Ephesians 1:20-23 | “Where Is Jesus and What Is He Doing There?”

Seeing More of God’s Power

I said two weeks ago that part of what it means to be a Christian is wanting more of God.  Wanting to know him more, enjoy him more, and see him more.  There is always more of him to see and understand.  This is why Paul prays the way he does in Ephesians 1:16-18.  Paul is praying that God would give these Christians a bigger and better sight of God.  That God would “open the eyes of their hearts” (v. 18) and that God the Holy Spirit would awaken them to God’s wisdom and revelation.  He wants them to see more of God. 

One of the specific things he asks God to help them see is the greatness of God’s power.  “That you may know…what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe” (vv. 18-19).  This church needed to see more clearly the power of God.  Specifically, they needed to see the power of God leveraged to them and for them. 

How did God use his power for the church?  How has God shown his power to “us who believe”?  Verses 20-23 tell us that his power is seen most clearly in Jesus’ resurrection and exaltation.  God “worked” his power when he raised Jesus from the dead and seated him at his right hand (v. 20).  If we would see God’s power for us we must look at Jesus’ resurrection and exaltation. 

This is important for us to ponder because many of us wonder where God’s power is in our lives.  We don’t see God working great miracles around us.  Our lives are rather ordinary and we don’t feel or see how God’s power is at work around us.  Paul is praying that God would open our eyes to the reality of what happened to Jesus so that we might see the clearest picture of his power at work for us.  In other words, Paul’s prayer teaches us that looking backwards is how we best see God’s power.  Not looking for signs or wonders around us today.    

I want us to look at the specifics of this text, then I want us to zoom out and consider the broader implications of Jesus’ ascension into heaven.  Let’s begin by addressing these two questions: where is Jesus and what is he doing there? 

Where Is Jesus?

Verse 20 says that God raised Jesus and “seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places.”  Where is Jesus right now?  In heaven seated at the right hand of God.  When did this happen?  It happened forty days after his resurrection when he ascended into heaven. 

What is the ascension of Jesus?  It’s an event that happened in history (Acts 1:9-11; Luke 24:50-53).  The ascension is when Jesus left the earth and went back to heaven.  There’s mystery concerning exactly how it happened – even the first disciples were left speechless and motionless until two angels showed up and told them to snap out of it.  But they also knew that something wonderful had happened, as they “worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy” (Lk. 24:52).  It was a mysterious event that created joy and worship. 

Why is the ascension of Jesus important?  It’s important because it’s when Jesus was enthroned.  The ascension wasn’t just Jesus’ exit from earth.  It was his entrance to heaven.  When the Bible says that he “was carried up into heaven,” or “seated in the heavenly places,” it’s not referring to outer space.  It means he went to Heaven with a capital “H” – the place where God is.  It refers to more than a change in altitude.  It refers to a change in location. 

We don’t usually use the word “ascend” to refer to “going up.”  We use it to refer to a coronation, to when someone becomes a king or queen, to a ceremony where authority is officially transferred.  Someone literally goes up and sits on a chair, or throne, in order to symbolize that they’re now officially in charge, that they now have a new relationship with everyone else and that they have new powers and privileges.  If one of us where to run up and sit on the chair before they did, that wouldn’t make us king or queen.  Why?  Because ascension isn’t merely a change in location.  It’s a change in legal status and relationship. 

Jesus could’ve just disappeared and gone back to heaven, so why did he rise up into the clouds and disappear into the heavens?  Probably for the same reason that we have coronation ceremonies.  The change in elevation symbolized the change in authority and relationship.  Jesus’ ascension was a physical picture of what happened spiritually. 

The new spiritual reality after the ascension is that Jesus has taken his place on the throne as the new king and head of the human race.  At the incarnation, God took on human flesh and became a man, subjecting himself to the limitations of the human race, to things such as sickness and death.  But he also was limited by time and space.  Jesus could only be in one place at one time.  After his resurrection, he had a glorified body that could vanish and appear in a closed room.  But he could still only be in one place at a time.  If you wanted to be with him or hear him, you had to be wherever he was. 

But something amazing happened at the ascension.  When Jesus ascended, he left earth and went into heaven.  Or, to say it another way, he left the time-space continuum that we live in and went into the presence of the Father.  He went into another dimension of reality, to a place that we don’t yet have access to, but a place just as real as the place where we are right now.

This reminded me of the show “Stranger Things.”  It’s not a perfect analogy, but when Jesus ascended it was like he went into the “Upside Down.”  He went to place that’s just as real as this place, and yet a place that we can’t see or experience, a place that’s mysterious, a place with a different set of rules and new possibilities. 

Jesus is now in a place without the constraints of time and space and matter.  He’s in heaven.  Because he’s left the time-space continuum, he’s now able to carry out his ministry to all people at all places at all times.  His ministry isn’t bound by the things it was bound by when he was on earth.  This is why we can talk and sing to him – because he’s available at all times and places and to all people.

What Is Jesus doing?

Jesus is in heaven, but not in heaven in some generic sense.  He’s at a specific place in heaven.  Verse 20, “(God)…seated him at his right hand.”  In ancient times, the person at the king’s right hand was like the prime minister – the one who carried out the king’s laws and policies.  Because of his ascension, Jesus is King over all things.  What is Jesus doing?  Reigning over all things.

