Jesus The King

Genesis 1 1 says that in the beginning God created heaven and earth.

In the beginning God created heaven and earth.

That's what Genesis 1 1 says.

But then when you look at John 1 1, it gives you a peek behind Genesis 1 1.

And so you get to see behind Genesis 1 1.

And in John 1 1 it says in the beginning was the Word, as in Jesus.

The Word was with God and the Word was God.

And so no matter how far back you go, you can never get to a point where you can say there was a time when he was not.

You can never get there.

Regardless of how far back your imagination will take you, you can never get to a place where it says, where you can say there was a time when he was not.

Why are we talking about this when we talk about King Jesus?

Our idea of kings is still so tiny because at the most we can think of a tyrant or someone with a castle.

That's the extent to which we can think of a king.

But this king is so huge that it will take our spirits to wrap around him and not our minds.

So if we try to capture this king with our minds, we will fail.

Because our minds can only imagine of a king this big or this big or this big or a castle or some power associated with him or her.

But our spirits will be able to wrap around him because Paul presents him both as a pre-existent Christ who existed before Genesis 1.1,

but he also presents him as the unlimited Christ who is cosmic in nature.

And what do I mean by saying cosmic in nature?

As in the cosmos was at his disposal.

Paul presents him like that and we look at that.

But we need to understand that no matter how far back you go, there's never going to be a point where he did not exist.

So if you try to imagine it, it's not possible.

Einstein couldn't figure it out.

I think you won't.

So everything, everyone, every galaxy can be a part of the universe.

Everyone, every galaxy, every atom, every quark, every subatomic particle that exists, everything exists because Jesus Christ spoke his will.

Just think of that.

Galaxies exist, huge galaxies.

Tiny subatomic particles exist.

Cells exist.

I mean billions.

There's no unit to measure the number of cells that presently exist on earth.

And all these exist because Jesus Christ spoke his will and created them out of nothing.

He spoke his will and created them out of nothing.

This is how powerful he is.

He didn't try to shape things.

He didn't try to chisel things.

He didn't try to sculpt things.

He didn't try to construct things.

He didn't try to put them together.

He spoke his will.

And when he spoke his will, things that exist today in the material and the immaterial, in the visible and the invisible world happened because he spoke his will and they were created out of nothing.

This is the enormity, the magnificency, absolute sovereignty and the unlimited wisdom of this king that we are talking about.

This is how he still works.

And this is how, I mean sure, sperm and egg came together, but this baby was spoken into existence and has existed since before time.

Before there was an earth, this baby was already in the mind of God.

And then at a certain point in history, God introduces the baby in flesh.

But in his brilliance or herbalism, he introduces the baby in flesh.

And then at a certain point in history, God introduces the baby in flesh.

But in his brilliance or her brilliance, in her fullness, he or she has existed since before time.

And everything was spoken, his will was spoken.

His will was spoken.

This is important for us to draw things out of, to extract principles out of, in the sense that seek his will, speak his will is critical to your existence.

Seek his will to know it and speak his will is critical to our existence.

And if it isn't a habit yet, you must make it a habit because you are called to imitate Christ.

What happens very often is one or the other.

People speak his will without seeking.

So they speak his will without seeking it.

Or they seek his will, but they do not speak it.

And it remains incomplete then.

But when people learn to do both, it has a very powerful impact in lives.

We'll go there another time, but I just want you to realize that.

Guys, he's in absolute charge. He's in absolute charge.

God is in absolute charge.

I know I made this distinction before.

God is in absolute charge. He's not in control of everything.

And that sounds sacrilegious.

Because even though he's in absolute charge, when creation refuses to yield to his benign control, even though he's in absolute charge.

So God, remember that series on TV called Charles in Charge?

That was when I was, that was when, yeah, it was ages ago.

In charge. God is completely in charge.

But even when creation rebels, they rebel or do things in what is called accountable rebellion.

Accountable rebellion.

And accountable rebellion works this way.

They can rebel as long as he allows them to exist.

And they can rebel to the extent that he permits.

This is when it looks like God is not in control, but he is in control.

