Ephesians 1:20 says that the same power God used to raise Jesus from the dead also set him in the place of highest honor in heaven, at God’s right hand. Paul wrote this as part of a prayer for the believers in Ephesus, asking that they would grasp how immense the power working for them really is. The verse is not a stray thought. It is the climax of a long sentence in which Paul tries to describe God’s strength in terms small enough for a human mind to hold.
Which he worked 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 (WEB)
What Ephesians 1:20 Means
The verse begins by naming the source of the power: God himself, working through his own strength. Paul calls it “that working of the strength of his might,” piling up words for power because ordinary language struggles to contain it. Then he points to a specific event. God used this power “in Christ” when he raised him from the dead, and then made him sit at his right hand in the heavenly places. Sitting at the right hand was a picture of shared authority and royal honor in the ancient world.
What the verse does not do is tell you how the power will feel in your own circumstances. It does not promise that every prayer will be answered in the way you hope or that hardship will disappear. Its claim is narrower and firmer: the power that defeated death and exalted Jesus is the same power Paul says is at work for believers. The verse describes a fact about God’s strength, and the comfort comes from trusting that fact.
The Context of Ephesians 1:20
Ephesians is traditionally attributed to Paul, written while he was in prison, and addressed to a community of Christians in and around Ephesus, a major city in western Asia Minor. Its first half is mostly a celebration of what God has done in Christ, from choosing believers before the creation of the world to bringing them into one family. Verses 17 through 19 are a prayer that the readers would have wisdom and see clearly the hope they have been called to and the greatness of God’s power toward them.
Verses 21 through 23 continue the thought without a break. Christ is placed far above every ruling power and authority, and God has put all things under his feet and given him as head over the church, which is his body. Read this way, verse 20 is the hinge of the argument. The resurrection and exaltation of Jesus are the proof of the power Paul has been praising, and that power is the reason Christ now has authority over everything, including the church.
Key Phrases in Ephesians 1:20
Psalm 110:1
The LORD says to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool for your feet.”
(WEB)
This psalm is the Old Testament source behind the image of Christ seated at God’s right hand. Reading it alongside Ephesians 1:20 shows how the New Testament writers saw the risen Jesus as the fulfillment of the king God promised to exalt.
Romans 8:11
But if the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
(WEB)
Paul makes a similar point here, linking the Spirit who dwells in believers with the power that raised Jesus from the dead. It shows that the resurrection power described in Ephesians is not only a past event but a living force at work in those who belong to Christ.
A Short Prayer From Ephesians 1:20
Father, you are the God whose strength raised Jesus from the dead and seated him in the place of highest honor. Some days I feel small and my problems feel very large, so I ask you to open my eyes to the power you have already shown. Remind me that the same strength is working toward those who trust you. Help me rest in what you have done rather than in my own ability to control what happens next. Let that trust shape how I pray, how I decide, and how I treat the people around me. Amen.
