And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, all authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 

Matthew 28:18 

God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. 

Hebrews 1:1-3 

A discussion of Christ’s authority takes us many places. The text before us is longer than usual, yet it is worth our time to consider because of its’ bearing on Christ’s authority. It tells us that Christ has authority to speak for God. It tells us God, His Father has made Him the heir of all things. It speaks of Him as having made the worlds. It describes Him as the brightness of God’s glory and the express image of His Person; that is, He is all there is to see of God. It says He upholds all things by the word of His power; that is, all creation continues to exist by His control of it. It also tells us He sits upon the throne; that is, He reigns over all. This passage gives us a composite picture of Christ’s authority. All the rest of Scripture supports and expounds the things expressed here. Others may appear to have authority in some petty sphere for a limited time, but Christ is the ultimate authority by virtue of His relationship with His Father, Who has bestowed it upon Him. We can go no higher than Him. Christ is all.  

High King of heaven, 
we rejoice that You rule over all. 
We praise You that we have the privilege 
to be part of Your Kingdom. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, all authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 

Matthew 28:18 

Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father. 

John 10:17-18 

Christ has authority to purchase redemption. When He was expounding His role as the Good Shepherd, He made the remark, ‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.’ Our text lies in that same passage a few verses later. Christ says He is going to voluntarily lay down His life, specifying that no one takes it from Him. This is important against all claims He was merely a dervish who ran afoul of the religious authority, who delivered Him to Rome for execution. In the course of human events it seems as if that was what occurred, however, our text indicates these people were in place to perform the larger providential will of God. While this does not remove their personal responsibility for the evil they did, it does demonstrate how God overrules all things for His Own glory. Peter referred to this same point when preaching on the day of Pentecost. He said, ‘Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.’ We see that Christ laid down His life with authority and took it again with authority. He purchased our redemption at the cost of His own blood. What He has purchased the Holy Spirit will not fail to apply unto all for whom He intends it.  

Our Gracious God and our Savior, 
we rejoice that You have voluntarily laid down Your life. 
We praise You that You have purchased our redemption 
with Your own blood.  

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, all authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 

Matthew 28:18 

For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husband in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.  

Ephesians 5:23-27 

Christ’s authority extends to His redeemed people. The church to which our text refers is all the redeemed of all ages. It is not any organization, denomination or local body. The church, as Christ uses the term, is the people whom God the Father has given Him. According to the next verse after our text, ‘Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.’ The language Paul uses makes it clear Christ’s work was on behalf of people not organizations. Therefore, because He has redeemed us by His self-sacrifice, He is the Head and we are His body. The result of that is the organic relationship wherein Christ does for us what our head does for our body. The head is the command center for the body. When we speak of Christ’s authority over all things in heaven and earth, we must of necessity include His redeemed people. His leadership brings us to imitate Him. As He has done, and shown us to do, so we look to Him as the great template for our treatment of others. As we look to Him, the Holy Spirit renews us in the whole person after His image. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, all authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 

Matthew 28:18

You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.  

Revelation 4:11 

Christ has all authority on earth and in heaven. The second portion of our text derives from a scene John describes as occurring in heaven. John sees Christ on the throne. Around that throne are twenty four other thrones whereon sit twenty four elders. Part of the scene includes lamps of fire, thunder, voices, and four living creatures offering perpetual praise to Christ. Our text is the statement the twenty four elders utter as they worship Christ. By John’s description we conclude these elders have power and authority themselves. They sit upon thrones, the ancient symbol of authority. They vacate those thrones to prostrate themselves before Christ saying, ‘You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.’  They acknowledge Christ’s worth and His role in creation as well as His will to continue to allow the creation to exist. Thus those who are in heaven freely recognize Christ’s authority. They underscore what He has said, that all authority is His in heaven and on earth. When we acknowledge Him as King, God, and Savior, we are joining in their worship.  

Our Lord and our God, 
we rejoice that You sit upon the throne of heaven. 
We praise You that the day is coming, 
when every knee shall bow.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning