1:9-10 - And he made known to us . . . to bring all
things . . . under one head, even Christ
�Mystery� is a recurring term in Ephesians (3:3, 4, 9; 5:32; 6:19). Here, as in the rest of the NT, it simply means a truth once hidden but now made known (Rom 11:25; Col 1:26; cf. Matt 13:11, 35). Both in Jewish apocalyptic literature and in the Qumran documents the word denotes the secret plan of God that will become apparent at the end of the ages. But in the NT the unlocking of the mystery has now taken place in Christ, and there is not need to wait till the last day in order to know what God�s strategy is . . .
A. Skevington Wood, The Expositor�s Bible Commentary: Galatians, Ephesians, ed. by F. E. Gaebelein (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995), 127.
NIV rather paraphrases this clause; a more precise translation is �as a plan for the fullness of time� (RSV, NRS) or �that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times� (NKJ). The words �plan� or �dispensation� is oikonomia, from which we get the English word �economy/economics.� Formed from the words for �house� (oikos) and �law� (nomos), it denotes the management of a household, or it stewardship, but came also to mean �plan� or �arrangement.�
When Paul wrote of the �administration� or �arrangement� of the �fullness of times,� he was not thinking merely of a chronological point in history but of a stage in God�s management of history. In this context it does not necessitate assuming that God predetermines every event individually, but that he manages the whole . . . When this term, oikonomia, and others, such as mystery, will, good pleasure and purpose, are amassed together, the careful reader is overwhelmed with the magnificence of God�s wise plan in history and of the place of Christ in that plan.
Walter L. Liefeld, Ephesians (IVP New Testament Commentary; Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1997), 42.
We now reach the main point of the clause which begins with [gyorisas, �he made known,� v9]. The mystery which has been disclosed to believers in accordance with God�s purpose for history is his summing up of all things in Christ.
Andrew Lincoln, Ephesians (Word Biblical Commentary, 42; Dallas, TX; Word Books, 1990), 32.
The verb �bring . . . together,� �to sum up,� is anakephalaiosasthai.
The concept of �summing up� involves recapitulation, as points already made are drawn together in a conclusion, and it is likely that this is something of the force of the prefix [ana-], indicating a restoration of harmony with Christ as the point of integration . . . The summing up of all things in Christ means the unifying of the cosmos or its direction toward a common goal . . . [it presupposes] that the cosmos had been plunged into disintegration on account of sin and that it is God�s purpose to restore its original harmony in Christ . . . God�s comprehensive purpose goes beyond simply humanity to embrace the whole created order. This part of the berakah helps believers to recognize that to be incorporated into God�s gracious decision about Christ is also to be caught up in God�s gracious purpose for a universe centered and reunited in Christ.
Andrew Lincoln, Ephesians (Word Biblical Commentary, 42; Dallas, TX; Word Books, 1990), 33-34.
Paul describes the great act of God at this significant climax of history with a remarkable and rare verb, anakephalaioomai. It has a number of nuances, but here it probably has the sense of summing things up. One example in secular literature is the summarizing of the argument of a orator. Another�seen in the word�s only other New Testament usage�is the summation of the Ten Commandments in the one rule �Love your neighbor as yourself� (Rom 13:9). It conveys the idea that all things will be brought into meaningful relationship together under Christ. At present there is fragmentation and frustration. Things do not �add up.� On that day, however, under Christ, everything will add up, that is, summed up in Christ.
Walter L. Liefeld, Ephesians (IVP New Testament Commentary; Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1997), 42-3.
It is not just �souls� or individual �bodies� that will be restored. The whole created order waits eagerly for the eschatological day when it too will be redeemed and �set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God� (Rom. 8:18-25). Redemption understood as the forgiveness of sins is just the beginning of God�s incredible cosmic �plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things in earth� . . . This, of course, is not a universalist assertion that all persons will be saved, but rather a breath-taking claim that God�s plan of salvation in Christ includes the eschatological restoration of all parts of the entire created order to wholeness.
Ronald J. Sider and James Packer, �How Broad is Salvation in Scriptures?� in In Word and Deed: Evangelism and Social Responsibility, ed. by Bruce J. Nicholls (Exeter: Paternoster, 1985), 97.
Or �in Christ.�
In all of this Paul makes it unmistakably clear that Christ is at the center of God�s great plans.
Walter L. Liefeld, Ephesians (IVP New Testament Commentary; Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1997), 44.
Instead of presupposing a cosmological dualism where heaven and earth are two separated realms and where the heavenly powers dominate those in the lower evil realm of matter, it [God�s purpose] involves the bringing together and summing up of heaven and earth in Christ. Those who can see that there is therefore no aspect of this universe which is outside the scope of God�s redemptive purpose, in which they too have been included, are thereby given gounds for overcoming any sense of weakness and insecurity in the face of hostile cosmic powers.
Andrew Lincoln, Ephesians (Word Biblical Commentary, 42; Dallas, TX; Word Books, 1990), 35.
Low Chai Hok
©Alberith, 2014