This is what verse 21 is referring to.  Christ is seated “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named.”  And in verse 22, “And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church.”  Jesus’ “seat” is a “seat” of power.  Nothing and no one has power over him.  His rule is absolute.  It touches every square inch of the universe.  His power is over “all power,” “above every name,” and “all things are under his feet.”  Jesus sovereignly reigns over every territory, every nation, every city, every neighborhood, every apartment complex, and every person.  And he will exercise his rule forever, “not only in this age but also in the one to come” (v. 21). 

This is why becoming a Christian means confessing that Jesus is Lord (Rom. 10:9).  We don’t make Jesus Lord of our lives.  He is the Lord over our lives.  We must acknowledge what is already true about him in order to be saved.

Our text goes on to say something astonishing.  Verses 22-23, God “gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”  What does this mean?  First, and most clearly, it says that the church is the body of Christ on earth.  “The church, which is his body.”  The disciples of Jesus from all the nations make up the church.  The church isn’t a building.  It’s a people made of people from all the peoples.

Second, it says that Christ “fills all in all.”  What does this mean?  It means that Jesus is filling every sphere of existence with his authority.  Another text in Ephesians helps bring this meaning out (4:8-10).  Jesus rises from the dead, ascends into heaven, rescuing a host of captives, setting them free from sin and death, “that he might fill all things.”  Jesus’ purpose to “fill all things” is accomplished through his resurrection and ascension.  At his ascension he was granted authority over all things.  This authority is how he “fills all things.”  Because of his ascension, he has full rights and full control over all things.  As one scholar concludes, “Christ pervades all things with his sovereign rule, directing all things to their appointed end.”

But it gets better.  Thirdly, Paul says that the church is “the fullness of him who fills all in all.”  The fullness of Christ, who fills all things, is the church.  What does that mean?  How does the body of Jesus, the ruler of the universe, fill all things?  As I’ve said, the way Jesus fills the universe is with his rule and his control.  What this text is saying is that he does this by means of his church, his body, who shares in his rule and authority.  The body of Christ is the tangible expression of Jesus’ rule over all things.  We’ll talk about how in a moment.

Implications of the Ascension

Let’s zoom out and consider some of the broader implications of Jesus’ ascension for our lives.  Does Jesus’ reign at the Father’s right hand mean anything for me?  There are at least four ways that the ascension applies to our lives. 

First, the ascension of Jesus means that Jesus is sovereign over all things.  This means that we can relax and live in peace.  Jesus has his hands firmly on the wheel of history, including the history of your life.  If you’re consumed with fear and anxiety about your kids or grandkids, your spouse or who your spouse will be or if you’ll ever get married, your job or what job you should pursue, your finances, or your sin struggles, remember that Jesus is reigning over your life, that he is good, and that he has good plans for you (Rom. 8:28).

Second, Jesus’ sovereignty over all things is embodied in the church.  Jesus’ reign over the universe is made visible in the local church.  Local congregations are concrete expressions of the lordship of Jesus over all things.  As Christians gather weekly to worship Christ, listen to his word, and love one another, we display the reality that Jesus is Lord.  Jesus’ reign in heaven is most clearly seen in local churches on earth. 

This is one reason why being a member, and not just an attender, at a local church is so important.  By committing ourselves to a local church, we’re declaring that Jesus really is Lord of our lives because we’re putting ourselves in accountable relationships with other Christians.  In other words, when we submit ourselves to a church through membership, we’re giving tangible evidence that we’ve submitted our lives to Jesus.  If we don’t put ourselves in an accountable relationship with the body of Christ, how can we say that we’ve submitted to the lordship of Christ?  Officially belonging to a local church is a visible expression of officially belonging to Jesus.  It doesn’t save us, but it is a concrete and visible evidence that Jesus is indeed our Lord.  How can we say we love him if we haven’t committed ourselves to his people?

Third, the ascension means that Jesus is always available for loving communication and fellowship.  His place at the right hand of God guarantees that his love will always be available.  Because Jesus is ascended we can know and enjoy his presence anytime and anywhere.  He has made himself infinitely available through his word, by his Spirit.  This of course means that we must meet him through the means he’s actually provided, namely through reading the Bible and prayer.  If we aren’t practicing these basic spiritual disciplines, then we can’t expect to enjoy fellowship with Jesus.  He’s ready to commune with anyone, anywhere, and he has the ability to do so because of the ascension.

The fourth and final application is that Jesus’ ascension guarantees our acceptance before God.  Because Jesus is at the right hand of God, he can function as our defense lawyer.  If we go to court, we’re only as good as our lawyer.  If he wins his argument, we win our case.  When the Bible says that Jesus is our advocate, it means that our case before God is a done deal.  Jesus is a perfect advocate.  It doesn’t matter what crimes we’ve committed or how foolish we’ve been.  When God the Father looks at us, he sees the ascended Jesus.  We don’t have to live our lives to impress others because, in Christ, God is already impressed with us.  We have all the acceptance we’ll ever need. 

He Came Down Before He Went Up

The only reason any of this is possible is because, before Jesus went up to the throne, he came down to the earth, living the life we should live, dying for crimes he didn’t commit, and was raised on the third day.  Forty days later, he ascended back to heaven where he rules the universe, and your life, and from where he stands ready to give love and acceptance to anyone who’ll turn from themselves and put their trust in him.