John Calvin Commentary Ephesians 1:20

"which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenly [places]," — Ephesians 1:20 (ASV)

Which he worked in Christ. The Greek verb is ἐνέργησεν, from which ἐνέργεια is derived. It could be rendered as, According to the efficacy which he effected. But the translation I have given conveys the same meaning and is less harsh.

With the greatest propriety, he directs us to contemplate this power in Christ, for in us it is until now concealed. “My strength,” he says, “is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9). In what do we excel the children of the world except in this: that our condition appears to be somewhat worse than theirs? Though sin does not reign, it continues to dwell in us, and death is still strong. Our blessedness, which lies in hope, is not perceived by the world. The power of the Spirit is a thing unknown to flesh and blood. A thousand distresses, to which we are daily liable, render us more despised than other people.

Christ alone, therefore, is the mirror in which we can contemplate that which the weakness of the cross hinders us from seeing clearly in ourselves. When our minds rise to a confident anticipation of righteousness, salvation, and glory, let us learn to turn them to Christ. We still lie under the power of death; but he, raised from the dead by heavenly power, has the dominion of life.

We labor under the bondage of sin and, surrounded by endless vexations, are engaged in a hard warfare (1 Timothy 1:18); but he, sitting at the right hand of the Father, exercises the highest government in heaven and earth, and triumphs gloriously over the enemies whom he has subdued and vanquished. We lie here lowly and despised; but to him has been “given a name” (Philippians 2:9), which angels and people regard with reverence, and devils and wicked people with dread. We are pressed down here by the scantiness of all our comforts; but he has been appointed by the Father to be the sole dispenser of all blessings. For these reasons, we will benefit from directing our views to Christ, so that in him, as in a mirror, we may see the glorious treasures of Divine grace, and the immeasurable greatness of that power, which has not yet been manifested in ourselves.

And set him at his own right hand. This passage shows plainly, if any does, what is meant by the right hand of God. It does not mean any particular place, but the power which the Father has bestowed on Christ, so that he may administer in his name the government of heaven and earth.

It is idle, therefore, to inquire why Stephen saw him standing, (Acts 7:55), while Paul describes him as sitting at God’s right hand. The expression does not refer to any bodily posture, but denotes the highest royal power with which Christ has been invested.

This is intimated by what immediately follows, far above all principality and power: for the whole of this description is added for the purpose of explaining what is meant by the right hand.

God the Father is said to have raised Christ to “his right hand,” because he has made him share in his government, and because by him he exerts all his power; the metaphor being borrowed from earthly princes, who confer the honor of sitting with them on those whom they have clothed with the highest authority.

As the right hand of God fills heaven and earth, it follows that the kingdom and power of Christ are equally extensive. It is in vain, therefore, to attempt to prove that because Christ sits at the right hand of God, he dwells in heaven alone. His human nature, it is true, resides in heaven and not on earth; but that argument is foreign to the purpose.

The expression which follows, in heavenly places, does not at all imply that the right hand of God is confined to heaven, but directs us to contemplate the heavenly glory in which our Lord Jesus dwells, the blessed immortality which he enjoys, and the dominion over angels to which he has been exalted.