Undercover Boss: Christ Reigns Above It All

Introduction

You've probably seen the show "Undercover Boss." An executive disguises himself, changes his look, invents a new name, and goes to work among his employees. Nobody recognizes him. So tongues start wagging: some complain, others reveal a hidden struggle, still others show a dedication nobody had noticed. And the boss sees it all, hears it all, in the silence of his anonymity.

This Momentum sermon on Ephesians 1:20-23, continuing a series on Ephesians that Pastor Mike began, starts from this image to tell you about a King whose authority is absolute, universal, eternal, and whom the world still fails to recognize. Paul walks you through three movements: what God did in Christ, what that means for every power that claims to rule over you, and what that changes, concretely, for you who are part of his church.

Message Outline

1. What God did: the resurrection as a historical fact

• Paul writes: "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." The power he was describing the week before (verses 15-19) isn't abstract. It has a face, it has a name, it has a history.
• The resurrection isn't an idea, a metaphor, or a nice story. It's a specific event. And it's the hinge on which the entire Christian faith turns. Paul says it plainly in 1 Corinthians 15:14: "If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith also is in vain."
• Paul isn't saying we'd simply lose a beautiful story to tell ourselves. He's saying: if this isn't true, then everything collapses, faith, forgiveness, hope. Nothing is left.
• Take a moment to weigh what's being said here. In every culture, death is the ultimate boundary. Even children know that what is dead doesn't come back, that what is buried stays buried. We call that the ultimate power, the line nobody can cross. And that is exactly the boundary God crossed.
• The preacher quotes Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:18: "the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are dying, but to us who are saved it is the power of God." The same event, two radically opposite readings. For the world: a man dies on a cross one Friday afternoon, outside the walls of Jerusalem, case closed. For you who know the truth: the greatest act in all of human history.
• Theologian B. B. Warfield, who taught at Princeton in the 20th century, wrote that the title Redeemer is the most intimate of all the titles given to Christ. Not first because of what it tells us we've received, but because of what it cost him. Creating the world by speaking is the power of God. Redeeming humanity by dying on the cross is the love of God. Two different things.
• The resurrection isn't just a victory from the past. It's a living reality in every one of those who receive it today.

2. What it means: authority with no limit and no expiration date

• Paul continues: "and made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule, and authority, and power, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come." Three things to notice.
• The posture: Christ is seated. In biblical culture, sitting at the right hand of the King means sharing his authority. But it's also the posture of someone whose work is finished. Remember the Old Testament sanctuary: there was no seat for the high priest inside it, because his work was never done. Sacrifice after sacrifice, day after day, he started over.
• The letter to the Hebrews says it with striking clarity: "Every priest indeed stands day by day serving and offering often the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins, but he, when he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God." (Hebrews 10:11-12) He sat down: the work is finished, the task accomplished, the debt paid. The victory is official and final.
• The scope of his authority. Paul lists: rule, authority, power, dominion. For his Greek and Jewish readers, these words named the powers governing the world and the hidden authorities behind world events.
• Are those powers a thing of the past today? Unfortunately, no. They've simply changed names. Look closely: the algorithm that decides what you think. The market that decides your worth. The fear of others' opinions that decides your choices, right down to daily life. The addiction that decides your schedule. Public opinion that decides what's true for you. If you're honest, you recognize them. They're real, and they weigh on our lives.
• The good news: Christ is above all of that. He isn't competing, he isn't negotiating his place. Colossians 2:15 puts it very directly: "Having stripped the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it." The picture is of a Roman general returning victorious to Rome. He parades through the city, and behind him, prisoners walk in chains. Is there any doubt, watching that scene, about who won? The powers aren't denied (they exist), but they are defeated, exposed, disarmed.
• The duration. This isn't like yogurt or a good vacation: there's no expiration date. No renewable term, no election that changes everything. And this is where the Undercover Boss image comes back. The world keeps going, debating, making laws, building empires, proclaiming human autonomy as if no one else were in charge. Is that out of bad will? Not necessarily. Often, it's simply out of ignorance. The employees on the show aren't bad people; they just don't know it's the boss. But you, walking with Christ, you know.

3. What it changes: the church, the living body of the King

• Verses 22 and 23 make an unexpected move: "He put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things for the assembly, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all." Paul has just described authority with no limit and no expiration date; you'd expect a grand statement about the whole world. But no, he zooms in on something very specific, very local. Local churches.
• This victorious Christ is given to the church. Not to the world in general: to the church, very precisely. And the word "head" isn't first a word of domination, it's a word of union, a word of communion. A head cannot disconnect itself from the rest of the body. What happens to the body, the head feels; what comes from the head, the body receives.
• Later in Ephesians (4:15-16), Paul drives the point home: "but speaking truth in love, we may grow up in all things into him, who is the head, Christ; from whom all the body, being fitted and knit together through that which every joint supplies, according to the working in measure of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love."
• The church, then, isn't a friendly human organization with God as its patron, nor a government sitting atop a nice association. It's a living body of which Christ is the head. A living body, each of you is one, and you know what that means in theory.
• Then comes the phrase in verse 23 that particularly struck the preacher: "the fullness of him who fills all in all." Let it move you. This Christ who reigns over every power, over everything named in this age and forever, dwells in the church. He fills it with the whole of his fullness.
• John Calvin comments on this verse, saying the church is the complement of Christ, as though it were his mystical body without which he would be, in a sense, incomplete. The word is a bit strong (nothing is lacking in God, of course), but God freely chose, out of love, to bind himself to his church so deeply that where it is present, he is the one acting.
• Another passage sheds light on this: 1 John 4:4. John writes to believers facing false teaching and opposing voices: "You are of God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world." These are two sides of the same truth. From the outside, you see the King who reigns over the whole of his domain. From the inside, you see this living God who dwells in every believer personally, directly, intimately.
• This isn't someone you worship from a distance. He lives in you, in your community, in your congregation. That's where everything changes, because it gives meaning to what you experience in the church. It isn't first a program, nor a building (otherwise we wouldn't be together in it), nor even first a group of people who share the same values. It's the place where the victory of Christ becomes visible in the world. Between the already of the resurrection and the not yet of his full glory stands the church, indwelt by a King the world doesn't yet recognize.

