“For in [Jesus] the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things…”
“…making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”
“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.”
Just a little sampling from Colossians, Ephesians, and Philippians to show that it is God’s intention that Jesus rule the world. (That sounded so Pinky and the Brain, didn’t it?) It is God’s will for Jesus to rule. Keep that thought.
“Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.’”
This is a decent summary of Jesus’ position as ruler of all—minus of course that whole worshipping the devil thing. If it is God’s will for Jesus to rule then why does Jesus refuse this offer? Obviously, because Jesus will only swear allegiance to His Father. Bowing to Satan is not part of the plan. Glory for Jesus will only come through suffering and the cross—not some devilishly comfortable shortcut.
As painfully obvious as this is, I still struggle with living this out. I desire to take shortcuts. Most of my shortcuts are meant to stave off the painstaking and slow process of suffering in a wilderness.
I’ll leave it up to you to discover the implications of this for your own life and ministry…
