Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morsels for Zion's Poor. The most glorious message
that the born-again child of God can hear is that one which
proclaims that Jesus Christ is the absolute Lord of all. Nothing
can bring more comfort to the soul of the redeemed than the
proclamation of the preeminence of Christ. Paul said, for if
the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself
to the battle? Is it any wonder that there is
such a running to and fro among those claiming to be the followers
of Christ in our day? tossed about with every wind
of doctrine, when there are so many uncertain declarations concerning
Christ and His Lordship over all things. If one listens to
the average message being preached today, one hears about a Savior
who is trying to save, one who would be Lord if only men will
let him, or one who must wait till men open their hearts. one
who is dependent on the creature to carry out his will or bring
others to him. This weak-kneed Jesus that is
preached far and wide is not the God of the Bible. He is a
figment of men's imaginations and is an imposter who has no
real power. A man who knows himself to be
a sinner, lost and undone, can find no comfort in one who must
ask his permission to save him. That man who has been acquainted
with his own helpless condition is longing to hear about one
who is mighty to save, one who has all power in heaven, earth,
and hell, one in whose hand is the power of life and death,
who is able to save to the uttermost. Paul declares that Christ is
all. He has no rival, nor is there any who can thwart his
will nor overturn his purpose. All things have been put under
his feet. Some tell us there is coming a thousand-year period
of time when he will reign in the earth. That message is two
thousand years too late. He came into the world as a king,
he is the king now, and he shall be the king forever. It was this
message that Peter preached on the day of Pentecost, saying,
Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God
hath made that same Jesus whom ye have crucified, both Lord
and Christ. There remaineth no power yet
to come under his dominion that is not already under his feet.
This is such a clear message throughout the New Testament
that it is unthinkable that a person could overlook it or neglect
to proclaim it from the housetops. The eyes put all things in subjection
under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection
under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. The Lord
Jesus Himself said, Even the demons and Satan himself are
but pawns in His mighty hand. As someone has said, the devil
is God's devil. He is like a dog on a leash that
can only fulfill the purpose the Lord has for him until the
day he is finally destroyed in the lake of fire. In keeping
with this train of thought, Paul goes on to say that Christ is
the head over all things to the church, which is his body. Now,
obviously, Paul does not here have reference to his body of
flesh with which he arose from the dead. Rather, Paul speaks
here in a figurative sense of a real body made up of those
whom he has purchased with his blood and with which he has an
eternal union. They are those who were given
to him from the foundation of the world and for whom he came
into the world to redeem. A body is not the creation of
men but of God, and this body is made one with Christ by the
operation of His Spirit without the will of man. This body is
made up of many members, and there are no parts of this body
which are less important than any other. Each member of this
body is vital to the health and well-being of the body as a whole.
Christ is the head of this body and leaves its guidance in the
hands of none. Rather, he has sent his spirit into the earth
to lead his body into all truth and to bear witness to them of
the preeminence of the head. There are multitudes of usurpers
and those who clamor for recognition, but there is only one head, and
he will share his glory with none. Paul says that his body,
that is the church, is the fullness of him that filleth all in all.
The word used for fullness here is the same word used in Mark
6.43, where it has reference to the fragments which fill twelve
baskets of fish and loaves when the Lord fed five thousand. Yet
we are made to wonder how it can be that those who are so
inadequate could yet be the fullness of him who already fills all
in all. Those who are a part of his body are like the oarsmen
in a Roman galley, who stroke the water with their blades because
of the power of the captain of the ship. He has appointed his
spirit to cause their oars to move in unison according to the
purpose of him who has charted the course, and he will bring
this ship safely into the harbor. It is this captain returning
with the spoils of battle who shall receive all of the glory
as the ship is docked and surrounded by multitudes who sing his praises
for he is worthy to be praised. Alleluia for the Lord God Omnipotent
reigneth. For a free CD containing 15 of
these radio broadcasts, send an email to forthepoor at windstream.net.