<p>1:21 <i>Far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this world but also in that which is to come</i>- Just as the Lord Jesus is far above all human governments and dominions, so the persecuted believers in Ephesus should remember that whilst not 'above the law', they were spiritually in a sphere far above all the authorities who were persecuting them. &quot;Far above&quot; translates yet another superlative; <i>huperano</i> is literally 'above the upper things'. And Ephesians 1 is full of such <i>hyper</i> and <i>mega</i> words, mixed with powerful adjectives; all seeking to demonstrate the huge force available to us and operative within us. The terms for rule, authority, power, dominion and names could allude to the Judaist tendency to elevate the worship of Angels, and to consider some &quot;names to be named&quot; as greater even than Messiah. Recall how the Lord had to demonstrate that David considered Messiah to be his &quot;lord&quot; (Lk. 20:44), because the Jews considered the &quot;son of David&quot; to be less than David, and certainly inferior to Moses. This would explain why the name of the risen Lord Jesus is to be understood as greater than any name in the world which is to come, i.e. the Kingdom age.</p>