Christ Church

Savior of the World #8

Christ Church on

Introduction:

As we come to the conclusion of our study of kingdom optimism, the best summary would be to turn in order to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. When we think through these issues carefully, we must recognize that the basic issue is really the view we have of our Lord Jesus.

At the same time, we want to guard our hearts so that we don’t fall into the trap of covenantal presumption.

The Text:

“Give the king Your judgments, O God, and Your righteousness to the king’s Son. He will judge Your people with righteousness, and Your poor with justice . . . In his days shall the righteous flourish; And abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, And from the river unto the ends of the earth . . . And blessed be his glorious name for ever: And let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen” (Ps. 72:1-20).

Jesus Christ is Lord of All:

Consider what Paul tells us in Philippians 2:9-11. At the name of Jesus, every knee is to bow, and not just those in heaven. In heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, let Jesus Christ be praised. We are seeking nothing less than to exalt Him in every place.

That at the Name of Jesus . . .

Jesus Christ is Savior of the world—“And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world” (1 John 4:14). Jesus did not come in order to try to save the world, if the uncooperative world would only let Him. He came to save the world; He will be satisfied with nothing less than a saved world. This work of salvation, this work of forgiveness, was His priestlywork.

Jesus Christ is the conqueror of the principalities and powers—“Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself. This He said, signifying by what death He would die” (John 12:31-32). Before fallen man was brought to his majority, he was ruled by principalities and powers, and various other mediatorial agencies. God, by definition, has always been sovereign—but in the time of the Old Testament He was pleased to mediate that sovereignty through intermediate powers. Now that station has been given to man in Christ.

Jesus Christ is the re-creator of the heavens and earth—“Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Pet. 3:10-13). The Father made the world through the Son, and the Father also remade the world through the Son. This is why we observe the first day of the week—it is the day on which Christ rested after His work of recreation (Heb. 4:10).

Jesus Christ is the king in the kingdom of God—“Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death” (1 Cor. 15:24-26). The Christian church is not a volunteer organization, where we may come and go as we please. The Church of Christ is a monarchy, and we are the subjects of the Lord Jesus.

Jesus Christ is the great prophet—“For Moses truly said to the fathers, The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you. And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people” (Acts 3:19-26). Our views should be formed through submission to the words of Jesus Christ. This includes those words which tell us about the nature of the kingdom, and the fulfillment of the prophecies of old. We must believe as we are told.

Jesus Christ is the conqueror of the kings of earth—“. . . and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” (Rev. 1:5-6). We must take care to avoid the corruptions of abstractions in philosophy. Christ is not the Lord of some invisible heavenly place; He is the Lord and Master of the Moscow/Pullman area—and, of course, everywhere else. He purchased this world and its inhabitants with His blood, and no impudent magistrate is going to successfully deny Him. He will have it. Fix it in your minds—Christ rules here.

Jesus Christ is the Lord of the church—“Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, ‘Let no fruit grow on you ever again’ Immediately the fig tree withered away” (Matt. 21:18-19; 24:32).

Our Lord is the master husbandman of His people. When branches must be cut, He cuts. When the tree must be nourished, He nourishes. He put away the majority of the Jews because of their unbelief. He warns us against similar follies, for He will do similar things.

Our confession is always and only this: Jesus Christ is Lord.

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Savior of the World #2

Joe Harby on

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INTRODUCTION:

Far too many Christians take a phrase from Luther without the faith of Luther. They do believe that this world is “with devils filled,” but have no knowledge of the “one little word” which fells the evil one. That one little word is cross. Christ is the Savior of the world—not only because He died for the world and for lost humanity—but because in His death He overthrew the reigning principalities and powers who had previously been in power. Tragically, many Christians believe that spiritual warfare is conducted as though Christ never died, or as though His death is irrelevant to that conflict. But this is not what the Bible teaches.

THE TEXT:

“Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself. This He said, signifying by what death He would die” (John 12:31-32).

THE OLD WORLD:

Throughout the Old Testament we see a celestial and angelic government over the nations of men. The gods of the various nations are closely identified with those nations. For example, angelic beings stand behind the nations of Persia (Dan. 10:13) or Tyre (Ez. 28:11-16). General statements are made in which God is contrasted with these beings, and He is in another category entirely. “Among the gods there is none like You, O Lord; nor are there any works like Your works” (Ps. 86:8). God was sovereign over such celestials then, but He exercised His sovereignty over and through them. They were, in some significant sense, mediatorial princes. In the Christian aeon, God has established just one Prince… and He is one of us, a man.

THE AGE TO COME:

The period of the New Testament is the time of transition between the reign of the celestial princes, and the dominion of man in Christ. “For He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels. But one testified in a certain place, saying: ‘What is man that You are mindful of him . . . For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone” (Heb. 2:5-9). The author of Hebrews did not yet see the promise made to mankind fulfilled. Nevertheless, he does see the fulfillment as centered in Christ.

SOVEREIGN AND MEDIATOR:

Now an important distinction is necessary. God, by definition, has always exercised sovereign control over the world. The hair on every head has always been numbered. But in the accomplished mission of Christ, the cross and resurrection, God established a new mediatorial rule in the world. Christ as the eternal Word of God has always been sovereign. But in the Incarnation, God has established His Son as a new mediatorial Prince, and we are seated and enthroned in the heavenly places in Christ.

TRIUMPH:

We must remember the power of the conquering cross. This is how the New Testament describes it over and over again. If we miss this, we are missing a central part of the impact of the gospel.

Note especially the italics. “However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written: ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him’” (1 Cor. 2:6-7).

What did these rulers not know? They did not know the cross would topple them, and glorify the saints. Jesus said, “… of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged” (John 16:11).

Paul exults in this conquest: “Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it” (Col. 2:15 ). A triumph included a public humiliation of the defeated after the battle was over.

What was the point of the cross? “… that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil . . .” (Heb. 2:14)

What Satan offered Christ in the temptation, Christ refused. But Christ refused because He planned to knock him down, and take the kingdoms of men from him. “No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house” (Mark 3:27).

RULER OF THE KINGS OF THE EARTH:

This is why we worship and serve Jesus Christ. Who is He? “And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood” (Rev. 1:5).

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