Ephesians 3:15 Study Bible: from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,

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◄ Ephesians 3:15 ►

from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.

from whom
This phrase refers back to the previous verse, identifying God the Father as the source. In the Greek, "ex hou" indicates origin or source. This highlights the divine authority and sovereignty of God as the ultimate originator of all creation. In a conservative Christian perspective, this underscores the belief in God as the Creator and Sustainer of all things, emphasizing His omnipotence and omnipresence.

every family
The Greek word for "family" here is "patria," which can also mean lineage or tribe. This term suggests a broader understanding of family, encompassing not just immediate relatives but entire lineages and communities. Historically, this reflects the ancient world's view of family as an extended network, which is significant in understanding the communal nature of early Christian communities. It also implies that all human and spiritual families find their origin in God, reinforcing the unity and interconnectedness of all creation under His fatherhood.

in heaven and on earth
This phrase expands the scope of God's fatherhood to include both the celestial and terrestrial realms. "In heaven" refers to the spiritual beings, such as angels, while "on earth" pertains to human families. The duality here emphasizes the comprehensive nature of God's dominion and care. From a conservative Christian viewpoint, this affirms the belief in a spiritual realm that is as real and significant as the physical world, and it highlights the inclusivity of God's family, transcending physical and spiritual boundaries.

derives its name
The Greek word "onomazetai" means to be named or called. In biblical times, names were deeply significant, often reflecting character or destiny. To derive a name from God implies receiving identity, purpose, and authority from Him. This concept is rooted in the belief that God imparts identity and meaning to all creation. In a conservative Christian context, this underscores the idea that true identity and purpose are found in relationship with God, who names and claims His creation as His own.

Persons / Places / Events

1. Paul the Apostle
The author of the letter to the Ephesians, writing to the church in Ephesus to encourage and instruct them in their faith.

2. Ephesus
A major city in Asia Minor, known for its diverse population and the Temple of Artemis. It was a significant center for early Christianity.

3. The Church
The body of believers in Ephesus and, by extension, all Christians who are recipients of Paul's teachings.

4. Heaven and Earth
Represents the entirety of creation, both the spiritual realm and the physical world.

5. Families
Refers to all groups or lineages, emphasizing the unity and origin of all creation under God.

Teaching Points

Unity in Creation
Recognize that all families, both spiritual and physical, have their origin in God. This should foster a sense of unity and equality among believers.

Identity in Christ
Our true identity and purpose are derived from God. Understanding this can help us live with confidence and purpose.

Spiritual Family
As believers, we are part of a larger spiritual family that transcends earthly boundaries. This should encourage us to love and support one another.

God's Sovereignty
Acknowledge God's authority over all creation. This understanding should lead us to trust in His plan and purpose for our lives.

Prayer for Understanding
Pray for a deeper understanding of our identity in Christ and the unity we share with all believers.

Bible Study Questions

1. How does understanding that every family derives its name from God impact your view of other people, both within and outside the church?

2. In what ways can recognizing our identity in Christ help us overcome feelings of inadequacy or insecurity?

3. How can the concept of a spiritual family influence the way we interact with fellow believers?

4. What are some practical steps you can take to promote unity within your local church community?

5. How does acknowledging God's sovereignty over all creation affect your daily decision-making and trust in His plans?

Connections to Other Scriptures

Genesis 1:27
This verse connects to the idea of God as the Creator of all humanity, emphasizing that every family derives its origin from Him.

Philippians 2:9-11
Highlights the authority of Jesus' name, under which every knee should bow, connecting to the idea of deriving identity and purpose from God.

Acts 17:26
Paul speaks about God creating all nations from one man, reinforcing the unity and common origin of all families.

