THE CROSS AND THE CROWN — PART 9
Our focus continues to be on Philippians 2:8b-11: "He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the CROSS. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is LORD, to the glory of God the Father."
This theory of the carnal Christian that we have discussed in previous devotions, which teaches that a born-again disciple can continually live at home in the realm of practice of sin, is not a biblical truth. It is an unbiblical attempt to 'explain away' the massive category of millions of superficial religionists who are content to live in the realm of fleshiness, worldliness, and selfishness. At the same time, they still imagine themselves to be safe from the wrath to come! These so-called 'carnal Christians' live an ongoing lifestyle of sinfulness and willful selfishness.
Furthermore, these throngs of utterly fleshly 'non-attending or even attending church members' are nauseous to the Lord of the true church and want to vomit them out of His mouth! This regurgitation does not land in heaven!
The clear teaching of 1 John 3:4-10 flies in the face of the spurious theory of the carnal Christian. John writes, "Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness." Dear reader, the Lord Jesus came to this earth to take away sin, and there is no sin in Him. No one who abides in Him "practices sin" in the basic bent of their lifestyle.
The one who does "practice sin" in the basic bent of their lifestyle has neither SEEN Him nor KNOWS Him. No one born of God "practices sin" in the basic bent of their lifestyle because God's seed abides in him, and he cannot "practice sin" in the habitual practice of their lifestyle because they are born of God. By this living reality, the children of God and the children of the devil are made evident. "Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother (1 John 3:10).
Dear friend, the Word of God cannot possibly contradict itself. The authentic subject of the CROWN of Jesus is a person who possesses a new heart that desires to pursue practical holiness. Yes, there are struggles with their unredeemed flesh. Yes, he stumbles and sometimes falls because his renewed and regenerated heart remains incarcerated in this wicked flesh. But he does not continually walk (as a direction of lifestyle) in the realm of the practice of sin.
If a person lives after the flesh, he shall die (that is spiritual death, not physical death). But if a person, by the Spirit, does put to death the deeds of the flesh, he shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God (Romans 8:13)."
Remember, God inspired the Word of God. Notice carefully what the Word of God declares in Galatians 5 about the works of carnality. "Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who PRACTICE such things will NOT inherit the kingdom of God." Many passages clearly define that "A person cannot be a born-again believer if they are living at home in the realm of the practice of sin.
Instead, God's Word reveals that sin is a rebellious transgression against God's moral law. In addition, the Bible states, "That which is not of faith is sin." We are informed through His word that, "To him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin."
Naturally, some may be considering what Paul implicated to the Corinthians by saying, "You are yet carnal"? However, one cannot understand what Paul was referring to until one recognizes and is previously rooted and grounded in these fundamental truths we have been going over. Through several devotions, I have demonstrated, using many different passages, that the salvation in the CROSS and the implantation of the CROWN are always inextricably intertwined." They do not stand alone.
When a person grasps the above reality, you will also discover that a misinterpretation of the passage in 1 Corinthians 3 has given birth to this erroneous theory of the "carnal Christian."
THE CROSS AND THE CROWN— Part 8
In the previous devotion, we concluded by stating that 'Millions of people have been taken through a "plan of salvation" (which usually focuses on a felt need of that sinner; and does not focus on the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the salvific work of the CROSS and the terms of the CROWN)! They have repeated a prayer and have been given human assurance by a preacher or a counselor (based on their seemingly sincere repetition of a repeated prayer.) However, after many years of thoroughly self-centered living, they falsely imagine that they are saved from the penalty of sin (death and HELL), but they have no regenerated and renewed heart, in which the THRONE of Jesus has been implanted!
Therefore, once again, I emphasize that, for the last couple of generations, there has been an invented category for these millions of self-centered and self-directed throngs of people to be placed in. They have been given the title of being a "CARNAL CHRISTIAN."
An extremely popular teaching declares that "there can be 'two different categories of subjects to the CROWN of Christ Jesus the LORD.' But because this teaching is popular with many, it doesn't mean it is teaching from God's word. They teach that those who have truly bowed their lives to the Lord Jesus Christ (they are called spiritual Christians); and those who have only received a free ticket to heaven while continuing to live a life in a basic orientation of self-centeredness and self-direction ) are called Carnal Christians!"
