Christ Supreme Over All

Ephesians 1:7-10

His name is Henk Otte. He is a middle-aged unemployed man on welfare in the Netherlands. He lives with his wife and two children in an Amsterdam housing project. He seems completely, absolutely ordinary. And he was, at least until 1995. That year, while visiting West Africa with his wife, his life changed radically.

During that visit, leaders told Otte that they believed he was the reincarnation of their deceased tribal chief. Following seventeen years without a leader, the Ewe tribe, made up of more than 100,000 people, believed that Otte should be their king.

And now he is. In Holland he is Henk Otte. But in Africa, he is "Togbe," or "king." His arrival is greeted with celebration. Throne-bearers carry him through masses of excited subjects. Drums play, dancers spin, and the focus of all their adoration is their king, who wears a crown and lives in a specially-built home. Several television documentaries have told the story of this improbable king. In fact, it's hard to imagine a less-likely king. Of course there was one....

Grew up in a small town in the middle of nowhere. Worked for years at a regular job, just like everyone else. Then one day, about the time he was thirty, he gave up his old job and started preaching. Wandered all over the place doing it, even though he had no real training. Finally ran into some trouble with the authorities for claiming that he was, you guessed it, a "king". He managed to offend his own people, the local authorities, and many more. They finally killed him for stirring up trouble. A pretty unlikely king..

Kings rise to the throne in one of three ways. Most are born into that role, and receive it by inheritance. Some take it by force. But a few are made king because people decide to make them king and serve them. That was the case with Henk Otte. And that is the case with Jesus Christ. He serves as king only of those who have chosen to name him as king. His subjects have all chosen to let him rule.

Who have you chosen as your king?

Paul wants the Ephesians to know if they are in Christ and of His salvation and that they are His body. What would that require? How would that be described? Christ is our Lord by His blood and God’s choosing and election. (Election being the process by which those who have faith in Christ come to that faith.) We are His body. What promises do we have as body?

There are three truths concerning the elect in Christ.

First we see that grace is poured out in Christ. In the previous verses we are told that we were chose by God in Christ before the act of creation began. Then we are told that we were predestined to adoption through Christ. We are recipients of God’s grace through Christ. Our redemption is an act of God’s grace. Our forgiveness is an act of God’s grace. Neither of which could take place without the work of Christ. Our redemption took place through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Christ’s blood was the price required to buy us out of the grips of sin and into the hands of our gracious God. Who were we bought from? The best question is what were we bought from? The curse of sin is what we were bought from. We were bought out of death. We were sold into death when our father and mother, Adam and Eve, sinned. Christ’s blood bought us out of our enslavement to sin. God’s grace is not just in small measure but in the largest measure. It is poured out into our lives. The pouring of God’s grace is most evident and pictured most precisely through the emptying of Christ’s blood flowing out as He endured His ordeal for our salvation. Our forgiveness of rebellion against God was provided through Christ by the grace of God. All of this our being bought out of sin, the forgiveness of our sins is according to God’s riches of His grace. Not the leftovers but the abundance of riches. It is His grace. We do not deserve it. Then the beginning of verse 8 tells us that He lavished it upon us.

I wish I could lavish some gifts on Heather. They would be gifts of gold, diamonds, fancy clothes. It would not be cheap or without thought to what she desires and needs. I would find what she needs and then take it to the extreme and get her the very best that I could. I wouldn’t buy anything from K-Mart or Goodwill or the Dollar Store but the finest clothing from the very best stores. It wouldn’t be the expensive stuff necessarily but the best made clothes from the very best materials. The diamonds would be the best quality and cut without flaw.

Romans 5:20-21: And the Law came in that the transgression might increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Grace is a gift that brings righteousness to our lives through the Spirit. That righteousness allows us to possess eternal life in Christ. Grace gave us what we did not deserve and could never earn.The second truth we see is that all people were purchased in Christ. When I say that all people were purchased in Christ, I mean that the sins of all people have provision to be paid. Whether or not you accept by faith Christ as Lord, there is sufficient provision for your sins. There is sufficient provision that you might have eternal life. That provision has been paid. Verse 8 tells us that in all wisdom and insight. In God’s ability to discern different modes of action with a view to their result. God looking into the future from before He began to create our world saw what would happen and how it would need to be remedied. He also saw and determined how that would take place. He knew what needed to be done and He provided the means for that to take place. God saw the need and the means to bringing about the desired result while maintaining His own righteousness and holiness in the process. He made known to us “the mystery of His will.” Why is God’s will a mystery? We are not as wise as God nor do we understand His ways. If God desired that all nations be His then why did He choose one nation to be His witness? The mystery of His will according to the third chapter of Ephesians is that the Jews and Gentiles would be united in Him. This is only through Christ who is supreme over all because He provided redemption by His blood. This is according to God’s good will, kind intention, essentially God’s goodness and grace. And through that grace He purposed it in Christ. Literally He set before Himself the unity of the Jews and the Gentiles. What else did Christ set before Himself? The cross. Christ set His sights to the cross that was His goal. He knew that through His sacrifice offered on the cross would reach the desired goal and purpose of the unity of the nations. All people would be one under Him. During the years of my pastorate, a man came to my town with an intention to bring division in my congregation. He was going to start a new church and hoped to use some members of my congregation to help him do it. The Lord spoke to me and said, "Become his servant." Instead of avoiding him and isolating him, though I knew he was in the "sheep stealing" business, I became his servant. I invited him to my church on numerous occasions. I asked him to preach for me. I sent the musicians from my congregation to help him with special services at his new church plant. I was determined to be his servant. When the time came and the gentleman was ready to play his final card and start lambasting me, a strange thing happened. No one put credence into what he said. They had seen me be his servant and they were watching him reveal his true character.

