Ephesians 1:22-23

And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

-Ephesians 1:22-23

We just read about the authority of Jesus and how high it is.  Jesus is so high that he is "above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come".  Now we read "And he put all things under his feet".  I wonder, if we have just been told of how high and above all else Jesus has been placed, why would it be necessary to tell us that all things are put under his feet?  If Jesus is so high, isn't it assumed or implied that all things are under his feet?  Maybe so, maybe no?  Actually, maybe it is necessary to point out and my thoughts that it is unnecessary or already implied are without merit.  In any case, God put all things under his feet.  There is nothing that it not under his authority.  I don't suppose that "all things" leaves anything out, since that's what it means.  I guess you could try to argue exceptions if you really wanted to.

Jesus is also "head over all things to the church".  Once again, I feel as if this is obvious and doesn't need to be said, but my feelings are probably wrong.  It probably is important to point out Jesus' appointment to being the head over all things to the church.  Though, perhaps I'm misreading this verse as well.  "to the church" (ESV), "in the church" (AMP) and "for the benefit of the church" (NLT).  Perhaps what this verse is saying is not that he is being appointed to be the head of the church (though that doesn't mean it's not true), but that he is being appointed to be the head of all things for the purpose of benefiting the church.  At least, that's the way NLT leans.

So what's next?  "which is his body".  The church is his body.  Who's body?  I'm going to say Jesus.  I guess I don't necessarily see it here in these verses, but thinking of 1 Corinthians 12 (and probably other passages of scripture?  I don't know...) seems to line up with that thought anyways.  In any case, Jesus is head over all things to the benefit of the church, which is his body.

Now, what is meant by this last part of the verse?  "the fullness of him who fills all in all" (ESV), "who fills all things everywhere with himself" (NLT), "the fullness of Him who fills and completes all things in all [believers]" (AMP).  I don't quite get it, but it's certainly saying some important things about Jesus.  He is the one who "fills and completes all things in all [believers]".  If we backtrack a bit, we read about Paul's prayer for his readers, "having the eyes of your hearts enlightened".  The purpose of this is that his reader will know "the hope to which he has called you", to know "the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints" and to know "the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe".  With regards to this power, it is the same power "that he worked in Christ".  This power "raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places".  He is placed "above all rule and authority and power and dominion" and all things are put under his feet.  This same Jesus that has been raised and seated on high is the one "who fills all in all".  He is the focal point and he is the one who completes all things.  I am reminded of his words "it is finished".  Jesus is the one who completes all things, so it kinda makes sense that with him "it is finished".  Y'know, there's something I missed and it took some help to find this.  It says "the fullness of him who fills all in all".  The object of that statement is the church, his body.  So, the church is the fullness of him who fills all in all.  Him who fills all in all is obviously Jesus.  It's interesting to think of the church as the fullness of Jesus.  As I read, a how can a king be a king without a kingdom?  The church is the fullness of Jesus, who is the one who fills and completes all things.  It's kinda interesting for something to be the fullness of the one who fills all things.

Also, quick shoutout to someone who's been posting on our blog.  I never thought anyone would really pay attention, but that's cool.