Sermons

Family Relationship	J. Pulsford.	Ephesians 3:15
Glorification	Dr. Jarbo.	Ephesians 3:15
Home Relations -- What is Home	Dean Vaughan.	Ephesians 3:15
No Part in the Family	C. H. Spurgeon.	Ephesians 3:15
One Family in Heaven and Earth	A. Raleigh, D. D.	Ephesians 3:15
Paternal Government	J. Pulsford.	Ephesians 3:15
Saints in Heaven and Earth One Family	C. H. Spurgeon.	Ephesians 3:15
The Christian Brotherhood of Man	E. L. Hull, B. A.	Ephesians 3:15
The Christian Church a Family	F. W. Robertson, M. A.	Ephesians 3:15
The Christian Family	E. Henderson.	Ephesians 3:15
The Christian Family	Dr. Thomas.	Ephesians 3:15
The Christian Family	W. Graham, D. D.	Ephesians 3:15
The Communion of Saints	H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, M. A.	Ephesians 3:15
The Divine Family	J. Burns, D. D.	Ephesians 3:15
The Divine Family	W. Anderson, LL. D.	Ephesians 3:15
The Family Bond	Gibbon.	Ephesians 3:15
The Family in Heaven and Earth	J. Lathrop, D. D.	Ephesians 3:15
The Family in Heaven and Earth	A. K. H. Boyd, D. D.	Ephesians 3:15
The Family in Heaven and in Earth	T. Croskery	Ephesians 3:15
The Father and the Family	B. H. McKim, D. D.	Ephesians 3:15
The Royal Family	C. H. Spurgeon.	Ephesians 3:15
The Source of Fatherhood	J. Pulsford.	Ephesians 3:15
The Unity of Heaven and Earth in God	R. W. Dale, LL. D.	Ephesians 3:15
The Unity of the Family of God	Hugh Stowell, M. A.	Ephesians 3:15
the Whole Family'	Alexander Maclaren	Ephesians 3:15
The Whole Family in Heaven	J. C. Innes, Ph. D.	Ephesians 3:15
The Whole Family in Heaven		Ephesians 3:15
The Whole Family in Heaven and Earth	J. Parsons.	Ephesians 3:15
The Whole Family on Earth	G. Brooks.	Ephesians 3:15
A Prayer on Behalf of the Ephesian Christians	R. Finlayson	Ephesians 3:14-19
Intercessory Prayer	D. Thomas	Ephesians 3:14-19
The Great Mystery of the Love of Christ	W.F. Adeny	Ephesians 3:14-19
A Pattern of Prayer	Canon Vernon Hutton.	Ephesians 3:14-21
An Ascending Prayer	A. G. Brown.	Ephesians 3:14-21
Christian Prayer	G. Brooks.	Ephesians 3:14-21
Kneeling		Ephesians 3:14-21
Kneeling in Prayer		Ephesians 3:14-21
Paul's Prayer for the Ephesian Christians	J. C. Brown, LL. D.	Ephesians 3:14-21
Prayer a Self-Revelation	A. G. Brown.	Ephesians 3:14-21
St. Paul's Example as to Prayer	Paul Bayne.	Ephesians 3:14-21
St. Paul's Prayer for Gentile Christians	A. F. Muir, M. A.	Ephesians 3:14-21
The Christian Brotherhood - Paul's Second Prayer	R.M. Edgar	Ephesians 3:14-21
The Christian Temple: its Material and Magnitude	A. J. Parry.	Ephesians 3:14-21
The Ladder of Prayer	C. H. Spurgeon.	Ephesians 3:14-21
The Top of the Ladder	C. H. Spurgeon.	Ephesians 3:14-21

People

Ephesians, Paul

Places

Ephesus

Topics

Derives, Family, Heaven, Heavens, Named

Dictionary of Bible Themes

Ephesians 3:15

     2303   Christ, as creator
     5682   family, significance
     7024   church, nature of
     8117   discipleship, benefits
     8310   morality, and creation

Ephesians 3:14-15

1040 God, fatherhood
8658 Lord's Prayer

Ephesians 3:14-17

2018 Christ, divinity

Ephesians 3:14-19

4504 roots
6756 union with Christ, significance

Ephesians 3:14-21

8611 prayer, for others

Library

April 15. "Rooted and Grounded in Love" (Eph. Iii. 17).
"Rooted and grounded in love" (Eph. iii. 17). There is a very singular shrub, which grows abundantly in the west, and is to be found in all parts of Texas. It is no less than the "mosquito tree." It is a very slim, and willowy looking shrub, and would seem to be of little use for any industrial purposes; but is has extraordinary roots growing like great timbers underground, and possessing such qualities of endurance in all situations that it is used and very highly valued for good pavements. The …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

August 28. "According to the Power that Worketh in Us" (Eph. Iii. 20).
"According to the power that worketh in us" (Eph. iii. 20). When we reach the place of union with God, through the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, we come into the inheritance of external blessing and enter upon the land of our possession. Then our physical health and strength come to us through the power of our interior life; then the prayer is fulfilled, that we shall be in health and prosper, as our soul prospereth. Then, with the kingdom of God and His righteousness within us, all things are added …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity Paul's Care and Prayer for the Church.
Text: Ephesians 3, 13-21. 13. Wherefore I ask that ye may not faint at my tribulations for you, which are your glory. 14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 and that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, that ye may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inward man; 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; to the end that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be strong …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. III

