Jesus is Reigning
About this series:
Throughout 2023 our Sunday teaching series has been on The Kingdom Of God. During the five summer Sundays we’ll take a break from that series as we ask, “What is Jesus doing now?”
Christians tend to focus, understandably, on what Jesus has done - in his life, death and resurrection - and on what he will do - return. But the Christian faith has always understood Jesus to have a current ministry too, as the New Testament explains that he ascended not only because his work was done but also to continue his work (though now from his exalted, ascended, victorious position at his Father’s right hand). So we’ll do well to spend these weeks considering this often-neglected facet of the Bible’s teaching, helping us discover the implications of Jesus’ ascension. One writer goes so far as to say, ‘The continuing reign and life of the enthroned Christ is the theological core and narrative heart of Acts and the basis for the rest of the New Testament’ (Patrick Schreiner).
So, having ascended, what is Jesus doing now? He is reigning, praying, advocating, sending and waiting (this is not an exhaustive list). ‘He leads not in heaven a life of mere glory, majesty and blessedness, but a life of office, love and care also’ (John Owen).
Jesus is reigning: he sat down to reign, ruling all things according to his word and his will.
Jesus is praying: from his position as conquering king he is interceding for us.
Jesus is advocating: his presence in heaven witnesses to the eternal effectiveness of his death and resurrection for us.
Jesus is sending: sending the promised Holy Spirit to empower his people with his presence.
Jesus is waiting: he is awaiting the day of his return, the defeat of his enemies and the celebration of being united with his bride in the new creation.
About this talk:
Scripture: Ephesians 1:20-23
In the Old Testament it is clearly and repeatedly acknowledged that God is king and that he therefore reigns. He is both creator and sustainer. So, for example: “The Lord reigns for ever and ever” (Exodus 15:18), “For the Lord Most High is awesome, the great King over all the earth” (Psalm 47:2), “Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations” (Psalm 145:13), “Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let them say among the nations, ‘The Lord reigns!’” (1 Chronicles 16:31).
The remarkable reality in the New Testament is that the followers of Jesus now proclaimed Jesus to be the reigning king - because he is the God who has always reigned, the second person in the Trinity, one with the Father and the Holy Spirit. The early church understood that in his ascension Jesus had not simply gone away or ‘only’ returned to his Father; he had ascended to reign. Or, more accurately, to continue his reign, now as the victorious defeater of sin, death and Satan and as our mediator and intercessor. ‘The Resurrection proclaims “He lives - and that forever”; the Exaltation proclaims “He reigns - and that forever”’ (Murray Harris).
After Paul’s greeting at the beginning of his letter to the Ephesians, chapter 1 contains a series of wonderful truths about believers, followed by Paul’s prayer for his readers - a prayer that recounts some remarkable truths about Jesus:
That he was raised from the dead
That he was seated at the Father’s right hand in the heavenly realms
That he is seated, “far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name” now and forever
That all things have been put, “under his feet”
That he has been appointed, “head over everything for the church”
Colossians 1:15-20 further tells us that all things came from him, are held together by his reign and will be reconciled in him.
His ascension and enthronement marked the decisive point in this new phase of his reign. Four times the writer to the Hebrews says that Jesus “sat down” at the right hand of God (1:3, 8:1, 10:12; 12:2) meaning that his ‘work’ had been finished and that he is now reigning in the most prominent and honoured place (at the Father’s right hand).
His reign is universal - there is nothing in all creation that is not his, nothing over which is not Lord, nothing which, finally, is independent of him. His reign is eternal - there will never be a time when he is not king. And his reign is personal - he is not the god of the deists, who imagine God to have set everything in motion and ever since to have sat back as a detached observer. He knows, he cares, he is involved, he is the point of everything - “For from him and through him and for him are all things” (Romans 11:36).
Can there be a greater comfort to the Christian than to know there is a good, holy, just, almighty king? And that his name is Jesus - the one who gave himself for us.
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