Part III: The Supremacy of Jesus Christ

I think many Christians today operate from an exceptionally narrow view of Jesus Christ. This is unfortunate, since it’s by seeing and knowing Christ that we grow as believers.

The Son of God serves several roles in His present-day ministry. One reason for having such a narrow view of Christ is that we tend to limit our engagement to what we see as His primary role. This is often fed by the doctrinal emphasis of our particular faith group. It can also result from imagining a boutique Jesus in who shares the causes we’re most enthusiastic about. For example, some will focus on Jesus’ efficacy as savior. Others might focus on the victory available through Christ as our chain breaker. Still others will focus on the grace and sovereignty of the Lord and worship Him with deep and penetrating hymns that speak to those aspects. Others see Jesus as a champion of social justice who gives freedom and voice to the repressed and marginalized.

Don’t get me wrong, Jesus is all of these things–and so much more! But when one aspect is overly emphasized, it’s often to the exclusion of several others. As a result, we limit ourselves to an incomplete view of Christ. It can make us “lop-sided” believers who may struggle in areas where Christ has already provided Himself as the Solution.

What the church needs more than anything today is to widen the aperture through which we see our King. We need to suspend our rusty, bound-up notions so that He can heal our blindness and illuminate us to His manifold greatness and glory. Only by seeing more of the Lord, can we cast off our rigid, calcified thinking and be free to pursue the Christ of fathomless depth. It all starts by simply having the willingness to hold our present understanding with an open hand so that the Lord can give us something new, even surprising.

Hopefully, this post will open our eyes a bit more. It will not be a complete picture of Christ. Not even close. Rather, it will hopefully provides a broader framework of His present-day ministry. My prayer is that we can use it as a springboard to a deeper pursuit of our incomparable Lord.

Who the Lord is Not

Sometimes we sabotage our journey to know the Lord before we even start because of something we’ve unfairly projected onto Him. That thing becomes our hurdle. In some cases it’s a bad encounter or unhealthy relationship with a believer we may look up to–someone who we think accurately reflects who God is. For others, it’s an unloving, distant, or abusive relationship with their earthly father which maligns their view of their Heavenly Father.

This kind of misunderstanding requires a deep work of Christ, mature guidance, and an open, receptive heart. It requires a revelation of Christ and His true character that transcends deception. If you fall into this category, there are several scriptures that speak truth to how the Lord really views His children. I’d recommend you meditate on Zephaniah 3:17, Ephesians 3:18-19, and Romans 8:37-39. Meditating on the truth will help set you free from these incorrect perceptions.

Others question God’s goodness because of the evil He allows, which in some cases has been exacted upon the questioner. They may question His goodness from the violence he condoned (and in some cases demanded) in the Old Testament.

There are better sources of addressing these issues, but I’ll leave a couple of very brief thoughts:

First, know that evil was never the Lord’s idea.

Second, understand that there is something much, much bigger that the Lord is pursuing in His purposes. To attain His purpose, a fracture must be set. Mending the kind of fracture that has been created by sin is a painful process for everyone involved. But it must be done.

The Preeminence of Christ

One danger we have with only seeing Jesus through our preferred emphasis is that we can start to believe that the only reason Jesus exists is for me. My salvation. My peace. My comfort.

But recall that the Father and the Son were perfectly content in one another before creation. They needed nothing else. Creation was merely the overflow of what already existed–the result of a jointly conceived plan. We are part of that plan, but we were never the point. The point was that Christ would, among all things, have the supremacy.

What do we mean by that?

In his letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul provides a startling description of Christ that, if we look closely and carefully, is nothing short of mind-blowing.

…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…
Ephesians 1:20-23

These four verses speak to the authority that rests in Christ and where He stands first in the ascendancy of all things. He is far above any and all power structures in this universe. He is far above any earthly authority and spiritual authority. He is far above political law or any natural or physical law. He is bound by nothing, both today and after the reconciliation of all things when His eternal purpose has been fulfilled. For all things have been “put under His feet”. This includes death itself. For He has been specifically made master over it.