This so-called 'carnal Christian' has professed to accept Jesus to be their Savior from hell; however, they have absolutely no interest, desire, or determination to be a willing subject of the CROWN of Jesus the Lord! Of course (possibly in the future), they plan on considering committing themselves to the CROWN, but not until they are willing. In the meantime, they are going to USE Jesus to be their fire insurance policy from hell while continually rejecting His guidance and governorship in their ongoing practice of living. Note the keyword is the practice of life.
Friends, we must be cautious with this "Carnal Christian" theory from man. Carnal living is an ongoing reality in which the "self" is the dominating factor in a person's life, and the LORD is not exercising His scepter in their life. In other words, if this person is utterly carnal, 1 John 3:4-10 declares that this individual is NOT a born-again believer. The miracle of the new birth always produces a genuine conversion. True conversion always involves repentance toward God and saving faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:17 demonstrates the reality of this supernatural birth from above, which always produces authentic conversion to the CROSS and the CROWN. "If ANY man is IN CHRIST, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away; behold all things have become new." The gracious salvation of a sinner and the miraculous transformation of a regenerated and renewed heart is ALWAYS UNITED with the Cross and the Crown. "For the born-again believer is God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works that God is preordained for them to walk in."
There cannot be justification without a commencing work of sanctification that will continue. When people come to the CROSS of Jesus, they simultaneously become subject to the CROWN of Jesus. God has given them a spiritual heart transplant. God has not only cleared their bad record; they have been graced with a new heart. That new heart will possess new desires to conform to the Word of God, the will of God, and the Son of God. Does this person have a life-long battle with their unredeemed flesh? Absolutely! Does that battle with their unredeemed flesh exhibit an ongoing struggle with the CROWN of Christ? Most definitely! But this born-again believer will delight in God's law, according to their renewed inner man. Even though, as Paul warns, the law of sin still works in their flesh, which dwells no good thing.
This philosophy of man's theory attempting to invent the "Carnal Christian" has tragically produced a false harvest of millions of people. Men and religion have convinced these false converts that they are saved from the penalty of sin while remaining comfortably at home in the realm of sin! They foolishly consider themselves to be saved, while the practice of their life and desires are bent toward their selfish carnality and worldliness. And friend, any doctrine that makes a person feel at home in the realm of sin is a deceptive, deadly, and damning doctrine. As Paul penned the strong admonition, "Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid!"
THE CROSS AND THE CROWN — Part 7
Philippians 2:8b-11: "He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the CROSS. Therefore God has highly exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is LORD, to the glory of God the Father."
Upon observing God's Word, one discovers unequivocal and objective truth concerning what He says about the verifiable evidence that a person has truly come to the CROSS and the CROWN. Instead of putting one's confidence in some subjective experience (which oftentimes occurred in years past), we have been given the objective truths of the Word of God. The epistle of 1 John concisely displays these objective road signs, by which a person can discover whether they have bowed to the CROWN of Jesus Christ the LORD and are walking on the narrow road.
One of the many manifest pieces of evidence of an authentic submission to the CROWN of Christ (in authentic conversion) is found in 1 John 3:4-10. In that passage, God's word clearly states that the unmistakable evidence that a person has experienced the miraculous implantation of the THRONE of JESUS in their heart is found in the reality that this follower of Christ will not and cannot be at home in the realm of the practice of sin any longer. The Spirit of God succinctly states, "He who is born of God does not practice sin."
When an authentic born-again believer falls into sin, they are totally out of their element. So they will be deeply disturbed and convicted in their heart until they flee to the Great High Priest in repentance and return to the pursuit of practical holiness pathway!
Obviously, the Word of God does not teach us that an authentic believer walks in a perfection of holiness. If the Apostle John made that statement, he would contradict what he declared in Chapter 1:8, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." Friend, you can be assured that God's infallible Word will never contradict itself. The Spirit of God definitively expresses (in 1 John 3:9) that "The person who has been truly converted to the CROWN of the Lord Jesus will not live in an ongoing practice of sin. At the same time, the authentic subject of the CROWN of the Lord Jesus occasionally stumbles and falls into sin as they walk on the narrow road. But this child of God will be heartbroken about their sins against the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. They will turn from those sins and return to the Great High Priest.
However, teaching dominates today's evangelical culture, which contradicts the clear and concise teaching of the Word of God in 1 John 3:4-10. This teaching is the theory that portrays, "They are not just two groups of people in the world around us, as the Bible says, which we would call the "natural man" (lost people) and the "spiritual man" (the born again subjects of the CROWN). Many teach that there is a third category. That group is called the condition of the "carnal Christian." But God's word declares there are only two groups: the lost - (the natural man) and the saved - (the spiritual man).
