Ephesians 1:15–23 (ESV) — 15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far 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. 22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
Almost two thousand years ago, from a Roman prison cell, a man named Paul wrote the words we just read. The world as Paul knew it was a tangled mess of good and evil, gladness and despair, joy and sorrow, life and pain. Since he had grown up in a good Jewish family centered on the Scriptures, Paul believed that a hero king who would vanquish everything opposed to God was on his way (Acts 13:22-23). This had been the testimony of Holy Scripture for thousands of years before his time, and, because of the oppressive thumb of the Roman Empire, the cries for this King had only heightened in his day (Psalm 2:7).
The world, of course, had not always been in need of a King who could cut through the madness and establish a glorious kingdom. At the dawn of the cosmos, God was the sovereign King over all his creation, and he made man and woman to reign with him (Gen. 1:26–28). Designed to expand throughout and govern the earth as wise stewards, humanity was destined to be an ever-growing reflection of God and his kingdom (Gen. 1:26–28). In that day, everything was good (Gen. 1:31).
But the goodness and beauty didn’t last long as, one day, man rejected God as King and sought to become a king of his own (Gen. 3). The results were catastrophic—they had displaced the King, so the kingdom quickly decayed (Rom. 5:12). Where there had been peace, fruitfulness, and love, there grew war, death, and hatred (Gen. 3; Rom. 5:12). In no time, nations raged against God and one another (Gen. 4).
Against this bleak backdrop, however, God promised the reign of darkness would one day end (Gen. 3:15, Is. 9:7). A deliverer-king would eventually arise (Is. 11:1-5).
The years ticked by, and moments of hope erupted onto the scene (Heb. 11:39-40). In one such moment, God called a man named Abraham out of his homeland and promised him that a new nation in a new land would come from his offspring (Gen. 12:1–3). They would be a blessing, God said, to all the other nations of the earth. Could it be? Was Abraham the new royal God had hinted would come?
Yet the fullness of time had not yet arrived. After years of radical trust in God intermixed with moments of faithlessness, Abraham died with only one son to his and his wife’s name (Gen. 21). He was not the King of the kingdom to come.
Years later, after Abraham’s offspring grew to become the Hebrew people, they found themselves enslaved in Egypt (Ex. 1:8). They had forgotten the God of their fathers, but their suffering stirred them to pray once again, and God sent a deliverer in a man named Moses (Ex. 3:10). After a long standoff with pharaoh and a culmination of plagues, Egypt let the Hebrews go, and they darted into the wilderness to meet with God (Ex. 12:31–42).
At Mt. Sinai, God invited them to follow his lead—he would even sit in their midst within his tabernacle! (Ex. 25–31) Could it be? Was Yahweh again the King, and had the power of darkness been broken? (Ex. 19:6)
Yet the fullness of time had not yet arrived. Though God had invited them to become a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, once they arrived in the land God promised, they steadily wandered from his rule (Num. 14:33–34). Soon, everyone did what was right in their own eyes (Jud. 21:25).
Eventually, the people craved a human king like all the nations around them (1 Sam. 8:5). And, quickly, their first king, handsome and head-and-shoulders taller than everyone else in the camp, turned his back on God, so God rejected him from leading his people (1 Sam. 8:7). He was not the King who would come (2 Sam. 7:12–16).
In his place, God raised up a man after his own heart (Acts 13:22). David worshipped God on his harp, wrote Scriptures with his pen, and slayed giants with his sling (1 Sam. 17). Once he became king, he made all the right moves—he unified the tribes, brought God’s tabernacle and ark to the center of the nation, and led God’s people into worship! Surely, the King had come.
Yet the fullness of time had not yet arrived. David had too much blood on his hands to be the peaceful and glorious King God wanted, but God did promise a descendent of David would sit on his throne forever, presiding over the new and glorious kingdom of God (2 Sam. 7:12–16). David rejoiced, believing that from his line, the King would arrive.
