Ephesians Series: Ephesians 1:22a-The Father Caused All Things to be Placed in Subjection Under His Son’s Feet

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Ephesians 1:15 For this reason, after I myself heard about the faith among each and every one of you in the one and only Lord Jesus as well as you are practicing divine-love, which is on behalf of each and every one of the saints, 16 I never permit myself to cease regularly expressing thanks to the one and only God because of each and every one of you. I do this while disciplining myself to make it my practice of remembering each and every one of you during my prayers. 17 I make it a habit of occupying myself with praying that the God, that is, the glorious Father of the one and only Lord ruling over each and every one of us as a corporate unit, who is Jesus Christ, would cause each and every one of you to receive divine wisdom, specifically, divine revelatory wisdom provided by the one and only Spirit with respect to an experiential knowledge of Himself. 18 Namely, that the eyes of your heart are enlightened in order that each and every one of you would possess the conviction of what constitutes being the confident expectation of blessing produced by His effectual call, what constitutes His inheritance, which is characterized by glorious wealth, residing in the person of the saints. 19 Also, what constitutes being His incomparable, great power on behalf of each one of us who believe which is equivalent to the exertion of His sovereign, omnipotent power to overcome. 20 This He caused to enter into the state of being exerted on behalf of the incomparable Christ. Specifically, by causing Him to be raised out from the dead ones. Then, by causing Him to be seated at His right hand in the heavenlies 21 above each and every sovereign ruler, authority, power exercised, dominion as well as each and every designated rank, by no means only during this age but in fact also during the one certain to come. 22 In other words, He caused each and every animate and inanimate object to be placed in subjection under His feet. Correspondingly, He gave Him as a gift as head over each and every animate and inanimate object for the benefit of the church. (Lecturer’s translation)

Ephesians 1:22 contains two declarative statements.

The first asserts that the Father caused each and every animate and inanimate object in creation to be placed in subjection under His Son, Jesus Christ’s feet or in other words, under His authority.

The second asserts that the Father gave His Son, Jesus Christ as a gift as head over each and every animate and inanimate object in creation for the benefit of the church.

Now, the first declarative statement is epexegetical, which means that this statement explains in summary fashion the preceding statement in Ephesians 1:20b-21.

As we noted, this previous declarative statement in Ephesians 1:20b-21 asserts that the Father caused His Son, Jesus Christ, to be seated at His right hand in the heavenlies above each and every sovereign ruler, authority, power exercised, dominion as well as each and every designated rank.

Therefore, this indicates that when Paul asserts that the Father caused His Son, Jesus Christ, to be seated at His right hand in the heavenlies above each and every sovereign ruler, authority, power exercised, dominion as well as each and every designated rank, he means that the Father put each and every animate and inanimate object under His Son’s feet.

This first declarative statement quotes Psalm 8:6 (8:7 LXX).

Psalm 8:1 O Lord, our Lord, how magnificent is your reputation throughout the earth! You reveal your majesty in the heavens above! 8:2 From the mouths of children and nursing babies you have ordained praise on account of your adversaries, so that you might put an end to the vindictive enemy. 8:3 When I look up at the heavens, which your fingers made, and see the moon and the stars, which you set in place, 8:4 Of what importance is the human race, that you should notice them? Of what importance is mankind, that you should pay attention to them, 8:5 and make them a little less than the heavenly beings? You grant mankind honor and majesty; 8:6 you appoint them to rule over your creation; you have placed everything under their authority, 8:7 including all the sheep and cattle, as well as the wild animals, 8:8 the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea and everything that moves through the currents of the seas. 8:9 O Lord, our Lord, how magnificent is your reputation throughout the earth! (NET)

Therefore, like Ephesians 1:20-21, Ephesians 1:22 asserts that Jesus Christ is sovereign over all of creation and every creature including moral rational creatures such as human and angelic beings.

As applied to the Lord Jesus Christ, the term “sovereignty” indicates His complete power over all of creation and every creature including every moral rational creature (human and angelic being), so that He exercises His volition or will absolutely, without any necessary conditioning by a finite will (volition) or wills (volitions).

Therefore, the Lord Jesus Christ exercises His volition absolutely without any necessary conditioning by the volition of His creatures whether human or angelic beings, which constitutes His sovereignty over them.

“Each and every animate and inanimate object” is the accusative neuter plural form of the adjective pas (πᾶς), which appears in both declarative statements and has the same referent and meaning.

In both instances, the word pertains to the totality of inanimate and animate objects that are contained in the first, second and third heavens and the earth.

