In Eph. 1:18-19 Paul prayed that we would know what is the hope of God’s calling, what are the riches of God’s inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of God’s power to us who believe. Related to these three things we need to know three key words: hope, glory, and power. The hope is the hope of God’s calling, the glory is the glory of God’s inheritance among the saints, and the power is the power toward us according to the operation of the might of God’s strength which He wrought in Christ.
Hope, glory, and power are all related to the blessings in verses 3 through 14, where five aspects of God’s well-speaking are covered: the Father’s selection, the Father’s predestination, the Son’s redemption, the Spirit’s sealing, and the Spirit’s pledging. The Father’s selection was that we should be holy, and His predestination was that we should become His sons. The Son’s redemption was that we may be headed up in Christ. The Spirit’s sealing is that we may be transformed into God’s image, fully saturated with Him in order to bear His appearance. Furthermore, the Spirit’s pledging is God’s pledging Himself into us as our enjoyment, taste, and guarantee. These are the contents of the Triune God’s well-speaking concerning us.
The result of these blessings is hope. Our calling is the sum total of the spiritual blessings, and our hope is the issue of these blessings. This hope is also a glory. After mentioning the contents of God’s well-speaking, the Apostle Paul, out of the depths of his spiritual understanding, prayed that we would have a spirit of wisdom and revelation and that the eyes of our heart would be enlightened. For this, our entire inner being must be dealt with. Our spirit must be open, our conscience must be purified, our heart must be pure, our mind must be sober, our emotion must be loving, and our will must be submissive. When every part of our inner being has been dealt with, we can know the hope, the glory, and the power. Since the calling includes all of God’s blessings, the hope is the hope of these blessings. This hope is the glory of becoming holy. The glory is also the full sonship. When we arrive at full sonship, our body will be glorified, transfigured. According to Romans 8:21, all creation will enjoy the liberty of the glory of the sons of God. This glory is our hope.
We have seen that this glory has its riches, including all the items of God’s attributes and virtues. God is rich in attributes and virtues such as love, life, light, humility, righteousness, holiness, and long-suffering. When these are fully expressed in us, that expression will be the riches of God’s glory. Now we can see that hope and glory are the result of the five blessings, of the five items of God’s well-speaking concerning us.
The divine power is the unique means to fulfill this hope and to arrive at this glory. Although hope and glory may be somewhat objective, the surpassing greatness of God’s power toward us is very subjective and experiential. God’s power toward us is surpassingly great. We need to know this power and experience it.
Twenty-five years ago, I conducted a thorough study of the book of Ephesians in Taipei. However, at that time I did not see that hope and glory are the result of God’s blessings and that they are accomplished by the divine power. Now I see that after mentioning the blessings of the Triune God related to us, Paul prayed that we would know the hope and glory of God’s blessings. Glory is the expression of God’s blessings. In His blessings God intends that we become His inheritance. In order to be God’s inheritance, we must inherit Him and enjoy Him. Firstly we inherit Him and then we become His inheritance. This is the result of God’s working of Himself into us to make us one with Him. Through God’s working in us, we become His satisfaction, and He becomes our satisfaction. This mutual satisfaction is also a mutual inheritance, an inheritance that will have the glory that expresses all God is in His attributes and virtues. This will be the expression of the Triune God for eternity. This glory is our hope.
Now we come to the subjective matter of the fulfillment of this hope and glory by the divine power. Especially in this nuclear age, we are very conscious of the need of power to do everything. For example, it took power for man to land on the moon. Without power we are nothing. The power that fulfills our hope is the power spoken of in 3:20, where Paul says that God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think according to the power that works in us. The Greek word translated “works” in 3:20 means operates. The English equivalent is energizes. The power within us not only works and operates; it energizes. Human language is not adequate to describe the surpassing greatness of this power.
This power is toward the believers. It is like the electrical power that is continually being transmitted from the power plant to our building for our daily life. In the same principle, the divine power is being transmitted into us continually to make us the inheritance for the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose.
