Ephesians 3:15

Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,

This teaching section has articles about the Christian Family, so maybe a good place to start is to take a look at how the word Family is used in Scripture:

Family. This word occurs but once in the N.T., where it translates the Greek word patria (Eph. 3:15). Patria itself occurs three times:

Of the house and lineage of David. Luke 2:4

In thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth. Acts 3:25

Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named. Eph. 3:15

Patria is obviously a derivative of pater, "father," and is itself one of a "family" of words derived from this "parent" stock. So we have patroos, "the fathers," patris, "country," patriarches "patriarch." The family, therefore, is a community owning a common father. The R.V. reads at Ephesians 3:15 "every family" instead of "the whole family" as in the A.V. The employment of the English word "family" here has somewhat limited the teaching of the Apostle. The word "family" is derived from the Latin famulus, a servant, whereas the Greek word so translated here is derived from the word "father." Joseph was of the lineage of David but scarcely of his family. The blessing of Abraham is to flow out to all kindreds of the earth rather than to all families.

Patria is a word in common use in the LXX, where we read many times of "the house of the fathers," as in Exodus 12:3, and in Numbers 1:2, we read that the census of Israel was to be taken "after their families, by the house of their fathers." As late as the prophet Zechariah, the people of Israel were still spoken of as "the family of the house of David" or "the family of the house of Nathan" (Zech. 12:12-14), but it must be noted that the Greek word used here is not patria but phule "tribe." The word family is more domestic in its implications than the words house, lineage, or race. We speak of a respectable family or of the royal family, but we speak of an illustrious house.

Strictly speaking, it is not too happy a thought that the One Father has many families, and so while we must acknowledge that the translators of the A.V. knew very well that the words pasa patria must mean "every" patria, not "the whole" patria, yet, because they chose to use the word "family," they sacrificed the grammar to the higher claims of truth. If we do not use the word "family" here but use something more in line with the LXX usage, like lineage, kindred, or father's house, we shall be nearer to the intention of the Apostle in Ephesians 3:15.

"Of Whom." This expression can refer to the Father or to the Lord Jesus Christ, and commentators are divided in their opinion. As no one can be a child of God apart from redemption, and no one can call God "Father" apart from Christ, we incline to the interpretation that the words "of Whom" refer to Christ, although, of course, ultimately, even though through Him, all fatherhood must go back to the Father Himself. In Deuteronomy 18:8, we find the word "patrimony," a word that translates the Hebrew al ha aboth "concerning the father's (clans)" or kata patrian of the LXX. An allied term patronymic deals with the name of a clan or tribe; in Greek, this was indicated by the ending ides, as Tydides-the son of Tydeus; in English, by the word son, as Johnson-the son of John. Norman-French patronymics are often formed by the prefix Fitz as Fitzwilliam; Irish and Scotch by Mac., Mc and O'. It is utterly impossible to incorporate all this into a translation of Ephesians 3:15, but something of this meaning is implicit in the wording.

The Epistle to the Colossians not only speaks of Christ as the Head of the Church but of all principality and power (Col. 1:18, Col. 2:10); reconciliation is applied to things in heaven as well as things on earth (Col. 1:20-21). Dr. Lightfoot cites a Rabbinical authority, saying, "The mother's family is not to be called a family"; hence, the genealogies of Scripture come through the male line. Wetstein cites passages from Rabbinical writings to show that the Jews spoke of angels as the upper family and His people on the earth as His lower family. All of whatever race, rank, or sphere bear the name of their Head. We append a note given in The Companion Bible on page 1771 as a supplement:

1. The word 'family' is an unfortunate rendering of the Gr. patria. Our English word takes its derivation from the lowest in the household, famulus, the servant, or slave. The Latin familial is sometimes used for the household of servants and sometimes for all the members of a family under the power of a paterfamilias. But the idea of patria is Hebrew, a group or class of families all claiming descent from one pater (father), e.g., the twelve tribes of Israel. 'Joseph was of the house and lineage (family, Gr. patria) of David' (Luke 2:4). The word occurs only in Luke 2:4, Acts 3:25, Eph. 3:15, and denotes a clan all descended from a common stock.

