As part of the series on the name of Jesus, I preached on Christ today and it utterly possessed my soul. The great wonder of the ages is that God put on humanity to enable humanity to put on divinity. It is a master plan unequalled and unsurpassed in greatness, profundity and power. It is a plan we have been grafted into, it behoves us to know it, understand it, love it and perpetuate it.
- Christ pre incarnation was God, ruler, supreme authority in total dominion; He was creator, the book of Colossians eloquently describes how ‘all things were created through Him and for Him’ and He is before all things and in Him all things consist and cohere. The excellencies of the Christ must be the constant source of meditation and delight of the believer.
- Christ in incarnation demonstrated grace, perfection, beauty, compassion, love, authority and dominion over all things, situations and persons; in the power of the Spirit. He exercised dominion over infirmity, demonic oppression, over the elements and taught and modelled perfect love. The woman with the issue of blood, the centurion, the disciples in the storm all encountered the perfect power and authority of the incarnated Christ, God become man.
- Christ by the cross, won perfect reconciliation for man with God, forgiveness of sins, a clean slate irrespective of the past. He ended the devil’s right to hold sway in the affairs of man and utterly vanquished him. Surely there is no greater regret than that expressed in this scripture ‘Had the princes of this world known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory’.
- He subjected to Himself every power, authority, dominion in all heaven and earth. He birthed a new man with the life of God in Him and the authority to approach God and vanquish the devil. Then He exited and took up the divine glory He had momentarily ceded to come on mission to the earth.
- Christ post incarnation has delegated to his man the authority and dominion that He won on the earth as a man, to bring to bear the will of God on the earth. No longer the carpenter of Nazareth, no longer the baby Jesus in the crib, no longer the sandalled miracle worker, again the Lord of all glory, Master of His creation, who ‘sustains all things by the word of His power’.
And when John, the beloved apostle saw Him on the isle of Patmos, His face shone like the sun in all its brilliance, the sight was so stunning that John fell to his feet as though dead. This is the Jesus who stands behind the use of His name, whose power springs into action when one of His own dares to believe Him and speak and act on His behalf. He is God’s master plan. More will be achieved for God through the church when it begins to see Jesus as He is and serve Him as it ought.
Shalom!