Ephesians 4.8b-Jesus Christ Ascended to the Right Hand of the Father
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday January 16, 2025
Ephesians Series: Ephesians 4:8b-Jesus Christ Ascended to the Right Hand of the Father
Lesson # 216
Ephesians 4:7 Now, however, to each one of us grace was given corresponding to the incomparable Christ’s proportionate gracious giving. 8 Therefore, it says, “When he ascended to the highest place, he captured captives. He generously gave gifts to certain members of the human race.” (Lecturer’s translation)
Ephesians 4:8 is a strong inferential statement, which is composed of the following:
(1) Temporal participial clause anabas eis hypsos (ἀναβὰς εἰς ὕψος), “When He ascended to the highest place” (Author’s translation)
(2) Declarative statement: ēchmalōteusen aichmalōsian (ᾐχμαλώτευσεν αἰχμαλωσίαν), “he captured captives.” (Author’s translation)
(3) Declarative statement: edōken domata ⸀tois anthrōpois (ἔδωκεν δόματα ⸀τοῖς ἀνθρώποις), “He generously gave gifts to certain members of the human race.” (Author’s translation)
This strong inferential statements quotes Psalm 68:18 as confirmation or as the basis for Paul’s assertion in Ephesians 4:7, which we noted asserts that grace in the form of a spiritual gift was given to each church age believer at the moment of justification which corresponds to the incomparable Christ’s proportionate gracious giving.
Now, in Ephesians 4;8, the verb anabainō (ἀναβαίνω) pertains to travelling up to a specific physical location and the referent of the masculine singular form of this verb is Jesus Christ.
The noun hypsos (ὕψος), “the highest point” not only pertains to a location above the earth and associated with supernatural events or beings but also the highest part of creation, which is the throne room of God in the third heaven.
It is the object of the preposition eis (εἰς), which functions as a marker of direction towards a particular physical location with reference to bodily motion.
Therefore, this prepositional phrase eis hypsos (εἰς ὕψος) expresses the upward physical motion of Jesus Christ’s resurrection body into the throne room of God at the right hand of the Father.
Thus, the verb anabainō (ἀναβαίνω) and the prepositional phrase eis hypsos (εἰς ὕψος) are referring to Jesus Christ’s ascension to the right hand of the Father forty days after His resurrection (Acts 1:9-11).
The participle conjugation of the verb anabainō (ἀναβαίνω) is a temporal participle which expresses the idea that Jesus Christ captured captives and gave gifts to those sinners declared justified by His Father through faith in Himself “when” He ascended to the right hand of His heavenly Father.
Therefore, the temporal participial clause asserts that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to the highest place.
This is a reference to being seated at the right hand of His heavenly Father forty days after His resurrection.
This interpretation is indicated by the fact that in Ephesians 1:20-21, Paul teaches that the Lord sat down at the right hand of His heavenly Father.
Furthermore, the Lord first distributed spiritual gifts to Jewish believers on the day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts 2.
At that time, His disciples first received the gift of the Holy Spirit, which resulted in them not only being baptized into Christ or identified with Him but also receiving a spiritual gift.
Thus, the implication of Paul’s assertion in Ephesians 4:8 is that the Lord not only ascended to the highest place but for the purpose of being seated at His Father’s right hand.
In fact, the prepositional phrase eis hypsos (εἰς ὕψος), “to the highest place” is identifying the location to which Jesus Christ ascended.
Now, when the Lord Jesus Christ sat down at the right hand of the Father, He was declared the victor over Satan.
Consequently, He received the title deed of planet earth and assumed the sovereign rulership over the earth at that time.
By seating His Son, Jesus Christ and His bride the church at His right hand and placing every animate and inanimate object under their authority, the Father restored humanity to its original position, namely rulership over the earth.
This restoration of humanity to rulership over the earth is prophesied about in Daniel 7:14.
Also, the title deed to the earth that is mentioned in Revelation 5 is related to the rulership of the earth.
In this chapter, this title deed to the earth was sealed with seven seals, which no one moral rational creature in creation was able to open except Jesus Christ.