2. To apply this:-God has many families in heaven and earth, both in this age and in that which is to come. But with selfish disregard for this fact, we see only one family, and that, of course, must be the 'church,' for that is the family to which we belong. Thus, we claim everything for ourselves, especially if blessing, mercy, or glory is attached, and so we completely ignore the fact that many of these families of God are named in Scripture. In Eph. 1:21, we have 'principality,' 'power,' 'might,' and 'dominion'; the first two being again mentioned in Eph. 3:10, the principalities and powers in the heavenlies to whom God is even now manifesting His manifold wisdom by means of The Church (His Body) as an object lesson. Others are mentioned in Col. 1:16 and 1 Peter 3:22. What these heavenly families may be, we do not know. The Greek words reveal to us no more than the English do because they pertain to the unseen world of which we know nothing.

"To limit this verse to the 'church' as many do, and to interpret it in wholly un-Scriptural terms of the 'church militant' and the 'church triumphant, and in hymn-book diction to sing

'One family we dwell in Him,
One church, above, beneath;
Though now divided by the stream,
The narrow stream of death.'

is not only to lose the revelation of a great Truth of God but to put error in its place. Rightly divided, the families of God named in the N.T. are in heaven, principalities, powers, might, dominion, thrones, angels, and archangels. Among the families on earth are Israel, the Israel of God (Gal. 6:16), and the church of God (1 Cor. 10:32)."

If Every Human Is A Child Of God,
Then Is God A Father Of Evil? God Forbid.

Many say that all men and women are the children of God and that God is the Father of all, but this belief comes from a holding of vain traditions of men. The Scriptures tell us plainly otherwise;

John 1:12  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
John 1:13  Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Romans 9:8  That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.

But some will argue with Scripture using Scripture to make their case and will commonly quote;

Gen 1:26  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Gen 1:27  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

To consider since man is made in the image of God means all men are children of God; let us learn more about the first man Adam. Commentators and lexicographers, with a few exceptions since the days of Josephus, explain the word 'Adam' as being derived from the Hebrew Adamah, 'the ground' (Gen. 2:7). In the first place we must remember that while the name Adam does not occur in the English Bible until Genesis 2:19, the Hebrew word has already occurred nine times, namely in Genesis 1:26-27; Gen. 2:5, Gen. 2:7-8, Gen. 2:15-16, Gen. 2:18 where it is translated 'man' or 'the man.' The beasts were also formed out of the 'ground' of the adamah (Gen. 1:25; Gen. 2:19), yet no beasts appear to have been given a name that associated them with their earthy origin. When we consider the first occurrence of the Hebrew word 'Adam,' namely, in Genesis 1:26, we have the following context:

'And God said, Let us make man in our IMAGE, after our LIKENESS ... so God created man in His own image' (Gen. 1:26-27).

It seems strange to name the first man after the 'ground' before the record even alludes to the adamah from which he was taken. Parkhurst in his Hebrew Lexicon, refers to the word 'Adam' to the Hebrew damah, which primarily means 'to be equal' (Isa. 46:5) and then in the feminine form damuth 'likeness' (Isa. 40:18). In the book of the generations of Adam, it is this aspect of his creation, not that of Genesis 2:6-7 that is perpetuated.

'In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made He him' (Gen. 5:1).

The purpose for which man was created is expressed in the three terms 'image,' 'likeness,' and 'dominion.' The word 'image' tselem is from the Hebrew root tsel, meaning 'shadow.'

The first occurrence in the Old Testament is in Genesis 19:8, 'the shadow of my roof.' The LXX translates tsel by the Greek skia some twenty-seven times. The latter is found in the New Testament seven times as follows:

'The shadow of death' (Matt. 4:16; Luke 1:79).
'The shadow of it' (a tree). (Mark 4:32).
'The shadow of Peter' (Acts 5:15).

