Introduction
There are times when the Holy Spirit
uses a few verses to, as it were a
bait, to entice us to seek further
enlightenment. In Paul's letter to
the Colossians he mentions the Lord
as the Creator of all things (Col.
1:16); He is before all things (Col.
1:17); by Him all things
consist (Col 1:17); all things in
earth and Heaven are reconciled by
Him (Col. 1:20); but the high point
is when He writes, “That in all
things He might have the
preeminence” (Col. 1:18). It is as
if He was saying to us, “Now go on
and ask Father by the Spirit to give
further glimpses of the glories of
the Lord”.
The Lord is the
divine Administrator and sole
Executor of all the divine
purposes. He is without peer,
predecessor or successor. His place
as such was never granted by any
man, group of men, college,
university, kingdom, pope,
archbishop or any earthly
governmental body. No higher
authority can demote Him or never
can He be brought lower.
From a broad
viewpoint, the Lord was solely
responsible for the perfect
manifestation of God (Jn. 1:18) and
the Father (Jn. 14:9); the declaring
of His Name (Jn. 17:26); the
provision of a sacrifice acceptable
to God, and
the defeat of death and Satan (Heb.
2:14); and the bringing of the world
and humanity back into perfect and
eternal fellowship with God the
Father (1 Cor. 15:24).
Christ is the only One who was given
the responsibility to do a work of
which there was no “Plan B”, and no
second opportunity. For the first
time and only time in earth’s
history, God placed His faith and
full confidence in the work of
Christ of displaying His Name and
glorifying Him on Earth.
Comments
God is a perfectionist and
it follows that the Lord
must have not just ideal
qualifications, but
perfection of qualifications
whether they are human or
divine. All forms of
political government (Psa.
103:19; Dan. 4:17, 25, 32;
Eph. 1:21-22; Col. 1:15-16)
have been ordained and
originated by Him (Col.
1:16), as with divinely
ordained church leadership.
During His earthly sojourn,
He was not only perfectly
human but a perfect human,
qualifying Him to be the
perfect sacrifice. His
experiences as a man living
for the glory of God and
facing all the opposition
from an ungodly world
qualified Him to be a
perfect High Priest. His
holiness qualified Him to be
the perfect Advocate and His
sacrifice for sins qualified
Him to take and open the
book.
It was His very perfections
as the Light
which revealed the
antagonism of the ungodly.
Whether that
antagonism was the result of
jealousy, breaking man-made
traditions, or fear
resulting in intense hatred,
everything He did that
benefited humanity was
accepted but not His
fidelity to God. As a
result, He was despised and
rejected by men (Isa. 53:3)
and ultimately slain by
crucifixion on the cross.
That was man’s thoughts of
Christ.
With relief, we turn to
God’s thoughts of and for
Him. Despite the jealousy,
hatred, shame and despising
of men, God has given Him
the highest place of glory.
It has not been given in
grace or as an honorarium,
it was given in
righteousness and righteous
compensation.
For the glory of God, the
man Jesus experienced the
most bitter hatred and
severe suffering, both at
the hands of men and God.
Yet, never was there in Him
the slightest iota of
hopeful retaliation or
hatred for those who so
afflicted Him (1 Pet.
2:23). In perfect love, He
saw them as sheep going
astray (1 Pet. 2:25);
spiritually unaware of the
powers of darkness that held
them in control. From a
little ridge, He looked over
Jerusalem and wept, knowing
what lay ahead in time and
eternity for many. These
were not the tears of
natural emotion, but
spiritual grief
and sorrow. As the hymn
writer wrote, “And from the
track He turned not back”.
Calvary was the Lord saying
by action, “Father, this is
the extent of my love for
you”. What is the perfect
recompense for such
non-diverting devotion? God
has highly exalted Him
(Phil. 2:9). |
|
a) |
To the rejected despised man
of Galilee: |
|
|
|
i) |
God has given the assessment
in all judgment: |
|
|
|
|
|
1. |
He is the Judge who alone
presents all evidence, and
nothing is done covertly, a
justice He will exercise
with full knowledge and void
of any retaliation, but with
sorrow, for His love remains
unchanged.
“The gifts and calling of
God are without repentance”
(Rom. 11:29). |
|
|
|
|
|
2. |
He will judge righteously,
whether it is the saints at
the Judgment Seat
(Rom. 14:10; 1 Cor. 3:10-15;
4:4-5; 2 Cor. 5:9-10; Col.
3:24-25; the nations
(Matt. 24:31-46 or the Great
White Throne (Rev.
19:11-15). |
|
|
|
ii) |
God has given the execution
of all judgment, whether it
is for crowns, entrance into
the Kingdom, or banished
into the lake of fire. |
|
|
|
iii) |
He alone is the governor of
the “nations” (Psa. 22:28). |
|
|
|
iv) |
He is
God’s anointed
King (Psa. 2:6). |
|
|
|
v) |
Recognized Him as a priest
after the order of
Melchisedec (Heb. 5:10). |
|
|
|
vi) |
Declared Him to be King of
kings (1 Tim. 6:15; Rev.
17:14; 19:16). |
|
|
|
|
|
1. |
Three kings were
designated “king
of kings: Nebuchadnezzar was
so-called twice (Ezek. 26:7;
Dan. 2:37) and Artaxerxes
(Ezra 7:12). |
|
|
|
vii) |
Declared Him to be Prince of
Princes (Dan. 8:25). |
|
|
|
viii) |
Declared Him to be Lord of
Lords (1 Tim. 6:15). |
|
|
|
ix) |
He is the
Prince of the
kings of the earth (Rev.
1:5). |
|
|
|
x) |
Declared Him to be Head of
the church (Eph. 5:23). |
|
|
|
xi) |
To bring all under Him (Eph.
1:10). |
|
|
|
It is irrelevant into which
area we look, judicially,
governmentally, regally, or
religiously, He
is supreme. Paul grasped
something of this, as did
Peter when they wrote: |
|
a) |
“And what is the exceeding
greatness of his
power to us-ward who
believe, according to the
working of his mighty
power, Which he wrought in
Christ, when he raised him
from the dead, and set him
at his own right hand in the
heavenly places, Far above
all principality, and power,
and might, and dominion, and
every name that is named,
not only in this world, but
also in that which is to
come: And hath put all
things under his feet, and
gave him to be the head over
all things to the church,
Which is his body, the
fullness of him that filleth
all in all” (Eph. 1:19-23). |
|
b) |
“Who is gone into heaven,
and is on the right hand of
God; angels and authorities
and powers being made
subject unto him” (1 Pet.
3:22). |
|