One Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

Ephesians 4: 5, 6

In what sense is God the Father, ‘in you all’ as Paul terms it?  In order to understand this, we may consider Christ’s statement to the woman at the well when He said, ‘God is Spirit.’  Therefore, we cannot properly think of God in a corporal or physical way except in the instance of Christ Who is both God and human.  Christ is all there is for us to see of God in a physical form.  Because He is, we can go back to the discussion of how God the Father can be ‘in you all.’  The Father can be ‘in’ all those whom Paul is describing in the passage.  It is a spiritual presence which the Holy Spirit practically effects in the believer.  It does not mean that we become God, but that God the Father is ‘in’ us as a living spiritual reality.  This means that we have a vital relationship with every member of the Trinity although that relationship looks somewhat different depending upon which Member of the Trinity we are discussing at a given point.  For God the Father to be in us all, means that we have a vital relationship with the One Who rules as Sovereign over all the universe.  This relationship comes to us by the Holy Spirit, through the Person and work of Christ.

Our Wise and Sovereign God,
we rejoice that You move in us
in vital and powerful ways.
We praise You that day-by-day
You Holy Spirit works within us
that we may know you, the only True God
and Jesus Christ Whom You have sent.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

One Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

Ephesians 4: 5, 6

How is God the Father, ‘through all?’  We may consider this in the way that Paul sets it forth by referring first to God as being ‘above all,’ that is transcendent; then ‘through all,’ that is immanent; and ‘in you all,’ that is, actively present.  This underscores our vital union with God in multiple ways.  That He is ‘above all’ is of great encouragement to us because, as the Sovereign God, He oversees all things, including all who believe.  That He is ‘through all’ is of great encouragement because He is the God Who is near, and not far removed from us.  That He is ‘in you all’ is encouraging, because He is not just with us, but in us in a vital way.  We understand that the Holy Spirit is the Agent of this Divine Presence, and that as He is, He reveals the Father to us by showing us Christ.  Hence, Christ could make the statement to His disciples, ‘he that has seen me, has seen the Father.’ Because Christ is the same in essence as the Father, the Father has set Him forth as all there is to see of the Trinity.  We are content then with this relationship with the Father Who is ‘above all and through all and in you all.’  He is the transcendent and immanent God.

Our Father and Our God,
we rejoice that You are above all and through all
and in us all.
We praise You that what You have shown us of Yourself
we see clearly in Christ.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

One Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

Ephesians 4: 5, 6

How is God the Father ‘above all?’  We want to consider this in the light of what we know about the other members of the Trinity, Who are, ‘the same in substance, equal in power and glory’ with the Father.  We may gain understanding by considering it this way.: each of the Members of the Trinity have a role to fulfill.  For the purposes of fulfilling that role they voluntarily position themselves in particular ways.  Paul indicates this in Philippians 2 when he says of Christ, ‘who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.’  He alludes to it again in I Corinthians 15:28, ‘Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.’  These are clear references where we see the interaction of these Persons of the Trinity which indicate that the Father is indeed ‘above all.’  This does not devalue the standing of either Christ the Son or of the Holy Spirit.  Even though they are ‘the same in substance, equal in power and glory,’ they do no harm to their standing in the Trinity by assuming these positions in order to execute the decree of God.  For our own part, it is of great comfort to us that God the Father is indeed ‘above all.’  We can be secure in His Sovereignty, rest in His goodness, and rejoice in His amazing grace.  This has brought Christ to us and us to Christ.  Because the Father, being ‘over all’ knows what we need the most.

Our Wise and Sovereign God,
we rejoice that You do all things well.
We praise You that each member of the Trinity
accomplishes His particular purpose
and makes His contribution to the accomplishment of Your will.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

One Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

Ephesians 4: 5, 6

In what sense is God the Father of all?  Does this mean that God is the Father of each and every individual who has ever lived?  To arrive at that conclusion we must take the statement completely out of context.  Paul has been talking about the unity of those who have the same calling.  The people to whom he has been speaking are part of ‘one body,’ have ‘one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God.’  He will go on to say that this Father is, ‘in you all.’  From the context and all the writing which Paul has done in the first three chapters, we cannot arrive at the conclusion that God is the Father of each and every individual who has ever lived, even though He is the Creator of all.  Christ further corroborates this idea when He says of a particular group, ‘You are of your father, the devil.’  God cannot be the Father of all if Satan is the father of some.  Within the context, God the Father is the Father of all who bear the characteristics which he has already described.  We ought to be as broad as the Scripture and also as specific.  That God is the Father of us all, whom He has redeemed by free and Sovereign Grace, is a cause for blessed assurance and continual thanksgiving.  We owe this relationship, not to any goodness in ourselves, but only to the righteousness of Christ, which we have received by faith.

Our Father and our God,
we rejoice that You have adopted us into Your family.
We praise You that our standing as Your children
is not based upon our own merits,
but only upon the merits of Christ.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning