I think these are pivotal, so let me spend time to draw out these themes.
As NIV '78 is hard to find now, let me use the current form, highlighting what I first saw in Ch 1:
Eph 1:17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit[f] of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.
18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. [NIV, 2011]
At the time, I puzzled over "everything." The impression was, what set captures everything? The universal one. Everything means just what it says,
EVERYTHING = every + thing.
Let it soak in: every + thing, no exceptions.
That is, Paul prays for the Church, that we understand a revelation that is apparently too big to readily, easily and rightly see.
(The past thirty-five years have confirmed that to me! As in, compare Jesus' remark in the Sermon on the Mount on good/bad eyes and being full of darkness/light. Let us pray that the eyes of our hearts be opened, to see and to by seeing be transformed by the light of God's word.)
We are to understand, by an act of revelation, as the eyes of our hearts are enlightened . . . :
1] the HOPE to which God in Christ has called us (through the gospel)
2] the riches of Christ's inheritance IN the saints (= the people called out and set apart to God, thus purified through the power of the cross), also
3] the incomparably great -- that is, properly infinite (beyond any finite comparison or scale) -- power for us who believe, measured by
4] the degree of power being used to raise Christ from the dead, then exalt him through ascension that placed him on the seat at the Father's right hand, giving him
5] a name of -- again, infinite -- greatness beyond any other (thus with equally incomparable authority for those acting properly in that name), thus
6] placing ALL THINGS under his feet (= under his authority as supreme Lord of the cosmos, ordered reality), particularly
7] appointing him head over all things (supreme power, authority, Lord, source, unifier, director, speaker of the word of power and rule, source of law, supreme Name) for the church, which in turn is
8] his body, thus (through being united with him through the new birth of eternal life, indwelt and pervaded by his Spirit)
9] the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
Let me break my chronology, as this needs backup to hammer it home. First, Col 1 (which IIRC, was likely sent at the same time to the same general region of the seven churches, along with Philemon) is a direct parallel:
Col 1:9 . . . since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you.
We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,[e] 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you[f] to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.
13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.
17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.
19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Second, Heb 1 (school of Paul, I suspect, Apollos of Alexandria):
Heb 1: 1In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. 4 So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.Phil 2 adds, through quoting a C1 church hymn, daringly drawing on Isa 45:
Phil 2:5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature[a] God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
BTW, that's why the demons yield to that NAME, once it is called by a due representative. But, let's set that in light of shocking words from Isa 45:
Isa 45:18 For this is what the Lord says—
he who created the heavens,
he is God;
he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it;
he did not create it to be empty,
but formed it to be inhabited—
he says:
“I am the Lord,
and there is no other.
19 I have not spoken in secret,
from somewhere in a land of darkness;
I have not said to Jacob’s descendants,
‘Seek me in vain.’
I, the Lord, speak the truth;
I declare what is right.
20 “Gather together and come;
assemble, you fugitives from the nations.
Ignorant are those who carry about idols of wood,
who pray to gods that cannot save.
21 Declare what is to be, present it—
let them take counsel together.
Who foretold this long ago,
who declared it from the distant past?
Was it not I, the Lord?
And there is no God apart from me,
a righteous God and a Savior;
there is none but me.
22 “Turn to me and be saved,
all you ends of the earth;
for I am God, and there is no other.
23 By myself I have sworn,
my mouth has uttered in all integrity
a word that will not be revoked:
Before me every knee will bow;
by me every tongue will swear.
24 They will say of me, ‘In the Lord alone
are deliverance and strength.’”
All who have raged against him
will come to him and be put to shame. [See Ps 2!]
Texts such as these and many others that could be drawn in through the connexions of these scriptures . . . recall, several references here are in the heart of the historic creeds, esp. the Nicene Creed . . . draw out a rich nexus in systematic theology and for missiology and eschatology [Messiah is through and through eschatological!], once we see the dynamic,
CHURCH = LIVING RISEN HEAD + SPIRIT-SUFFUSED BODY OF CHRIST --> growing, as an embassy of the Kingdom of God amidst the nationsNotice, here, the force of 2 Cor 5:20:
2 Cor 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life].
18 But all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ [making us acceptable to Him] and gave us the ministry of reconciliation [so that by our example we might bring others to Him], 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting people’s sins against them [but canceling them]. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation [that is, restoration to favor with God].
20 So we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us; we [as Christ’s representatives] plead with you on behalf of Christ to be reconciled to God.
21 He made Christ who knew no sin to [judicially] be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we would become the righteousness of God [that is, we would be made acceptable to Him and placed in a right relationship with Him by His gracious lovingkindness]. [AMP]
These then allow us to draw out the even more astonishing force of Eph 4 (which in the actual chronology, it took IIRC months for me to begin to see, by zooming back from 11 - 16 and seeing it in light of 1- 6, 7 - 24 then onwards down into Chs 5 and 6).
This lays out nothing short of the operational form of the Mandate of the Church, with a powerful agenda of reformational preaching and teaching of the gospel, leading to discipleship, counter-culture formation and through that to cultural transformation:
Eph 4:4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8 This is why it[a] says:
“When he ascended on high,
he took many captives
and gave gifts to his people.”[b]9 (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions[c]? 10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.)11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.
15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.
16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.
20 That, however, is not the way of life you learned 21 when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Yes, the four R's of repentance, discipleship and transformation are central, and let us set that in the context of a model of culture that lets us see:
. . . and again, drawing out discipleship and six principles discipleship foundations (another hard to recognise key teaching) implications:
So, Jesus came, descending as Messiah, dying and rising as Saviour and Lord, that he might fill all things, panta. In this context, he poured out his Spirit, constituting his church as his body, empowered to bring the transforming gospel to the nations leading to a rising tide of love, truth, power and purity. To effect such, he sent as gifts apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers who jointly [and note, the NT is specifically an apostolic deposit of teaching and truth] equip us to act as the limbs of that Body, growing up in unity, love, truth, power, purity, inseparably joined to our LIVING HEAD, Jesus. Through this the message comes, to individuals, families, communities, nations, calling us to God-blessed transformation through the truth that is IN Jesus.
Jesus, who came to fill all things, with his BODY as the fullness that pervades and transforms all things. Consequently, the mission of the church is utterly pervasive and transformational, geographically, culturally, familially, individually, institutionally, educationally, intellectually, every-ally.
Nothing eludes his headship, not even the demons who shall also bow the knee and confess him Lord and Judge, in shame, to their doom. (Those who make common cause with the demons, will by that ill-advised, suicidal choice, choose to share their fate of doom.)
Let us instead choose redemption and God-blessed transformation!
In this context, let us receive the message and vision of Christ's fullness, seeking his blessed, pervasive transformation.
Let us understand that churches, properly matured, are embassies of the Kingdom of God, centres of godly enlightenment, healing, rescue, blessing and transformation in the face of a sin-darkened, perverse age.
Let us call all men, families, communities, institutions and nations to God-blessed utter transformation in union with our living head, Christ.
Christ, who came, descending and ascending in order to fill and so transform, all things.
Let us perceive, receive,respect, ponder, apply, live and serve through the vision of the fullness of Christ.
Again, why not now; why not here; why not us? Or, yet again: if not now, then when; if not here, then where; if not us, then who? END