'The Whole Family'
'The whole family in heaven and earth.'--Eph. iii. 15. Grammatically, we are driven to recognise that the Revised Version is more correct than the Authorised, when it reads 'every family,' instead of 'the whole family.' There is in the expression no reference to the thought, however true it is in itself, that the redeemed in heaven and the believers on earth make up but one family. The thought rather is, that, as has been said, 'the father makes the family,' and if any community of intelligent beings, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, Peter,John

Strengthened with Might
'That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory; to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man.'--Eph. iii. 16. In no part of Paul's letters does he rise to a higher level than in his prayers, and none of his prayers are fuller of fervour than this wonderful series of petitions. They open out one into the other like some majestic suite of apartments in a great palace-temple, each leading into a loftier and more spacious hall, each drawing nearer the presence-chamber, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, Peter,John

The Indwelling Christ
'That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; ye being rooted and grounded in love.'--Eph. iii. 17. We have here the second step of the great staircase by which Paul's fervent desires for his Ephesian friends climbed towards that wonderful summit of his prayers--which is ever approached, never reached,--'that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.' Two remarks of an expository character will prepare the way for the lessons of these verses. The first is as to the relation of this clause …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, Peter,John

The Paradox of Love's Measure
The breadth, and length, and depth, and height.'--Eph. iii. 18. Of what? There can, I think, be no doubt as to the answer. The next clause is evidently the continuation of the idea begun in that of our text, and it runs: 'And to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge.' It is the immeasurable measure, then; the boundless bounds and dimensions of the love of Christ which fire the Apostle's thoughts here. Of course, he had no separate idea in his mind attaching to each of these measures …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, Peter,John

The Climax of all Prayer
'That ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.'--Eph. iii. 19. The Apostle's many-linked prayer, which we have been considering in successive sermons, has reached its height. It soars to the very Throne of God. There can be nothing above or beyond this wonderful petition. Rather, it might seem as if it were too much to ask, and as if, in the ecstasy of prayer, Paul had forgotten the limits that separate the creature from the Creator, as well as the experience of sinful and imperfect men, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, Peter,John

Love Unknowable and Known
'That ye ... may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge.'--Eph. iii. 18, 19. This constitutes the third of the petitions in this great prayer of Paul's, each of which, as we have had occasion to see in former sermons, rises above, and is a consequence of the preceding, and leads on to, and is a cause or occasion of the subsequent one. The two former petitions have been for inward strength …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, Peter,John

Measureless Power and Endless Glory
'Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21. Unto Him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.'--Eph. iii. 20, 21. One purpose and blessing of faithful prayer is to enlarge the desires which it expresses, and to make us think more loftily of the grace to which we appeal. So the Apostle, in the wonderful series of supplications which precedes the text, has found his …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, Peter,John

The Christian Church a Family.
Preached January 11, 1852. THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH A FAMILY. "Our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named."--Ephesians iii. 14, 15. In the verses immediately before the text the Apostle Paul has been speaking of what he calls a mystery--that is, a revealed secret. And the secret was this, that the Gentiles would be "fellow-heirs and of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ by the gospel." It had been kept secret from the former ages and generations; …
Frederick W. Robertson—Sermons Preached at Brighton

The Measure of the Cross
EPHESIANS iii. 18, 19. That ye may be able to comprehend with all saints, what is the breadth and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge. These words are very deep, and difficult to understand; for St. Paul does not tell us exactly of what he is speaking. He does not say what it is, the breadth and length, and depth, and height of which we are to comprehend and take in. Only he tells us afterwards what will come of our taking it in; we shall know the …
Charles Kingsley—The Good News of God

Past Knowledge.
(Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity.) EPHESIANS iii. 19. "To know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge." There are some things which no earthly school can teach us, no earthly science explain. Science can do very much, it has done marvellous things, and will do still more. Men can work now with ease such wonders as would have sent them to the fire as wizards three hundred years ago. Science can calculate the exact time of an eclipse ages before the time, science can connect two worlds with the …
H. J. Wilmot-Buxton—The Life of Duty, a Year's Plain Sermons, v. 2

