He is Lord of All

 

Rather flippantly, some call God the man in the sky, or the big boss. This is like the disrespect given to an earthy father by calling him ‘my old man’ instead of father, dad, or daddy. I’m finally understanding His total sovereignty and feel even more angst at the inadequacy of such titles. Our God is far more than those words convey.

This morning, Charnock points to Scriptures that I’d not noticed nor thought about. His examples expand my concept of God and fill me with thoughts of worship and much gratitude, just as the OT prophets said: 

You have heard; now see all this; and will you not declare it? From this time forth I announce to you new things, hidden things that you have not known. (Isaiah 48:6)
Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. (Jeremiah 33:3)

Charnock reminds me that angels and all creatures belong to God's authority. He is called “The Lord of Hosts” which often refers to angelical legions. They are “His hosts” and “ministers that do his pleasure.” For example, when Jesus was born, the gospel writer said:
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” (Luke 2:13–14)

The OT prophet also declared what God told him: “I made the earth and created man on it; it was my hands that stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their host.” (Isaiah 45:12) “All their host” is employed by God to do His will and not one resists Him. This includes all the inanimate creation in heaven. He calls the stars by name (Psalm 147:4) and He rules them to do His will like a general of an army appoints the position of every regiment in a battle. 

Imposing names is also a sign of dominion. I’m reminded of how God told Adam to name all other living creatures, and later told to have dominion over them. The stars, named by God, are under His sovereign dominion. Along with kings, and a raging river, this is what God says of them:

The kings came, they fought; then fought the kings of Canaan, at Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo; they got no spoils of silver. From heaven the stars fought, from their courses they fought against Sisera. The torrent Kishon swept them away, the ancient torrent, the torrent Kishon. March on, my soul, with might! (Judges 5:19–21)

The sun also serves God's purposes:

At that time Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, “Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.” And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. (Joshua 10:12–13)

Creation obeys God without resistance as if they desire to share in the ruin of the enemies of their Creator and Sovereign God. The weather also does His bidding:

Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all deeps, fire and hail, snow and mist, stormy wind fulfilling his word! Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars! Beasts and all livestock, creeping things and flying birds! Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth! Young men and maidens together, old men and children! Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his majesty is above earth and heaven. (Psalm 148:7–13)

I know Jesus commanded storms to cease and am fully assured that global warming is the least of our worries should God tell the weather to declare His wrath against sin.

PRAY: Jesus, You control all creation. If You say GO, all go. If You say COME all come. We humans are the only ones who resist You and want our own way. Yet mercy and grace changes that resistance to praise. I see Your power in many ways, and my desire deepens to see it and Your incredible goodness in the hearts of all who vainly want to run their own lives. Remind me often that You are Lord of all. Amen.

God laughs, sometimes at what makes us cry. . . .

Yesterday an amazing thing happened. I meet once a month with six other women who share my interest in quilting. Our conversation is almost all about creativity sprinkled with personal events and stories. Three of us are Christians but rarely is anything ever said about God. For that reason, I prayed on the way to our meeting place that the Holy Spirit would give me something to say that would honor Him.

The usual conversation was about creativity. No whispers from the Holy Spirit and toward the time to go home, I was feeling a bit disappointed. However, the latest news threw politics into the conversation. Some of the women were becoming emotional.

At that, I told them about a comedy routine someone sent to me about Silent Letter Day. One of them loaded it on her phone and we were all laughing so much that we couldn’t hear all of it.

Then the conversation on politics lingered. I told them that when the news bothered me, I read Psalm 2 and urged them to dig out a Bible and read it when then went home. At that, the hostess got up and came back with a Bible and read it — aloud! This is what it says:

Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. (Psalm 2:1–12)

The group relaxed. I was astonished. God answered my prayer way beyond my expectations. All I could say was that God is the only one that can take bad events and use them for good, mentioning one good thing coming as a result of what seems like a foolish and dangerous political decision. The now relaxed women began talking about their hope for good things in the future.

Later in the day, it came to my attention that the worst of that bad news was just that — a political folly planned to prevent an even worse event. True or not remains to be seen, but I can glorify God for the way He introduced a different way to think to a group of people upset over the nonsense they hear about on the news. God has a plan and He laughs at the plans of so-called world leaders.

PRAY: You are on the throne, Jesus. Thank You for making that clear. Thank You that You know how to best present Yourself to those who seldom think of Your power and ability to bring justice to a world that seems to be invincible. You are Lord of all!

Lord of all . . .

For those who notice details, Lord and Lord both refer to God (Lord may not), but they have different meanings. Lord is actually Yahweh, the name God gave Moses. It means I AM and refers to His eternal existence.

As for Lord, in the OT it is the English translation of ʾādôn, sometimes referring to God but also to people of high rank. This word is about authority.

When referring to God, “Lord” is a title. It may be understood as “Master” and is often coupled with Lord in the phrase “the Lord, the Lord almighty” to emphasize His power and authority.

In the NT, Lord can be translated from “despotes” meaning the human right and power to command, but the word that describes God is “kyrios” meaning much the same in the secular sense of master or owner or employer, even husband as a title of respect. It is sometimes translated “sir” and used to address angels. The NT is filled with phrases like “the Spirit of the Lord” or “the word of the Lord” in line with many OT patterns about God.

When Christians say that “Jesus is Lord” we are recognizing He has dominion over the world. We know that one day every created being will acknowledge this reality:

Philippians 2:8–11. And being found in human form, (Jesus) humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The name of Jesus is powerful. We sing that, yet there are times when it becomes vividly evident. When we talk about God, people are polite, some listen. But when we use the name of Jesus, there is a different reaction. On one occasion, just saying “You need Jesus” delivered a woman struggling against demonic lies.

Even now, things like this happen because, without most people realizing it, the world is subject to the lordship of Jesus Christ. He rules as “King of kings and Lord of lords” because He is seated at Yahweh’s right hand.

Ephesians 1:19–23. “ . . . according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”

1 Peter 3:21–22. “. . . through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.”

At times I wonder at the patience of God in allowing evil, even wondering if evil has more power. However, Jesus’ shows His authority even in this perplexity. He can use the so-called freedom of sinners to accomplish a great deliverance. This is illustrated in the OT narratives of the Exodus, of Joseph’s life and how God used the sin of his brothers for good, and in the NT His own story. The so-called authorities of His day killed Him, and in doing so, sin and death were conquered as Jesus rose from the dead in great victory. Because of that ‘evil’ we can be forgiven and have everlasting life!

GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. Jesus governs all that is going on, even in this pandemic-stricken mess in the world. Each life, each death is in His power. We are all terminal — yet He controls when I will die. This is covered by His authority. His promises and His lordship guarantee my future. When I focus on Him, contentment and joy fill my heart. Because of His life, death and resurrection, and because He lives in me, I have everlasting life and no fear of death. I spend my days with Him now and will spend all of eternity with Him. His grace to me means I can gladly declare that Jesus is King of kings and that He is Lord of all.