Here in Ephesians 1:20, the controlling verb isenergeō (ἐνεργέω).

Therefore, this would express the idea that the Father exerted His divine power “when” He caused His one and only Son, Jesus Christ to enter into the state of being raised physically alive out from those members of the human race who are physically dead.

The participle conjugation of this verbegeirō can also be interpreted as a participle of means, indicates the means by which the action of a finite verb is accomplished.

This type of participle defines the action of the main verb.

It makes more explicit what the author intended to convey with the verb.

This type of participle usually follows the main verb, which we noted is energeō.

Here the verb egeirō is following the verb energeō.

Therefore, this would indicate that the former is defining or explaining what Paul means when he asserts that the Father exerted His omnipotence, and which assertion, begs to be defined.

Therefore, this expresses the idea that the Father exerted His divine omnipotence “namely, by” causing His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to enter into the state of having been raised physically alive from those who were physically dead.

The temporal participle of this verb interpretation can be rejected because it can have a more specific semantic value, namely, by interpreting it as a participle of means.

Clinton Arnold writes “The resurrection of Christ from the dead was the foundational conviction of the church from the beginning. Paul speaks of it numerous times (e.g., Rom 4:24; 6:4; 8:11, 34; 10:9; 1 Cor 15:4; Gal 1:1; 1 Thess 1:10). The bodily resurrection of Christ was so important to Paul’s view of the church that he told the Corinthians, ‘If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins’ (1 Cor 15:17). Paul attributes the resurrection to the power of the Father.”