The thing is, in his absolute supremacy, Christ, because of his sovereignty and wisdom, has chosen not to violate the will of man.

In his supremacy, as absolutely in charge, Jesus Christ, in his wisdom and his sovereignty, has chosen not to violate the will of man.

He has chosen to do that.

And in the process, what happens is rebellion happens.

But it is something called accountable rebellion.

And he allows them to exist while they rebel.

He allows them to exist.

And he allows them to rebel to the extent that he permits.

You see this throughout the Bible. You see it with Pharaoh.

You see it with Nebuchadnezzar.

One day Nebuchadnezzar was mighty.

In Daniel chapter 4, it talks about how he was standing on his balcony, telling himself how wonderful and how mighty he was.

Daniel 4 · chapter mention

And then by verse 34, it talks about how his nails had grown, his beard had grown.

He was drenched with the dew of the forest and was running around the forest like a wild beast.

And then in chapter 5, he comes back to his senses, restored by God, because accountable rebellion is only permitted to an extent.

And he allows people to exist.

You see this with Pharaoh. You see this with Nebuchadnezzar.

You see this with Herod.

You see this with Nabal, Abigail's former husband.

You see this with nations. You see this with leaders of nations.

It's important to wrap our heads around the fact that he is absolutely in charge.

But because he does not violate the will of man, it sometimes looks like he is not in control.

It is an exchange he has chosen to make.

His patience awaits for repentance.

It's an exchange he has chosen to make, that I will look like I am not in control, because I do not want to violate Jacob's will.

And so people can thumb their nose towards God.

They can say that God does not exist. They can call him names.

They can blaspheme him. They can write books called God Delusion.

And he, like Gisela just says, has the patience to give them time to repent.

Has a benign attitude towards them, because his control is always benign.

But he is absolutely in charge.

This is important if, like the twelve spies, you are supposed to go out and handle things.

Handle first giants, then nations, then peoples.

Then if you need to do that, if you and I don't have an idea of how totally in charge he is,

how he can depose leaders in a day, change nations from being democratic to communist, from communist to democratic.

I mean, it's so totally in charge, guys.

Any questions before we go on?

Because these are the aspects of the king that we need to discuss, because these things no king possesses.

There is no king that possesses these aspects.

In a coup, kings are removed every 20, 30, 40 years.

Sometimes their sons murder them. It still is happening.

Any questions?

I love the fact that everything was created out of nothing, because he spoke his will.

I was his will.

Isn't that beautiful? I was his will.

And I was spoken. And I exist.

Amazing.

And if I am his will, then surely in its excellence, it would have been perfect.

It would have been just so brilliant.

And our attempt here on earth is to become as the king really made us.

To create good homes, good work situations, good lives, and preach and proclaim the good news of the king.

So that others get to do the same thing.

So Paul does talk about Christ existing before everything else existed.

But then he also talks about this whole idea of an unlimited Christ who rules the cosmos and who is almost cosmic in his kingdom.

We hardly use the word cosmic nowadays except when you're reading science fiction comics.

But we haven't reached the end of the universe and God exists far beyond that.

Go to Colossians 1, 16 and 18 and we'll just look at that and then we'll stop.

Like I said, try not to grasp it with your mind because you won't be able to.

At best you'll think of Queen Elizabeth and Windsor Castle.

And that really ain't much.

Colossians 1, 16 to 18.

Colossians 1, 16 to 18.

Colossians 1, 16 to 18.

Colossians 1, 16 to 18.

Colossians 1, 16 to 18.

I'll start at 15 and then we'll be looking at 16 to 18.

He, as in Christ, is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

For by him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth.

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 have been created through him and for him.

He is before all things and in him all things hold together.

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 supremacy.

One more time.

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.

He is before all things and in him all things hold together.

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 supremacy.

And so Paul ascribes three words to Christ that we'll examine today.

And those three words are in him, through him and for him.

In him, through him and for him.

And that's what we'll look at right now.

In him, through him and for him.

This is the unlimitedness of your king.

And the more comfortable and the more aware you are of it, the greater your expectancy and the greater the faith you can exert.

So let's look at in him first.

Guys, because Christ is the beginning and the end.