The word is also used figuratively of the ceremonial law: 'a shadow of things to come, and not the very image' (Heb. 10:1; Col. 2:17); and in Hebrews 8:5, 'the example and shadow of heavenly things.' Adam was not the 'very image,' but he in great measure shadowed forth the Lord, and Romans 5:12-14 indicates that in other ways than those suggested in Genesis 1:26-27 Adam was a 'figure of Him that was to come.' By creation, man is 'the image and glory of God' (1 Cor. 11:7); but this image is, after all, 'earthy':

'The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven ... as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly' (1 Cor. 15:47-49).

Because of the earthy nature of man and the fact that he is a shadow of God, not substance, we see readily why Scripture calls angels sons of God in Gen. 6:2 and the sons of Adam, the daughters of men.  See teaching Sons Of God.

In his second epistle to the Corinthians, the apostle resumes the theme, and we give below the two references to 'the image' in this second letter:

'But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord' (2 Cor. 3:18).

'In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, Who is the image of God, should shine unto them' (2 Cor. 4:4).

How many know and preach this Gospel? How many realize that the announcement that 'Christ is the image of God' is the 'Gospel of the Glory of Christ.' and the subject of Satan's attacks from the beginning? Before the world was, the Lord Jesus Christ had this 'Glory' (John 17:5), and it was the subject of Satanic opposition, as we learn from Ezekiel 28. It was 'shadowed forth' in the creation of man and attacked by the Serpent in the garden of Eden (Gen. 3). It was 'veiled' by the god of this age, as explained in 2 Corinthians 3 and 4, and is the goal towards which the purpose of the ages is directed. The central section of Romans (5:12 to 8:39) opens with Adam, a failing figure of Him that was to come, and closes with the goal of God's great purpose: 'for whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son' (Rom. 8:29).

The climax of revelation in connection with 'the Image' is found in Colossians:

'His dear Son ... Who is the Image of the Invisible God' (Col. 1:13-15).

When Christ, Who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory ... and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the Image of Him that created him (Col. 3:4, Col. 3:10).

Here, both in Colossians 1 and 3, the 'image' is connected with creation. Moreover, Colossians 1:16 makes it clear that the Son was the Creator in Genesis 1:26 and that Adam foreshadowed in some way yet to be considered, 'Him that was to come,' 'the last Adam.'

Returning to Genesis 1:26, we must now consider the added clause 'after our likeness' (demuth). The LXX Version translates this by kath homoiosin, which we may compare with the apostle's use of the word when speaking to the Athenians in Acts 17:29. Once a man believes in Christ, the following is true.

‘Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like (homoios) unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device' (Acts 17:29).

Isaiah also challenges us with the question:

'To whom then will ye liken (damah, see demuth above) God?' (Isa. 40:18).

And Ethan says:

'Who in the heaven can be compared unto the LORD? Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened (damah) unto the LORD?' (Psa. 89:6).

Nevertheless, it is true that man was made after the likeness of God, and in James 3, we read, concerning the tongue:

'Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude (homoiosis) of God' (James 3:9).

The prophet Hosea uses the word damah when speaking of the way in which God had condescended to use figures of speech:

'I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets' (Hos. 12:10).

During His public ministry, the Lord Himself used many similitudes, for example:

'The kingdom of heaven is like (homoios) unto treasure' (Matt. 13:44).
'Unto what is the kingdom of God like?' (Luke 13:18).
'Whereunto shall I liken this generation?' (Matt. 11:16).

Adam was to God what a figure of speech is to thought, a symbol, an analogy, a type. When Nebuchadnezzar saw in a dream the successive kingdoms of Gentile rule in the form of an image, neither he nor Daniel ever imagined that such kingdoms were actually 'like' the image itself, but simply that this image and its peculiar construction 'shadowed forth' in symbol the moral characteristics of the kingdoms concerned. So, in Genesis 1:26, there is no question of external resemblance. Whether seen in the frail type of Adam or in the glorious person of the Son of God, the 'image and likeness' are never to be understood as physical.

