Under His Feet, Above Your Problems

The Chain Paul Builds

Ephesians 1:20–23 is one long sentence in the Greek, and it is best read as a single movement upward. Paul says God raised Christ from the dead, seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, put Him far above all principality and power and might and dominion, put all things under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church.

Then the final clause, which is where the argument lands: "which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all" (Ephesians 1:23).

The church is called His body. Not His audience, not His fan club, not His distant subjects. His body.

Legal Position — where and who you are before God's throne in Christ — is the whole subject of this passage. The Authority of the Believer — the right to stand in His name — is what a body does with a head that has been given all authority. Spiritual Warfare — the conflict over what you will believe and say — is the space where the position is either confessed or forgotten.

Think of a footstool in an ancient throne room. The king's enemies are depicted as the block beneath his feet, and the block is not merely low; it is furniture. Nobody in the room asks the footstool whether it agrees. Its position was decided by the one seated on the throne.

Two Ways to Read the Feet

Here is the place where careful reading pays off, because there are two errors available and both are common.

The first error is to read the verse as though you had put the problem under your feet. That is not what Ephesians says, and it never does. It says all things are under His feet. The strength of your position is not the strength of your standing; it is whose body you are. A hand does not defeat an enemy independently of the head; the hand is dangerous because of what the head has decided.

The second error is to read the verse as though the position were reserved for a future age only. Paul is writing to ordinary believers in a city full of idols, and his prayer in Ephesians 1:18–19 is precisely that the eyes of their understanding would be opened to what is already theirs. If it were only future, there would be nothing to see now.

Set them side by side and the gap shows. One believer reads Ephesians 1 as a description of Christ's honour and hopes it becomes true of him one day. Another reads it as a description of Christ's honour and then looks down at his own feet to find the problem already there.

Why the Body Matters

The body language is not decoration, and it is worth pressing hard on it.

In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul uses the body image to teach mutual dependence — the eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of thee" (1 Corinthians 12:21). Here in Ephesians, the same image carries a different point: the body shares the head's position. Both are true, and they fit together. You share His position, and you need His other members.

That second half may be the most practical thing in this teaching. The believer who tries to stand against a difficulty alone, disconnected from the gathered church, is a hand cut off from the arm and insisting it can still grip. The position is shared and so is the standing.

There is a further implication. If the church is His body, then the way the world most often meets the feet of Christ is through the ordinary kindness, courage, and testimony of believers. When you pray for a broken situation and feel entirely inadequate, remember what the body is for. It is not a display of the members' strength. It is the presence of the head in a room.

The Feet and the Footstool in Ordinary Life

The image was not given to believers so they could feel grand in prayer meetings. It was given so that they could walk into rooms.

Consider a diagnosis that arrived last week with a name and a timeline. It is very tall. It appears to occupy the whole horizon, and it does not care about the truth of Ephesians 1:22. But height is not position. A mountain is tall and still stands at sea level. The question for a mountain is not "how high are you?" but "where are you standing?"

That is not a denial of the problem and it is not a refusal to name it honestly. It is a statement about what the problem is standing on.

What This Means for You

1. Stop measuring the problem by its height. Every difficulty presents itself in terms of size, urgency, and threat. Those are all horizontal measures. The verse gives you a vertical one: what is under whose feet. Ask that question about the thing that frightened you this week.

2. Come to the problem through the head, not around it. The authority to stand is Christ's, and it reaches you because you belong to Him. A believer who tries to generate boldness independently of Christ is a hand trying to be a head. Praying in the Name is not a formula; it is the body speaking through the head's authority.

3. Stay attached to the body on purpose. The position is shared with every member, and so is the strength. Isolation is not humility, and it is not a strategy. Whoever you are facing, tell at least one other member of the body what you are facing.

4. Refuse to lower the problem to a slogan. "It is under His feet" is easy to say, and difficult on the second sleepless night. Say it anyway, and say it without pretending. Faith is not the denial of a situation; it is a verdict about the situation's position.

5. Let Faith and Wisdom know their own jobs. Faith stands on the position. Wisdom builds the road out of the trouble — the phone call that should be made, the debt that must be repaid, the medical advice that should be taken, the apology that must be spoken. Faith and wisdom work together; a footstool truth never excuses a lazy hand.

Putting It to Work This Week

• Read Ephesians 1:15–23 in one sitting and underline every phrase that begins with "hath put," "set," or "gave."
• Write your current problem at the top of a page, and underneath write the one verse that speaks to exactly that fear.
• Pray through Psalm 110:1 once a day and let the phrase "footstool" correct your horizon.
• Tell one member of the body what you are facing.