Because Christ is the beginning and the end.

This is the sphere within which everything is created.

This entire thing is Christ and we have to limit his extent because of the size of the board.

But take the biggest board you can in the world.

And you would have something called the beginning outside the board.

And you would have something called the end outside the board.

Because Christ is the beginning and the end, he is the sphere within whom the work of creation took place.

The work of creation took place within Christ.

The work of creation took place within Christ.

I'm sorry, I'm picking on Rachel again and again.

There's a baby being formed within her.

The work of the creation of that baby is happening within her womb.

It's amazing how so many things in the physical are first drawn out in the spiritual.

This is why in 1 Corinthians 15 it says, first the physical then the spiritual.

That's not the order, but that's how we are supposed to see it.

When we see it in the physical, we can always find a parallel in the first three chapters of Genesis usually in the spiritual.

And so here is Christ's womb and in Christ's womb all of creation was worked out.

He's so supreme that there is nothing that can raise a finger, draw a breath, take a step without his explicit permission.

Cannot.

As you begin to embrace this, you'll find that praying for certain things that look giantish or praying against the demonic becomes easier because of who you realize he is.

All things, cells, atoms, galaxies are sustained or held together because he sustains it.

The reason the earth doesn't fly off its axis, the reason the solar system keeps revolving around the sun,

the reason we'll have a solar eclipse on August 21st and you'll have almost 80% of darkness in Vancouver,

the reason the moon will move in such a way that it covers the sun, the reason these things happen is because Christ in whom the entire universe which is still expanding consists.

He holds it together. He holds it together.

It's no big deal then that Joshua asked the sun to stand still.

It didn't throw the system out of whack because God holds it together.

How does he hold it? And this is mind blowing.

How does he hold all this together?

It's in Hebrews chapter 1 verse 3 where it says that the sun is the radiance of God and the exact representation of God and he sustains all things by the power of his word.

Hebrews 1:3

How does he sustain all this?

How does he keep everything together?

How does he keep the different parts of your body together?

How does he sustain all this?

He sustains all this by the power of his word.

Hebrews chapter 1 verse 3 that Jesus Christ is the radiance and the exact representation of God and he sustains all things by the power of his word.

Hebrews 1:3

He sustains all things by the power of his word.

Hebrews chapter 1 verse 2 says,

Hebrews 1:2

And he created the worlds sustained by the power of his word.

So what has been brought into being through him is sustained in being by him.

What has been brought into being through him is sustained in being by him.

What has been brought into being through him as in he was the one who brought things into being but once he brings things into being he sustains them himself.

And how does he do it?

By the power of his word.

By the power of his word.

His words are spirit and life.

By the power of his word.

This is how he does it.

Many of us start things and we don't know how to finish them.

May I suggest to you that when God brings something into your life that he begins, you can only sustain it by his word so that it continues and finishes.

One of the things that happens with us is many of us start something well but somewhere along the line the compass doesn't work anymore.

Don't know where to go.

Everything seems a muddle.

Don't have priorities.

And when that happens, go back to this whole idea of, Father you sustain things by your word and by your spirit.

So I'm going to jump back.

Here's a good way to remember it.

I'm sure you'll find this easy to remember.

How do we sustain ourselves by the power of the word?

Be taught.

Make sure you read.

I'm talking about the word.

Be taught the word.

Read the word.

Use the word.

Meditate on the word.

And practice the word.

And if you ever forget how to remember this, just remember these five letters.

And you should be okay.

Trump.

So be taught the word.

As in it's critical.

I'm always amazed that there are people in this church who go home and go over what is taught.

It just fascinates me that.

And they've been doing this for years.

They've been doing this for years.

They go home and they go over it.

Sometimes they get called saying, what do you mean by this?

I think, really you do this?

Blessed are you if you do it.

And foolish am I when I don't do it.

Because things cannot be sustained in your life if it is not by the power of the word.

So be taught the word.

Read the word.

And like we had said a little while ago, reading the word, one of the things that happens to Christians who have been around for a while,

it's not that we don't read the word.

We have a discipline system of reading the word.

But we are eating the same amount that we ate six years ago.

