Ascended to Fill and Be Filled
Notes
Transcript
Introduction: We, who are so blessed by our ascended Lord, should be filled with confidence, joy, and hope. We, who are so blessed by our ascended Lord, should be filled with faith in Christ and love for our neighbor, especially our fellow saints. We, who are so blessed by our ascended Lord, should be filled with the knowledge of the power of God in Christ. Why is it, then, that we are so often filled with other things—like fear, discouragement, despair, and self-pity?
Not so the apostle Paul, even writing from a Roman prison to the beleaguered Christians around Ephesus. You see, even in the face of worldly disappointments, Paul knew the power and might of God that are revealed in the risen and ascended Lord—the one who fills all things and who has his fullness in us, his Church. He could rejoice in the face of adversity because he knew
Our Lord Jesus Ascended to Fill and Be Filled.
Christ Fills All Things
Christ Fills All Things
Christ, because of his ascension, fills all things, but, amazingly, the Church is now the full expression of Christ (vv 19–23).
God’s might was at work in sending Jesus, “God of God, light of light, very God of very God,” into the flesh to make atonement for the sins of the world. He died on the cross, but God showed his might and power by raising Jesus from the dead and lifting him on high (Heb 1:3).
Christ’s ascension emphasizes this exaltation of our Lord. Jesus is elevated “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion” (v 21).
Jesus’ ascension to the Father means he is no longer bound by the limitations of his humiliation when He lived on earth. Lifted beyond the confines of space and time, he now sits at the right hand of God, interceding for you and me.
The right hand of God is not a specific place, but the position of power, authority, far above all other powers and authorities. Everything has been put under his feet, and he rules on behalf of his Church.
Christ also fills us because we are his Body. He is the head over all things, but especially, he is the head of the Church.
Most remarkably, though, the Church, his Body, is the “fullness of him who fills all in all” (v 23).
We are the full expression of him who is over all. Our life is a testimony of who Jesus is.
All things in heaven and on earth are filled by Christ. And all things, in heaven and on earth, are given to and for the benefit of his Church; and in Him all things hold together. Colossians 1:17
17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
He is in us and we are in him. His being in us means that he fills us, and our being in him means that we fill him.
This is such a profound mystery! In John 15:4–7, Jesus described this incredible truth as of a vine and its branches. The branches have their fullness only in the vine, and the vine has its fullness in the branches.
This is a tremendous paradox! Maybe we don’t realize this wonderful truth, or maybe we lose sight of it. But, Paul seeks to encourage Christians with this remarkable reality (Col 2:9–10).
9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.
Christ is Your Gift
Christ is Your Gift
This same Jesus, who is head over all, who fills all things, is paradoxically given as a gift to his Church.
He is given and is present with us who remain bound by time and space Eph. 1:22.
22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church,
He is with us as true God and true man, exercising his rulership in the Church through his Means of Grace.
In God’s Word, in Baptism, in our Lord’s Supper, we mortals grasp the King of the universe and receive a foretaste of the feast to come.
So that the Ephesians would stand joyful and confident in their faith, Paul continually asks God to give them a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God (vv 15–19).
Paul wants them to behold things with the eyes of a regenerated heart, the eyes of faith, so that they are not disturbed by worldly distractions, disrupted by their sinful flesh, or disheartened by Satan’s forces of evil.
Instead, Paul wants them to see and know the immeasurable greatness of God’s power in Christ.
We, too, are intended to have this knowledge of God’s power in Christ
This is the power of the Gospel unto salvation for all who believe (Rom 1:16; Eph 3:7).
It is the power of the keys to the kingdom of heaven, as Jesus says to his disciples and to his Church, us (Jn 20:22–23; Mt 16:19; 18:18).
Paul further wants these Ephesian Christians and us to know the riches of a glorious inheritance in the saints.
Our ascended Lord comforted and gave confidence to his disciples of all ages (Jn 14:1–3).
We are encouraged and strengthened at the glimpses of heaven we receive in God’s Word and the foretaste of the feast in our Lord’s Supper, an inheritance we share in the Divine Service with the saints on earth and those now at the heavenly banquet.
You Now Have Hope in Adversity.
You Now Have Hope in Adversity.
Therefore, called into Christ, who fills all and is filled by us, we have hope in the face of adversity.
Paul prays that we know what wonderful hope we have in this calling by God (Eph 1:18).
Our calling is to be members of his Body, with all the Church on earth and in heaven, which he fills and by which he is fulfilled.
It is the reason Paul, though the least of all the saints, was made a minister of the Gospel. It is so that through the power of the Gospel, the Church will be built up (Eph 3:10–12).
Christ is subjecting all things unto himself, even the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places, and he is doing this through us, his Church.
Despite what our physical eyes see around us, with the eyes of enlightened hearts we see all that we have through our ascended Lord.
In view of this hope and the riches of our inheritance, Paul encourages the Ephesians not to lose heart over his suffering (Eph 3:13).
He encourages us not to lose heart, whatever we may see and experience in a fallen world.
Because Christ has been lifted far above all rule, authority, power, dominion, we, his Body, also his fulfillment, need not fear any rule or authority or power or dominion, whether on earth or beyond.
This especially includes the warnings Paul would give later in his Letter to the Ephesians, warnings about the spiritual warfare with which we are involved (Eph 6:12).
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.
Because Jesus has ascended, we need not fear. We can be confident, even fearless (Rom 8:38–39). We are more than conquerors in Christ, who has all things under his feet and who is head over all things to and for the Church, and He promises that nothing will ever seperate us from His love..
His name is above every name. Eventually, all powers, authorities, and every knee will bow to him (Phil 2:9–10).
Conclusion: Christ is in control, head over all! He has been given all rule, authority, power, dominion. He has carried His own blood into the heavenly sanctuary to make atonement for your sins. That is why he ascended on high. With the eyes of our hearts so enlightened, with that revelation and spirit of wisdom, let us not lose heart. Our ascended Lord rules and fills all things for us, his Church. He, who fills all things, fills us, and we fulfill him. What an amazing mystery! What a profound encouragement! With confidence, joy, and hope we celebrate, because our Lord ascended to fill and be filled. Amen.