Let us compare the statement in 1: 10 and 1: 18-23. Eph. 1: 10 speaks of the fulness

of seasons." Verse 23 speaks of the "fulness of Him that filleth all in all."  Eph. 1: 10

speaks of a gathering together in one. The original is a compound of the Greek word

kephale, meaning "head," and means "to head up," or "to gather together under one

head." In verse 22 we read that Christ has been given "Head over all things to the

church." Chapter 1: 10 speaks of the things in the heavens, and the things on the earth,

being gathered together under one Head. In verses 21, 22 we read that the Lord has been

raised "far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name

that is named, not only in this age, but also in the coming one: and hath put all things

under His feet." The words "not only" are an important evidence that the Ephesians

knew that "in this age" the Lord was above principalities, etc.; these seem to refer back

to verse 10.

We cannot help seeing how these passages correspond.  Colossians brings this

headship of heavenly powers and the members of the body, the church, together in 1: 18

and 2: 10. "He is the Head of the body, the church," "the Head of all principality and

authority." This does not refer to the future, it has reference to the present position of the

Lord while at the right hand of God. Now He exercises this dual Headship, now He has

reconciled things in the heavens and things on the earth. While, therefore, we look

forward to the day when in the fullest measure the blessings of grace will be fully

enjoyed under the Headship of Christ, when reconciliation on earth and in heaven will be

experienced by all the redeemed of all times, we must not lose the equally important truth

that appears in Eph. 1: 10, that now, in this dispensation of grace, in this dispensation of

the mystery, the reconciling of things in the heavens and of things on the earth, has taken

place. That now is the dispensation of the fulness of the seasons, and that now, and not

only in the future, the Lord Jesus Christ has been made Head over all, and has gathered

under His Headship all things. The day of manifestation has not arrived, but when it does

come it will be but the realization of this blessed fact.

Ephesians limits us for the time to the Headship of Christ as connected with the

church and the things in the heavens, but He is Head over all now, even though rejected

and unknown. Israel may have rejected their Messiah, the Gentiles may have turned

away from the promised Seed of the woman, but He has been made Head, and Colossians

at one stroke gives Him the all-embracing title when it declares that He Who was the

First-born of all creation, is now First-born from among the dead, that in all things He

might have the pre-eminence. Peter declares that when the Lord Jesus ascended into

heaven, "angels and authorities and powers were subjected unto Him." What a wondrous

revelation of the mystery of His will. The death, the cross, the rejection, all leading to

this glorious goal. It is in this sphere of fulness that our lot is cast.

Eph. 1: 11 goes on to tell us concerning our inheritance and its connection with this

dispensation of the fulness of the seasons.