Genesis 1:26-30, Psalm 8 and Hebrews 2:7-8 teach that mankind was designed to rule over the works of God’s creation.
Adam was created and designed in the image and likeness of God in order that he might exercise sovereign authority over all creation.
So Adam was created and designed in the image and likeness of God in order that he might exercise sovereign authority over all creation (Psalm 8).
However, the rulership of the creation was lost by Adam and the Woman in the Garden of Eden when they disobeyed the Lord’s prohibition to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3).
Satan usurped the rulership of the first Adam over the earth when he deceived the woman into disobeying the Lord’s prohibition to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and getting Adam to do so as well.
However, the Last Adam, the God-Man, the Lord Jesus Christ has regained that rulership over the earth with His obedience to the Father’s will in going to the cross in order to suffer the wrath of God as a substitute for all of sinful humanity (Rom. 5:12-21; Hebrews 2:6-9).
That Satan is the temporary authority over the earth is indicated in that 2 Corinthians 4:4 says that he is the “god of this world.”
1 John 5:19 states all the unregenerate inhabitants of planet earth are united with Satan.
The Lord Jesus Christ’s death on the cross gained the rulership of the earth back for mankind according to Philippians 2:5-11 and Hebrews 2:9.
In Hebrews 2:6-8a, we have the record of God’s purpose for mankind decreed whereas in Hebrews 2:8, we have this purpose delayed due to the Fall and in Hebrews 2:9, 14 and 17 we have this purpose accomplished through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Verse 8 teaches that all things are not in subjection to the members of human race.
However, verse 9 does asserts that Jesus was crowned with glory and honor as a result of His substitutionary spiritual and physical deaths on the cross.
Now, the church is the bride of Christ according to Ephesians 5:32 and a comparison of this verse with Ephesians 2:6, and Colossians 3:1-4, which assert that the church age believer is identified with Christ in His resurrection and session, implies that the Lord Jesus Christ and His bride, the church will restore humanity to its rightful place as rulers of the earth.
As we noted in our study of Ephesians 1:3-14, 2:11-22 and 3:2-13, the mystery of the Father’s will is tied to the millennial reign of Christ because it reveals that the church will be the bride of His Son and together the two will restore humanity to rulership over the earth.
The church’s union and identification with Christ in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the Father’s right hand is the means by which the Father is providing a bride for His Son and restoring the human race to rulership over the earth.
In Ephesians 1-3, Paul is communicating to the recipients of the Ephesian epistle, who we noted were Gentile Christians living in the various cities and towns throughout the Roman province of Asia, that they and Jewish Christians like himself have victory over Satan and his armies.
The first reason for this is that they are in union with Jesus Christ and identified with Him in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the Father’s right hand through the baptism of the Spirit at justification.
The second reason is that Jesus Christ and His bride, the church will dispossess Satan and his armies at His Second Advent, which will establish the millennial reign of Christ.
During which time, the church will reign with Him.
By suffering the wrath of God in the place of all of unregenerate humanity, Jesus Christ propitiated the Father’s holiness, which demanded that sin and sinners experience His wrath for all of eternity.
Also, He redeemed all of unregenerate humanity from the slave market of sin in which they were all born physically alive yet spiritually dead.
He also reconciled all of unregenerate humanity to a holy God.
This constitutes the finished work of Jesus Christ.
The Father vindicated Him through His resurrection, ascension and session at His right hand in the sense that He had accepted His Son’s sacrifice on behalf of all of sinful humanity as the propitiation for the sins of sinful humanity.
Thus, His suffering reconciled sinful humanity to a holy God and it also redeemed sinful humanity out of the slave market of sin in which all were born physically alive yet spiritually dead.
This so great salvation is appropriated by the unregenerate sinner when they are declared justified by the Father through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.
Simultaneously, they are placed in union with His Son and identified with Him in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the Father’s right hand.
Consequently, they become members of His Son’s body and eventual bride and along with Jesus Christ constitute the new humanity which will dispossess Satan and his fellow evil spirits at His Second Advent and will rule for a thousand years on earth.