In other words, it pertains to those inanimate and animate objects that are contained in creation in their totality and this would include all marine life, bird life, terrestrial life, human beings and angels.

The word refers to the totality of animate and inanimate objects that are contained in the first, second and third heavens and the earth: (1) Stars, satellites, and planets that compose the stellar universe. (2) Earth’s sun and moon. (3) Vegetation on the earth (4) Marine life (5) Bird life (6) Terrestrial life. (7) Human beings (8) Angels.

This adjective would include the orderly arrangement of the heavens and the earth and all things in their complex order and composition as created by God, created in perfect order and subject to the laws God established to govern its operation (Matt. 13:35; John 21:25; Acts 17:24).

The adjective pas (πᾶς) is used in a distributive sense meaning “each and every thing” emphasizing no exceptions and thus, the distributive use of this adjective emphasizes that there is absolutely no inanimate and animate objects that are contained in creation which are not under Christ’s feet.

The verb hupotassomai (ὑποτάσσομαι), “He caused to be in subjection” refers to God the Father causing each and every animate and inanimate object in creation to be placed in subjection to His Son’s authority, which He delegated to Him when He seated Him at His right hand.

The Father seating His Son at His right hand is what caused each and every animate and inanimate object in creation to be placed in subjection to His Son.

“Under His feet” is the prepositional phrase hypo tous podas autou (ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ), which is expressing the idea that each and every animate and inanimate object in the first, second and third heavens is “under the feet.”

However, this prepositional phrase is used idiomatically of each and every animate and inanimate object in creation to be “under the authority” of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Of course, those under His sovereign authority would include not only unregenerate human beings but also angelic beings under Satan’s command who hold positions at the present time as an archē (ἀρχή), “sovereign ruler” or as an exousia(ἐξουσία), “governmental authority.”

In the ancient world, a king would place his foot upon the neck of a defeated king in order to demonstrate his power and victory over them (cf. Gen. 49:8; Josh. 10:24).

Paul’s use of the quotation from Psalm 8:6 here in Ephesians 1:22 would emphasize the unregenerate human governmental rulers of the cosmic system today and the angelic governmental rulers under Satan’s command have been defeated by Jesus Christ’s crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the Father’s right hand.

This enthronement of Jesus is a fulfillment of the prophecy in Daniel 7:9-14 and restores mankind to the rulership of planet earth.

Thus, His enthronement manifests the fact that He has defeated Satan, who usurped the authority of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden and at the present time in human history has temporary authority over the earth until Jesus Christ’s Second Advent.

Daniel 7:14 as well as Hebrews 2:5-9 and Philippians 2:6-11 teach that Jesus Christ is God the Father’s true regent on planet earth or in other words, Daniel 7:14 as well as Hebrews 2:5-9 correspond to Philippians 2:6-11.

Daniel 7:13 I was continuing to stare in a trance like state because of these visions as behold One like a Son of Man was coming upon the clouds of heaven. Specifically, He went up to the One Ancient in Days in the sense that He approached His presence. 14 Then, governmental dominion was given to Him as well as honor and in addition sovereignty in order that each and every person belonging to the nations, ethnicities as well as language groups would serve Him. His governmental dominion is an eternal governmental dominion which can never be taken away so that His kingdom is one which can never be destroyed. (Lecturer’s translation)

Hebrews 2:5 For He did not subject to angels the world to come, concerning which we are speaking. 6 But one has testified somewhere, saying, “What is man, that You remember him? Or the son of man, that You are concerned about him? 7 You have made him for a little while lower than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor, and have appointed him over the works of Your hands; 8 You have put all things in subjection under his feet.” For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him. 9 But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. (NASB95)

Philippians 2:5 Everyone continue thinking this (according to humility) within yourselves, which was also in (the mind of) Christ Jesus, 6 who although existing from eternity past in the essence of God, He never regarded existing equally in essence with God an exploitable asset. 7 On the contrary, He denied Himself of the independent function of His deity by having assumed the essence of a slave when He was born in the likeness of men. 8 In fact, although He was discovered in outward appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by having entered into obedience to the point of spiritual death even death on a Cross. 9 For this very reason in fact God the Father has promoted Him to the highest-ranking position and has awarded to Him the rank, which is superior to every rank 10 in order that in the sphere of this rank possessed by Jesus every person must bow, celestials and terrestrials and sub-terrestrials. 11 Also, every person must publicly acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord for the glory of God the Father. (Lecturer’s translation)

Therefore, the clear implication of Ephesians 1:20-21, Philippians 2:5-11, Hebrews 2:5-9 and Revelation 5 is that Jesus Christ has defeated Satan and his angels through His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the Father’s right hand.