A similarly weighty revelation is provided by Paul in his letter to the Colossians:

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
Colossians 1:16-18

This verse states that everything that was created was created by Him, through Him, and for Him. Not only did Jesus do the creating, He was the mechanism through which creation occurred. Not only that, He was the reason and the purpose of all things being created. Not only that, but He is creation’s sustainer. Think about that for a moment. If Jesus Christ would suddenly cease to be, the universe would cease to be. He is literally the “strong nuclear force”, the “dark matter” (if you will) that holds together all matter.

Lastly, it says that He is the firstborn from among the dead. This is a very peculiar and powerful statement. Paul is telling us that because He was the first human to be permanently resurrected among all creation, He has been given the right to be preeminent among all things.

Jesus wasn’t just the incarnate Son of God who walked the earth and has now “left the building”. The expanse of both the known and unknown universe bows to His undeniable supremacy for having been created by Him, through Him, for Him, for His purposes and continuously sustained by Him. Ultimately, His purposes will be fulfilled by this universe as He will mend it again by the power of His own resurrection. For it was by that resurrection that He now stands triumphant on the neck of death itself.

We could literally spend months delving into what these scriptures and point to and their implications, second, and third order effects. Here Paul tries his best to present the Supreme Christ. In these two sections of scripture he lays out some of the most sublime revelation of Jesus Christ to exist in written form. But words simply can’t provide the kind of reach needed. There are no words to adequately describe His greatness. He is the Supremacy.

Out of that supremacy Christ owes us nothing. But out of His majesty, perfection, and purpose behold what He freely chooses to be on our behalf…

Jesus as Savior

Of course, Jesus is our savior. “Jesus saves” says the bumper sticker. But often, the underlying sentiment behind that statement is that He’s saved me from hell and eternal separation from God after I die. Yes, this is true. But the word salvation is a much more inclusive work than we’re often led to believe. It denotes a completed work. Do you know what else He saves us from?

Jesus saves us from worry (even the things we tend to do when we worry). Why? Because we trust that He is the Navigator of our soul. He is worthy to take the helm.

Jesus also saves us from our shame, embarrassment, mistakes, and failures–no matter how bad, embarrassing, or hurtful our actions were against another. We no longer have to relive the shame. He wipes it all away. All of it–lost in the light of His glory.

Why?

Because He’s in the business of making all things new. Including those situations.

Including you.

Do you know what He also saves us from? He saves us from human and cultural expectations. Rather than remaining chained to what society says we should be doing or where we should be focused, He frees us of those expectations with the freedom that He is. Rather than be torn down by a culture that consumes and crucifies those who don’t conform, we can walk in absolute freedom from an increasingly schizophrenic social conscience.

Do you know what else? He also saves us from having to work within the world system.

What do I mean by that?

All your life, you’ve been told that in order to “get A” you must “do B”. Why? Because “that’s just the way the world works” (or so you’re told). Instead of being a cog in the machine, He frees you from having to engage the levers and pulleys of this world. You are free from the constraints and compromises of politics. You’re free from the corporate ladder, the rat race. You’re free from unhealthy alliances. You’re free from the mindless momentum of worn-out institutions. You’re free because you’re now occupied with your Savior and He is the one who puts reality in order.

What else can we say about His salvation? Plenty.

Dead religion.

Self destruction.

Purposelessness.

Hopelessness.

Death.

All buried under the weight of His glory.

Isn’t that great? Isn’t that amazing? By His choice, Jesus Christ offers and provides a complete salvation. Take a few seconds to think about that.

Jesus as Our Identity

Every believer has been given the divine privilege of having their identity firmly established in the person of Jesus Christ. This is not just a casual association. Jesus is no longer just someone we learn about in Sunday School. He just isn’t someone that we pray to from a distance. He just isn’t a convenient add-on to our already busy lives.

So how close are we?

The phrase “in Him” is found frequently throughout the letters of 2 Corinthians, Ephesians, Colossians, and 1 John. It’s so unassuming that we may glance over it if we’re not careful. According to these scriptures, we are “in Christ”.