The so-called 'Carnal Christian is a person who professes to be "born from above," but you would never guess that they are a follower of Christ by their selfish and sinful lifestyle. This so-called "Carnal Christian" has absolutely no ongoing birthmarks of the new birth. They manifest no spiritual fruit that they have ever bowed their life to the CROWN of Jesus Christ. They possess NO desire and determination to pursue sanctification. They do not hunger to submit their life to the will of Jesus, the words of Jesus, and the ways of Jesus. They manifest NO supernatural love for other disciples of Jesus. On the contrary, their affections are fixed on the world and the things of the world. They certainly have absolutely NO passion or purpose to testify of the Gospel to others.
However, they fancy themselves as having been saved from hell. Why and How? Because at some time in the past, they admitted that they were a sinner. They gave a mental assent to some basic facts about the Gospel, repeated a prayer, and probably pronounced saved by a preacher or a counselor. They imagine they have come to the CROSS of Christ but never bowed to the CROWN of the Lord Jesus Christ. They errantly think of themselves as being redeemed, yet inwardly and outwardly, they remain stubborn rebels in the ongoing practice of their lifestyle. All the while considering themselves to be a carnal Christian.
Millions of people imagine that they can have a saved soul but an untransformed life and a heart that has never known the implantation of the THRONE of JESUS. But is this biblical and true? Or is this deadly and deceptive?
THE CROSS AND THE CROWN — Part 6
Philippians 2:8b-11: "He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the CROSS. Therefore God has highly exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is LORD, to the glory of God the Father."
Please give close attention to this highly controversial issue discussed in the previous devotion concerning whether "a person can truly enter into a saving knowledge of the CROSS of Jesus Christ while refusing to bow to the CROWN of the LORD JESUS." We face an urgent need to teach on the LORDSHIP of Jesus Christ. Within the last two generations in the church in America, there has been widespread confusion concerning this vital truth! The truth of the "CROWN and the THRONE of Christ" in authentic conversion continues to be a crisis of confounding perplexity within the ranks of contemporary evangelicalism today.
Many convey that a sinner can 'accept Jesus as their Savior that saves them from hell' (or ask Jesus to come into their heart) without the necessity of acknowledging Jesus Christ as their Lord. However, the Book of Acts (which, along with the gospels, is a key instruction manual for evangelism) declares "Jesus as Lord" on 92 occasions. Yet, Jesus is only mentioned as "Savior" on two occasions. Moreover, our theme text in Philippians definitively states that every person who has ever or will ever walk on this earth will (sooner or later) confess JESUS CHRIST AS LORD! They will confess "Jesus as Lord" unto the conversion of their soul, or they will belatedly confess "Jesus as Lord" unto the eternal condemnation of their soul!
There is widespread deception on this vital issue. The Bible plainly warns, "Satan maintains his kingdom through doctrines of deception." If one's concern is about the extension of the kingdom of Christ and the demolishing of the kingdom of darkness, they should be greatly concerned about being established in the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, concerning the CROWN of CHRIST!
Lordship is not an insignificant issue and not a secondary matter by any means. It is a matter of conversion or condemnation, heaven or hell, being saved or remaining lost in sin, eternal life or eternal death.
Moreover, dear reader, "This is not a question of whether 'salvation is all of grace' or if 'salvation is of grace plus human works.' Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12:3: "No one can say "JESUS IS LORD" except by the Holy Spirit!" This is not equating the verbal words, mouthing, 'Jesus is Lord'. God's word reveals that it is a gracious work of the Holy Spirit, implanting the throne of Jesus in the heart of a repenting believing sinner, which produces this personal confession of 'Jesus as their Lord.'
The key issue flows from this vital question, "What is the nature of God's miraculous call of salvation, which powerfully grants a sinner the grace to place a saving commitment to Jesus Christ as LORD?" To understand the Lordship of Christ in true conversion, one must realize that grace is not only God's undeserved favor toward a sinner! Saving grace is also God's supernatural and miraculous power toward that sinner, which infuses that person with the dual gifts of grace so that the sinner exhibits repentance toward God and saving faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ!"