When the output and the demand on your life has increased, you need to eat more.

But if you eat what you ate six years ago and your body has grown, then you need to eat more.

The next thing is use the word.

I'm going to read from Hebrews 5, 14, where it says,

Mature Christians that don't drink milk but have begun chewing meat are the kind of Christians that use the word to distinguish between what is good and evil.

Where the word becomes like a plumb line that helps you without even thinking, without even asking God to know what is right and what is wrong,

to know what is evil and what is good, the ability to discern.

The word immediately slides before you as a filter.

And as soon as I get into the car, the first thing I do is put on my little thingies,

because the sun's been bright over this last one month.

It's a filter that automatically goes on as soon as you wake up, even while you're asleep.

You distinguish even between dreams that are from God and that are not, because you use the word.

It's become your plumb line. It is what measures everything that is straight and crooked.

But you can't use the word until you read the word and you're taught the word.

The fourth one is meditate on the word.

Joshua, chapter 1, verse 8 says, How shall you prosper but through meditating on the word?

Joshua 1:8

And then the last one is practice the word, which is in the book of James, which says,

Do not be mere hearers of the word, but be doers of the word.

And so may Trump help you get this together.

Any questions on that?

Guys, he sustains all things by the power of his word. Everything is contained in him.

Everything. You want...

There is nothing that is outside the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega.

Maybe go home and read this again and again and again.

I've been doing that over the last one week so that when I worship, I see him as a different alpha and omega as I used to see him.

Beginning and the end for us is the beginning of something and the end of something.

This is not like that. In him, everything that exists is contained and is continuously expanding and it hasn't reached its end.

It is wound in him. Everything, every cell, every galaxy, every atom, every human being, every seen power, every unseen power is wound in him.

Therefore he has absolute authority.

The next thing is, Paul talks about in him, the next thing Paul talks about is by him, by him.

As in, Jesus is the agent through whom God brought the universe into being.

Jesus is the agent through whom God brought the universe into being. Jesus is the agent.

God said, hey Jesus, let's get this whole universe thing started so why don't you do it?

And Jesus is the agent through whom the entire universe was made.

Which means that every material thing, every unseen thing, every angel, every demon, Michael, Lucifer, everything was made through Jesus.

Did Jesus make the devil? Not really, the devil became the devil.

But everything is made through him.

There are five levels really of powers and all of them are mentioned in the Bible.

Powers, powers, there are thrones, there are powers, there are principalities, there are authorities, and the fifth one, and dominions.

These are the five different visible and invisible structures that are talked about in the Bible.

Thrones, powers, principalities, authorities, and dominions.

And Jesus not just is over them, he actually made them out of nothing.

They do not even have original substance.

They cannot claim breath or existence or substance.

They do not even have anything that they are made up of because he spoke them.

And if these thrones and powers, principalities, authorities, and dominions are under his sway, if all things were created of Christ, then every spiritual power, every invisible force,

you know what that means?

That if he is the originator, if he is the originator, then you must also fully believe that he is the final disposer.

If he is the originator, he is also the disposer.

And disposer is not, would you please leave? Disposer is what you do with your garbage.

If he is the originator and there is no doubt as to the fact that he is, then he is also the disposer.

Then he is also the disposer.

This is the extent of his power. There is nothing that does not fall into his purview.

He is the disposer. If he is the originator, he is the disposer.

Any questions?

Okay. Third one. Everything was created for him. Everything was created for him. Everything was created for him.

Everything consists in him, was made in him, everything was made by him, and then finally everything was made for him.

Everything was made for him.

Christ overrules, Christ has a habit of overruling the course of history.

Overruling the course of history, be it your history or be it the history of a nation or a movement or an attempt.

Christ has a habit of overruling the course of history. Why? So that he can accomplish his purpose.

So that he can accomplish his purpose.

He has this habit of overruling history so that he can accomplish his purpose.

So that everything in heaven and earth will serve his plan.

Now why does he do it? So that a day will come in 1 Corinthians 15 24 where having brought everything in submission to his lordship, he hands it over to the father.

