He who descended is the very One who ascended above all the heavens, in order to fill all things.
Parallel translations
- WEB He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.
- KJV He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)
- NKJV He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)
- NASB He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.)
- NLT And the same one who descended is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens, so that he might fill the entire universe with himself.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The Christ who descended has now ascended above all the heavens so that he might fill all things. His exaltation is total and his reign universal.
Overview
Paul completes the descent-ascent contrast: the humbled Savior is now exalted to the highest place. His purpose 'that he might fill all things' speaks of his sovereign presence and lordship over the whole creation and his church. From this position of cosmic supremacy he pours out the gifts described in the verses that follow.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 23
- Heb 7:26Such a high priest truly befits us—One who is holy, innocent, undefiled, set apart from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.
- Heb 4:14Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we profess.
- Eph 1:20–23which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms,
- Col 2:9For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form.
- Heb 9:23–24So it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
- 1 Tim 3:16By common confession, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was proclaimed among the nations, was believed in throughout the world, was taken up in glory.
- Matt 24:34Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have happened.
- Col 1:19For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him,
- Acts 1:9After He had said this, they watched as He was taken up, and a cloud hid Him from their sight.
- Rom 15:9–13so that the Gentiles may glorify God for His mercy. As it is written: “Therefore I will praise You among the Gentiles; I will sing hymns to Your name.”
- Eph 3:19of the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
- Heb 8:1The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven,
- Acts 13:32–33And now we proclaim to you the good news: What God promised our fathers
- John 19:24So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it. Instead, let us cast lots to see who will get it.” This was to fulfill the Scripture: “They divided My garments among them, and cast lots for My clothing.” So that is what the soldiers did.
- John 1:16From His fullness we have all received grace upon grace.
- Acts 2:33Exalted, then, to the right hand of God, He has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.
- John 19:36Now these things happened so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of His bones will be broken.”
- Acts 3:18But in this way God has fulfilled what He foretold through all the prophets, saying that His Christ would suffer.
- John 19:28After this, knowing that everything had now been accomplished, and to fulfill the Scripture, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.”
- Acts 1:11“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.”
- Luke 24:44Jesus said to them, “These are the words I spoke to you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms.”
- Rom 16:25–26Now to Him who is able to strengthen you by my gospel and by the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery concealed for ages past
- Rom 9:25–30As He says in Hosea: “I will call them ‘My People’ who are not My people, and I will call her ‘My Beloved’ who is not My beloved,”
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Christ at the center
Every spiritual blessing is 'in Christ,' the head over all things for the church, in whom Jew and Gentile are made one new man by his blood.
How Ephesians 4:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.