The church is produced through Christ’s ascension (Eph. 1:20). To ascend is to leave the earth completely. Whereas the earth is where Satan moves and rules, heaven is where God rules. In Matthew 6:10 the Lord Jesus taught His disciples to pray: “Your will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth.” This shows that God’s will is done more easily in heaven than on earth. Heaven is where God rules and where His will is done; however, it is more difficult for God to rule and for His will to be done on earth, because the earth has fallen into Satan’s usurpation. In the Bible, from Genesis 3 onward, any reference to the earth implies that the earth is under the authority of Satan and belongs to him.
In the Bible the serpent signifies Satan (Rev. 12:9), because the serpent creeps on the earth and is joined to the earth. Leviticus says that swarming locusts and swallowing locusts are clean, because they can fly and go above the earth (11:21-22). All the swarming things that swarm on the earth, however, are unclean (v. 29). This difference in the physical sense also has spiritual significance. After man fell through Satan’s temptation, from God’s perspective the earth was altogether trampled by Satan and possessed by him. Therefore, God cursed the serpent so that it would not walk with legs but would go upon its stomach and eat dust all the days of its life (Gen. 3:14). In His ascension the Lord left the earth; He left everything that belonged to the earth. Every time the earth is spoken of after Genesis chapter 3, we need to realize that Satan is implied. Heaven belongs to God, and the earth belongs to Satan. The church was not produced when the Lord was on the earth; rather, the church was produced in the realm of heaven after the Lord’s ascension, after He had absolutely departed from the earth. Although the church is on earth, her nature is not earthly but heavenly, because she was produced by the One who is in heaven. Hence, the church is not earthly but heavenly.
Through the Lord’s ascension, He surpassed the power of the darkness of the rulers and authorities on earth and in the air (Eph. 1:21). After the earth was trampled and usurped by Satan, Ephesians 2:2 indicates that the air also belongs to Satan. Through ascension, the Lord Jesus surpassed Satan who is on the earth and in the air. Once He surpassed these things, He produced the church. The One who produced the church is far above Satan, who is on the earth and in the air. We may not have ever considered that the church is far above Satan. On the contrary, we often sink into our own feeling, especially when the church is under persecution, thinking that the church will not overcome the authority of Satan but instead will be subject to it. When the church is weak and is under attack, we often feel that Satan has defeated the church. This shows that we have not seen clearly that the church is far above the authority of Satan.
The church is produced by the ascended One in heaven. This ascended One is far above Satan and the position and boundary of his rule. Ephesians 1:21 does not say that the Lord Jesus is far above Satan but that He is “far above all rule and authority and power and lordship and every name that is named not only in this age but also in that which is to come.” This implies that not only is the Lord far above Satan, time, and space but that the church is produced in the Lord’s transcendence. The church is also far above Satan and far above the time and space that belong to Satan. The church is produced far above Satan and even far above his time and space.
Christ’s ascension causes the church not only to transcend the limitations of time and space but also to transcend time and space itself. The church is produced outside of time and space (v. 21). Hence, the church is exceedingly great and exceedingly high. In the past our knowledge of the church was too low, and our knowledge of Christ was too inadequate. We did not know that the church was so great and high. I hope from now on we will realize that the church transcends time and space. The church is neither in time nor in space; rather, she is produced outside of time and space.
The church is far above all things. When Christ ascended to the heavenlies, not only was He far above Satan, time, and space, but also all things were subjected under His feet (v. 22). The church was produced because Christ is not only above all things but also because all things have been put under His feet. Hence, the church is above all things, and all things are under the feet of the church. The church is produced from the One who is the Head over all things because all things are under His feet.
The church is also the head over all things because it is joined to Christ. Ephesians 1:22 says, “And gave Him to be Head over all things to the church.” When Christ produced the church, He was the Head over all things. In other words, the church was produced out of Christ’s being the Head over all things; hence, the church, along with Christ, is also the head over all things.
The church is not in the old creation but in the new creation of God’s life; the church is not of the earth but of heaven; the church surpasses Satan; the church transcends time and space; the church is far above all things; and the church, being above all, follows Christ her Head to be the head over all things and to rule over all things. It is only at this point in Ephesians that Paul draws a final conclusion regarding the church. His conclusion consists of two points: the church is “the Body of Christ” and “the fullness of the One who fills all in all” (v. 23). At this stage, the church is Christ; the church is the extension and enlargement of Christ, just as the body is the extension and the fullness of the head. The church is not only joined to Christ, but it is also the overflow of Christ.
All the saved ones in the church were once part of the “all things,” but when we were saved, we became far above all things and were joined to the Head over all things to experience Him as the Head over all things to the church. We need to firmly grasp these six characteristics of the church in order to understand the conclusion of Ephesians 1: the church is not of the old creation, not earthly, not under the authority of Satan, not in time or space, and not among all things but above all things as the head over all things with Christ. When we see these items, we will have some understanding of the church.