That's the amazing thing. All this so that Christ can hand it over to the father. 1 Corinthians 15 24.

So everything is, doesn't matter how fast the stallion might be running off in a different direction.

Doesn't matter how many hordes are emerging from behind the hill. Doesn't matter how rebellious the armies are.

Doesn't matter that everything looks like it's going haywire.

He in a second by speaking his will that was spoken hundreds and hundreds of years ago, overruled the course of history and the course of lives.

Why? So that he may accomplish his purpose given to him by his father.

And so that everything, every atom, every cell, every human being, every demon, every angel, every nation, all the peoples of the earth.

So that all of them will serve his plan. So that a day will come and a kingdom remains.

And that is the kingdom of our king. And he then hands over the entire thing to the father saying it is finished.

Yeah, praise God man. This is the supremacy of your king.

This is why in Psalm 2, God says to him, ask me not for church plunders, ask me for the nations.

And he ends Psalm 2 with kiss the son lest he get angry.

Kiss the son lest he get angry. Because everything bows.

So if in your situation and my situation, if you find his intent, you will be able to accomplish his eternal purpose.

And you will be able to set eternal goals for yourself.

And by eternal goals, I don't mean heavenly goals. I don't mean heavenly purposes.

What I mean is most of the things we pursue right now are very earthly.

There's nobody here who should be pursuing that.

Based on the word given to this child, the parents intent should be this child is going to bring in this tree,

is going up on the mountains, has the ability to draw in the no bands, has the ability to draw in the mountains,

has the ability to draw in the no bands, has the ability to go and gather them, has the heart of a shepherd.

In our ability, we'll do everything in our power to help shape this child into who God says the child should be.

That is eternal purpose. That is eternal goals.

Here is the non-eternal goal.

I desire to make this child a doctor, engineer, businessman, a rich person, one with a house, one with two houses,

one with three cars, one with a family and four dogs.

This will pass away.

This will pass away.

Moth and rust will eat it away.

But when you pursue eternal purposes and aim at eternal goals, you get the material added to you.

Seek first.

He overrules the course of history.

This is why people who are powerful are overthrown in a day.

Nations that are powerful are overthrown in a day.

Sometimes we think it's our prayers that made it happen.

Our prayers, if they are supposed to be godly prayers, are just an agreement with God and an execution of His will.

We are partnering with what He intended, not using our prayers to make something happen here.

Got to get that right. We got this twisted sense of prayer that because we prayed, something happened.

No, we first found out what God wanted and then we began to agree with Him.

And having sought His will, we began to speak His will because that's what He does.

And in the process of speaking with His will, we imitated Him and we partnered with Him.

And therefore, we brought to pass His will on earth as it is in heaven.

This is prayer.

This is prayer and action with the King.

Questions? Last one.

Finally, it says in Colossians 1.18 that Christ is the head of His body, the church.

Guys, the word head often means source or origin or life.

When it says Christ is the head, it means Christ is the life source or the origin of the body.

And so even when it comes to husbands and wives, the idea is that a husband should be like a source that provokes the whole world.

He is not the life source whose God is, but a husband should be the source that provides.

Three things a husband should do, I mean just three things that are randomly being thrown at you.

One, he should communicate.

Two, he should consecrate himself for his wife.

And three, he should cherish and care for his wife.

This is the idea of Christ.

Three, he should consecrate himself for his wife.

And three, he should cherish and care for his wife.

This is what Christ does in John 25-30. He talks about this.

If as a husband you are not able to communicate, Christ is brilliant at communicating to the body.

The whole idea of a head is to be able to be the source that communicates, to consecrate, to set himself apart,

to be holy so that he can be a holy servant to his wife.

Ephesians 5, 25-30.

Consecrating himself so that he can be a holy servant to his wife.

And then cherishing and caring for her.

The words used I think in Ephesians is nourishing her.

Well that's not today's discussion.

The king, this king that we are talking about, Christ, is the head or the life source of his body.

And guys, we were drawn from his side.

We were drawn from his side.

There's this beautiful verse in Ephesians 5-30.

It says, you are parts of his body and of his flesh and bone.

Read it. I think it's that.

Ephesians 5-30.