When we are in something, it contains us. It becomes our shelter, our environment. When people look at us, they are no longer looking at us, but at the thing containing us. When we are in Christ and the Father glances our way, He doesn’t see our sins and imperfections. Rather, He sees that we are completely covered by the blood of His perfect Son. Likewise, when others see us, when we are abiding in Christ, they no longer see the “old man” of our flesh, but rather Christ whom we “put on” (Gal. 3:27). Our purpose, meaning, calling, disposition, and destination is now hidden in the Son.

To add a level of abstraction, not only are we in Christ, but Christ is in us (Col. 1:27)–a fact that now turns us into a spiritual Möbius strip. (Bonus points if you can see the analogy). By the Spirit, He is in us. Not in a figurative sense, but literally inside of us. And not just individually, but corporately among all believers.

The apostle Paul describes the degree of connectedness between the believer and Christ when he wrote:

But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.
1 Corinthians 6:17 (ESV)

Let me try to unpack the incredible significance of this. First, according to scripture all humans have a spirit that resides in our deepest being. God also has a spirit (which is the Holy Spirit). When a person is joined to the Lord, a miracle occurs whereby there is an indistinguishable and inseparable union between the person’s spirit and the Holy Spirit. For in the same way there is hypostatic union among the persons of the Godhead, there is a hypostatic union between the spirits of man and God. All this to say our identity in Christ goes way beyond abstract geometry. For in that miracle, we completely identify with Christ who literally becomes our life (Col. 3:4).

Jesus as Our Relationship

Rather than keep an arms-length distance between the Lord and humanity, He extends a deep and abiding relationship to believers, both individually and corporately. Why? Because that was part of His purpose from the beginning. This is what He wants. And they aren’t just relationships “on paper”. They’re legitimate relationships involving (among other things) real trust, real commitment, and real two-way communication.

First of all, we identify as a friend of Christ. I’m not just talking about casual acquaintances or “Facebook friends” either. Rather Jesus is a look-me-in-the-eye-and-tell-me-everything type friend. A let-me-cry-with-you type friend. A you-are-burdened-so-let-me-carry-you type friend. He is the kind of friend you don’t have to put on appearances or pretend to be someone you’re not. He can’t be offended by our honesty. He invites us into severe honesty and hopes for nothing less. Maybe you’ve never had a friend like this before. But this is what he wants for us and for Himself. And he’s wanted it for all eternity.

But He is more than the truest of friends. He is our brother. We identify as Jesus’s brothers and sisters. The Lord’s divine purpose was to bring us into not only friendship, but familial relationship. In some mysterious way He has made us (as we would say in West Virginia) ‘blood-kin’. Consider the implications: If we are siblings, this means we have a common Father who loves us the same as He does His own Son. From this Father we have inherited His own spiritual genetics–His DNA. Because we have a common Father with the Son we share a common inheritance and a common destiny. For we are children of the King.

But it goes deeper still. For the church is the Bride of Christ. I have to admit, as a guy the idea of being anyone’s bride is a bit unsettling. But the Bride is not just me or you, but all of us who have freely chosen to love and pursue the Bridegroom. We are the church and together we are the Bride. If the Son loves us as our friend and as our brother, how much more are His affections magnified toward His Bride? How great is the love and intimacy He has toward us! The Bridegroom isn’t after a quick hookup, tenuous relationship, or the convenience afforded in uncommitted cohabitation. Because He purchased Her with His own blood, She is priceless. And He pursues Her with all the passion and fury of His own glory.

Jesus as Our Source

There is an idea circulating around Christianity which implies that, while Christ saves us freely by His grace, any effort, direction, empowerment, and sustainment to live the Christian life is entirely self-generated.

You need to try to love others.
You need to get involved in the church’s ministry.
You need to get out, evangelize, and bring others to the Lord.

What we seem to have forgotten in all this is that Jesus is our Life.

What do I mean by that? When the Bible refers to Jesus as our Life, it uses the Greek word zoe (ζωή) This word does not mean “the good life” or “our manner of living”. Among many other things, it refers to the divine life of the living God. Divine life is not a life that we can generate on our own–it must be continuously supplied to us from the source. And to be properly supplied, we must be not only aware of it but be receptive to it.

What does this Life supply us with? Jesus is our Source of all things that empower us to live the Christian life, reflect the image of the Lord, and participate in the Eternal Purpose. As our Source, He provides to us His direction, empowerment, authority, knowledge, wisdom, purpose, hope, divine love, trust, spiritual gifts, joy, freedom, discernment, peace, patience, encouragement, sustainment, material needs, fellowship, community, counsel, insight, and rest.

In most cases he doesn’t just give us these things, but rather He embodies these things within us. Rather than pray that he would “give us patience”, we thank Him that He already is our patience found by continuously tapping into His inexhaustible reservoir of Divine Life. Supplying it freely to His brothers and sisters is among His greatest pleasures. And he’s wanted to provide them to us since before time began.

Jesus as Our Artisan

You’ve probably heard that Jesus’ trade skill on earth was that he was a carpenter. The truth is that the word often translated as carpenter in scripture is the Greek word tekton (τέκτων) which is more accurately translated an artisan or craftsman of wood or stone. This is intriguing since He now does the same thing with the human spirit and with our character. Rather than hacking or sawing rough pieces as a modern carpenter for work to be hidden behind sheet rock, he lovingly chisels, molds, refines, shapes, and carves us into His own image. We are his workmanship, created for the express purpose of displaying the manifold beauty of the Creator.

But unlike a dull rock, we participate in His artistry by offering ourselves in allowing His work to be done. We willingly climb atop the bench to learn of Him as teacher, author, and perfector. As the perfect artisan, He applies His tools perfectly–slowly and carefully removing all that is not of Him so that what is of Him would be more perfectly revealed. We are His restoration project in the process of making all things new.

What tools does He use to sculpt the human soul? At times He uses instruction and discipline. Other times He applies the cross. The remaining ingredient is time. Leonardo DiVinci’s famous work, the Mona Lisa is said to have taken 16 years to paint. The human soul wrought in the image of God is infinitely more delicate, precious, and complex. We should probably not expect our completion to happen any quicker.

Jesus as Our Foundation

You’re probably familiar with the fish (ichthus) being an ancient symbol of Christianity. But you’re probably less familiar with the anchor being another. To the early church, Christ was recognized as their anchor–their immovable foundation within which they were secure. In a world of various philosophies, vacillating ethics, and struggle of prominence and influence, the early believers recognized Christ as their cornerstone–their standard of what Life and model of true humanity.

Where Pontius Pilate (and the world today) asks the persistent question “What is truth?” (Quid est veritas?) Jesus Christ responds with “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life”–the means, the objectivity, the purpose, and the source of all reality. Today, what is “right” depends largely on which celebrity, influencer, or political hero happens to occupy culture’s fickle attention at any given moment. Corporations will faithfully mimic the sentiment. Not because they care, but simply to maintain market share. As such, what is “right” is as ever-shifting as the sea.

Christ, however, is our immovable foundation. He is the only foundation to which we can anchor ourselves with confidence. We don’t get to “reinterpret” or “reconstruct” Him in the light of vacillating culture. Rather, He measures human culture against His own timeless character. This is why it’s critical to not see Him as a “character in an ancient book”, but know Him as a living person each day in each moment.

Jesus as Our Lord & King

This evolutionary shift of governments away from monarchies toward representative republics is not without its reasons. History has shown the dangers of too much authority in the hands of a single person. Some monarchs were good, some were so-so, and some were downright atrocious. For every Queen Elizabeth II there was a King John. For every King David there was a King Manasseh. True representative republics are not perfect either. They simply spread the authority across a sufficient number of imperfect people to mitigate the likelihood of really bad governance.

