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Other writers approach this revelation with regard to the position of Christ, but who
beside Paul holds out the prospect of the believer sharing that exalted position? We
would suggest that the reader tabulates all that is said concerning the believer "going to
heaven" in the epistles outside those of Paul; the result may make him realize how little
is said of such a position apart from the revelation of the mystery.
The super-heavenlies are not only the place of the throne of God, but the abode of
principalities and powers, both good and bad. Some principalities and powers in the
super-heavenlies are learning through the Church the manifold wisdom of God
(Eph. 3: 10); other principalities and powers in the super-heavenlies (A.V. "high places")
antagonize the believer; but above all principality and power the Lord has been raised.
Other ranks of spiritual beings are enumerated, e.g., "might and dominion". Some are
beyond enumeration, yet every name that is named, it matters not how high, none can
ever be higher than the glorified Christ of God; He has been raised far above all.
The references to principalities and powers in the prison epistles are suggestive.
Where Christ is named the Head, where there is a reference to His fulness, where the
Church is called the "body", where the "mystery" is referred to, and where
"reconciliation" occurs, there we read of principalities and powers. The grouping is
somewhat similar in the two epistles where they come, for neither Philippians nor
II Timothy speak of any of these things, Ephesians and Colossians containing all the
passages.
Principalities and Power in Ephesians and Colossians.
A | Eph. 1: 21. Principalities, Power, Might, Dominion.--Christ over all.
B | Eph. 3: 10. Principalities, Powers.
C | Eph. 6: 12. Principalities, Powers, Rulers, Wickedness.--The Contest.
A | Col. 1: 16. Thrones, Dominions, Principalities, Powers.--Christ created all.
B | Col. 2: 10. Principalities, Powers.
C | Col. 2: 15. Principalities, Powers.--The Triumph.
By comparing the first occurrences in Ephesians with those of Colossians we see that
Christ's ascension to the exalted position far above all is but His original right and due.
As the first-born of all creation He is seen as the Creator of all things visible and
invisible; as the first-born from the dead, therefore, He cannot be given a lower place
than that He so gloriously occupied before His humiliation. As the new Head of a new
creation it becomes necessary that even unfallen principalities in the heavens should be
brought into the new sphere. The church of the one body being blessed "in the
super-heavenlies", it becomes necessary, in the epistles which deal with that phase of
truth, to record the inclusion of the invisible spiritual world in the sphere of the
reconciliation. The relation of this glorious exaltation of the Lord with the church which
is His body, and the remaining details of that exaltation, we must leave for the next
article.