2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Ones,
Yesterday, we looked at Christ’s authority to be our Kinsman-Redeemer and how Satan’s attacks on the mind can be dealt with by Him. Today, I am led to look at another aspect of Christ’s authority, His position as appointed Ruler and God’s will to put the enemies of righteousness under our Lord’s feet. This is a continuation of the various facets of trait 6 of a kinsman-redeemer, namely that He has the authority and responsibility to redeem the land and evict squatters and invaders. 1 COR 15: 25-28, “For Christ must rule until God defeats all enemies and puts them under His feet. The last enemy to be defeated will be death. For the Scripture [PS 110: 1] says, ‘God, put all things under His feet.’ It is clear, of course, that the words ‘all things’ do not include God Himself, Who puts all things under Christ. But when all things have been placed under Christ’s rule, then He Himself, the Son, will place Himself under God, Who places all things under Him; and God will rule completely over all.” Just to make things really clear, let’s look at the actual words of PS 110:1-2, “The Lord said to my Lord, the King, ‘Sit here at My right side until I put Your enemies under Your feet. From Zion the Lord will extend Your royal power. ‘Rule over Your enemies,’ He says.”
Do you remember Melchizedek? He was that king of Salem, the fore runner of Jerusalem, to whom Abraham paid the first tithe in GN 14: 20 after rescuing Lot from Sodom. He was a priest of the Most High God, a higher ranking priest than an Aaronic one. I have reason to believe he is a theophany, that is a visible manifestation of God or Christ. It’s appropriate for me to think of him here, because of what is said in PS 110: 4. “The Lord made a solemn promise and will not take it back: ‘You will be a priest forever in the line of success to Melchizedek.’” Does it surprise you that this is in the OT where the name, Jesus Christ, is never mentioned and in a song of the Psalmist written long before Christ’s physical birth? It shouldn’t, because Christ can be found all over the pages of the OT. This very same Scripture is mentioned again in HE 7: 15-16 lest we forget that the Lord wants us to know its content. “The matter becomes even more plainer; a different Priest has appeared, Who is like Melchizedek. He was made a Priest, not by human rules and regulations, but through the power of a life which has no end. For the Scripture [PS 110: 4] says, ‘You will be a priest forever, as a successor of Melchizedek.’”
Christ’s ability and authority to be the Kinsman-Redeemer of our land (the earth) need not be questioned on the basis of every bit of Scriptural evidence to that given us by our heavenly Father. MT 25: 41, “Then He will away to those on His left, ‘Away from Me, you that are under God’s curse! Away to the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and His angels!’” This remarkable statement is uttered by Christ in reference to the final separation of the sheep (righteous) and the goats (unrighteous) in the end times. Nothing that Christ ever said or did was contrary or without the Father’s direction. As far back as DN 9: 27b, the comment was made, “The Abomination of Desolation will be placed on the highest point of the Temple and will remain there until the one who put it there meet the end which God has prepared for him.” The “one who put it there” is the antichrist, and the significance of this statement is that God has prepared his end. Christ will be the One to carry out this instruction of God’s, regarding the demise of the entire unholy trinity [Satan, the false prophet, and the antichrist] and their followers. We have REV 19: 20-21 and REV 20: 10, which reveal the truth of what is to be the fate of all evildoers. REV 20: 14, “Then death and the world of the dead were thrown into the lake of fire. (This lake of fire is second death).”
Dear Ones, the Greek word, “agorazo,” means “bought” or “purchased.” That is what Christ did for us when He gave His life on the cross, so we could be bought out of the slave market of sin. He not only paid the price for our redemption, but He will go on to expunge evil from the earth redeeming it too when God decrees that the time is right. We know that from REV 5: 5 which tells us that Christ is the only One worthy to open the seven seals on the scroll (the mortgage for earth) and to wrest it from Satan by means of the final judgments those seals represent. We have seen from 1 COR 15: 28 above that He will place that scroll in the Father’s hands for eternity, and the Father has decreed that He will rule over all. REV 6: 1, “Then I saw the Lamb break open the first of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice that sounded like thunder, ‘Come!’” In meditating over what has been said and cited here, how can we conclude we should ever allow Christ’s blood to be wasted by allowing Satan to gain in a stronghold in our lives? I simply can’t!
PRAYER: O Lord, we are left breathless and amazed at the sheer volume of information You give us in the Scriptures which helps us to know the folly of ever allowing Satan to rule our lives. We are so blessed that we have been given the choice as to whether or not we will sin by Christ’s death on the cross. You have told us He will rule over earth and heaven. In addition, You have told us in RO 8: 17, EPH 2: 6-7, and other places that we will inherit that rule as “joint-heirs” with Him and that You will share Your glory with us. All we must do is to endure in our faith and obey Your commands. What a small price to pay for such enormous gain! Your blessings for us actually begin on earth. For You have granted “the peace that goes beyond human understanding” [PHIL 4 :7] when we do things that please You. Between sacrificing Your only begotten Son on the cross, giving us the gift of the Holy Spirit, making Your word available to us to study, and giving us the faith we need to produce the fruits of Your Spirit [GA 5: 22-23], You have fitted us well for victory in spiritual warfare and the hope of eternal life with You. The rest is up to us. We must make the often painful and difficult decisions which lead to a righteous, faith-filled life. We must take apostolic action without attempting to usurp Your sovereign right to be Judge. Today, we acknowledge You as our One and Only God and pledge to trust You and obey Your commands. We offer You our humble confession of sin and heart-felt adoration, worship, loyalty, diligence, glory, and honor. Most of all, we offer You praise and thanksgiving for equipping us to help Christ win the victory over Satan and his evil followers. PS 118: 1-4 expresses the contents of our hearts today. “Give thanks to the Lord, because He is good, and His love is eternal. Let the people of Israel say, ‘His love is eternal.’ Let the priests of God say, ‘His love is eternal.’ Let all who worship Him say, ‘His love is eternal.’” In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.
Tomorrow, I am led to begin a new segment in this series on spiritual warfare called “Accused Avenged.” Remember that the devil is also known as Satan, the Accuser. Now, we will examine God’s response to those accusations and His blessing of the faithful unfairly accused. The last citation in today’s prayer really says it all, “His love is eternal.” I believe real love really is eternal, to the point where I asked Peter when we first got married if I could use the same words etched inside our wedding rings. His answer was, “yes,” and we went on to discover that a third Party was a principal part of our marriage covenant, God Himself. The message of hope and comfort that is encased in the words of today’s message is made possible by the nature and actions of our loving Abba. There is never a day in our lives when we should think we are too busy to stop and thank Him for all that He is and all that He does in our lives. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn