Ephesians 1:21-23 “Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.”
In these verses, Paul is expanding on his comment that God raised up Jesus from the dead and set Him at His own right hand. God taught us from the days of the prophets that His ways and thoughts are as high above our ways and thoughts as the sky is above the earth. We cannot reach up in our own ability and touch it; we can neither contain it nor control it.
When God set Jesus on His right hand, He was seated above all government, above the power and might of the world to control or affect, and above any future authority that men might establish. That was true in Paul’s age (world), in our age, all the ages between, and the ages yet to come. Today, when we speak of someone being “above the law” that is a bad thing. It denotes that we are dealing with someone who thinks only of themselves. They don’t care who they hurt as long as the result is beneficial to them and the powers that be either turn a blind eye to their atrocities or else appear to be powerless to stop them.
Jesus is truly above the law of men: this is a wonderful thing. It does not indicate that He has disdain for those who are weaker and thinks only of Himself. Jesus is truly above the law of men because His own standard is higher than any law or reasoning of men. His power is such that He freed us from the law of sin and death by the power of the law of the Spirit of life that is in Him.
God has put all things under the feet of Jesus and established Him as the head of the church. This position as head belongs only to Jesus. There is no such thing as a two-headed church; there is no man needed to stand in Jesus’s stead as head. Neither preachers nor deacons are the head of the church, and much sorrow is the result when we forget this fact. Jesus, and Him alone, is the head of the church, and God has put all things under His feet. He alone is worthy of our praise and our trust.
Jesus is the head and the church is the body. His body is His fulness (all that can be seen) of Christ in the earth. It is He that fills all; He is the supplier of everything that we need. It is He that fills in all; He is the one who dwells in every one of His children. Jesus satisfies the longing of those He has called to serve Him; His body, the church.
Remember that God has put all things under the feet of Jesus. Where are the feet? The feet are part of the body. What is the body of Jesus here in the world? It is the church. Who is the church? It is us whom He has called and separated from the things of this world to walk according to His will and to give Him praise and glory in the earth.
The church, as the body of Jesus, is above the power and influence of this world. As members of His body, we are not to wallow in the ways of the flesh. The works of the flesh are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and things like these (Gal 5:19-21). Only in the fullness of Jesus Christ do we stand above these things.
The church is above the law in the same sense that Jesus is above the law. When we live, move, and have our being in Him we do not need the law to tell us how to behave towards others. The truth of Jesus, as made known to us by the power of the Holy Ghost, directs us to walk in His righteousness. Forming ourselves into a congregation does not make us the church of Jesus Christ. Being called out by the power of God which He wrought in Jesus Christ and reveals to us by the Holy Ghost makes us a church.
May we live in the love, righteousness, and peace of Him that filleth all in all!