Eph 1:15-23

The Supremacy of Christ

Ephesians 1:15–23 (ESV)

15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18

having the eyes of your hearts enlightened,

that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

This passage teaches us that Christ is not just a figure from the past,

Jesus is actively involved in the present as the head of the church.

It emphasizes the importance of recognizing Christ's sovereignty in all areas of our lives.

Big Idea: Christ is not just a figure from the past, He is actively involved in the present as the head of the church

I. The Mighty Strength of God

Ephesians: An Expositional Commentary (God’s Mighty Strength)

1. A Knowledge of God is Required to know the Strength of God.

Paul makes his concern for sound knowledge plain. He prayed that the Christians at Ephesus might know God better (v. 17).

and that they might know the hope to which he had called them,

i want you to know who God is for you in the person of Jesus Christ.

the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,

and the incomparable greatness of his power to all who believe (vv. 18–19).

Suggest how this enlightened understanding

empowers believers to face life's challenges with confidence, rooted in the assurance of their identity and inheritance in Christ.

Christianity is a religion of knowledge.

It is for the head as well as for the heart.

2. Christianity is not just “head” knowledge.

It is not a religion of ideas only.

It is not merely a philosophy.

Some Christians treat the faith as if it were, taking care to master Bible doctrines, thinking that when they have done this they have done all that needs to be done.

They believe that in knowing the truth they have it all.

This did not satisfy the apostle, and it should not satisfy us either.

As important as sound theological and doctrinal knowledge is, it is given that we might know God better and thus live in his power and be victorious over sin in this life.

we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to live a victorious life over sin.

By relying on God's power, we can resist temptations and walk in obedience to His Word.

Christianity is knowledge. But it is also power, power from beginning to end.

Without the power of God not one individual would ever become a Christian.

“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.

We are far too easily pleased.”

― C.S. Lewis

It is by the power of God displayed in Jesus Christ that we are to live Christianity.

II. Resurrection Power

Ephesians: An Expositional Commentary (Resurrection Power)

1. When Paul thinks of the greatness of the display of God’s mighty power in Christ, he looks first at the resurrection.

Ephesians: An Expositional Commentary (Resurrection Power)

For centuries people had lived and died.

So far as anyone could see, death was the end of them,

Jesus died and was resurrected to return to life triumphantly.

Was there any power on earth could possibly accomplish this miracle?

No power on earth could. Only a heavenly power could—and did!

On the third day God raised Jesus Christ from the dead.

as he said he would. God thus vindicated Jesus’ claims, declared that Christ’s atonement for sin was accepted, and revealed that all who are united to Christ by faith can live triumphantly through that power.

The salvation of the soul is a resurrection, the recovery of a person from the dead.

So we begin to see why this is so important and why Paul develops and emphasizes it as he does.

Ephesians: An Expositional Commentary (Resurrection Power)

We sometimes speak of Christ’s resurrection as the forerunner of our own resurrection—and the

proof of it.

Because he lives, we shall live also. That is true enough. It is a glorious certainty.

It is not only at the end of things, that is, at our own resurrection, that the power of God displayed in Christ is to be seen in us.

2. The Power of the Resurrection is to be seen in our present victories over sin in this life.

In his study of this passage D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones speaks of victory over worldliness, the flesh, and the devil—our three great adversaries.

Without God’s power not one individual would ever triumph over sin, live a godly life, or come at last to the reward God has for all his own in heaven.

a. The world constantly bombards us with its values.

We get them from television, newspapers, films, the competitive world in which we earn our livings and from casual conversations.

How are we to be victorious over this great enemy?

It is by the power of God displayed in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

This power of the Resurrection is able to transform us “by the renewing of our mind[s]” (Rom. 12:2). It is what makes us “new creation[s]” (2 Cor. 5:17).

b. Our second great adversary is the flesh, which in biblical language means the nature of sinful man untouched by the Holy Spirit.

The flesh is a formidable enemy.

You and I are living in the reality of the presence of the sin nature right here and now.

It draws us to inactivity when we should be reading the Bible, praying, or performing good works.

It locks us into sinful patterns of behavior when we should be living a Christlike life.

“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.

We are far too easily pleased.”

― C.S. Lewis

How can we triumph over these strong forces?

It is only by the power of God displayed in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead that we overcome the drive of the sin nature.

c. There is the devil.

What a foe he is! Many people, even Christians,

regard the devil almost as an invention or at least as one at whom we may laugh.

When Satan met our first parents in Eden it was no laughing matter.

They had been created perfect with not even a disposition to evil.

When Satan appeared,

so great were his power, wiles, and subtlety that it was only a short time before he had brought about the fall of both Eve and Adam.

Thus did sin (and death, the consequence of sin) pass upon the race.

No wonder Peter writes,

“Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

No wonder Paul told the Ephesians, “Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes” (Eph. 6:11).

Lloyd-Jones says, “Because of these things we need to be enlightened with respect to the power of God working in us. Nothing else can enable us to stand against the wiles of the devil.”1

Ephesians: An Expositional Commentary (All Things under Jesus)

III. All Things Under Jesus

With all these spiritual enemies, is Christ’s power adequate to overcome them?

We might doubt that it can—were it not for this next step in Christ’s exaltation.

God’s mighty strength was not exhausted in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead but also worked to seat him “at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come” (vv. 20–21).

Christ’s exaltation over “all rule and authority” involves all earthly powers and angels.

we struggle not merely “against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph. 6:12).

All spiritual forces have been made subject to Christ. So when we are told that Jesus has been exalted over them we do not need to fear attacks from these forces any more than from our flesh or the surrounding world system.