God does not need people to fight for Him; He needs people who will be servants. The principles of His kingdom will fight for themselves. The spirit of a servant is what will create unity. A servant does not care who is in control. A servant does not seek preeminence for himself, but only seeks the furtherance of the kingdom of God.

Matthew 16:21- From that time Jesus Christ began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. He was determined that He would go to the cross. There was no stopping Him from doing it. It was as Michael Jordan at the beginning of a basketball season. Whatever it took to get to the end of the season with the trophy. Nothing would stop Him. His goal was the trophy. For Christ, His goal was our redemption, the Father’s will, and there was no stopping Him. Are you determined to follow Christ despite the cost? Do you consider the rewards that await you are worth the time, trouble, and despair here?

The third truth we see today is all things will be fulfilled in Christ. As we continue in the passage we see Paul continuing to point to Christ. He is supreme. He purchased our redemption. He poured out God’s grace. He now is the One in whom all things will be fulfilled. It was determined that in Christ, the Redeemer, that all people would be equal. Verse 10 says the fullness of times. When the times are complete and fulfilled. When there is nothing left to accomplish. When everything is perfected. The verse goes on to say “the summing up of all things.” The bringing of unity out of the many. Diversity being moved into unity. Jews and Gentiles being made one. Imagine one day there will be Jews, Palestinians, Russians, Chechnyans, Chinese, Japanese, Southern Whites from the 1800s if not today as well, Blacks all in one place, and that one place will be the throne of heaven worshipping Christ the Risen Lord. Won’t that be a beautiful picture? Wouldn’t you like to see that today? We could see that today! When our Lord changes our hearts His will should be ours. He desires that heaven be pictured in this world today. What a radical difference it could make in the Northern Neck when the picture of fulfillment is found in the people of God united in Him and not the color of our skin or the freedom of our worship. Fulfillment in Christ is what brings us peace to the stress of today. Unity out of diversity. No matter what language you speak, one day we will sing the same praises to our Lord. No matter what style of clothes you wear or the style of music you listen to we will sing the same song of praise to our Lord.

In 1935, Blasio Kigozi, a schoolteacher in Rwanda, Central Africa, was deeply discouraged by the lack of life in the church and the powerlessness of his own experience.

He followed the example of the first Christians and closed himself in for a week of prayer and fasting in his little cottage. He emerged a changed man. He confessed his sins to those he had wronged, including his wife and children. He proclaimed the gospel in the school where he taught, and revival broke out there, resulting in students and teachers being saved. They were called abaka, meaning "people on fire."

Shortly after that, Blasio was invited to Uganda to share with the Anglican Church there. During the 10 day Anglican meeting in Kabale, he called the leaders to repentance and many responded to his message. A few weeks later, Kigozi was called back to Uganda to attend the church's synod in Kampala, but on the way he contracted tick fever. Shortly thereafter, revival swept through the Church of Uganda throughout 1937 and then across the entire country. Hundreds of thousands of lives have been transformed over the decades through this mighty East African revival. It all began with a discouraged Christian setting himself apart to seek the fullness of God's Spirit.

Is there a sin in your life stopping the outpouring of God's Spirit? Today in prayer, repent from any and every sin in your life and let Jesus Christ fill you with His Spirit.

"The first time Jesus appears, in the first Gospel, the first instruction he gives is 'Repent.' From then on, it's his most consistent message. In all times and every situation, his advice is to repent. Not just the scribes and Pharisees, not just the powerful-he tells even the poor and oppressed that repentance is the key to eternal life." - Frederica Mathewes-Green

God's Word: "'The time has come,' he said. 'The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!'" - Mark 1:15

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. Gal. 3:29 Wow, and if you belong to Christ then you are heirs! You are Abraham’s offspring. So, my Greek, Gentile self is an offspring of the great Jewish patriarch Abraham. So now I am spiritually a Jew. So I am united to Jews. I am united to blacks. I am united to the once was the great enemy the Russians. I am united to Arabs. You are united to all the same if you are in Christ Jesus. What a mighty God we serve that through the death of one we would be united as brothers and sisters!

If Christ is supreme then may you be willing to be a reproach for your Savior because He was one for you. May you be willing to do whatever is necessary to make Him known.

May we never choose to whom we witness because of their skin color. All people will one day worship Him and may we seek that we are a part of that trend.

May we boldly serve the Lord in obedience.

May our Lord be raised up by the praises of His people. May our Lord be glorified by His gospel being proclaimed to all people. May His praises be on our lips.