It says, for we are members, we are members of his body.

And then I thought there was more.

Let's start at verse 29.

After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it just as Christ does the church.

For we are members of his body.

For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and the two will become one flesh.

Okay, the whole idea of members of his body is literally taken out from him.

And just as Adam was, I know many of you know this and have heard it before,

but just as Adam was put to sleep and a rib was taken out of him,

so Christ was put to sleep on the cross when he was crucified.

And he was pierced in his side and out of it was born the church, his bride.

And so you and I are members of this body and Christ is saying, listen, I'm supreme for your sake.

I'm supreme for your sake.

This is, we'll examine this further in the days to come.

Guys, this is why when Saul was persecuting the church and Jesus stops him on the road to Damascus, what does he say?

He doesn't say, Saul, stall, stop persecuting the church.

He says, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute? Me.

And he didn't mean as in the grand royal me. He meant actually him.

Because his thoughts are very simple.

Take you apart of my body.

So if anyone persecutes you, I'm persecuted.

If anyone touches the apple of my eye, my eye is hurt.

He thinks like this.

He thinks like this.

And so Colossians 1.18 ends this way.

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.

As in, listen, church, you are my body.

You are individually my limbs, my organs.

Guys, this is why it's critical that you not be a prosthesis.

I know I've said this before.

Kristin and I know a person in the church we used to go to.

Who, and Diana knows her too.

And she would come and when she would sit down,

she would lift up her leg and put it on a stool.

And then you would realize that, oh, shut.

That leg is not real. It can be removed.

And I've seen her with that leg removed.

But when you look at it normally, you wouldn't know the difference.

Because it looks completely as part of the leg.

You must understand how important this is to me.

And must become important to you.

That you cannot be a prosthesis.

You have to be vitally connected with the body.

To benefit from the king and the bridegroom.

Because let me assure you, the bridegroom will not reveal himself to anybody but the bride.

And you are not the bride. You are part of the bride.

You are not the bride.

No Christian can stand up and say, I am the bride.

The Christian can only say, I belong to a people that God calls the bride.

If you want to know Christ, there is zero chance of you knowing him fully well.

Unless you are a vital part of the bride.

Connected.

And remember, Sunday is only an activity of the church.

It ain't church. It's just an activity of the church.

May you dive in, eh?

And I'll keep repeating this again and again and again and again.

Never come to an end of it.

Because this is what God did with Adam right off the bat.

Gave him a family, then created multiple families so that he could be part of a large family.

This is how it always works.

Let me end.

He says that he is the firstborn from the dead.

Guys, this whole idea of his resurrection is important in grasping his king-ness.

His resurrection.

Resurrection.

His resurrection broke every enemy hold.

His resurrection broke every enemy hold.

Every enemy hold.

I was watching The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe day before yesterday night.

Just wanted to go through the series again.

And the Witch comes and says to Aslan that you know the rules.

That if there is a traitor, the traitor belongs to me.

So you can't rescue him.

Because Aslan, who represents Jesus, had gone and rescued this traitor.

And he says you can't rescue him.

He belongs to me.

So you have to give him back.

And that is when Aslan, this big lion, goes to this altar called the Stone Table.

Where the lion is laid on the altar.

And they beat him up and they shave off his mane.

And they treat him and humiliate him.

And finally the Witch says this was a losing battle.

You should have known as soon as you rescued that kid.

And she kills him.

And he lies dead.

And then daybreak comes and he rises up again.

The stone altar breaks and Lucy goes up to him.

And she says but, but, but.

The Witch said that the magic was dead and that you were dead forever.

And he says the moment you place an innocent victim on the Stone Table.

The Stone Table cracks.

And the Witch says, I'm going to kill you.

And he says, the stone table, the stone table cracks.

And death is reversed.

And so he places himself, the innocent victim on the stone table.

And the table cracks.

The altar is broken.

And he says death is reversed.

This whole idea of resurrection is so tied in with his kingship.

With his unlimited majesty.

Because now there is nothing that can be kept away from him.

Even the ones who rebel.

Even the ones who betray.

Even the ones who are traitors.

Cannot be kept back from him.

