THE SUPREMACY OF CHRIST
In the scriptures we see that Jesus is superior over the prophets, over the angels, he’s superior to Moses and Aaron, he’s the perfect eternal High Priest, he’s Lord over nature and demons.
Eph 1:18 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, Eph 1:19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, Eph 1:20 which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, Eph 1:21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. (Heb 1:4 NIV) So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.
At this hour Jesus is seated at Gods right hand far above all rule and authority power and dominion, the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms Jesus is far superior to all of them.
Jesus is far above every title (all presidents, all prime ministers, ambassadors, senators), every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come Jesus reigns supreme.
(Col 1:18 NIV) And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. Some synonyms that help us to appreciate His Majesty are the following:
Preeminance, reign, domination, dominance, incomparibility, ascendancy, superiority.
His Preeminance far superior to all others.
He’s the reigning King.
His domination of Satan; total.
He’s incapable of being compared to.
He ascended into heaven dominant and in power.
He’s superiority; unmatched.
Jesus reigns supreme over all things including death. He’s God and throughout the O.T. we see examples of His power.
PT 1: HE MAKES DEAD THINGS ALIVE
2 Kings 4. The backdrop of the story that we will read is the account of a Shunnamite woman that’s been helping Elisha.
She lives in Shunem, little village to the north of Jezreel and south of Mount Gilboa (Jos 19:18), where the Philistines encamped when they came against Saul. The name “Shunem” means their change; their sleep. It was distant of about twenty miles from Mt. Carmel where Elisha was staying. It was also a time of war, Meesha king of Moab had rebelled against Israel because of the tax they had to pay.
So in the midst of war (the kings of Judah, Israel and Edom have joined forces to fight against the Moabites) and even human sacrifice (the king of Moab offers his son as a sacrifice), the incredible slaughtering of life, destruction of towns there is this wonderful account of God raising the dead.
2 Ki 4:8 One day Elisha went to Shunem. And a well-to-do woman was there, who urged him to stay for a meal. So whenever he came by, he stopped there to eat. 2 Ki 4:9 She said to her husband, "I know that this man who often comes our way is a holy man of God. 2 Ki 4:10 Let’s make a small room on the roof and put in it a bed and a table, a chair and a lamp for him. Then he can stay there whenever he comes to us." 2 Ki 4:11 One day when Elisha came, he went up to his room and lay down there. 2 Ki 4:12 He said to his servant Gehazi, "Call the Shunammite." So he called her, and she stood before him.
2 Ki 4:13 Elisha said to him, "Tell her, ’You have gone to all this trouble for us. Now what can be done for you? Can we speak on your behalf to the king or the commander of the army?’" She replied, "I have a home among my own people."
2 Ki 4:14 "What can be done for her?" Elisha asked. Gehazi said, "Well, she has no son and her husband is old." 2 Ki 4:15 Then Elisha said, "Call her." So he called her, and she stood in the doorway. 2 Ki 4:16 "About this time next year," Elisha said, "you will hold a son in your arms." "No, my lord," she objected. "Don’t mislead your servant, O man of God!" 2 Ki 4:17 But the woman became pregnant, and the next year about that same time she gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had told her. 2 Ki 4:18 The child grew, and one day he went out to his father, who was with the reapers. 2 Ki 4:19 "My head! My head!" he said to his father. His father told a servant, "Carry him to his mother." 2 Ki 4:20 After the servant had lifted him up and carried him to his mother, the boy sat on her lap until noon, and then he died. 2 Ki 4:21 She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, then shut the door and went out. 2 Ki 4:22 She called her husband and said, "Please send me one of the servants and a donkey so I can go to the man of God quickly and return." 2 Ki 4:23 "Why go to him today?" he asked. "It’s not the New Moon or the Sabbath." "It’s all right," she said.
2 Ki 4:24 She saddled the donkey and said to her servant, "Lead on; don’t slow down for me unless I tell you." 2 Ki 4:25 So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel. When he saw her in the distance, the man of God said to his servant Gehazi, "Look! There’s the Shunammite! 2 Ki 4:26 Run to meet her and ask her, ’Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your child all right?’" "Everything is all right," she said. 2 Ki 4:27 When she reached the man of God at the mountain, she took hold of his feet. Gehazi came over to push her away, but the man of God said, "Leave her alone! She is in bitter distress, but the LORD has hidden it from me and has not told me why." 2 Ki 4:28 "Did I ask you for a son, my lord?" she said. "Didn’t I tell you, ’Don’t raise my hopes’?" 2 Ki 4:29 Elisha said to Gehazi, "Tuck your cloak into your belt, take my staff in your hand and run. If you meet anyone, do not greet him, and if anyone greets you, do not answer. Lay my staff on the boy’s face."
2 Ki 4:30 But the child’s mother said, "As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you." So he got up and followed her.
2 Ki 4:31 Gehazi went on ahead and laid the staff on the boy’s face, but there was no sound or response. So Gehazi went back to meet Elisha and told him, "The boy has not awakened." 2 Ki 4:32 When Elisha reached the house, there was the boy lying dead on his couch. 2 Ki 4:33 He went in, shut the door on the two of them and prayed to the LORD. 2 Ki 4:34 Then he got on the bed and lay upon the boy, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. As he stretched himself out upon him, the boy’s body grew warm. 2 Ki 4:35 Elisha turned away and walked back and forth in the room and then got on the bed and stretched out upon him once more. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.
