THE ABSOLUTE SUPREMACY OF THE LIVING CHRIST

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Now Christ has gone to Heaven. He is seated in the place of honor next to God, and all the angels and authorities and powers accept His authority.

1 Peter 3:22

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Jesus suffered immeasurably, physically and psychologically, as He bore the sins of all mankind while nailed to Calvary’s cross, separated from His Father God during His willing, atoning sacrifice. None of us will know what that felt like but we all know it was a punishment we deserved instead of Him.

Now, had this been the end of the story, it would have gone down in history as one of the greatest tragedies of all time but thankfully, Jesus had made it clear that His death would not be the end of his story. You may remember His words from the Gospel of Matthew:

“...we’re going up to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be betrayed to the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. They will sentence Him to die. Then they will hand Him over to the Romans to be mocked, flogged with a whip, and crucified. But on the third day, He will be raised from the dead.” 20:18-19

Perfectly sinless in every way and therefore incapable of speaking falsehood, Jesus told His disciples that He would only be dead for three days after which He would be resurrected and indeed, that’s just what happened.

Here’s something else that happened.

Jesus, the Son, was rewarded richly by God, the Father, after His resurrection. Again, we turn to Jesus who made this reward public at the very beginning of what we revere as the Great Commission. Here’s what He said:

“All authority in Heaven and on earth has been given to Me.” Matthew 28:18

You know I like to highlight absolutes and here we find a big one. For Jesus said, “All authority in Heaven and on earth” had “been given to” Him and of course, we know that this was delegated down to Him from His Father God who gave His Son a place of honor, sitting at His right hand (Hebrews 1:3).

As we look at today’s scripture from the closing verse of 1 Peter, chapter 3, we find supporting words that affirm the absolute authority of the living Christ. Look again at those words here:

Now Christ has gone to Heaven. He is seated in the place of honor next to God, and all the angels and authorities and powers accept His authority. v.22

Just before the day of Pentecost, on the fortieth day after His resurrection to be exact, Jesus gathered His apostles together at the Mount of Olives to receive His final instructions that included them soon receiving the power of the Holy Spirit after which they would serve as His witness, sharing the Gospel first in Jerusalem, then Judea and Samaria, and then to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). Then, Jesus ascended into Heaven and has been “seated in the place of honor next to God” ever since.

Friends, all authority has been given to Jesus over all things in Heaven and on earth. He reigns and rules as King over all creation and there is a day is still to come when He will return, this time to exercise final judgment on all mankind. No one is exempt from His preeminence and no one can stand in opposition to Him to include our enemy Satan who has already been defeated by Jesus.

As Christians today and every day, let us seek to honor and serve our Lord Jesus, knowing that when He returns, He will take us to the eternal Kingdom He promised and the place He has prepared (John 14:1-3).

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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