🛡️WEB · Ephesians 4:10
What does Ephesians 4:10 mean?
"He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things."
— Ephesians 4:10 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
But to each one of us was the grace given according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
Therefore he says, “When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.”
Now this, “He ascended”, what is it but that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?
He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.
He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, shepherds and teachers;
for the perfecting of the saints, to the work of serving, to the building up of the body of Christ;
until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a full grown man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
Explanation
Ephesians 4:10 says, in plain terms, that the same person who descended is the one who ascended—and that his ascension took him far above every heaven, so that he might fill all things. Paul is speaking of Jesus Christ, identifying the one who came down (in the incarnation) as the very same one who went back up (in the ascension). The point of emphasis is the totality of Christ's rule: he did not simply return to where he had been, but rose to the highest possible place of authority, "far above all the heavens," and did so with the purpose of filling everything with his presence and power.
To understand the verse, it helps to see its place in the passage. In Ephesians 4:7–13, Paul is explaining how Christ gives gifts to his church—apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers—for the purpose of building up the body of Christ. To make his case, Paul quotes Psalm 68:18, which speaks of a victorious king ascending and receiving gifts, and then leading captives and distributing gifts to his people. Paul reasons that if Christ "ascended," he must first have "descended." This is a reference to the incarnation: Christ came down from heaven to earth, taking on human flesh, living, dying, and rising again. Then he ascended back to the Father, but not merely to his prior position—he ascended to the place of supreme cosmic authority, above every heaven
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