In other words, saving grace is exceedingly and abundantly more than God's unmerited favor in my life. Saving grace is God's miraculous and supernatural power toward me, which gave me spiritual life, light, and liberty, enabling me to respond to the Gospel in a manner that I would have NEVER responded to if left to my own wicked heart. Then, I responded in repentance toward God and saving faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ! And this began an unfolding and unfailing revelation of what it would mean 'for Jesus' CROWN to guide and govern my life.'
Can a person receive Christ as Savior and simultaneously deny His Lordship? Can a sinner embrace the CROSS while giving his veto to the CROWN? Indeed, there is room to mature in a personal comprehension of the CROWN of Jesus and what it means to follow Him in daily life. But can Jesus be your Savior without being your Lord? God's answer is NO!
THE CROSS AND THE CROWN — Part 5
In today's devotion, let's continue to focus on 'The Cross and the Crown. Once again, we begin with Philippians 2:8b-11: "He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the CROSS. Therefore God has highly exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is LORD, to the glory of God the Father."
When witnessing to those around us (who are not authentic disciples of Jesus Christ), it is a dangerous and unscriptural deception to give a sinner the impression that they may be saved by primarily reaching out to the benefits of the CROSS, while simultaneously refusing to surrender to the ramifications of the CROWN of Jesus' Lordship. You must refuse to present a "divided Christ" and a "defective view of true conversion." Millions of individuals have been assured that they possess eternal life simply because they have so-called "invited Jesus into their hearts." Yet, their will has never been yielded to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
As we have read in the prior devotions, the implications of the CROWN of Jesus Christ are inextricably connected to the blessings of the CROSS of Jesus Christ. There is no division or defection in His work. When a sinner experiences a full and final pardon of sins through the atoning work of the blood of the Lamb, that sinner will also experience a fundamental subduing of their heart by the Spirit of the Lord! This miraculous event, which God's word calls the birth from above, takes away the old heart of stone (in which self-reigned as lord) and gives this person a new heart of flesh, in which the implantation of the throne of the LORD JESUS becomes a reality. God writes His law on that regenerated and renewed heart, in which the Lord Jesus comes to rule and reign.
Before conversion to Christ, each one had two deadly problems in relationship to our Creator. We had a legal problem (a criminal record in the courtroom of Holy God) and a heart problem (born with a desperately wicked and self-deceived heart). We each needed a solution to these "dual problems" before God. We needed a clean record and a clean heart.
Every sinner, without exception, in whom the Holy Spirit plants the roots of conviction, contrition, and conversion is granted the need for their problem. They receive the full pardon for all their sins and are graced with the power of the Holy Spirit of God that conquers their formerly rebellious hearts. Dear friend, if the grace of the LORD has never conquered that rebellious heart, then the redeeming work of the Lord has not been applied.
Every person who claims to be saved by Jesus but has utterly refused to surrender to the LORD is personally assaulting the fundamental purpose for which the Lord Jesus died, rose, and lives again! Those who falsely imagine that they are enjoying the benefits of His CROSS while continuing to stiffen their neck at the implication of His CROWN willfully have been deceived by another Jesus and have not been converted by the LORD JESUS CHRIST!
God has joined as one, the blessings of the CROSS and the bowing before His CROWN. What God has joined together, let no man put asunder! We must never, never, never proclaim a message that gives a sinner the impression that they can take "half of Jesus." We must proclaim Christ Jesus the LORD!
THE CROSS AND THE CROWN — Part 4
Philippians 2:8b-10b &11: "He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the CROSS. Therefore God has highly exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow....and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is LORD, to the glory of God the Father."
Today, please consider the following questions, "Have you come under that crown and scepter of the ascended and sovereign Lord Jesus Christ? Have you reckoned with the reality of the CROWN of the LORD Jesus, with far more than a mere lip confession? Remember, the Lord Jesus utterly condemns a sheer profession of the mouth without a genuine submission of the heart. Jesus said, "Not everyone who says, 'Lord, Lord' shall enter the kingdom of Heaven." A person's confession of their mouth (of the Lordship of Jesus) must be an accurate reverberation, springing forth from the submitted disposition of a regenerated and redeemed heart. There must be genuine repentance of the personal removal of the 'crown of the self-centered heart' and an authentic surrender that bows before the CROWN of King Jesus. Only one crown can be worn. The self-centeredness of going on your own way must be rejected and ejected before the Lord's Crown is rightfully set in place in one's life. Never forget who offers this great salvation to perishing sinners! Salvation is offered in and by the Person of the LORD JESUS CHRIST!