Eventually—and it was messy—Solomon was born (1 Kings 1). From the jump, God prospered him (1 Kings 3:12). He was humble (1 Kings 3:12). He became wise (1 Kings 3:12). God’s hand was upon him (1 Kings 3:12). And as he expanded the borders of God’s nation and built a permanent temple for God’s glory, it felt as if all the promises of a glorious King had arrived (1 Kings 5–6; 2 Sam. 7). Nations flocked to hear his discerning insights. Gold poured into the people’s pockets. They were becoming a light to the whole world (Is. 42:6). Surely, the King had come!
Yet the fullness of time had not yet arrived. And Solomon’s heart was turned from God to lesser pleasures and imposterous gods (1 Kings 11:4). His reign gave way to generation after generation of kings—some were just, most were wicked, but none were the ultimate King God wanted (1 Kings 11:4–13).
For long centuries, the prophets arose and declared that, despite all the previous failures, a righteous King was still on his way (Is. 9:6–7). They promised that God’s anointed King would rule the nations (Ps. 2). They reiterated that he would come from David’s family tree (2 Sam. 7:12–16). They said he would also somehow serve as a priest (Ps. 110). And, as these prophets condemned generations of Israel’s shepherds for their harsh ways and failure to serve God’s people, everyone yearned for the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace whose government and reign would never end (Ez. 34:4, Is. 9:6–7).
After hundreds of years of waiting, a singular voice in the wilderness began to ready the road for the King: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight” (Mark 1:3). And as the people began to heed that voice, momentum began to swell—perhaps the King was on his way! Perhaps he would arrive! A spiritual fervor fell upon the masses. Repentance. Baptisms. They were ready for the King.
Jesus came out to those baptismal waters and was immersed by John. The Father affirmed him from heaven, and the Spirit began to strengthen him (Matt. 3:16–17). He went out in the power of God, healing all who were sick, driving out spiritual darkness, and confronting corrupt authorities (Mark 1:34). Was this the King? Was this what his kingdom would be like? His life was unlike any other—beautiful, without flaw, attractive (1 Pet. 2:22). Everyone wanted to be near him, but he often withdrew and built his leadership team—twelve disciples, just as there had been twelve tribes! Surely, this was the one.
And when Jesus—a descendant of David!—entered Jerusalem riding a young donkey, everyone would have remembered the old prophet, Zechariah. He had said, hundreds of years earlier, that the King would come riding into town that way (Zech. 9:9). The crowds rejoiced (Luke 19:37–38). Save us right now, Son of David! Deliver us! Take your throne! Like Moses, release us from our captors! Like Solomon, teach us your wisdom! Like David, vanquish our enemies! And as God said to Abraham, make us into a great nation!
But within a week, Jesus was betrayed, arrested, rejected, crucified, and buried (Luke 22–23). And as his body lay in a cold cave tomb, it would have felt to everyone that the King had, again, been delayed in his coming (Matt. 27:57–60). The one to whom every knee would bow and tongue would confess had not yet arrived (Phil. 2:10–11). The Messiah, the Christ, the anointed King—the one who would vanquish darkness forever and make all things new—had not come. Perhaps he never would.
But early on that Sunday morning, what no eye had ever seen, what no ear had ever heard, and what no heart had ever imagined occurred (1 Cor. 2:9). Jesus rose! He did not resuscitate (John 11:25). He resurrected (1 Cor. 15:20). Sin and death had slain him, but now he slayed them (1 Cor. 15:55–57). The Author of Life crushed the murderous Satan under his feet and paved the way for all things to become new (Heb. 2:14).
Finally, the fullness of time had arrived!