4. The day the boss takes off his disguise

• "Undercover Boss" always ends the same way: the boss takes off his disguise, and at that exact moment, everything said or done in front of him takes on a different meaning. The conversations, the confessions, "maybe I went too far…"
• But the good news is that those who worked faithfully, who did the right thing even without knowing they were being watched, receive a reward beyond anything they expected. It's better, the preacher says, to be part of that group.
• The Bible announces a day just like this. Philippians 2:9-10: every tongue will confess, and every knee will bow. Every knee, not only those who have known Jesus. For you who believed without seeing with your own eyes, it won't be a surprise but a confirmation. For many, it will be a revelation.
• Until that day, here's what we are: not an audience, not a club, but the body of a living King, indwelt by the fullness of him who fills all in all. Because the boss won't stay undercover forever.

Key Takeaways

• The resurrection is not an idea, a metaphor, or a nice story: it's the hinge of the entire faith. If Christ has not been raised, Paul says, faith, forgiveness, and hope all collapse (1 Corinthians 15:14).
• Christ is seated at the Father's right hand. Unlike the Old Testament high priest, who had no seat, his work is finished. The debt is paid, the victory final (Hebrews 10:11-12).
• The powers ruling over you today have simply changed names: the algorithm, the market, the fear of others' opinions, addiction, public opinion. Christ is above them all, he disarmed them at the cross (Colossians 2:15).
• The church is not a program or a building, but the living body of the King, the place where his victory becomes visible between the "already" of the resurrection and the "not yet" of his full glory.
• "He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world" (1 John 4:4). This King is not worshiped from a distance: he dwells in every believer, personally and intimately.

Personal Application

1. Looking back over your past week, which renamed "power" (algorithm, market, opinion, fear of others' judgment, addiction) made the most decisions in your place? What concretely changes because Christ is seated above it?
2. The high priest had no seat because his work was never finished. Where are you still standing, as if you had to complete what Christ has already finished for you? What can you set down this week because he sat down?
3. The preacher reminds us that on the show, the employees aren't bad people: they just don't know. Who around you is living without knowing who the boss is? What can you do or say so you don't keep him undercover?
4. If the church is not first a program or a building but the place where Christ's victory becomes visible, what would your involvement in your community look like this week?
5. Take a minute to let this phrase sink in: "the fullness of him who fills all in all." What changes in your prayer life if you truly receive that, today?

Scriptures Cited

• Ephesians 1:20-23 · "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, far above all rule, and authority, and power, and dominion... and gave him to be head over all things for the assembly, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all."
• 1 Corinthians 15:14 · "If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith also is in vain."
• 1 Corinthians 1:18 · "the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are dying, but to us who are saved it is the power of God."
• Hebrews 10:11-12 · "Every priest indeed stands day by day serving... but he, when he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God."
• Colossians 2:15 · "Having stripped the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it."
• Ephesians 4:15-16 · "we may grow up in all things into him, who is the head, Christ... all the body, being fitted and knit together... causes the growth of the body."
• 1 John 4:4 · "greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world."
• Philippians 2:9-10 · "that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth."

Further reading

• What to Post on Your Church's Social Media
• What Does Repentance Mean in the Bible?
• What Is Christian Fellowship?

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is the resurrection the hinge of the entire Christian faith?

Because without it, nothing remains, Paul says: no preaching, no faith, no forgiveness, no hope (1 Corinthians 15:14). The resurrection isn't a nice story to tell ourselves, it's a specific event: God crossed the ultimate boundary of death, the line nobody can cross. It's the same event the world receives as foolishness and the believer receives as the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18). Without that real victory, the authority Paul describes in Ephesians 1:22 would have no substance.

What does it change for me that Christ is "seated" at the Father's right hand?

The gesture is decisive. In the Old Testament sanctuary, the high priest had no seat, because his work started over every day, sacrifice after sacrifice. Christ, by contrast, "when he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God" (Hebrews 10:11-12). Because he sat down, the work is finished, the debt paid, the victory official and final. Whatever you no longer need to add to his work, you can set down today.

Do the "powers" Paul talks about still exist in our world?

Yes, they've simply changed names. The preacher names them: the algorithm that decides what you think, the market that decides your worth, the fear of others' opinions that steers your choices, the addiction that structures your schedule, public opinion that decides what's true for you. They're real, they weigh on us, but Colossians 2:15 reminds us that at the cross, Christ stripped them, made a public show of them, and disarmed them. Like the prisoners marching behind the victorious Roman general, there's no doubt about who won.