What is the meaning of Ephesians 4 v 4 10?

Answer 1

Ephesians 4:4-10 talks of the nature of God and the Christian faith. It says that there is one God and father of all. It mentions the Holy Spirit and talks of the gift of Jesus, but fails to equate them with God. Hell was believed to be in the lower parts of the earth, and Jesus was said to have descended into hell after his crucifixion. He then ascended above all the heavens, but there is no mention of his return to earth before his ascension. There were believed to be several heavens, most commonly seven heavens, one above the other. God sat on his throne above the highest heaven, and Ephesians 4:10 has Jesus ascending above all the heavens - to where God was enthroned.

Ephesians 4:4-104 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. 7 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

Paul is speaking of the unity of all believers in Christ as one body working together but with individual gifts and roles to play (as in 1 Corinthians 12:12). The purpose of these gifts is further expanded in the verses following this section. The passage also relates this unity with that of the Father, Son and Spirit.

8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. 9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?

The eighth verse is a quote from Psalm 68, and depicts the Lord as leading home captives (from Sheol or Hades) during the time His body was in the tomb prior to the Resurrection, having victory over hell and death - Revelation 1:20:

17And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: 18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

This also ties in with Christ's stated purpose in Luke 4:

17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord...20 This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.

Although the Lord Jesus ascended above all, He is still able to be present in all due to the characteristics of the Godhead. Verse 10 relate the Lord's omnipresence and identity to the earlier verses:

5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all... 10He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.

Answer 2

Verses 4-10, Ephesians 4

Talks about the unity that is in Christ, we are His body, born again believers are the part of Christ that is seen in the world. When we are born again we become united to Christ and share everything that is in Him.

Paul goes on saying that this is something that we attain only by the grace of God.

He also mentions the fact that Jesus after giving His life at the cross went down to the hades, which (before Christs dead and resurrection) was divided in two.. (Luke 16:19-25) the Bosom of Abraham or Paradise for those that in life had put faith in the promise of the coming Messiah, and hell which was and is a place of torment that originally was created for fallen angels. Jesus went there to:

1. Pay our penalty for sin (John 3:16-17)

2. Spoil principalities and powers (Col 2:14-15)

3. Defeated Satan, taking away from him the power over dead and the keys of hell. (Hebrews 2:14)

4. Deliver those that were in Abraham's bosom, giving them access to heaven and the presence of God by His blood.. they couldn't be born again until Jesus' sacrifice. (Hebrews 11:39)

There is no more Bosom of Abraham after the resurrection of Christ, but there is a place of torment to those that reject the gift of salvation. No individual sin will send someone to hell is only rejecting the gift of salvation in Christ Jesus.

(John 16:8-11)

Answer 3

The Epistle to the Ephesians is not considered by scholars to have been written by the Apostle Paul, although it was written in his name, perhaps by one of his own disciples later in the first century CE.

Ephesians 4:4-10 talks of the nature of God and the Christian faith. It says that there is one God and father of all. It mentions the Holy Spirit and talks of the gift of Jesus, but fails to equate them with God. Hell was believed to be in the lower parts of the earth, and Jesus was said to have descended into hell after his crucifixion. He then ascended above all the heavens, but there is no mention of his return to earth before his ascension - which seems consistent with the Paul's own view of the resurrection and ascension. There were believed to be several heavens, most commonly seven heavens, one above the other. God sat on his throne above the highest heaven, and Ephesians 4:10 has Jesus ascending above all the heavens - to where God was enthroned.