And after forty days with his followers, King Jesus ascended to heaven, departing for glory, promising his return one day (Acts 1:9–11). Yes, Rome remained (Rom. 13:1). Yes, tyrants still ruled (Rom. 13:1). Yes, darkness still flourished (John 3:19–21). But from his post in heaven, King Jesus poured out his Spirit onto his new vice-regents (Acts 2:1–4). In the past, God the King had created humanity to fill the earth and reign alongside him. And now God had become King over a new people who he sent out into all the earth to expand his kingdom for him (Matt. 28:19–20). The resurrected King established his kingdom when he rose from the grave, and one day, he will return to reign over it forever!
This brings us back to Paul and the words we read from Ephesians (Eph. 1:15–23). By the time he wrote this letter, after walking with Christ for many years, Paul was a prisoner in Roman chains (Eph. 3:1, 4:1, 6:20). When he thought of the imperial power of Rome, when he looked at his shackles, how did he, a man who had grown up longing for the coming of a hero king, feel about Christ? His prayer tells us.
Paul did not think he was losing there in his Roman prison. Instead, he saw the resurrected and exalted King of all steadily expanding his kingdom through the church’s every movement (Eph. 1:19). He knew Christ had been raised from the dead and seated in on high, far above every ruler or authority or power or leader—not just in this world but in the world to come (Eph. 1:20–21)! Paul saw everything positioned under King Jesus’ feet (Eph. 1:22). He experienced Jesus as the true King—reigning now over his church—filling all things everywhere with his presence (Eph. 1:23). Paul believed in the resurrection-power, the heavenly-power, the far-above-all-things-power, the forever-power, the beyond-all-others-power, the total-authority-power of King Jesus! Christ had risen. The time had come. Because he rose, the King reigns!
And today, my question is simple. In the words of hip-hop-hall-of-famers Run-DMC, “Do you wanna be down with the King?” (Acts 4:12). Do you want to trade the bleak landscape of dissilusionment for a sun of righteousness that rises with healing in its wings (Mal. 4:2)? That sun is Jesus! He came to abolish all brokenness, all sin, all guilt, and all separation between God and you forever (Col. 1:13–14).
To do all that, Jesus had to find a way to rescue the human heart. He died so that you could be forgiven of every sinful thought you’ve ever had, every sinful thing you’ve ever done, and every good thing you didn’t do but should’ve (1 John 1:9). Over hundreds of years and dozens of kings, ancient Israel had sacrificed animals on the altar to God, trusting that God was symbolically transferring their guilt to the animal so they could continue to enjoy their relationship with the Holy God. It was practice for what Jesus did on his cross, where he became all that is sinful and broken about us so that we could become righteous and clean like him. Through faith in his name, we receive Jesus’ pure and spotless standing before God—God sees us as he sees Jesus: holy, righteous, upright.
Everyone else says, “Live as you ought, and God will accept you.” But Christ says, “Receive God’s acceptance through what I did for you on the cross, and then live as I’ve remade you to be.” And if you trust Christ, he’ll remake you to become a co-heir with him, an ambassador for him, and a citizen of his glorious kingdom. You’ll have a good, benevolent, gracious King.
He loves you and wants you to be in his kingdom (John 3:16). He wants to be your gentle King, your Word of Life, the one who defines your very being (Heb. 4:12). He wants you to be down with him because he is down for you (Gal. 2:20).
Study Questions
HEAD — Knowledge & Understanding
- What key Old Testament passages and figures does the sermon trace to highlight the promise and longing for a true King?
- How does Ephesians 1:15–23 describe Christ’s current reign and authority?
- What does Paul’s imprisonment reveal about his understanding of the resurrection power of Christ?
HEART — Affection & Desire
- How does recognizing Jesus as King stir your affections for him personally?
- In what ways does the sermon reframe your understanding of Easter as more than a personal spiritual event?
- When you consider Jesus’ patient and promised arrival through history, what does it reveal about God’s character?
HANDS — Action & Commitment
- How should belief in Jesus’ resurrection power affect your view of suffering or hardship today?
- What is one area of your life where Jesus’ kingship needs to be more fully acknowledged?
- How can your life better reflect your identity as a citizen of Christ’s kingdom and ambassador for his name?