Carefully observe the apostle's great declaration: "We preach not ourselves, but CHRIST JESUS THE LORD" (2 Corinthians 4:5). Paul is stating, "I preach a crucified Savior who is also an ascended Lord. The Lord Jesus came to that present posture and position of LORD AND GOD through the incomprehensible humiliation of His incarnation, the fashioning and hammering out of His perfectly righteous life on this earth, His sacrificial and substitutionary wrath-bearing on the cross, His victorious resurrection from the realm of the dead, and His triumphant ascension to the right hand of the Majesty on high! In addition to these glorious triumphs, Jesus Christ has been highly exalted as Lord to procure and preserve the salvation of a "number of sinners that no man can number"!
For these reasons, if a person is going to enter into the reality of a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, resulting in forgiveness and justification, they will have to reckon with a RISEN LORD, who is sovereignly reigning and authoritatively ruling upon the throne! In Ephesians 5:24, one discovers that the authentic church of those born from above are people whose lives have been subjected to the Lord Jesus Christ.
But how did these bonafide believers become subject to the Lord Jesus Christ? They became subject to the Lord Jesus Christ when each individual sinner bowed before His throne and came under a personal submission to His scepter by personally and publicly confessing the crown of His Lordship in authentic conversion! God's Word declares that Jesus is the Head and the Savior of the body.
Furthermore, the Lord Jesus Christ is only the Savior of a sinner who invites Him to be the Head of their life. Whenever and wherever He is Head, it is there that He is simultaneously the Savior of their soul!
If a person has not honestly faced the demands of the Crown of Jesus Christ, then that person has not received the saving benefits from the Cross of Jesus Christ! And what are the demands of the Crown of the Lord Jesus Christ? One must give the Lord Jesus Christ their supreme loyalty, above every other human being, which includes themself.
Jesus said, "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple." The enthroned Lord demands an unrivaled loyalty to Him, above every other person or thing. If a person refuses to deal with the Lord's command concerning this issue, they have absolutely no right to claim any saving benefits from the Cross of Jesus Christ.
There is no tyranny more ruthless than the tyranny of "living unto self as lord." However, the Lord never promised His rest of redemption to "coming sinners" who refuse to take His yoke upon them. One may protest against these words by thinking, "Bro. Ed, this is a works salvation!" But no, friend, this is a salvation that works, for salvation is of the Lord. This is conversion!"
THE CROSS AND THE CROWN — Part 3
Philippians 2:8b-10b &11: "He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the CROSS. Therefore God has highly exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow....and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is LORD, to the glory of God the Father."
The Lord Jesus Christ wears His glorious crown and holds His majestic scepter to accomplish the conversion, sanctification, and preservation of His transformed subjects. Therefore, the blessings of the CROSS of Christ and the demands of the CROWN of Christ are inseparably intertwined with the salvation that Christ bestows on redeemed and regenerated sinners.
A sinner can only be saved if he commits his life to the Lord Jesus Christ through repentance toward God and saving faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. The Word of God clearly declares what genuine, saving faith is! It is the reliance of the whole person upon the whole Christ!" In John 1:12, the apostle writes that to believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ is to receive the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, for Who He is!" Dear reader, He is the God-Man who has purchased blessings through His Cross-work. However, He is also the risen, ascended, and coronated LORD, who wears a crown and holds a scepter!
Consequently, if a person receives Him, they receive the One with nail prints in His hands and side. But they simultaneously are receiving the One who holds a scepter in that nail-pierced hand! This indicates that a person cannot receive the One with nail prints in His hands while concurrently rejecting the scepter held in His nail-pierced hand!
The Lord Jesus paid an unfathomable price to purchase that crown and scepter. His present sovereign position on the throne is the fruit of His sinless, sacrificial, and substitutionary death on the cross and His triumphant resurrection from the dead. The sovereign King and Redeemer will not allow you to remove His crown and scepter from His personal possession by living as a rebel against His lordship and, simultaneously, claiming to be one of His.
