Christ’s Dominion in All Ages
By Pastor Matt Black
30
July 2006
Lord's Day morning
Ephesians 1:21-22
Introduction: Open your Bible to Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. The title then of this morning’s message then is “Christ’s Dominion in All Ages.” Let’s stand together and read Ephesians chapter 1 and verses 15 through 23.
[Stand and read Ephesians 1:15-23]
Our main text is found in verse 21, which tells us that God the Father has set Christ “Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come.”
I. First we see the Seat (or Reality) of Christ’s dominion “far above all”
Principle: Christ is the Sovereign of all the ages. If we are going to talk about Christ’s dominion in all ages, we must first establish that He has a dominion.
A. We see first the Roles of Christ’s dominion.
1. As Creator, He is and has always been sovereign. We all understand that it is Christ who created all things—that “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3). He is the “express image” of the Father, and He upholds “all things by the word of his power” (Hebrews 1:3). Even when Christ was on this earth “even the winds and sea” obeyed Him. (Matthew 8:27).
Application: We quite easily recognize Christ as our Creator. He most certainly formed you in your mother’s womb. He planned the family you would be born into. He designed your personality, your strengths and weaknesses, and He has given you your intelligence level. Christ created you; He planned your birth into this world. But has He made of you a “new creation”? Has he created in you a new heart and a new spirit? 2 Corinthians 5:17, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
2. As Redeemer, He is and has always been sovereign. Christ created a world that He permitted to fall into sin so that He might demonstrate His love and mercy. Long before the world was ever created, He loved us with an everlasting love as the Redeemer. It wasn’t as if Christ created the world and anticipated and hoped it would be perfect, and then when all failed, decided to come into the world and clean up the mess. That would mean that Christ does not know all things. No, long before Christ Jesus created this world, He loved His sheep and planned and ordained to save His people from their sin. As Redeemer, Christ was interceding to the Father for us before we were ever born. He is our High Priest. He was “touched with the feeling of our infirmities” and “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). He became like one of us, but do not think He became less than God even though He was fully man. The Bible is clear that Christ continued to retain all His attributes of deity even when He walked upon this earth. Those who say otherwise do not teach the full deity of Christ. Christ, even in His humiliation had full control of the universe. He was at that time the sustainer and maintainer of all things. Philippians 2:7 tells us that Christ “made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men”. Christ when He came to earth did not look like God. His outward majesty and dreadful glory was all veiled. But make no mistake. Though He was fully man, He was also fully and completely God. He was “God with us”; God robed in human flesh. And, make no mistake about it, while He was here on earth, He retained all of His attributes as the Creator and Sustainer of all things. He was fully man, but also fully God. In order to be fully God, He would have had to have manifested the attributes that only God has. For instance, when Jesus Christ walked the earth…
· He demonstrated His omnipotence. He did things only God could do.
Ø The elements and weather are subject to Him (Matthew 8:26-27). Only God who rules over the seas and elements has power to still them, and the Bible says they obeyed His voice.
Ø He multiplied (created) loaves and fishes (Matthew 13:19).
Ø The Bible says in John 2:11 that He “manifested forth His glory” as God when He turned the water into wine.
Ø Of course, Christ walked on water (Matthew 14:25) and created sight in the eyes of the blind (John 9).
Ø He not only raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11:43), but He raised Himself from the dead (
John 5:21 For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.
· He demonstrated His omniscience.
Ø Christ knew people’s thoughts (Mark 2:8)
Ø He saw Nathaniel sitting under a fig tree afar off (John 1:48)
Ø Not only did Christ know people’s thoughts in specific situations, but the Bible says that He knew the thoughts of “all men” (John 2:25)
Ø Peter confessed that Christ knew “all things” (John 21:17) as did the rest of the disciples (John 16:30, “Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God.”
· He demonstrated His omnipresence.
Ø Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
Ø Before He left the earth, He promised them in Matthew 28:20, “I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”
Ø When He came to earth, He knew could see and testify that Abraham was in Heaven rejoicing (John 8:56, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad”).
· He demonstrated His eternality.
Ø He says in John 8:58, “Jesus said unto them…Before Abraham was, I am.”
Ø He says in Revelation 1:8, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” In other words, Christ was saying that He had no beginning and no ending.
So even while Jesus walked this earth as Redeemer, He demonstrated His sovereignty over all in the attributes He retained as God: His omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, and eternality.
We seen Christ as Creator and Redeemer, but now let’s look at Christ as Intercessor.
3. As Intercessor, Christ is and has always been the Sovereign. As intercessor, Christ is the guarantee of our salvation. Only one who is completely sovereign can love us with an everlasting love. Think about it, as long as God has been, in eternity past, Christ has loved you and pleaded on your behalf to the Father to save you. He has loved you with a love that is without beginning and without end! It is everlasting! Only an omnipotent Saviour can have an omnipotent and everlasting love for His people. The LORD says to His people today, “I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee” (Jeremiah 31:3). “We love him, because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). That love is not simply a feeling or a hope. For Christ, it is made reality in His eternal intercession for us. His everlasting love has caused him to plead to the Father on our behalf.
There is a sense in Scripture than in which Christ’s appeal for us has been everlasting. He has loved us from everlasting. He has first and always loved us. Only someone who is eternal and completely sovereign can love us and intercede for us in this way.
So we see Christ’s Roles as Sovereign. In everything He does, He is and has always been sovereign.