But Christ embodies perfect rule. There is no need to mitigate the risk of poor leadership through a hierarchy of intermediaries. He is directly accessible, for he is the King who is near. His rule is a direct theocracy composed of people who, captivated by the sight of His incomparable worth, voluntarily submit themselves under His headship. In early Christianity, the word Christian meant one who belonged to, or was owned by Christ. The implied meaning was one of slavery. The name “Christian” was originally a derogatory term by non-Christians toward the followers of Jesus in that they were not ‘freed men’. However, the believers took it as a term of endearment. Christ was, after all “Lord”. He was their “master”. Believers were aware that every man is a slave to something. But only slavery to Christ meant true freedom.

I pulled my old leadership textbook off the bookshelf to see how King Jesus stacks up against commonly recognized leadership traits. The results were not surprising. As Christ sets the standard for honesty, morality, and uprightness, he perfectly demonstrates integrity. As one who left heaven to become human, lived life as a human, and offered himself for all out of love, he demonstrates perfect empathy for His subjects. As an omniscient member of the Trinitarian Community, he has perfect awareness. He doesn’t react to situations, but with unlimited resources He orchestrates the outcome to His own end. He is Truth, the embodiment of honesty. With his purpose continuously in mind, he exacts perfect decisiveness and persistence in the execution of His plan. By working through the Holy Spirit to deliver revelation and knowledge of Himself and by providing scripture to act as “source of truth” to compare said revelation, His ability to communicate is without peer. Given His limitless competence he perfectly executes His office through expert power. Having been installed as King of All by the fact of His resurrection, He is not a pretender king, but acts from legitimate authority.

By any measure, Christ is the perfect King. Only He is worthy of the title and the position.

Not only does he possess all the traits and authority of a perfect ruler, he represents the aesthetic well. An emaciated savior unjustly hanging on a tree is a beautiful demonstration of ultimate love that we should not ever forget. But it is a fact of history. How should we view Him today?

Behold your King:

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written,

KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
Revelation 19:11-16 (ESV)

Of course, Revelation is full of imagery and allusion. But what the imagery points to is the type of hero-king that all others throughout history have, by comparison, only been a vapid shadow.

A Never-Ending Pursuit

What’s amazing is that our Lord isn’t limited to one or two of these roles above others. We recognize Him to be all of these things at once. He executes each role with eternal love, ferocious passion, and exquisite perfection.

As I said at the start, this post is merely a survey of the offices of His present-day ministry to broaden our perspective and act as a springboard into a deeper pursuit of Yeshua Messiah. It’s one thing to know about someone and something entirely different to know them personally and intimately. It may be hard to believe, but you can know the Lord personally and intimately.

When we see the phrase knowledge of God in scripture, we tend to think of this knowledge as being the accumulation of facts about God, normally taken from the Bible and committed to memory. This is to equate knowledge of God with our knowledge of the Bible. But when scripture refers to knowledge of God, it often uses the Greek word epignosis. This is much more than scripture memorization. Epignosis conveys the idea of a deep, intimate personal relationship with the Lord–a knowledge gained through an experiential, first-hand relationship.

How we engage in an intimate relationship with a life-giving Spirit is the subject of future posts. Suffice it to say, brain-power alone will not get us there. At some point we’re forced to rely on spiritual faculties in our pursuit of Christ. Regardless, such knowledge doesn’t just land on you. You have to want it. It has to be pursued. This kind of pursuit takes sacrifice.

My prayer is that you would make it your occupation to pursue knowing Christ deeply. Knowing Him is key to appropriating His Life (John 17:3). Appropriating His Life is key to transformation.

Maybe you feel like you’ve got Jesus figured out. You’ve moved on to deeper, “more mature” doctrines and thicker theological books about deeper theology written by really smart people. But scripture tells us that your Lord is so great, so amazing, so incredibly deep that His riches are unsearchable (Eph. 3:8). There is nothing deeper. This means that we will never fathom their depths. We will certainly spend our whole lives in continuous discovery of His greatness. I personally believe that this discovery will never end, as we spend the rest of eternity awestruck by the ongoing, continuous revelation of His glory.

After all, He is greater than eternity.

First Things