Under One Head

DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE EPHESIANS

UNDER ONE HEAD

Eph 1:7-10

7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace 8 that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9 And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment — to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.

NIV

In him, means in Christ as this is a continuation of the preceding verses,

Eph 1:4-7

In love 5 he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.

NIV

So then in Christ, we have redemption through his blood. Jesus spilled his blood for our redemption, paying the price, paying the ransom in full, which is the direct meaning of the Greek word translated redemption. This, of course, carries the meaning that we were captives, we have been kidnapped by Satan, by sin. This also means that we first started out as a child of God, as sons and daughters of God, but were taken captive by sin, and in need of redemption. Jesus paid the ransom in full on that cross, with his blood. The price he paid also gave us the forgiveness of sins, and that is in accordance with the riches of God’s grace, or goodwill or loving-kindness, his act of graciousness. This simply means he did not have to forgive our sins, he is God. He can do whatever he wants to do, as he did in the time of Noah, he destroyed all mankind because of their wickedness. That was not a demonstration of grace, they were not acting in accordance with his grace, as being influenced by his divine nature nor reflecting that nature in their lives. But as we have been redeemed, we also have been done so by the riches of his grace, both as his act of kindness and as his divine influence upon us. It is his grace, his influence that brought about our accepting our redemption. Christ’s blood covers the sins of all mankind, but we have to want to be set free from our captor, Satan. The only way that happens is by the power of the Spirit at work convicting us of our dire situation of captivity in sin and our impending death. God lavished his grace on us with all wisdom and understanding. Now it could be said this means God’s wisdom and his understanding, but it is his grace, his act of kindness that he lavished on us his divine influence giving us wisdom and understanding. This means we know we have been redeemed, we have the wisdom regarding our sin and his grace, and we understand his act of graciousness and what it means for us. This gives us a picture of who God is, of what kind of God he is, of how much he loves us. He also does not keep us in the dark, but he makes known to us what was once a mystery concerning his will. That must mean that once upon a time man was not privy to the will of God, they did not know about his will and his good pleasure which he purposed in Christ. However, now he has revealed his will regarding how he desires to redeem his creation. It has been his plan even before he created all things, including man. We already have seen that he predetermined this to be his way to redeem us. Only now he revealed it what Jesus came to earth as a man to spill his blood for the forgiveness of our sins. This is by the pleasure of God, it gives him great pleasure to set us free from our captor. He did this at the exact time he set forth from before creation. All things are in accordance with his will, his plan, and his pleasure. We think we order our plans, make our plans, plot out our life, however, in all reality, God ordains our footsteps. Life is not about ourselves, it is about God. He reveals his plans to us, so we can live in accordance with his will and his pleasure once we have been set free. Sometimes it seems we forget that we are among all things in heaven and on earth that have been brought under one head, Christ. We are no longer captive to sin, but we are now free to be under one head, Christ.