B. Here in verse 21 of our text (Ephesians 1), we see the Revelation of Christ’s dominion.
Christ has always been and ever shall be in a highly exalted position. So what does verse 21 mean then when it says that the Father set Christ above all power and authority and every name that is named? Wasn’t Christ already “highly exalted” (Philippians 2:9)? Yes Christ has always ruled the world as the Almighty, the Alpha and Omega, the Creator and Sustainer of all things. But here His position as Head over the church is revealed. We are going to be dealing with this a bit next Sunday night, by God’s providence, in the book of Isaiah chapter 9 and verse 6 which say that a child shall be born unto the human race and “the government shall be upon his shoulder”. Verse 7 tells us “Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever.” Christ is sovereign over all and has always been sovereign over all.
This is an extremely important matter. Hebrews 1:3 tells us that after “he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high”. This is not a restoration of Christ to a former position, for Christ never relinquished His position, rather it is the Father giving Christ a people, and a restraining of Satan and the evil powers of this earth, so that Christ does indeed “save His people from their sin” (Matthew 1:21). Though the world is in great darkness and bondage today, something amazing happened at the resurrection of Christ. Our text here in Ephesians 1:22 says that the Father “hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church.” So we see the revelation of something amazing here. That brings us to our next point.
II. Second, we see the Structure (the Reach) of the ages. “this world…that which is to come”.
Now that we know the reality of Christ’s dominion, we look to the reach of his dominion. It is in “this world” and “that which is to come”. It is an eternal dominion. You cannot get away from it!
Here we come to what we call Biblical Eschatology. Eschaton means “last things”. Logos means “the word about or the study of”. So Eschatology is “the study of last things” or “the study of how the world ends”. We read a lot about the “Last Day”, and about a “new heavens and a new earth.” We need to ask ourselves some important questions about all these things.
All of these answers are found in the Bible, and the answers are crystal clear. We don’t need to speculate or read the latest news reports. The Bible clearly and repeatedly gives Christians comfort in knowing how everything is going to end. Of course there really is no true end for the Christian. The end of this world means a glorious new beginning with Christ. We are going to look at all that in a moment.
Let’s begin where Scripture beings. In our text the Bible clearly says there are two ages:
Ø This present age. It is an age of darkness and despair, of sin and unbridled evil.
Ø The age to come. It is an age of light and hope, of holiness and bliss.
Ø First you have the Old Testament time before Christ.
a. Creation. This present age began with the creation of all things. Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth…” And God saw that all things were exceedingly good!
But something awful and destructive happened. Rebellion entered into the world. So we come to…
b. The Fall. We read that “In Adam all die” (1 Corinthians 15:22) and of course Romans 5:12 tells us that “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned”. So here something fundamental changed in the structure of this present age because of the Fall, this age is a wicked age. We pray that Christ "might deliver us from this present evil world” (Galatians 1:4). At the Fall Satan was given a certain dominion in the earth. He is now “prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2). Satan at the Fall began to dominate the human race. The earth soon became wicked and uninhabitable because of sin. The Bible tells us in Genesis 6:5, “And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” So what did God send?
c. The Flood. The Bible says that God raised up Noah to preach to this rebellious people for 120 years before He sent this worldwide cataclysmic disaster that destroyed the entirety of the earth’s population except for the eight people on the Ark. We read in Hebrews 11:7, “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.”
d. After the flood we come to the Tower of Babel where God confused the languages (Genesis 11:9). After the flood God told the people to divide up, but they disobeyed and were of one language and one people. They began to build a tower to heaven. They were filled up with great pride and God began to resist them. God resists the proud but giveth grace to the humble. So God divided and confused their language.
e. After this you have the calling of Abraham and the formation of the nation of Israel.
During this Old Testament there was great darkness. God certainly worked in the lives of men like Adam, Seth, Noah, Enoch, and Job. But then God began to work mightily in one nation—in Israel. He did work also in heathen nations such as Assyria where he saved the Ninevites, and other nations that Israel conquered. But for the most part, Satan had great dominion over the earth. He was completely unrestrained.
Then something amazing and wonderful happened! Christ came into the world! God in human flesh bound Satan. We call this time period that we are in, the New Testament time. It is still this “present age” but we are in a time of grace.
Ø Turn over to Matthew 12:28-29. Very important passage. Christ says, “if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. 29 Or else how can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.” At this time Satan had free rule over the nations to deceive them. The only nation on earth that God had dealings with was Israel. With Christ coming to earth, he would “first bind the strong man” and then “spoil his house”. Aren’t you glad Christ spoiled Satan’s house (dominion)? You were once “of your father the devil” but now you are children of light!
Ø Now turn over to John 12:31-32, Christ again here says, “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. 32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.”
Ø Of course Satan is not completely bound. He is like a “roaring lion seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:).
Ø We do not have time for an extended study today, but Revelation 20 tells us that Satan is bound during the church age, and that during this time he can “deceive the nations no more” until the church age is over.
Look at Revelation 20:7 now. “7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
So Satan is bound now, but not completely bound for he walks about as a roaring lion. It is as if He is on a chain. He still deals havoc, but he cannot deceive the nations in the way he did during the OT times.
B. Now let’s look at the Age to Come!
1. Begins with the Day of the Lord
2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
2. At that time there shall be a New Heaven and earth.
Isaiah 65:17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
Isaiah 66:22 For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain.
2 Peter 3:13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
Revelation 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
III. And Finally we see the Strategy of the ages. Christ’s strategy is to be “head over all things to the church”.
We’ve seen the reality and reach of Christ’s dominion, now let us see the realm of His dominion. Our text here in Ephesians 1:22-23 says that the Father “hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, 23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.”
Conclusion: Are you part of Christ’s church? Have you been born again?
Closing Hymn: 289 Hallelujah! What a Saviour (verse 5)