The Summation of All Things in Christ

Studies in Ephesians with a Local Church Emphasis

Lesson 77 : The Descent of Christ part 2 : Christ Descended into Hades  (4:8-9)

Why even bother with the different interpretations of these verses?  –  Those supporting the two main differing theories: Christ descended into hades vs. Christ descended in the incarnation  –  How did Paul use the genitive ‘of the earth’?  –  THEORY: Christ descended into Hades  –  ‘down to the underworld’ was a common understanding of hades  –  Paul follows Christ from the highest heaven to the lowest parts  –  if Paul had meant ‘descent to the earth’, he could have said it much clearer  –  this view provides a reference to Christ’s death which is missing in this passage  –  Ephesians has no reference to the incarnation  –  if the reference is to the incarnation, it does not cover the key point of the doctrine  –  Jesus told the dying thief that he would be in paradise, not heaven  –  Paul’s point is therefore that Christ’s triumph extends to the farthest extents of creation