Verse 19 also says that the greatness of God’s power is “according to the operation of the might of His strength.” In writing Ephesians Paul virtually exhausted the Greek language. In this verse he speaks of power, operation, might, and strength. Paul used many different words to convey something of the vastness of God’s power to us.
The surpassingly great power of God toward us is according to the operation of the might of His strength which He wrought in Christ. God’s power toward us is the same power that operated in Christ. As the Body we participate in the power that operates in the Head.
The great power that operated in Christ firstly raised Him from among the dead. This power has overcome death, the grave, and Hades, the place where the dead are held. Because of God’s resurrection power, death and Hades could not hold Christ (Acts 2:24).
The surpassing greatness of God’s power has also seated Christ at God’s right hand in the heavenlies, “far above all rule and authority and power and lordship, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in that which is coming” (vv. 20-21). God’s right hand, where Christ has been seated by the surpassingly great power of God, is the most honorable place, the place with supreme authority. The heavenlies refers not only to the third heaven, the highest place in the universe, where God dwells, but also to the state and atmosphere of the heavens, in which Christ was seated by God’s power.
In verse 21 Paul says that Christ has been seated above all rule, authority, power, and lordship and above every name that is named. Rule refers to the highest office; authority, to every kind of official power (Matt. 8:9); power, to the mere might of authority; and lordship, to the preeminence which power establishes. The authorities here include not only the angelic, heavenly authorities, good or bad, but also the human, earthly ones. The ascended Christ has been seated far above all rule, authority, power, and lordship in the entire universe. Every name that is named refers not only to titles of honor, but also to everything that has a name. Christ has been seated far above everything, both in this age and in the coming age.
Verse 22 says, “And He subjected all things under His feet.” Thirdly, the great power that operated in Christ has subjected all things under His feet. For Christ to be far above all is one thing; for all things to be subjected under His feet is another. The former is Christ’s transcendency; the latter is the subjection of all things to Him. Here we see the subduing power, the power to subdue all things.
The last part of verse 22 says, “And gave Him to be head over all things to the church.” Fourthly, God’s great power that operated in Christ gave Him to be the Head over all things to the church. The headship of Christ over all things is a gift from God to Him. It was through God’s surpassingly great power that Christ received the headship in the universe. As a man, in His humanity with His divinity, Christ was raised up from the dead, was seated in the heavenlies, had all things subjected to Him, and was given to be the Head over all things.
In these verses we see four aspects of the power that operated in Christ: resurrection power, transcending power, subjecting power, and heading-up power. This fourfold power is to the church. The words “to the church” in verse 22 imply a transmission. Whatever Christ, the Head, has attained and obtained is now being transmitted to the church, His Body. In this transmission the church shares with Christ all His attainments: the resurrection from among the dead, His being transcendent over all, the subjecting of all things under His feet, and the headship over all things.
The church comes out of this power. The little word “to” indicates the source of the church. This power, which is transmitted to the church, will accomplish the glory and fulfill our hope. Both the hope and glory are ahead of us, but the power is with us today.
Both electricity and nuclear power are excellent illustrations of this fourfold power. In the Lord’s recovery we have both the divine electricity and the heavenly nuclear power, and we use them. Most Christians have little knowledge of this power. Few who know about the power know about the switch. Suppose you are a guest in someone’s home for a night. Although you may be put in a wonderful room, you will be in darkness unless you know where the light switch is. Day by day we in the Lord’s recovery are touching the switch. The Apostle Paul prayed that we would know the surpassing greatness of the divine power. Because the greatness of this heavenly nuclear power surpasses our knowledge, no one can tell how great it is. Nevertheless, we still may know it. How wonderful!
If we knew the surpassing greatness of the divine power that operated in Christ, we would never again use our weakness as an excuse. In relation to such a power, our weakness means nothing. The divine power can raise us up from among the dead, even if, like Lazarus, we are dead, buried, and stinking. Expecting me to sympathize with them, the sisters have often told me that they are weak vessels. Yes, according to 1 Peter 3:7, the sisters are the weaker vessels, but I do not sympathize with their weaknesses because the heavenly nuclear power is available to them. With this power there is no weakness.