Not only is he supreme because he is good.

Like it says in the end.

As he is walking away.

Lucy says, the faun comes and says to Lucy.

He is not a tame lion.

And she replies but he is good.

And so there is this whole idea of yes he is good.

But he is so good that he decides that even the ones who betray.

The ones who give me the kiss of Judas.

The ones who rebel.

They must also have the power to return.

And there must be no power that exists on the earth.

That keeps them from returning to me.

Should they choose to.

Just as they chose to rebel.

Therefore his resurrection is such a critical part of who he is as king.

Because it broke every enemy hold.

It put an end to all religious requirements.

It put an end to all religious requirements.

Another word for religious requirements is legalism.

Put an end to it.

No more temple.

No more song and dance.

No more protocol.

No more protocol because this king also happens to be my elder brother.

And his father is my father.

First words pronounced when he rises up.

The first words pronounced when he rises up.

When this king rose again.

His first words were go tell my brothers.

That I am going to their father and my father.

And the third thing he does is he reverses death.

And ends the tyranny of every bondage caused by sin and following.

And the final victory will be when death is also ended.

That will be the final.

We sang it today.

Where is your sting of death?

The angels wrote that Christ is king.

Praise the name of the Lord our God.

Praise his name.

Praise his name.

Praise his name.

Praise his name.

Praise his name.

Praise the name of the Lord our God.

Praise his name forevermore.

For endless days we will sing God's praise.

Oh Lord.

Oh Lord our God.

What does that other verse say?

And then on the third at break of dawn the son of heaven, the king of heaven rose again.

Oh trampled death.

Where is your sting?

The angels roar for Christ the king.

And when he begins to play the piano with that roar the church should declare the presence of the king in their midst.

The roar.

The angels roar.

And yet they don't understand this mystery as well as you and I are understanding it even right now.

Because they are stupid to listen.

So the Bible says these are the three things achieved by his resurrection.

It is such a part of who he is.

His majesty.

Every cell.

Every atom.

Every galaxy.

Every human being.

Every throne.

Every power.

Every authority.

Every dominion.

Every principality.

Absolutely subservient to him.

And God is saying will you begin to grasp my majesty and will you begin to understand my resurrection life so that you can participate in the kingdom now.

Now.

Here on earth.

Here on earth.

That is his desire.

Because many many who will get saved will taste this when life here is over.

And trust me the rewards will be smaller.

Sorry.

Many many who are saved will not get to live resurrection life here on earth.

To understand and operate out of his majesty.

Many won't.

They'll still get to heaven.

But many won't get to taste it here.

Because everything is postponed to the future.

And unfortunately there will be rewards.

There will be responsibilities.

There will be thrones and crowns.

Given to every believer.

And many will not receive.

Much.

Why?

Because the life you live here.

Is exactly the life that goes into the world after.

It's the same life guys.

It's just that you disappear.

But the life that you've begun living here is the same life that you live on the other side.

So father.

I just pray that this week.

Like we read with that TRUMP thingy.

That we would go and read what we have been taught.

It's up on the website and we made our own notes.

Oh Jesus please Lord I need to grasp this.

You are to be able to use us to advance the rule and reign of God here on earth.

Jesus it is your idea to present yourself as king to Acts 29.

This was your idea.

We just want to say please Lord we want to learn desperately.

We want to grasp this aspect of who you are.

This part of your nature.

We want to.

We are willing.

Please teach us the spirit of God.

Please teach us.

Please expand our spirits to wrestle with, meditate on, chew and understand this that you are beginning to teach us.

Father it will display itself in words, in acts of power, in outlook, in handling circumstances.

Because you are supreme.

Everything is consisted in you.

Everything was made for you.

Our very lives we ask may now begin to fall into that plan and pattern that you have.

That this church will begin to lose interest in things material and have eternal aims and eternal purposes that they want to accomplish.

Everybody here oh God.

So that we may become a benefit to the earth.

A benefit to the earth.

How you might have longed oh God when we were born or even before we were born to send people into the lives of our parents so that one could come and prophesy over us when we were born.

Each of us oh God was spoken according to your will.

