Transformed in Christ: The Supremacy of Christ (Ephesians - Part 13)

Greetings, brothers and sisters, let us meditate deeply upon the mighty intercession offered by the Apostle Paul, as illuminated for us in pastor Sam Merigala's sermon, "The Supremacy of Christ." This message illuminates the very heart of the Apostle Paul’s earnest prayer for the believers in Ephesus, —a magnificent display of spiritual petition. This passage in Ephesians 1 moves from a great benediction (Ephesians 1:3–14), where he thanks God for the spiritual blessings already bestowed upon us in Christ and turns into a great intercession (Ephesians 1:15–23). Paul’s desire is not merely that we acknowledge the blessings God has already poured out upon us in Christ, but that the Almighty will "open our eyes to grasp the fullness of this blessing".

The core of Paul’s petition for the saints is encapsulated in the desire that "you may know" (verse 18). As Pastor Merigala teaches, growth in knowledge—specifically, the knowledge of God himself—is "indispensable to growth in holiness," and there is indeed "no higher knowledge".

The Necessity of Illumination

Such transcendent knowledge of God is "impossible without revelation" for mortal man. Therefore, Paul prays 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" (Ephesians 1:17). Scripture identifies the Holy Spirit as ‘the Spirit of truth,’ who acts as the agent of revelation and the divine teacher for God’s people. Pastor Merigala clarifies that this is not a prayer asking God to ‘give’ the Holy Spirit Himself to those already sealed with Him, but rather a fervent request for the Spirit’s ongoing "ministry of illumination".

Through this divine enlightenment, the Apostle Paul brings together three magnificent truths that he desires the readers to grasp fully in both their minds and experience. These truths concern God’s call, His inheritance, and His power, focusing specifically on knowing the ‘hope’ of God’s call, the ‘riches of the glory’ of His inheritance, and the ‘immeasurable greatness’ of His power.

1. The Hope of God’s Call

The first great truth, the hope of God's call, directs our gaze back to the very initiation of our spiritual journey, the beginning of our Christian lives. We must recognize that our own plea for salvation was a response to a prior, originating call from God. This was not a random or purposeless event; God had a clear object in view when He called us.

Pastor Sam Merigala identifies this object as "the hope of his call" (verse 18), which is the anticipation and expectation we enjoy because the sovereign God has called us. This expectation is "rich and varied". Scripture reveals that God has called us to belong to Jesus Christ, to fellowship with Him, and "to be saints" through a holy calling, reflecting the holiness of the One who called us.

The characteristics of this holy calling are profound:

• Freedom: We are liberated from the judgment of the law and ‘called to freedom’.
• Peace and Fellowship: We are called into ‘the one body’ to enjoy the ‘peace of Christ’ and to live a life worthy of our calling, including forbearing one another in love.
• Suffering and Glory: Although opposition from the unbelieving world is inevitable, we are called to endure unjust suffering patiently, following the example of Christ. Beyond this suffering, however, lies the glory, for God has called us ‘into his own kingdom and glory’ and ‘to his eternal glory in Christ’.

This overarching vision is ‘the upward call of God in Christ Jesus’. In sum, Pastor Merigala describes the call as one to holiness and freedom, peace, suffering, and glory—a new life wherein we serve Christ, enjoy fellowship, and look beyond present suffering to future glory. This massive hope has a future dimension, anticipating the time when God will sum up all things in Christ. The hope encompasses sharing in the glory of God, achieving salvation and righteousness, receiving resurrection of an incorruptible body, and possessing eternal life.

2. The Glory of God’s Inheritance

The apostle’s second request is that we may comprehend "what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints" (verse 18b). If the call looks back to the beginning, the inheritance points forward to the end of the Christian life.

Pastor Merigala addresses the potential ambiguity of the Greek phrase, noting it could refer either to the inheritance God possesses (His people being His ‘possession’) or the inheritance God bestows. He affirms that the parallel context in Colossians 1:12 strongly suggests the latter interpretation: that God’s inheritance is what He will graciously grant us, having qualified us to share in the "inheritance of the saints in light".

This final inheritance is described as "imperishable, undefiled and unfading, kept in heaven," guaranteed by the Holy Spirit. As God’s children, we are "fellow heirs with Christ". Though the exact experience is beyond our present capacity to imagine, certain glorious aspects have been revealed:

• We shall ‘see’ God and Christ.
• This ‘beatific’ vision will be a transforming one, making us ‘like him’ in both body and character.
• We will enjoy perfect fellowship, for this inheritance is not a solitary experience but one realized "among the saints" alongside a vast, numberless multitude.

The sermon underscores that the wealth of this inheritance is not simply reaching heaven, but includes the walk with God, the fellowship of the saints, and the peace of consummation. Furthermore, because God’s people are His possession and the beneficiaries of this divine relationship, realizing this inheritance forms the "core of a stable personal identity in Christ": we belong to the Creator God and are precious to Him. Paul prays we may know the very ‘riches of the glory’ of it.

3. The Greatness of God’s Power

If the call looks backward and the inheritance looks forward, then God’s power spans the critical "interim period in between". This power is the very force necessary to fulfill the expectation of our call and to bring us safely to our final, glorious inheritance.

Pastor Merigala emphasizes that God’s power is entirely sufficient. To convince us of this, Paul employs rich language, speaking of "the energy of the might of his strength" (the literal rendering of "the working of his great might," verse 19), praying that we may grasp the "immeasurable greatness of it toward us who believe".

This surpassing greatness is known because God gave a public demonstration of it in the resurrection and exaltation of Christ (verses 20–23). The sermon outlines three successive, interconnected events:

A. Jesus Christ’s Resurrection from the Dead

Death and evil are the two powers that hold humanity in bondage. Death is a relentless enemy which no human power can avert or reverse. However, God did what humanity cannot: He raised Jesus Christ from the dead. God first arrested the natural process of decay, then He transcended the process, raising Jesus to an "altogether new life (immortal, glorious and free)"—a new dimension of human experience. This resurrection, attested by the empty tomb, was the first part of the public display of God’s measureless power. God's mighty strength worked in Christ’s resurrection. This power is now life-giving and functions as the source of the risen Jesus’ life, serving as the "life-giving, vitalizing force of the ‘new creation’ and of the new life that Christians in union with Christ experience and live".

B. Jesus Christ’s Enthronement over Evil

Having raised Jesus out of the domain of death, God made Him "sit at his right hand in the heavenly places" (verse 20). This promotion signifies supreme honor and executive authority, fulfilling the messianic promise of Psalm 110:1. By putting "all things under his feet" (verse 22a), God made them Christ’s "footstool".

Christ has been exalted far above all ‘rule and authority and power and dominion’. These are often understood to be demons, the ‘spiritual hosts of wickedness’, though the broader expression, "every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come" (verse 21b), includes all intelligent beings, angelic or otherwise, demonstrating Christ’s absolute supremacy. The full dominion originally intended for man is now exercised solely by Christ Jesus.

C. Jesus Christ’s Headship of the Church

The resurrection and enthronement were decisive demonstrations of divine power, resulting in Christ being given as head over all things for the church. Paul declares that God made Jesus the head over all things "for the church, which is his body" (verses 22–23a). The one whom God gave to the church to be its head was already the head of the universe, meaning both the universe and the church share the same head.

The church is described both as Christ’s ‘body’ and His ‘fullness’.

• The Body: The church is the ‘body’ because Christ directs it. Christ, as the Head, fills the body with the powers of movement and perception, inspiring it with life and direction.
• The Fullness: The church is Christ’s ‘fullness’ not because the church fills Him, but because "he fills it". Christ indwells and fills His church, just as the glory of God once filled the temple.

Pastor Sam Merigala concludes by examining how believers grow in understanding. While we must pray for the "Spirit of wisdom and revelation" to enlighten the eyes of our hearts, we are not permitted to infer that our sole responsibility is to pray and wait for illumination, neglecting the use of our minds. Divine illumination and human thought must belong together. God has already revealed His power objectively in Jesus Christ (by raising and exalting Him), and the Spirit now illumines our minds to grasp this accomplished revelation. It is precisely as we "ponder what God has done in Christ that the Spirit will open our eyes to grasp its implications".

Furthermore, the sermon stresses the necessary relationship between knowledge and faith. The two are never contrasted in Scripture; faith goes beyond reason but fundamentally rests upon it. Knowledge acts as the "ladder by which faith climbs higher".

Paul explicitly links the verbs ‘to know’ and ‘to believe’. The same immeasurable resurrection power that God exhibited in Christ is available now "for" or ‘towards’ us who believe. We must first know its surpassing greatness as demonstrated in Christ’s resurrection and enthronement, and then "lay hold of it experimentally for ourselves by faith". This calls for the continuing exercise of faith. Knowledge is crucial because "Faith cannot grow without a firm basis of knowledge; knowledge is sterile if it does not bring forth faith".

Pastor Merigala challenges us to consider our human weakness—our inability to control our tongue, temper, malice, lust, or pride. These struggles are indeed beyond human power. Yet, they are not beyond the power of God. This great power, which raised Jesus from the dead and raised us with Him (as Paul promises to show later), can certainly put all evil under our feet, just as it put all things under the feet of Christ. God is able "far to surpass our thoughts and prayers ‘by the power at work within us’" (3:20).