JESUS – ABOVE ALL THINGS
OR
JESUS – GIVEN ALL THINGS
SUNDAY OCT. 28, 2018
Scripture To Consider:
“He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony. He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true. For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.”
“The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand. He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” John 3.31-36
Something To Consider:
John declared, “He who comes from above is above all.” Speaking of Jesus, John opened his gospel with these words; “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him [Jesus], and without Him nothing was made that was made.” In his introduction to his gospel, John proclaimed for all the world to read and to believe the monumental news that Jesus of Nazareth was and is the creator of all things.
As creator of all things Jesus retains the authority over and above all things. Why is it then, that so many find it so difficult to surrender to His authority? Why is it then that so many still do not believe and obey? In Colossians 1.15-16, Paul, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, confirmed Jesus as above all things, by announcing, “He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him [Jesus] and for Him.”
Paul continued in verses 17-18 to clear away any possible lingering doubt or disbelief as to Jesus’ authority and leadership position by declaring, “And He [Jesus] is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the first born from the dead, that in all things He may have the pre-eminence.”
Something Else To Consider:
Jesus is undoubtedly above all things both visible as well as invisible to the human eye. He is not only above all things, but He has been given all things. Describing what God, the Father has done in Christ, Paul again so rightly revealed in Ephesians 1.20-21, “Which He [God the Father] worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at the right hand in heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion… And He [God the Father] put all things under His [Jesus’] feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church.”
Jesus is and forever shall be over all things to the church. And yet, He has sacrificially given all things willingly, even His own life’s blood to provide for us everlasting life in exchange for the wrath and judgment of God. What can we give in exchange for such a gift? Before we answer too quickly, Jesus has declared in Matthew 16.26, “For what profit is it to a man [or a woman] if he [or she] gains the whole world and loses [their] own soul? Or what will a man [or a woman or a young person] give in exchange for [their] soul?”
What would be equal or of more value than eternal life? In the end, when we as individuals stand before an Almighty and all-knowing God, what would be worth our exchanging for our own eternal soul? Let’s think about it! Statistics say we think very little about eternity. But the day of the end is fast approaching us all! Each of us will ultimately face our eternal destiny. We will all hear Jesus declare one of two directives; “Enter into the joy of your Lord”, or, “Depart from Me, I never knew you.”
He who comes from heaven, Jesus, is above all, for He, who God has sent speaks the words of God. He or she who believes in the Son has everlasting life. And he or she, young or old, who does not believe the Son, present tense believe, shall not see eternal life, but shall see and shall experience the full measure of the wrath of God! Why would anyone willingly choose to experience the wrath of God? Why would anyone choose to not experience eternal life in Christ? The answer lies in the fact that most individuals are without the biblical knowledge they need to make a more informative and rightful eternal decision!
Something More To Consider:
Have we as individuals crossed over that threshold of believing in Jesus? And if so, are we present tense still believing in Jesus and His words of warning and instruction? Jesus said in John chapter 4, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe.” And yet, also according to Jesus, speaking of end times, “For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible even the elect [those present tense believers in Jesus], see, I have told you beforehand [well in advance].”
End times will be times of great deception, times of miraculous appearing signs and wonders, and times of the vast majority of people starved for the true Word of God. And because of this lack of biblical knowledge, millions will be deceived into worshipping the Antichrist’s beast and openly receiving his mark of ownership in their hand or forehead! The technology is here and the hearts and minds of so many are ready to submit to his evil authority.
And yet, the warning and divine instruction of Jesus is for all true present tense believers to endure to the end. Our mandate from Jesus is to stand fast even in the midst of end time persecution and troubling times. We cannot and must not yield to the temptation of the enemy to sell our souls for a mouth full of food when in eternity as faithful enduring to the end believers we will never go hungry or lack any good thing.
A Few Final Words:
John wrote of this above-mentioned end time beast in Revelation 13.4, when John asked; “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” John continued in verse 6; “And he [the beast] was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemous, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. Then he [the beast] opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. It was granted to him [the beast or end time Antichrist’s earthly representative] to make war with the saints [those enduring to the end believers living upon planet earth during the tribulation] and to overcome them.”
The truth is that overcoming and enduring to the end will mean the death of many believing saints. There is no getting around the truth of the written Word of God! According to Jesus dictating to John in Revelation 13.8; “All who dwell on the earth will worship him [the beast], whose names have not been written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” And in verse 9 of John chapter 4, John added; “If anyone has an ear [spiritual ear], let him [or her] hear.” Death for Jesus Christ will be eternally more beneficial than succumbing to the Antichrist’s evil demands!
In other words, we have been sufficiently warned. What will we as true believers do with the tremendous amount of biblical information preserved for us in the Word of God? Therefore, are we listening and hearing what the Word of God together with the Spirit of God is saying? The end times for many will be the total fulfillment of 2 Timothy 3.12; “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” And yet suffering persecution in the end is far better than being deceived and doomed for all eternity.
Believing, present tense believing in Jesus is and will be eternally rewarding, while not believing in Jesus is indeed forever foolish and eternally destructive. For according to our text, “He [or she] who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he [or she] who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him [or her].” The decision cannot be put off until we are facing the pressing in of the persecution of the Antichrist and of his beast. The decision to recognize Jesus as being above all things and that He has been given all things by His heavenly Father is a must believe truth we must believe now!
Jesus has spoken the words of warning He has received from the Father and He has spoken them to us. Have we been listening? Have we heard the warning and received the instruction from the Word of God concerning end times? If so, we must endure. If we endure we will be saved from the wrath of an Almighty God. If we endure to the end we will experience all that an eternity with Christ and our heavenly Father has in store for all present tense believing saints who willingly endure to the end!
Prayer:
Our Father in heaven, may we yield to Your Son’s authority in our lives. May we honor You, by honoring Him through our obedience in these end times. In Him Always, Amen!
According to Jesus 