How are we to be victorious over Satan?

a.James tells us: “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).

b. Know that you cannot resist Satan in our own strength.

If we first submit ourselves to God so that the power of God demonstrated in the exaltation of Christ above all rule and authority flows through us, the devil will flee from us.

as he fled from Christ at the conclusion of his temptation in the wilderness.

Sermons from John Piper (2000–2014) (The Immeasurable Greatness of His Power Toward Us)

Satan and His Hordes Are Real

There are dangerous powers of sin in each of our lives.

Satan and his hordes are real.

They hate you.

They hate your faith.

They hate our worship.

They hate your marriage.

They hate your children.

They hate our ministry.

They hate our church.

If you want to know—experientially know—what verse 19 means,

If you want Paul’s prayer answered in your life that you will “know the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe,” then wake up to the demonic battle that rages for your soul, your marriage, your children, your ministry every day.

Sin is defeated at the cross; yet sin remains to be fought.

And for this fight, may God answer Paul’s prayer in our lives! May we know the power of God toward us who believe— resurrection power now—to live and die for the glory of Christ.

We Will Win

I testify from inside the battle to my comrades in the warfare: In the name of Jesus, and by the authority of his word and his blood and his never-ending life,

We will win, for the glory of our risen king.

Ephesians 1:22

Christ has the absolute supremacy and authority of Christ over the church, showing how this single verse encapsulates the truth that Jesus is the active head, guiding and directing the body of believers. This reinforces the importance of individual and collective submission to Christ's rule and leadership, inviting the congregation to reflect on areas of their lives where they need to surrender more fully to Him.

IV. Christ's Commanding Headship Over the Church, His Body

Ephesians 1:22

You could emphasize the supreme authority of Christ as the head over all things, particularly the church. This point might delve into the significance of recognizing Christ's authority in personal and corporate church life, suggesting a surrender to His guiding and unity under His leadership. By understanding Christ as the cornerstone, believers can find their rightful place and function within the body, promoting a sense of belonging and purpose.

Christ’s exaltation through God’s power is in verses 22–23: “And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”

Jesus being exalted above all rule and authority since “all things” have been placed under his feet. But they carry the thought further by reference to “the church” for whose benefit this subjugation has been made.

Jesus has been exalted over the spiritual forces of evil as a conqueror. He is exalted over the church as its proper and greatly honored head.

This is the first time in Ephesians that the word “church” has occurred, but from the beginning Paul has had the church in mind.

God gave Jesus as head over all things to the church.

Fourth, verse 22: God “put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church.” Notice two things. The risen Jesus Christ is “head over all things.”

Head! Implying authority and conscious active rule—over all

history, all human beings, all demonic powers, disease, disability, all nature—weather, hurricanes, lightning bolts, tornadoes, volcanoes, earthquakes, floods, global warming—all businesses and industry, healthcare, sports, March Madness, inventions, media, Internet, iPad mania, military might, governments, presidents, kings, chiefs, religions, universities, solar systems, stars, galaxies, molecules, atoms, subatomic particles, and ten thousand things no man has ever yet discovered. Jesus is now head over them all. Conscious, active, authoritative Ruler.

And the second great thing in verse 22 is that he is given as head over all to the church: “[God] gave him as head over all things to the church.”

Which means: With all that power and all that authority and all that wisdom, he serves us as our Head and our Leader and Savior and our King and our Friend.

In other words, this power is, as verse 19 says, “toward us.” It is resurrection power now—to live and die for the glory of Christ.

5. Where God rules, we will rule.

Finally, verse 23: We believers—we happy believers!—are “his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.” I’m not sure I can express this. But I’ll try. God’s power toward us intends to fill the universe with the authority of his crucified and risen Son. And, though it takes your breath away,

He intends to make us, the church, those who believe, the means of that fullness, the embodiment of that fullness. That is, where he rules we will rule. He created human kind in the beginning to inhabit a beautiful creation and to subdue it, and enjoy it, and reflect his glory in it.

That is what he intends to do through the new humanity called the church. He will fill creation with all his fullness of his glory. And you will be that fullness—“his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.” This is the power of God at work toward you now.

Piper, J. (2014). Sermons from John Piper (2000–2014). Desiring God.

Banner of the Cross

The church is to be a transforming power—indeed, through the presence of the risen Christ within, the greatest of all powers in this world.

Those who belong to the church are changed; apart from the power of Christ in their lives they do not even belong to it. Then, having been changed and having become members of the church, they are to work through the power of Christ in the church to transform the world powerfully.

The victory is not achieved by arms.

It is not achieved by marches or by the force of power politics.

It is the victory of transformed lives as, through the church which Christ fills, the rule of Christ is extended forcefully throughout the world.

Edward Gibbon, the author of the classic study The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, saw this in the early church and wrote about it movingly:

“While that great body [the Roman Empire] was invaded by open violence, or undermined by slow decay, a pure and humble religion gently insinuated itself into the minds of men, grew up in silence and obscurity, derived new vigour from opposition, and finally erected the triumphant banner of the Cross on the ruins of the Capitol. Nor was the influence of Christianity confined to the period or to the limits of the Roman empire. After a revolution of thirteen or fourteen centuries, that religion is still professed by the nations of Europe, the most distinguished portions of human kind in arts and learning as well as in arms. By the industry and zeal of the Europeans it has been widely diffused to the most distant shores of Asia and Africa; and by the means of their colonies has been firmly established from Canada to Chile, in a world unknown to the ancients.”6

That is the way Christ’s banner is erected: by pure and humble means, but powerfully, as the strength of Christ appears in those who are his followers.