1: Paul an apostle
of Jesus Christ by the will of God to the saints which are at Ephesus and to
the faithful in Christ Jesus: 2: Grace to you and peace from God our
Father and Lord Jesus Christ. 3: Blessed the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ :4 According as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world that we should
be holy and without blame before him in love 1
Peter 1:20, Revelation 13:8 5: Having predestinated[1]
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the
good pleasure of his will, 6: To the praise of the glory of his grace
wherein he has made us accepted in the beloved 7: In whom we have redemption
through his blood the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace 8:
Wherein he has abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; 9: Having
made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which
he has purposed in himself 10: That in the
dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all
things in Christ both which are in heaven and which are on earth even in
him 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, 2 Corinthians
5:10 11: In whom also we
have obtained an inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of
him who works all things after the counsel of his own will: 12: That we
should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ 13: In whom you also gave audience after that you heard the word
of truth the message of your salvation in whom also after that you
believed you were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise[2]
14: Which is the earnest of our inheritance until
the redemption of the purchased possession [Physical Bodies Romans 8:23]
to the praise of his glory 15: Wherefore I also after I heard of your
faith in the Lord Jesus and love unto all the saints, 16: Cease not to
give thanks for you making mention of you in my prayers 17: That the God
of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of glory may give to you the spirit of
wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: 18: The eyes of your
understanding being enlightened that you may know what is the hope of his
calling and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, 19:
And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe
according to the working of his mighty power, 20: Which he wrought in
Christ whom he raised from the dead and set at his own right hand in the heavenly
places 21: Far above all principality
and power Ephesians 6:10-12 and might and dominion and
every name that is named Acts 4:10-12 not only in this age but also
in that which is to come: 22: And has put all under his feet and committed
to him [the] headship[3]
over [the] entire congregation 23: Which is his body 1
Corinthians 12:11-27 the fullness of him who fills
all in all[4]
[2] Faith comes by hearing
and hearing by the Word of God; How can they hear without a preacher? Go ye
into all the world and preach the gospel; it pleased God that by the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe; whosoever believes on Him
shall not perish…; The scriptures are clear on the order of salvation, that first
we hear, then we believe, then we receive and are born-again by
the Spirit. All of this happens in conjunction with the help of the Holy
Spirit, who draws, convicts, woo’s, then baptizes into the Body of Christ.
[3] Notice,
there is no mention of “trickle-down-headship” in this verse. The entire headship is committed to
the Messiah. No human can lay claim to the word “headship” for themselves. It
belongs only to the creator; to He in whom we live and move and have our being.
Jesus created all things. Jesus alone gives life. Jesus alone created, builds, and nourishes The
Church (which is His Body—the Body of Christ). No human has the power or
authority to lay claim to any of these things. The word “headship” is an
over-used and violently abused word within the Christian community. It is a
word that should be reserved to Christ alone, but instead is bandied about in
an entirely casual and heretical manner by men who would be God.
[4] How is the church, which is Christ’s body, the “fullness”
of Christ? Is Christ somehow incomplete--imperfect? The obvious answer to that
question is a resounding, No! But let’s do a word study and see what the
apostle could have meant when he used the word, “fullness,” in reference to Christ. The word,
fullness, as used in this verse, derives from the Greek word “Pleroma” (Strong’s G4138) which
literally means “what fills,” repletion, or completion. In turn, Pleroma
is derived from Strong’s G4137, “Pleroo,”
which has a variety of meanings: to cram,
level up, furnish, imbue, diffuse, influence, satisfy, execute, finish, verify, coincide (as in coincide with a
prediction). Pleroo, is derived from
yet another Greek word, Strong’s G4134, “Pleres,”
which means replete, covered, complete. But we are not yet finished with this
word study; Pleres, is derived from yet
another Greek word, Strong’s G4130, “Pletho,”
which is a form of the primary root word, “Pleo,”
which means: influence, supply, fulfill.
There we have it. The mystery of how the Church can be the “fullness” of
Christ. The word “Fill,” derived from G4137, “Pleroo,” has a connotation of “fulfillment”—as in the fulfillment
of that which is predicted. So we understand, the idea is completion
of that which has been predicted or prophesied concerning the Christ. The
church is the completion, the fulfillment, of that which was prophesied. To claim otherwise is to
suggest that Jesus Christ himself is somehow incomplete without the church. But
we know that is not true, as all the
fullness of the Godhead dwells in him bodily (in physical form). Therefore, he
is and always has been complete. Our
Creator and Savior, does not need the Church to complete him. But the church is
the fulfillment of that which has been prophesied. This also relates to the issue of male headship (as this “completion”
teaching has been applied to God’s human creation in the most detrimental of
ways). The teaching that woman was created to represent the Church in order to complete the image of God in
man, is error. Both male and female were created individually complete
(completely in the image of God). They do not need each other in order to form
a complete image of God. Woman does not complete man. Just so, the Church does not complete Christ. Every human
being, saved or unsaved, married, or unmarried, is created fully and completely
in the image of God. But the living organism (based on
relationship—not organization) called the Church,
is the completion (fulfillment) of that which was prophesied concerning Messiah.
Only the Church is composed of those who can simply call on the name of the Lord to be saved Joel 2:32, Acts 2:16.
Do you
have the assurance of knowing that if you died today, you have Eternal Life?
Additional
commentary pending for this chapter
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