All Powerful, All Authority (Ephesians 1:2)

EPHESIANS 1:2 says, in the introduction of the letter, "...grace to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ".

PAINT PICTURES

At first glance, this phrase designating grace and peace as originating "from" God our Father, and "from" the Lord Jesus Christ, seems to be a pretty standard greeting, designating our origin from "God", as our Father, and our service to Jesus Christ, as our Lord, and can almost be glossed over, as we move forward to read the rest of the letter. However, we use words that paint pictures in our minds, to describe meaning, and visually imprint what or who we are talking about.

SCRIPTURES DECLARING

"God" (Theos), 2316 [Strong's], and "Lord" (Kurios),2962 [Strong's], can almost be taken as generic terms, in describing our Father, and Jesus Christ, but what do they mean? What are we really saying, or more importantly, what are the scriptures declaring when these terms or titles are used?

MILLIONS of PEOPLE

Millions of people, both Christian and non-Christian, use the English word "God", to describe whatever deity they may worship, here declaring us to be His children, and "Lord", as the title to whom is owed the right of obedience and honor. This widespread, common use, almost sanitizes the words into a sense of vague misrepresentation of the terms.

LORD

(Kurios) is from (kuros), meaning 'power' or 'might'. Under Roman rule, it was the title used of political leaders, such as Augustus; Herod the Great; Herod Agrippa; and Nero. In fact, Nero was called, the "Lord of all the world". Generally, (kurios) is referred to as 'a master of slaves', or 'an owner of property'. The term is used approximately 717 times in the NT; and 274 times in Paul's writings; and 26 times in Ephesians alone. It is used generally, of 'those in authority; having power or control over others', but only twice in Ephesians (6:5,9) does the term have this designation, and this general usage is not central when referring to Jesus Christ.

YAHWEH

In the OT (kurios) is used 7412 times, but only 192 times does it refer to a human master or owner, and though it is used over 1000 times of "God" being our master or owner, [adonai], which is significant, it is not as significant as the fact, that in at least 6165 cases, the word is used to translate the 'tetragrammaton'. In other words, in over 83% of the usage, (kurios) is used as the translation of Yahweh!

GRASPING at DEITY

The Roman emperors and governors were not claiming mere ownership of people and places when they called themselves "Lord"; they were grasping at deity. Very emphatically, when Nero declared himself to be "Lord of all the world", he was declaring his divinity.

CREATOR of the UNIVERSE

In bold contrast to the myriad of deceptions and religious "cults", who restrict and demean the position of Jesus Christ; when the scriptures refer to Him as "Lord", they are, in keeping with the OT scriptures, undeniably declaring that He is none other than Yahweh, the creator of the universe, and breather and sustainer of life and existence for all of HIs creation.

COVENANT DEITY

The title "God", (Theos), is not just a vague stamp of deity, but it is a direct referral to (El), of the OT, the designation of the covenant divinity. More specifically, though different groups of people chose different "gods" [small "g"], as being (El), only our Father is the one true (El).

WORD PICTURES

The Hebrew word is formed from two word pictures:

HEAD of the OX

1) the one being the head of the ox, which represented the most powerful of all domestic animals, and over time became inverted as the English upper case "A".

SHEPHERD'S STAFF

2) the second word picture was the shepherd's staff, with the crook at the end. This visual depiction represented authority, and is where the English upper case letter "L", (as a mirror image of the original pictograph), is derived from.

CROWN & SCEPTER

These representations were seen throughout the ages in the form of ancient leaders wearing the horns of an ox on their head, to signify that they were the powerful leader of a people, and both visual images are preserved in the monarch's crown, representative of the ox horns, and the scepter, representative of the shepherd's staff.

ALL POWER & ALL AUTHORITY

The specific meaning is that of one who is all powerful [the ox designation] and one who has all authority [the shepherd's staff]. In addition, the staff was used to bind two oxen together, and so the staff became the symbol of covenant. Thus, El, is that all powerful One, with all authority, who has entered into covenant agreement with us, His chosen people.

JESUS CHRIST

Jesus, the Christ, is the self existent One, the creator and life giver of the universe, and all creation; Yahweh.

JOINED in COVENANT

Our Father, is (El) the One of all authority and all power, who is our source, and has joined Himself in covenant, to all who accept the blood sacrifice of His Son, as the seal and confirmation of that covenant.

You are God's Best and God's Best is Yours