TRINITY – June 7, 2020 – Matt. 28:16-20
“ALL AUTHORITY”
Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Gospel Lesson just read, although we will referring to all three lessons for this morning. We begin with prayer.
Dear fellow disciples of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ:
- Authority is an interesting thing – to be over and above others, in charge of them, with the right to tell them what is true, what is right. In God’s economy of things, authority also means responsibility – to serve others humbly, lovingly, and rightly!
- Authority is perverted by human sin. Eve started it, wanting to be like God, rejecting His authority, His Word. Adam perverted it, submitting to Eve’s suggestion rather than God’s Word. The devil perverted it, rebelling against God.
- So it should not surprise us that human beings today also pervert authority, attempting to usurp it from God, attempting to seize it and use it abusively against their fellow human beings. It should not surpise us that human beings – sometimes ourselves included – reject God’s Word, or twist God’s Word, or subvert His Word.
- Our Scripture readings for today reveal three areas of God’s authority that are denied and rejected by many people living around us today. Each area of authority is also an area of God’s loving service to us – so that it is also His love and service that are rejected. The three areas have to do with our physical existence – creation and preservation, our redemption and salvation, and lastly, empowerment of true humanity and piety of life. First, we consider that:
I. God Is The Creator Of All Things – Father, Son, And Holy Spirit
Gen. 1:1-3 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.”
John 1:1-3 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made.”
Psalm 104:30,31 “When You send forth Your Spirit, they are created, and You renew the face of the ground. May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in His works.”
Heb. 1:10-12 “And, You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of Your hands; they will perish, but You remain; they will all wear out like a garment, like a robe You will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will have no end.”
Statement: Who is eternal, God or mother nature? Who is eternal, matter and energy, or God. Who created who? Did God create the universe, or did the universe create itself – so that it is God?
What answer we give to these questions affects us profoundly. It is a matter of religion. It is a matter of how you view your very being. Am I a product of this world, an accident of nature? Or am I a precious creation of God, “knit and formed together” by God, in my mother’s womb? [Ps. 139:13]
Application: It is certain Who it is that has “ALL AUTHORITY.” To deny Him His rightful place is to reject His authority. It is a deluded attempt to seize Divine authority for ourselves. This is a common sin today – where human beings think they are rising above God by rejecting Him.
Transition: One might think that in view of this human rebellion, God would just rid the planet of human presence. Well, He almost did that once – but He preserved eight people, Noah and his family. Thinking that way, however, is more ignorance of God, for clearly:
II. God Is The Redeemer Of The World, Of All Mankind
John 3:16,17 ““For God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
2 Cor. 5:18,19 “All this is from God, Who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.”
1 John 2:2 “He is the blood atonement for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”
Statement: Do we need to be saved, redeemed? This is a critical question. To tell me that I need to be saved is an accusation. It says two things that are distasteful to me: One – that I am not perfect, but have sinned and need forgiveness, and Two – that I am impotent to cure myself, or make up for my sin, that I am stuck under cosmic justice. It is distasteful to me, but it is true. To deny it is to deny God’s Word, to deny reality, and to deny His authority.
Application: To reject Jesus and the redemption of God is to reject God’s authority and His blessed and loving service to us. It is refusing to be healed unless I heal myself, not allowing a doctor to see me, or a nurse to attend to me – even though they are ready and willing. So God wills all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. [1 Tim. 2:4] But some – seizing a supposed authority for themselves, to save themselves, actually kill themselves by rejecting God’s authority, His redemption!
Thank God that His Spirit has touched our hearts through His Word, that we know His Son, and His love, and have received His redemption and salvation by faith! May God keep us under this, His authority, forever! Praise the Lord!
Transition: And remaining under the power of God is astronomically important, for:
III. God Is The Empowerer Of The Church, And Each Of Us Believers
Acts 2:33 “Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.”
Romans 15:13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”
Eph. 1:13 “In Him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.”
Romans 8:8-11 “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit Who dwells in you.”
Statement: It is also within God’s authority to renew our being, to put to death the flesh and to renew us in His image by the leadership and indwelling of His Holy Spirit!
But I want to do it myself, in my own way, which holds on to the wretched things that I cherish, including my freedom from the authority of God and the assertion of my own authority. But simply to assert that I can do the impossible does not enable me to do what is impossible; it is but a delusion to think so.
Application: Instead, we should give thanks and praise to God for His authority, that “ALL AUTHORITY” has been given to the incarnate Son of God, Jesus, the Son of God Who became flesh and dwells among us, and is with us always!
He assures we have food and clothing and every necessity, but sustaining creation with His Word of power [Heb. 1:3]. He assures us that we have peace with God, having cleansed us from all sin with His own precious blood – which we receive from Him each Sunday in His Sacrament. He provides us with new life, a life of love and goodness and decency – by leading us into His gracious forgiveness, mercy, and eternal love!
Conclusion: Yes, we must submit to God’s authority, and receive these blessed gifts as His service to us. But look at what we get! Dear friends, rejoice to have the only True and Living God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Who has created you, and redeemed you, and sanctified you, and will do so forever. Amen.
Votum: And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in the true faith, which is in Christ Jesus, even unto life everlasting, Amen.