You spoke your will and so was Suform.

So was Chrisform.

So was Marcusform.

So was Ryanform.

All spoken.

You are perfect, excellent, wise will, spoke and these individuals happen.

How you must have longed to nurture us, to bring us into the right place, right time.

But you couldn't find people could you father?

In the context that our parents were in.

And so we floundered, we stumbled.

We went from wall to wall, pillar to pillar, circumstance, situations, bad ones, some good ones and finally made it here.

Sheer trophies of your grace and your intervention.

But why should the next generation have to go through that again?

When you have a people here in this church right now that can stand up, rise up and speak for the king and bring his pleasure to pass here on earth just as it is in heaven.

Isn't this why you called us?

On these your eternal purposes.

On these our eternal aims and goals.

To this we rise oh God.

Granted spirit of God, granted.

In Jesus name I ask.

We owe it to the ones after us guys.

Your life could have been so different had someone come and done for you what we can do for others.

If you need prayer, people will come and pray for you.

But before we ask you to pray, I'm going to ask Baneesh and Wayne to just come up.

And they're going to tell us how they met each other 52 years ago.

Is there a mic somewhere here?

Oh no, no, I'm not talking about you mic.

I'm talking about that mic here.

It's not a Thursday.

How come you're funny?

Sorry.

Okay.

What I said earlier in the service, I picked the right one.

Nah, not really.

I didn't pick.

But having given the opportunity, I, yes.

My family had moved to the coast and I was, I had attended about four different churches out here.

And I wasn't really that keen on any of them.

And I was looking for a church and we moved into this on this one road.

And there was a Scottish family living beside us.

I don't think any of them went to church except this one girl that was about my age.

And she said, Bernice, you need to come with me to this church.

And I thought, oh man, I've been to four of them.

I'm not very happy with them.

I don't know if I want to try again.

But I did.

I went with her.

He was there.

And a lot of, but it wasn't just that.

The first two Sundays I went to the church, I heard messages that just felt so good to me.

It just ministered to me.

And so I stayed.

And we both were in, we led the young people in this church.

And because we were both in leadership, we went places together with a few other people.

And eventually we started to date.

Your turn.

What was that like, me?

Well, we started to run around the country looking for activities and things for the youth group to do.

And so we did that together.

And I guess one thing led to another.

And my wife is small.

And she's energetic.

And I soon realized that she was a godly woman.

She pursued God.

She liked things to do with that.

And I had heard before from somebody else that you don't want to marry a Christian girl.

You want to marry a Christian girl.

You want to marry a godly woman.

So that spoke to me.

And it looked good.

So we started hanging out together.

I did some foolish things along the way.

Like one day we were going out together and I filled the car with gas.

And they were giving away flowers in seed packages.

So I grabbed one and threw it at her in the car.

And she thought that was okay, which I didn't know at the time.

But anyways, she thought that I wasn't frivolous and didn't throw my money away.

I thought, hmm, here's a guy that's not extravagant.

He's very practical.

Plus one.

You don't have to marry a Christian woman.

You can't marry a Christian woman because you're similar.

But it's fine.

It's easy.

Very easy.

Anyway, just one thing led to another.

So finally one day I took her up the mountain at Christmastime.

And it was just below the chairlift.

And pulled out a ring and said, you take it or you walk home.

She took it.

Okay, it doesn't work every time.

It doesn't work every time.

Thanks, Wayne. Thanks, Vanith.

Father, I just pray for those that want to get married in this church.

You're our father.

This is the second most important decision we make in life, besides salvation.

Finding someone to live the rest of our lives with.

So in the name of Jesus Christ, add an opportunity or a moment like this.

When your ear seems to be listening to this particular prayer.

I just ask that be there people in this church who desire to get married.

That they may find a good thing, Father.

That they may find a good thing.

Ask that of God who is in control, who is the beginning and the end.

In whom everything consists.

Whose plans are eternal.

Whose plans are good.

May it unfold in lives here too.

In the name of Jesus Christ, I ask.

Amen.

If you need prayer, Derek and Sue and Joan will be out here for prayer.

Feel free to come up and they'll pray for you.