How far, and in what direction, was Adam intended to shadow forth God Himself? How far was he, as a creature, able to represent Deity? What limits can be set? The reader will no doubt be acquainted with the two extreme answers to these questions. There are some who will not allow the image and likeness to be anything more than physical, while there are others who would deduce from this passage the inherent immortality of the soul. The truth lies mid-way between the two extremes.

'And God said, LET US make man in OUR image, after OUR likeness; and LET THEM have dominion' (Gen. 1:26).

The name 'Adam' is similar to the Hebrew word for 'likeness,' This 'likeness' was expressed in the 'dominion' which was originally conferred upon man. When sin entered into the world, however, resulting in a curse upon the earth, his dominion over the lower creatures was impaired. When Noah, whom we can regard as a sort of second Adam, steps out of the ark into a new world, the word 'dominion' is no longer used, and 'the fear of you and the dread of you' takes its place (Gen. 9:2). Man, however, is still looked upon as being 'in the image of God' (Gen. 9:6), and 'in the likeness of God' (Jas. 3:9). The dominion that was given to Adam was:

'over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth' (Gen. 1:26).

This dominion was a 'shadow' of the greater dominion that was to be exercised by Christ, the true image of God. David, in Psalm 8, sees something of this, and the apostle Paul in the New Testament completes the story:

‘When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained; what is man, that Thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that Thou visitest him? For Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands; Thou hast put all things under his feet: all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas’ (Psalm 8:3-8).

If we turn to the Epistle to the Hebrews, we shall see that Adam foreshadowed Christ. The Creator of Genesis 1:26 is addressed in Psalm 8, and the Psalmist says that 'the heavens are the work of Thy fingers.' Unless we are willing to quibble over the difference between 'fingers' and 'hands,' it is clear that Christ is the Creator in Whose image and likeness Adam was created, for in Hebrews we read:

'And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of Thine hands' (Heb. 1:10).

From Hebrews 1, we proceed to Hebrews 2, where we have Psalm 8 quoted, with the comment:

'For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him' (Heb. 2:8).

This shows that we have passed from the type, whose dominion was over sheep and oxen, to the antitype, whose dominion is overall. The apostle continues:

'But now we see not yet all things put under him. But we see Jesus, Who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man' (Heb. 2:8-9).

This dominion of which Adam's 'likeness' was but a faint shadow is further expanded in Ephesians 1, where we reach the zenith of the revelation of 'the mystery of Christ.' In this Epistle, we are concerned with that section of the 'all things' that is associated with the exalted sphere where Christ sitteth 'far above all heavens' (Eph. 4:10). And so we read:

'He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world (age), but also in that which is to come: and hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all' (Eph. 1:20-23).

With this rapid glance at the relationship between this 'dominion' and 'Mystery,' let us turn back now to 1 Corinthians 15 to see one further application of the passage:

'Then cometh the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For He hath put all things under His feet. But when He saith all things are put under Him, it is manifest that He is excepted, which did put all things under Him. And when all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him that put all things under Him, that God may be all in all' (1 Cor. 15:24-28).

This goal of the ages is the fulfillment of the pledge shadowed forth in the creation of Adam.

We must now return to Genesis 1:26 in order to investigate what is actually implied by the word 'dominion.' There are various possible alternatives that are not used in this passage. The word used here is not baal, 'to have dominion as lord and proprietor' (Isa. 26:13), nor mashal, 'to reign as a governor or a superior' (Judges 14:4), nor shalat, 'to rule' (Psa. 119:133), but radah, 'to tread down, to subdue.' The following are three passages in which this particular word occurs:

'They that hate you shall reign over you' (Lev. 26:17).
'With force and with cruelty have ye ruled' (Ezek. 34:4).
'Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies' (Psa. 110:2).