First Day for the Power of the Holy Spirit
WHAT TO PRAY.--For the Power of the Holy Spirit "I bow my knees unto the Father, that He would grant you that ye may be strengthened with power through His Spirit."--EPH. iii. 16. "Wait for the promise of the Father."--ACTS i. 4. "The fuller manifestation of the grace and energy of the Blessed Spirit of God, in the removal of all that is contrary to God's revealed will, so that we grieve not the Holy Spirit, but that He may work in mightier power in the Church, for the exaltation of Christ and …
Andrew Murray—The Ministry of Intercession

Strength and Indwelling.
"For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of Whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that …
W. H. Griffith Thomas—The Prayers of St. Paul

The Love of Christ.
THE Patience of Christ was recently the object of our meditation in these pages. Blessed and inexhaustible it is. And now a still greater theme is before our hearts. The Love of Christ. The heart almost shrinks from attempting to write on the matchless, unfathomable love of our blessed and adorable Lord. All the Saints of God who have spoken and written on the Love of Christ have never told out its fulness and vastness, its heights and its depths. "The Love of Christ which passeth knowledge" (Ephesians …
Arno Gaebelein—The Lord of Glory

The Holy Spirit Forming Christ Within Us.
It is a wonderful and deeply significant prayer that Paul offers in Eph. iii. 16-19 for the believers in Ephesus and for all believers who read the Epistle. Paul writes, "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, that ye may be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inward man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; to the end that ye, being rooted and …
R. A. Torrey—The Person and Work of The Holy Spirit

"Love that Passeth Knowledge. "
"To know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge." (Ephesians iii. 19.) If I could only make men understand the real meaning of the words of the apostle John--"God is love," I would take that single text, and would go up and down the world proclaiming this glorious truth. If you can convince a man that you love him you have won his heart. If we really make people believe that God loves them, how we should find them crowding into the kingdom of heaven! The trouble is that men think God hates them; …
Dwight L. Moody—The Way to God and How to Find It

Another Archbishop
Paul did not say, Let everyone desire the episcopate. It is a work, not a relaxation; a solicitude, not a luxury; a responsible ministration, not an irresponsible dominion; a fatherly supervision, not a tyrannical autocracy.--Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. iii. 216. Nectarius, then, on September 27, 397, lay dead in his splendid palace; and the breath was hardly out of the Archbishop's body when there were a dozen austere intriguers' in the field, and the subterranean plots and whisperings began, and the …
Frederic William Farrar—Gathering Clouds: A Tale of the Days of St. Chrysostom

His Dwelling-Place
T. S. M. Eph. iii. 17 Thou knewest not where to lay Thy head; When over the twilight sea The birds of the mountains homeward sped, There was no home for Thee. But God had prepared for the weary feet A home when the toil was past, And there, in His chamber still and sweet, O Lord, Thou shouldst rest at last. A Home to be won by deadly fight, The price to be paid in blood-- Oh where is that palace of fair delight, That glorious Home of God? The City that hath foundations shone To Abram's eyes of …
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen, Suso, and Others

The Apology of Rufinus.
Addressed to Apronianus, in Reply to Jerome's Letter to Pammachius, [2814] Written at Aquileia a.d. 400. In Two Books. In order to understand the controversy between Jerome and Rufinus it is necessary to look back over their earlier relations. They had been close friends in early youth (Jerome, Ep. iii, 3, v, 2.) and had together formed part of a society of young Christian ascetics at Aquileia in the years 370-3. Jerome's letter (3) to Rufinus in 374 is full of affection; in 381 he was placed in …
Various—Life and Works of Rufinus with Jerome's Apology Against Rufinus.

Whether Only a Bishop Can Confer this Sacrament?
Objection 1: It seems that not only a bishop can confer this sacrament. For Gregory (Regist. iv), writing to Bishop Januarius, says: "We hear that some were scandalized because we forbade priests to anoint with chrism those who have been baptized. Yet in doing this we followed the ancient custom of our Church: but if this trouble some so very much we permit priests, where no bishop is to be had, to anoint the baptized on the forehead with chrism." But that which is essential to the sacraments should …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

"And if Christ be in You, the Body is Dead Because of Sin; but the Spirit is Life Because of Righteousness. "
Rom. viii. 10.--"And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness." God's presence is his working. His presence in a soul by his Spirit is his working in such a soul in some special manner, not common to all men, but peculiar to them whom he hath chosen. Now his dwelling is nothing else but a continued, familiar and endless working in a soul, till he hath conformed all within to the image of his Son. The soul is the office house, or workhouse, …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

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