Sum Up Everything in One Word

When we were in school, we had to do book reports. The challenge was to summarize the book in a paragraph and then explain some of the main concepts. It’s hard enough to summarize a whole book in one paragraph. It would be much harder to summarize everything in all of life in all the universe for all of time in one word. But our passage tells us that is what God has done in Christ. Everything God has ever done in our universe, in human history, and in your life, can be summed up in Christ, who He is and what He has accomplished to complete God’s plan. God is bringing unity to all things in Christ. Why is this important?

As long as humans have been thinking and writing our thoughts, we have asked the same questions. Where is this all going? Why is the world broken and how can we be made whole again? Is there a hope for unity in the chaos? The Bible has one of the oldest, and I believe the most compelling explanation.

It’s not the only one. Eastern philosophies teach the oneness of all things. The Hindus call this brahman, the transcendent reality of which you are just one manifestation. But since I only exist in your manifestation, this erases realities such as love or justice. The Buddha went even farther to say that there is no self, only a Presence that exists outside of all ideas about it. In other words, you can’t explain the ultimate reality of all things and the sooner you stop trying, the better. The Greeks reasoned that there must be a uniting principle. They called it logos, the ultimate rational principle that would explain or summarize everything. But there are many parts of our lives that are very unreasonable.

The Bible offers a view that takes all these factors into account. It tells us God exists as a union of prefect love between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is the creative Person that made us and the world in which we exist. In Genesis 1, on day 2 of creation, the heavens and the earth were separated. It’s the only day that is not called good. On page 1 of the Bible, we are asking, how will heaven and earth be united?

As we keep reading, on creation day 6, God made humans in His image to commune and partner with Him, which was very good. Maybe humans can unite heaven and earth. And in Genesis 2, He made a meeting place between heaven and earth for us to commune with God, a mountain-top garden. For a moment, we were united with God, and heaven and earth were united in that place.

But turn the page to Genesis 3. We went our own way, rejected God, and sinned against Him. We were separated from God, exiled from the garden. In our broken communion with God, we broke everything else.

So, how can the brokenness be repaired? Where can we find wholeness? Is there a unity to the story? This is where our verse for the day comes in. We will focus on just one verse, Ephesians 1:10. What does this verse mean, and what does it mean for your life?

Paul uses a unique word in verse 10, ἀνακεφαλαιόω. The dictionary definition is “sum up”, or “bring together”. But it could be translated “unite” or most literally, “head up”. If we summarize the full meaning of this word, it would be something like, “unite under one head.”

Okay, so, what does Ephesians 1:10 mean? Let’s use the variety of ways our special word can be translated to get the full picture of what Paul is saying about Jesus Christ.

The dictionary definition is the one the old New American Standard Bible uses.

Ephesians 1:10 NASB 1995 with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.

Everything that God has every done, is doing, and will ever do, can be summed up in Christ/Messiah. In verse 4, Paul said God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. Before creation, God agreed with Christ that He would use Him to gather a people that would belong to God and serve Him. Christ was the word who created the world. After humans had fallen into rebellion and sin, when the time was “full”, or just right, God sent Christ into the world to redeem sinners through His blood. Christ was raised from the dead that all who believe in Him would become new creation. Christ is coming again to bring the fullness of justice and righteousness so that God’s kingdom can come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Christ sums up God’s whole plan and purpose.

The ESV translates the verse using the word “unite”.

Ephesians 1:10 ESV

as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

We said that since day 2 of creation, heaven and earth have been separated. Since the fall of man, people have been separated from God and from one another. All of these disconnected relationships are united in Christ. Our relationship with God is first. God the Father adopts in Christ. We are redeemed through the blood of Christ. In Christ, we are given an inheritance in God. Jesus Christ is the new meeting place of heaven and earth, and includes us who trust in Him.

