3:15 PM
heavenslight
Jesus is the Lord of Providence and History
John 1:3
All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. NASB
Because Jesus has existed eternally as God the Son in Heavenly Glory, and because His nature has not changed since the incarnation (He simply took on the additional nature as a man), He still possesses the full attributes of Deity, including all incommunicable attributes of God such as Omnipotence, Omniscience and Omnipresence. He is in fact the very agent of the Godhead in Creation and the Providential control of the universe. The Scripture plainly declares that Jesus Christ is the Creator of everything that exists, including everything that is visible and invisible which is to include "all things" in existence. These statements in Scripture are emphatic, exhaustive and comprehensive.
Colossians 1:15-16 - 15 And He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things have been created by Him and for Him. NASB
Hebrews 1:2-3 - 2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. NASB
John 1:3 - 3 All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. NASB
But notice that the primary reason for this stated in Colossians 1:18 is so that He might come to have "first place in everything."
Colossians 1:17-18 – 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. 18 He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the first-born from the dead; so that He Himself might come to have first place in everything. NASB
That is that He might be the pre-eminent One, or that He would have Supremacy in All Things. This means that Jesus is the very Lord of History and that, because all things were created by Him and "for" Him, that all things exist for the "end" or "purpose" for which He made them, He being the proprietor and executor of His own works. Jesus is supreme in His person and being because He is the eternal God, the One Creator of all that exists, the man who is this God incarnated in human flesh, the focal point of human history, and the One for whom all things exist for His own purposes, to magnify and exalt His fame, beauty and power.
Charles Hodge comments….. "The person to whom they are to bow the knee is Jesus, not the Logos, but the God-man. And the acknowledgment which they are to make is, that He is Lord, i.e., their Lord, their absolute proprietor and Sovereign. It is in this sense also, that the Apostle says (Heb. i. 2), that God hath appointed the Son heir of all things. It is in virtue of this dominion over the universe that Christ is called Lord of lords and King of kings, i.e. the Sovereign over all other sovereigns in heaven and on earth. This universal authority is exercised in a providential control, and for the benefit of his Church. He employs the angels as ministering spirits, to minister to the heirs of salvation. He controls and restrains the principalities, powers, world-rulers, and spirits of wickedness. (Eph. vi. 12.) He overrules all the affairs of nations and of individuals to the same end. He directs all events concerning his people severally and his Church collectively. Paul constantly recognized this providential control of Christ as directing all his steps. Under the present dispensation, therefore, Christ is the God of providence. It is in and through and by Him that the universe is governed. This dominion or kingdom is to last until its object is accomplished, i.e., until all his enemies, all forms of evil, and even death itself is subdued. Then this kingdom, this mediatorial government of the universe, is to be given up."
The fact that Jesus is the agent of God in Providence is clearly seen in Scripture. He literally "upholds all things by the word of His power" and "in Him all things hold together." This means that all the molecules of the physical and non-physical universe are governed by Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 1:3 - 3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high; NASB
Colossians 1:17 - 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. NASB
He is directing History to accomplish His purposes and is bringing it to an expected end, the end for which He planned and decreed that it should all exist, from before the ages began. The Scripture plainly declares that everything that happens is happening ultimately under the Sovereign Authority of God as He directs them so that in the end His purposes are fulfilled.
Paul affirms that God works "all things after the counsel of His will" and to His "ends."
Ephesians 1:11-12 - 11 also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, 12 to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. NASB
Romans 8:28 - 28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. NASB
Ecclesiastes 7:13-14 - 3 Consider the work of God, For who is able to straighten what He has bent? 14 In the day of prosperity be happy, But in the day of adversity consider- God has made the one as well as the other So that man may not discover anything that will be after him. NASB
Daniel 4:34-35 - For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, And His kingdom endures from generation to generation. 35 "And all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But He does according to His will in the host of heaven And among the inhabitants of earth; And no one can ward off His hand Or say to Him, 'What hast Thou done?' NASB
Psalms 135:5-6 - 5 For I know that the LORD is great, And that our Lord is above all gods. 6 Whatever the LORD pleases, He does, In heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps. NASB
When Christ has accomplished His purposes, and the end of the ages arrives, His enemies will be dashed under His feet and Peace will reign forever.
1 Corinthians 15:22-28 - 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming, 24 then comes the end, when He delivers up the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. 25 For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. 26 The last enemy that will be abolished is death. 27 For He has put all things in subjection under His feet. But when He says, "All things are put in subjection," it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him. 28 And when all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, that God may be all in all. NASB
This teaching is a part of a 12 month series called "The Savior, The Cross, and The Gospel" ....
See all the audio here..... http://www.heritageabq.org/teaching/seriesview/36/
This teaching can be heard on audio here:
http://www.heritageabq.org/teaching/player/lesson_14_king_jesus_-_the_nature_of_his_reign/
If you would like to know how to know Jesus Christ and be ransomed from your sins and receive eternal life…..click here to find out how.....
http://www.gty.org/Resources/Articles/2425
If you have comments or questions, please do respond to shaansloan@att.net
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Shaan Sloan
Heritage Christian Fellowship - ABQ
505-348-5092
The Lord is the Strength of My Life
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