2 Ki 4:36 Elisha summoned Gehazi and said, "Call the Shunammite." And he did. When she came, he said, "Take your son."
2 Ki 4:37 She came in, fell at his feet and bowed to the ground. Then she took her son and went out.
In one little story we see the supremacy of God over death. Here God raises a little boy, in the N.T. Jesus raised Himself. He says: John 10:17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life--only to take it up again. John 10:18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my
Father."
We see further his power to make that which is dead come alive from the following scriptures.
Eph 2:4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
Eph 2:5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead.
Ezek 37:4 Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ’Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! Ezek 37:5 This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life.
John 11:43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!"
Ezek 16:6 "’Then I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, "Live!"
John 11:25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life.
Whatever is dead in your life turn it over to God and he can make it alive!
You may have a dead marriage, a dead faith, a dead heart, financially your dead in the water but God can make it alive. Live! He says. In my hands it can be all new!
We learn much about God in this story.
PT 2: GOD DOES MIRACLES IN THE MIDST OF PAIN AND SUFFERING
This story helps us to see that even in the midst of incredible pain and suffering we serve a God who does miracles. Hundreds of lives, possibly thousands of lives are being taken away and yet God steps in to answer a dream that at one time had probably been prayed about on a consistent basis, begged for, filled with intense desire and hope and yet nothing.
Elisha asks the woman who’s been helping him what he can do for her and she doesn’t give him a satisfactory answer and God brings up a desire in her heart through Gehazi Elisha’s servant. She didn’t ask. Looks like she was suffering from:
Prov 13:12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.
And she probably like us got sick and tired of asking. Her husband is old, years have gone by and she no longer is the woman that she once was yet God had not forgotten.
You may be in the midst of your own suffering but God still does miracles. He may not save people through our hands but he saves those close to death as well as those that have been lost on the operating table and he brings them back to life.
DON’T STOP SERVING GOD JUST BECAUSE YOU DON’T HAVE WHAT YOU WANT
It’s the story of woman who didn’t get what she wanted when she wanted it but still had a heart to serve God. She had reached that place the bible refers to as godliness with contentment.
What else do we learn? What drove her?
She was convinced of something. That this was a holy man of God and because of that she wanted to do something.
As servants of God we don’t serve to get, we serve to give, we serve to honor and bring glory to God. We stay out of the selfish servant position.
You may not have all that you want right now but God encourages you to keep serving, keep giving, don’t give up on doing good for His glory.
Gal 6:9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. l 6:10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
God knows the proper time and for this woman it was now the proper time in accordance with His supreme will.
What’s driving you? What are you convinced of? Is a holy perspective driving you to serve? If not let righteousness be your guide, holiness guide your steps.
PT 3: SERVING GOD WILL COME BACK TO BLESS YOU
God moves Elishas heart to do something for her. Call the Shunnamite he says. The fact that she served was about to come back and she would be blessed!
We are servants of the living God and God will not forget our service. He longs to bless us.
Heb 6:10 God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.
We serve a God who doesn’t forget our dreams or the desires of our hearts.
We see Gods heart that in the midst of working out things on a global scale is not so busy that he can’t stoop down and answer a long forgotten dream of one little woman in a little town who still has a heart to serve one of his servants.
This is a story of a God who makes dreams come alive, sometimes takes them away and sometimes gives them back. No matter what God does we must trust Him. We must guard our hearts so that we can continue to serve Him. If he makes our dreams come true we must serve Him. If He takes it away serve and worship Him, gives it back worship Him.
PT 4: IT’S WORTH THE TROUBLE
Elisha said, “You have gone through all this trouble.” Serving, laboring for others so that they might be blessed is worth it. So that needs are met is worth it. I felt the way Elisha did last week as Tres orchestrated a number of brothers and sisters and pulled off a while you were out thing and redid my office.
My brothers Eddie, Scott, Duane, Tim, Bryan, Chris and Horatio got me out of the house for dinner and a movie (for my birthday) while
Ryan and Matthew, John, James, Greg, Nicole, Penny, Ronice and Joythi redid my office.
Two different types of paint, crown molding, a chair rail, new office furniture, accesscories a total makeover. They kept me out until 11:30 so I was too tired and didn’t go in the office. The following morning Tres asked me to get the phone out of the office and it was then that I saw it all. I was stunned! Overwhelmed even.
You have gone through all this trouble, I said. Such acts of service humble people as it did me. I thought I am not worthy of being served in such ways but it really is about Gods heart working behind the scenes to encourage. I am thankful to all for your act of service.
I think about the leadership council of Mike, Duane and Dan and all the “trouble”, the acts of service to help Ed, Jim and myself to get unstuck and I am grateful.
Such acts of service build your faith in God. When we see what God finally brings about with our service we will say it was worth it. All the trouble was worth it. This is what we learn from Joseph.
When Josephs too sons were born Manesseh and Ephraim he said:
Gen 41:51 Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh and said, "It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household."
Gen 41:52 The second son he named Ephraim and said, "It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering."
All that Joseph went through, all the trouble, sold into slavery, in prison, unjustly treated, being forgotten, the years of perseverance he now forgets in the face of great blessing and prosperity. God made him fruitful in the land of his suffering.
This is the God we serve; Christ supreme over the prophets, angels, demons, nature and over death itself!
