Thank God For The Monarchy Of Our Merciful King Jesus

November 22, 2020 1 Corinthians 15:20-28

20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came by a man, the resurrection of the dead also is going to come by a man. 22 For as in Adam they all die, so also in Christ they all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ as the firstfruits and then Christ’s people, at his coming. 24 Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has done away with every other ruler and every other authority and power. 25 For he must reign “until he has put all his enemies under his feet.” 26 Death is the last enemy to be done away with. 27 Certainly, “he has put all things in subjection under his feet.” Now when it says that all things have been put in subjection, obviously that does not include the one who subjected all things to him. 28 But when all things have been subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who subjected all things to him, in order that God may be all in all.

Thank God for the Monarchy of Our Merciful King Jesus

We are in the aftermath of an election. Millions of people trying to choose one President to lead our country. We’ve been subjected to commercials and talking heads filling us with all kinds of ideas, telling us all of their secret facts and fears. How will you vote? The future of the country depends on it! Half of the country is filled with hope. The other half is filled with despair. And all over what? A sinful president? A sinful party?

What better promise could we have from God than this, that there will come a day when he has done away with every other ruler and every other authority and power? These words should make us jump for joy! It is authority and power that divides us, that causes us anger and distress. Jesus promises to get rid of the whole concept when He finally steps on the stage, flexes His muscle and says, “that’s it.” No more presidents. No more parties. No more power plays. Just Jesus.

Where does power come from? They say that knowledge is power. The more informed you are, the better decisions you will make and the more power you will have. Take for instance cigarettes. Now that we know that smoking causes cancer, people can make more informed decisions. They will save money and their health by not smoking. But knowledge doesn’t always control passion and desire. If a cigarette promises relaxation of tension in the moment, the desire may overcome the knowledge.

Knowledge is also not power when you can’t act on your knowledge. It can make you feel very helpless actually. A mother may know that her daughter is making a mistake by deciding to get married to a young man who is lazy and has temper problems. It won’t end well. But her daughter won’t listen to her. She is convinced he is the right one. So the mother, with her knowledge, feels weaker than ever because of her knowledge.

I bring up the concept of knowledge and power, because it all goes back to the Garden of Eden. Satan convinced Eve that knowledge was power. She would be like God if she just had the knowledge that God had. But it simply wasn’t true. The knowledge she ended up with only made her a slave to her own passions and desires.

Indeed, it seems the more seemingly knowledgeable our culture becomes the more foolish it becomes. With all of our claims of being “scientific” we can’t even figure out how many genders there are or who is a boy and a girl when the evidence is clear from Creation. Yet, with their power and politics and social pressure, they will try to enforce their foolishness on us in order to fit a sexual agenda. We know it’s wrong, but there’s not much we can do about it. So there are battles within the human system of who is right and who is wrong, and knowledge really doesn’t have anything to do with it. What’s the good news? King Jesus will get rid of all of this.

The powers and authorities, when used in the Scriptures, are primarily talking about the demonic realm. (Rom 8:38; Col 2:15; Eph 2:2) They are the ones behind all this foolishness and these power plays. God’s word calls Satan the “ruler of the kingdom of the air.” It also says how he prowls around, looking for someone to devour. The book of Daniel talks about how Satan especially works behind the scenes to influence governments. God establishes governments in this world. (Romans 13) He tells us to submit to them as they are put there to reward those who do good and punish those who do evil. Yet Satan knows that if he can control the governments and the schools and the powers that be, including the family and the church, then he can enforce evil and punish good, twisting the power system.