Earlier, we saw how Paul, in 1 Corinthians 12, speaks simply of the Christ when he points to Christ Jesus and His body. They belong together and are one. Therefore, the current situation, with our Head in heaven and us on earth, is not permanent. In Ephesians 1, Paul even says that the Head is incomplete without the body. This passage also speaks of the unprecedentedly high position of the ecclesia.
Calling
In this chapter, Paul thanks God for his readers and prays for them (1:16). He prays for a spirit of wisdom and revelation (1:17). The surpassing blessings he sets forth in Ephesians 1:3-14 and the position that awaits us are now hidden (1:9). It takes enlightened eyes to understand them (1:18).
It is noteworthy that Paul, when he prays for enlightened eyes, does not direct our gaze to ourselves, but prays for a vision of His calling and the riches of the glory of His inheritance. For what has been given to Him is also ours (1:18).
And although this directs our gaze to the future, it is the surpassing greatness of His power that is already at work in us who believe (1:19). He then speaks of this power:
Ephesians 1
20 Which He has wrought in Christ, when He raises Him from the dead and sets Him at His right hand in the heavenly places…
The power with which God raised Christ from the dead and set Him at His right hand is already at work in us who believe!
21 Far above all principality and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this aeon but also in that which is to come.
over-above
Christ is placed above every power and authority we know or could name. The word huperanō, translated as far above, is a superlative of above (literally: over-above). He has already been placed in that position, but He does not yet claim it (Ps. 2:8). He not only holds this position now, but He will also hold it in the aeon(s) to come.
22 And He puts all things under His feet and gives Him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body…
under His feet
Do you see what it says here? The position that Christ now holds and will hold in the future is shared with the ecclesia, which is His body. The ecclesia He is now gathering has the highest position imaginable, namely, equal to His! If, then, all things are put under His feet, we are those feet (and other members of the body).
22 … the completion of Him who completes all in all.
Completion
The ecclesia, which is His body, is the completion of Him. He is incomplete without us, without His ecclesia, it says here. It doesn’t say that we are incomplete without Him. That is also true, and that makes sense, because without Him we are nothing. But He is also incomplete without the ecclesia. That is why we are caught up. For when He actually demands the position that God has given Him, He will no longer hide Himself, but reveal Himself, and that will be with His body. And so we will always be together with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:17).
The joy that lay before Him
We naturally look forward to the moment of the snatching away, the redemption of our body (Romans 8:23). But it is also said of the Lord that for the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross, despising its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb. 12:3).
That joy that was set before Him was, of course, that God would raise Him from the dead, but also the exalted position He would receive. He would be appointed over all creation, heaven and earth, and bring them to God the Father (1 Cor. 15:25-28).
Considering this, we can imagine how He, like us, longs for the snatching away!