John writes, "As many as have received Him." Notice the passage does not say, "As many as have received half of Him or one-third of Him." Paul's letter to the Colossians declares, "As you have received Christ Jesus the LORD, so walk in Him." Again, the apostle did NOT say, "As you have therefore accepted Jesus as your personal Savior (and possibly later; if you get around to it, you might bow before Jesus as Lord)." Oh, no, friend! The Colossians received Him for Who He is, "Christ Jesus the LORD!" Paul never said, "Now that you have accepted Jesus as your personal Savior, why don't you make Him your Lord." Why? Because no teaching depicts that within the pages of the New Testament.
One does find verses that declare Jesus as Lord. For example, Romans 10 declares, "If you will confess with your mouth JESUS AS LORD, and believe in your heart that God has raised Jesus from the dead (THUS CROWNING HIM AS LORD OF YOUR LIFE), you shall be saved." Friends, that is a dramatic difference between just "a nod of the head and a mental assent to a set of a few historical facts concerning Jesus and the sinner, and personally mouthing a confession of "Jesus as Lord." To confess Jesus as Lord of one's life is to echo the truth of what is taking place in the new birth from above, which is a supernatural implantation of the Throne of the LORD on a regenerated heart!"
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THE CROSS AND THE CROWN — Part 2
Philippians 2:8b-10b &11: "He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the CROSS. Therefore God has highly exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow....and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is LORD, to the glory of God the Father."
Today's devotion begins to answer the statement that concluded part one: "All the manifold spiritual blessings of the Cross of Christ are inseparable from the Crown of Christ. You cannot have one without the other. Dear reader, many people in our culture have only believed the watered-down contemporary gospel often broadcasted. Again, please understand, "No one will come to experience and enjoy the benefits of the Cross of Jesus the Savior, who is unwilling to bow before the Crown of Jesus the Lord. That means being unwilling to submit to the scepter of the King of kings and unwilling to humble themselves before the throne of the Lord Jesus!"
The Word of God declares, "God the Son has always been the Lord of the physical universe". However, over 2,000 years ago, the eternal Word humbled Himself and took on the form of a man (even as a servant). He came to this cesspool of sin on a divine rescue mission. Jesus came to seek and save a number of sinners that no man can number and transform them into faithful followers and willing subjects of Himself.
Moreover, those whom Jesus purchased (by His wrath-bearing and curse-bearing substitutionary sacrifice) would be redeemed, willingly becoming the humble servants of Jesus Christ as the ascended and coronated Lord and God. One must never forget that Jesus Christ was Lord, even in the days of humiliation!
Recall the verses concerning the birth of Christ Jesus. A multitude of the heavenly hosts was saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of goodwill." What was the cause of this angelic rejoicing? Because Jesus's birth was announced: "For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Savior who is CHRIST THE LORD."
Additionally, Jesus manifested His Lordship on countless occasions during the days of His earthly ministry. Surveying the gospels, one will discover that sickness was under the absolute authority of His sovereign scepter. During Jesus' ministry in Israel, many miraculous healings were exhibited. Even the turbulent storm-tossed Sea of Galilee had to bow in submission and silence before the scepter of His Lordship. He spoke, "Peace! Be still," and His words became a scepter that manifested His Lordship over nature.
When Jesus, the Resurrection and the Life stood outside the tomb of Lazarus and spoke, both powerfully and authoritatively, to the king of all terrors (death itself), death had to lose its grip. Once again, His words became a scepter that manifested the supernatural power that breathed life into a decomposing corpse enslaved in the grip of death for four days! He continually manifested his Lordship of nature, sickness, demons, and death itself!
However, this passage reveals, "Jesus Christ was exalted to a sovereign posture and position of official Messianic Lordship" after His death and resurrection. This position is uniquely His, as a reward from God the Father, because of His sinless, substitutionary, sacrificial suffering. Paul says this precisely in Acts 2:36b, "God has made this same Jesus both Lord and Christ." Even though Jesus was born Christ the Lord and manifested His powers as Christ the Lord, He was rewarded with an augmented Lordship as the Father's vindication of His substitutionary death and triumphant resurrection!
Contemplate upon the following verse: "God has raised Jesus from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet." Dear friend, absolute and universal authority has been given unto Jesus in the heavens and on the earth. Jesus' predominate, official designation, in the Book of Acts and throughout the epistles is, "our LORD Jesus Christ." In those titles, Lord—Jesus— Christ, you find the embodiment of Who He is, as the ascended and exalted LORD! Consequently, all the dealings one will ever have with God the Son (including conversion) connect with the One who wears a Crown, holds a Scepter, and is seated on a Throne.