The transmission of the fourfold power is to those who believe. What we say is what we believe. If you say you are weak, it means that you believe that you are weak. The sisters need to rise up and proclaim that because they have the divine nuclear power, they are not weak. Paul prayed that we would have a spirit of wisdom and revelation to know the hope of God’s calling, the riches of His glory, and the surpassing greatness of His power toward us. If you saw that this power toward us is the power that raised Christ from among the dead, would you still say that you are weak? Do not underestimate the significance of your speaking. Whatever God speaks comes to pass. In principle it is the same with us. To have faith is to speak what God speaks. When God says, “You are saved,” we should say, “Amen!” Anyone who responds in this way is saved. Likewise, if God says, “The divine power is yours,” we need to say, “Amen!” Then this power will be ours. Do not say that there are still weak ones among us, for we all are stronger than David, even as strong as Jesus Christ. Do you have the boldness to say that you are as powerful as Christ? If we knew the transmission of the heavenly power, we could confidently say this.
In 6:10 Paul said, “Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.” Paul’s word in chapter six is based upon the word he spoke in chapter one. By means of the divine power we can be strong and stand. Often brothers and sisters say that they are “down.” But we are not “down” — we are in the heavenlies far above all. We are in Christ’s transcendency, far above all things, including all demons, evil angels, principalities, and powers. If we see this, nothing will be able to drag us down. This is not a dream; this is the power that will accomplish the glory and fulfill our unique hope. Our hope is not in vain. Rather, it has a solid basis in the divine power. Before the astronauts were launched toward the moon, they had the full assurance that they had the power to reach the moon and land there. Likewise, our basis is the surpassing greatness of God’s power toward us who believe. I simply do not have the words to express this. All I can do is repeat the words of the Apostle Paul: the surpassing greatness of the power is toward us who believe.
Ephesians 1:22 implies that all things have been subjected under our feet, and we must believe this. If we do not, we rebel against the word of our Father. Our Father cannot lie; whatever He says is true. Hence, we must take His word and believe it. Forget your feelings, your condition, and your situation. Do not say that a certain difficult situation cannot be under your feet. The truth is that we are far above all and that the divine power has subjected all things, including every difficult situation, under our feet. Do not be distracted by your environment, and do not believe your situation. Forget everything and simply take the word, believe the word, and declare the word. Hallelujah for the subduing power!
We thank the Lord also for the heading-up power, the power that gave Christ to be Head over all things to the church. We should not misunderstand Paul’s word in 1:22 and think that we are the head. To do this is to make a great mistake. We must always have the consciousness of being under the Head. However, when we are under the Head, we share in the heading-up power. We are not the Head, but we have a part in the heading up of all things.
Because within us is the transcending power that makes us far above all, we need to rise up from our weakness and believe the word that we are transcendent. We need to see this, believe this, and speak this. We also need to know that all things are subdued beneath our feet. Do not believe your situation, but take the Word and proclaim whatever it says. Furthermore, we must keep ourselves under the headship of Christ. If we do, we shall be in the heading up of all things. The issue of all this is the church life. Every problem in the church life comes from a shortage of the full knowledge of this divine power. If we have the full knowledge of this power and live by it, we shall have a wonderful church life, a church life without any problems.
May we all bring this to the Lord and pray, “Lord, answer in me the prayer of the Apostle Paul that I would have a spirit of wisdom and revelation and that the eyes of my heart would be enlightened to know the power that is toward me according to the operation of the might of Your strength. I want to know the power wrought in Christ to raise Him from the dead, to seat Him in the heavenlies far above all, to subject all things under His feet, and to give Him to be the Head over all things to the church.” There is no need to interpret Paul’s word in 1:19-22. You should simply pray over it and fellowship about it. Eventually, these verses will become real to you. May we all see this power, know it, believe it, and speak it.