Can Christ also unite broken relationships in families, communities, and nations? Yes! How? He repairs brokenness with love. Starting at the end of verse 4, in love God predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, who is the Beloved (verse 6). The Beloved offered His own blood as a redemption for us, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished on us (verses 7-8). God demonstrates His love for us in and through Jesus Christ. When we surrender to His love, we are filled with love for others.

This is related to the NIV translation of the verse

Ephesians 1:10 NIV to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

Can Jesus bring unity to all the scattered parts of our lives? My life gets scattered between competing priorities, competing loves. We are pulled in every direction. I am broken inside because of my sin, and outside of me, my world is broken because of the sin of humanity. Is this going anywhere? Is wholeness possible?

In Ephesians 1:1-14, we see God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit united in one common purpose and plan. Jesus brings unity to all things by extending the unity He shares with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit to us. We can’t find unity in ourselves with all of our brokenness and differences. But when we look upward to God, we see a Triune community of love and power who has plan to select, save and, and seal people from every tribe, nation, and language, united in Christ.

There is one final meaning to our verse that the New Living Translation brings out well.

Ephesians 1:10 New Living Translation And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth.

If the fullest meaning of Paul’s word is something like, “unite everything under one head”, there is an implied authority for that one who is head over all. Verse 7 says we have redemption through Jesus’ blood. That is freeing. But redemption also means “bought back”. As Paul says somewhere else,

1 Corinthians 6:19–20 ESV

You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

Christ is our ultimate authority. One day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. In the meantime, we who call ourselves Christians are living testimonies that Jesus is Lord.

So, what does all this mean for our lives? Let’s go back through these different Bible translations. We will pull application out of each one.

Ephesians 1:10 New Living Translation And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth.

Where am I surrendered to the authority of Jesus, and where am I not? When was the last time you read the commands of Christ in the gospels in order to become more obedient to Him? Jesus made it very simple. Love the Lord your God. Love your neighbor as yourself. This is the sign that we have been brought together under the authority of Christ.

Ephesians 1:10 NIV to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

Am I seeking unity with others under Christ? In what ways have I been seeking unity under less important and temporary things like political party, or social status, or (heaven forbid) getting everyone to agree with me? Verse 12 has hit me hard in the last few years. We who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. Is all my hope in Jesus Christ, or have I put my hope in other saviors or other plans to mend our broken world? The degree to which I hope in Christ is the degree that my life will be to the praise of His glory.

Ephesians 1:10 ESV

as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

Where in my life would anyone see that I have become the meeting place of heaven and earth because I am united with Christ? When I go to school or work or volunteering, am I seeking to unite my study and my work and service with God’s purpose and will? Do I study to seek to know and glorify God? Do I work to bring justice and righteousness, reconciliation and hope to my community? Do I serve in union with Jesus Christ, or in my own strength? Am I working to help heal the brokenness in our world with the love of Christ?

Ephesians 1:10 NASB 1995 with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.

Can I summarize everything God has done in one word, Christ/Messiah? Can I explain to others how the life, death, resurrection, reign, and soon return of Jesus the Messiah is the summary of all of God’s plans? Does my life reflect that summary? At my funeral, would others summarize my life by saying, you could sum him up by saying, “He was like Jesus”?

In this broken world, how would I summarize where wholeness and unity are found?

Communion

Questions for Discussion

How would you summarize the week you’ve just had? Where did you experience the disorder or brokenness of our world? Where did you experience the wholeness we have in Christ?

What do we learn about Jesus in Ephesians 1:1-10? Can you summarize who He is and what He has done in one or two sentences?

How do we begin to understand verse 10? In what ways does God unite all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth?

What are some broken things you are praying that Jesus would heal? Where have you seen Jesus bring wholeness to your life or the lives of people you know?

Where is God calling you to seek unity or some other heavenly purpose on earth? In what ways can you seek the glory of Jesus in your school workplace, or neighborhood?

How would you summarize the gospel from what we have learned so far in Ephesians 1:1-14?

How will you respond to our passage this week?

Who is someone you can share this passage with this week?