Christ Above All (Eph. 1:19-23)

Ephesians 1:19-23

Introduction

· Please open with me once again to Ephesians 1.

· I pulled out my ballot this past Friday night and was working through all the propositions and races. If you haven’t yet voted, let me encourage you to get out and vote. There is even same-day Every Christian needs to vote. For the sake of our religious freedom, and for the life of the unborn, every Christina needs to vote. I felt a sense of privilege to be able to vote, and a heaviness that the outcome of this election will shape the future of our country and what freedoms we enjoy. More people have voted early than in the history of our country. It could be that there are some here today that are feeling a fair amount of apprehension about the election, and what will happen afterwards in the weeks and months to follow. Our passage this morning is a timely reminder that although there will be winners and losers in Tuesday’s election, and some things will no doubt change in the months ahead, that the biggest truths do not change, and our Lord Jesus Christ will remain firmly seated upon his throne. We are going to talk about the exaltation of Christ.

· Read the passage

· GOD’S POWER AND MAJESTY ARE MANIFESTED IN THREE WAYS: by raising Christ, by enthroning Christ, and by exalting Christ

1. The Same Power That Raised Christ is at work in you

· The Bible is full of many wonderful miracles. Parting of the Red Sea. Sending down fire from heaven. By one estimate, there are about 250 miraculous events described in the Bible (Bib. Encyc. Of Christ. Apol. p. 482). “Signs and wonders.” All of these demonstrate the power of God. But the greatest miracle, and the greatest demonstration of power, in all of the Bible is the resurrection.

· Jesus was crucified on Friday afternoon. Corpse removed, laid in a tomb, and a large stone was rolled in front of it. His body laid there the rest of Friday night, all of Saturday, and the early hours of Sunday. Then, there was an earthquake, a brilliant flash of light, and the Son of God rose from the dead.

· Acts 2:24 (ESV) God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. Acts 2:24 (NLT) But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip.

· Three times Jesus predicted this. Matthew 20:17–19 …And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”

· So wonderful was this miracle that some even doubted. John 20:25–29 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

· The Corinthians also struggled with the resurrection. We are so hard hearted, we all have a hard time believing in what we cannot see with our own eyes. Paul devoted an entire chapter to explaining the resurrection. That he had risen. That there were many eyewitnesses. 1 Corinthians 15:20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep…But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.

· Paul calls death the “last enemy” (v. 26). Like Giant Goliath standing in battle. And yet Jesus has power even over death itself.

· What power! What authority! And yet that same power is available to us today. Paul prays that the church will know it. Later, he prays the church will be strengthened by it. Ephesians 3:16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,

· This is foundational to everything else to come. Before we get into church unity (ch. 4), taming our tongue (ch. 4), sexual temptation (ch. 5), marriage, (ch. 5), parenting (ch. 6), the slave-master relationship (ch. 6), and spiritual warfare (ch. 6), we need to remember the power belongs to God. We cannot do this in our own strength.

2. The Same Power that Crowned Christ as at work in you

· Cf. Psalm 8:1–6 O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, Here applied to Christ.

· True of angelic authority. Ephesians 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

· True of earthly authority. This week’s election. Trump and Biden. Only the first two steps on the Empire State Building, 100 stories tall.

· But it doesn’t seem this way! The author of Hebrews acknowledged the same thing. Hebrews 2:8–9 putting everything in subjection under his feet.” Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

· Until the age to come.

3. The Same Power that Exalted Christ is at work in you

· Colossians 1:17–18 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

· Yesterday, we celebrated Reformation Day. The 95 theses. Did you Zwingli, the Swiss reformer, posted 67 theses six years later in 1523? The sixty-seven theses that Zwingli wrote in 1523 emphasized this point more strongly than did Luther’s ninety-five, written six years earlier. For example, Zwingli says in his second thesis, “The sum of the gospel is that our Lord Jesus Christ, the true Son of God, has made known to us the will of His heavenly Father and redeemed us by His innocence from eternal death, and reconciled us unto God.” The third thesis continues, “Therefore, Christ is the only way to salvation to all who were, who are, and who shall be saved.” “Christ is the Head of all believers who are His body and without Him the body is dead” (thesis 7). “Christ is the only Mediator between God and us” (thesis 19). “Christ is our righteousness” (thesis 22). “God alone forgives sins through Jesus Christ, our Lord, alone” (thesis 50). “All spiritual superiors should repent without delay and set up the cross of Christ alone or they will perish, for the axe is laid at the root of the tree” (thesis 65).

Conclusion

· Past (Raised), Future (Enthroned), Present (Exalted)

· Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

· Paul stacks on the words. You have power. But not just power. It is greatness. And not just greatness, but immeasurable. Paul uses the strongest language imaginable, and the most marvelous demonstrations imaginable to say you to and to me that we have power. No wonder Paul can say Romans 8:37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

· Yes, it is at work in you. Examples: Struggle with greed, with gluttony, with lust, with temper. God’s power is more than enough.