These references indicate something of the nature of this particular type of dominion, particularly the passage from Psalm 110, which is Messianic and speaks of the Day of the Lord. The Psalm goes on to speak of the Lord 'striking through kings,' 'filling places with dead bodies,' and 'wounding the heads over many countries' (Psa. 110:5-6). This conception of dominion is carried over into Genesis 1:28, where we read:

'Replenish the earth, and subdue it,'

The word 'subdue' is a translation of the Hebrew cabash, and its significance may be gathered from the fact that its substantival form means a 'footstool' (2 Chron. 9:18). In Nehemiah 5:5, it is rendered 'to bring into bondage'; and it is the word used by the King when he exclaims of Haman, 'Will he force the Queen?' (Est. 7:8). The word is also used for the conquest of Canaan under Joshua (Josh. 18:1), a subjugation whose rigor there is no need to quote chapter and verse to prove.

The LXX translates the word ‘subdue’ by kata kurieuo, meaning 'to rule imperiously,' 'to lord it over,' and 'to get the mastery.' Its occurrences in the New Testament will give further light on its meaning:

'Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them' (Matt. 20:25, see also Mark 10:42).
'The man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them' (Acts 19:16).
'Neither as being lords over God's heritage' (1 Pet. 5:3).

The creation of Adam, his very name, and the dominion given to him all foreshadowed the subduing of all enemies beneath the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ. An enemy is most certainly in view in Genesis 1:26-28, and in Chapter 3, he is revealed - 'that old serpent, called the Devil and Satan' (Rev. 12:9).

Men talk about redemption from sins;  What they need is redemption from the claims of death and the grave (hell). This redemption is available, and thus, man can become a son of God, but only on the terms of faith. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Man has invented other ways, but they are useless.

The one who redeems must be a kinsman. Christ is the Kinsman Redeemer set forth in the types of the OT. To be a child of God, one must receive Christ (John 1:12).

Ephesians 5:30

For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

From the creation of Adam up to the scattering of the nations at Babel, all were members of that particular group. There were families or sub-divisions, but none had the preeminence. There were 70 of these nations, as you will find in Genesis 10:1-32. But these were given up as recorded in Romans 1:18-32 and Genesis 11:9, where they were scattered abroad.

But there arose at that time, probably the very year that the tongues were twisted, a man chosen to be the head of a new nation which would be a blessing someday to the nations who were given up at that time. That was Abram of Ur of the Chaldees. This blessing was transmitted through Isaac, Jacob, the twelve patriarchs, and finally, Christ, the son of David (of the tribe of Judah). So then, those who were children of these patriarchs were members of God's chosen people, Israel. It was a blood relationship, not political. But finally, at the end of Acts, Israel, the wife, was divorced. And then began a long period of time when no nations were blessed through the only channel, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

So, at the present time, God is not working in any way with a nation or the nations. He has no earthly purpose. His family today consists of those who have been accepted in the Beloved, adopted as sons, and members of The Church, which is The Body of Christ. The purpose today had been a secret or mystery hidden for ages and generations until revealed by the apostle Paul. And instead of blessings here on the earth, it has to do with blessings in The Heavenly Places. So then, instead of there being an earth program today, it is entirely concerned with The Heavenly Places.

There is nothing to do to become a member except to believe the record. In other words, it takes faith. And since the program is on the basis of grace and not of worth, it is a grace by faith salvation as it says in Ephesians 2:8-10, For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Do not mix this with an earthly calling, which has nothing to do with Heavenly Places but with life on earth. Resurrection as a result of this life is not described or even mentioned. There is no group or nation to join. No membership. But there is no bar to anyone accepting The Truth of The Dispensation of The Mystery and becoming a member of The Church, which is His Body. And, of course, many over the years have done that very thing. In fact, it is not very likely that many will be members of The Church except via the message of Life in John's Gospel. But we leave the decision on this point up to you. Our main concern is, Are you a member of The Body?

2 Timothy 3:15

And that from a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures,
which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 

There seem to be three choices left to people in regard to the matter of spiritual education. This applies whether it be the education of children or adults.

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