Christ the King (2)
Notes
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13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
A group of computer programmers put together a Python script that collects data on hundreds of thousands of Wikipedia entries. It then ranks them by length of entry, number of links to pages, and how long they lived.
The result is a list of the world's (or at least the Internet's) consensus of the most influential people of all time, from leaders who liberated people (Abraham Lincoln) to those who killed millions (Joseph Stalin). It's also a reminder of privilege, since there's one woman and no people of color on the list.
Joseph Stalin
Sidney Lee
Napoleon
George Washington
Queen Victoria
Winston Churchill
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Abraham Lincoln
Carl Linnaeus
Adolf Hitler
Second Sample
Mother Teresa
Christopher Columbus
Saint Paul
Buddha
Albert Einstein
Mahatma Gandhi
Isaac Newton
Confucius
Muhammed
Jesus Christ
Third Sample
Charles Darwin
Sigmund Freud
Hippocrates
Christopher Columbus
Galileo
Isaac Newton
Michelangelo
Mozart
Archimedes
Homer
Julius Caesar
Da Vinci
Alexander the Great
Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ, the founder of the Christian religion has a direct influence on the 2 billion followers of Christianity in the world and is hence one of the most influential people in history. However, Aristotle and Plato have frequently been cited as being more influential since their ideas were not restricted by religious doctrines and are widely accepted by people of all faiths. Apart from the 2 billion followers, Jesus Christ has had a significant impact on the world as a whole since many Christian values have been universalized due to the conscious efforts of kingdoms and countries that accept the religion as the official religion.
Plato
Today is the last Sunday of the Church year and has been designated a “Christ the King” Sunday. It is fitting that we should conclude our year with an emphasis on the importance of Jesus on the history of the world, the message of the Bible, and our own personal lives as a whole and on a daily life.
There should be no doubt that Jesus was (and is) an influential person in history. I asked Google for a list of the most influential people in history. The first list I saw was not what I expected. It was a list based on activity on Wikipedia. I think it says more about the people who use that platform than actual facts. So I kept searching.
The second list was more what I expected. A third list also put Jesus near (but not at) the top with a disclaimer.
Well, we don’t need a Google search to tell us who is the most important person in our lives. As Christians who believe in the Triune God, we confess just how important Jesus to us in our worship and in how we conduct our daily lives.
But this was not always been accepted by everyone. In our gospel lesson we are reminded of how the life of Jesus seemingly ended as he was condemned to death either because of the accusations made against him (historists) or because Pilate wanted to save his own reputation (biblical). John tells us in his prologue about the origins of Jesus and that his life would seemingly end tragically.
After Jesus rose from the dead, he commanded his disciples to witness to the world who he was, and is, and what will happen in the future. One of the most influential people in doing this was St. Paul. We don’t have the exact content of everything he preached but we do have the inspired letters that he wrote which often testified to who Jesus is and why he is influential. One of those examples is our text.
Verse by verse commentary and application.
13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
The subject of this verse is God the Father. He is the active person who rescues us. But he did this through his Son, Jesus. Jesus is the one he sent on the rescue mission to redeem us (buy us back). Therefore, our relationship with God is described as being members of his Son’s kingdom. As king Jesus won the victory over our spiritual enemies and now rules in our hearts by the Word and over all things as he is at the right hand of God. The benefit for us is that we are God’s people and that our sins are forgiven.
15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
This speaks to the divinity of Jesus. We cannot see God the Father or the Holy Spirit because they are spirits. We could not see Jesus unless he had become man (which he did). As true man and true God he revealed our God to us. “The firstborn of all creation” has been interpreted by some to say that God the Father created the Son and through him created everything else (see reference).
It has been alleged that firstborn means that Jesus was the first creation of God. Does this mean that Jesus Christ was a created being?
The Word Can Mean A Number Of Different Things
The Greek word prototokos, which is translated as firstborn, can refer to different things. It could refer either to something or someone that is first in order of time, such as a firstborn child, or it could refer to someone who is preeminent in rank. Or it could refer to someone who was both firstborn and preeminent in rank. It all depends upon the context.
It Has The Idea Of Preeminence In The Book Of Colossians
In the passage in Colossians the idea of Jesus as firstborn means that He is preeminent over creation not that He is a created being. This can be seen from the verses that follow.
For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together (,).
Jesus is clearly called the Creator of all things. Consequently He could not have been the first thing created.
The more accurate understanding is as seen above.
16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Often people are cited as being influential because of what they created (ideology, theories, art, political systems). Jesus is above all because he was involved in creating everything.
18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.
Here St. Paul uses a common analogy to stress how important Jesus is. He calls him the head of the body. I saw a recent post on Facebook of how a family was in the hospital with the husband and father who had lost part of his arm in a farming accident. Losing a limb or an organ can be devastating. But losing one’s head is always fatal. We know how important the head is. Jesus is the most important person in our church — any church.
Application: It has been said that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. This may be true with sinful men (Joseph Stalin and Adolph Hitler come to mind.) Jesus always uses his power for the good of his people whether it was rescuing us in the past, protecting us now, or coming again in glory on the Last Day. It is comforting to believe that Jesus is in control and uses his power for our good.
19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
It is one thing to know why a person was famous or influential, it another to be the direct recipient of what they did. Although Abraham Lincoln was involved in freeing the slaves it doesn’t really affect us. We were not slaves and we were not even alive then. Indirectly it may impact some of the freedom we have but not as significantly as if we were slaves in the deep South in 1860. Jesus, on the other hand, had made a lasting impact on all people of all time including what we are doing right now. Did you sin this past week? Did you recognize that you deserved to be punished for that sin? Did you need forgiveness? What Jesus did on the cross affects that. His reigning as King also means that we can go to him in prayer every day to help us with all of our problems.
19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Sometimes a person’ influence is defined especially by one historical thing that they did which had lasting impact.
Columbus discovered America
(find other examples)
Here, St. Paul reminds us of the key (but not only) defining event in the work of our King, Jesus. His death on the cross.
This has an impact on our status before God.
This has an impact on our future.
This has and impact on what we do every day. (NIV)
14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. 16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
In a monarchy the subjects pledge their allegiance to the King. In Nazi Germany, the Germans pledged their allegiance to Adolph Hitler. Unfortunately, it led them to do some very atrocious things and ruined Europe and beyond. Our allegiance is to the King who sacrificed himself for us and now controls all things for him. We do well to choose intentionally how we honor him in our lives.