The death of Christ allows us to see the tri-fold splendor of our King. In one single act (the Gospel of Christ) we are granted permission to behold, in unmistakable majesty, His Supremacy over, His Sovereignty of and the Submission to- the death of deaths.
Here’s a little snack: If it weren’t enough to hold the patent on virgin births, possess the monopoly on the Son-ship of God and be the sole-proprietor of perfection, even upon death, our God reigns. John’s 10th Gospel chapter brings us face to face with the superiority of God over death. Jesus said in verse 18, ““No man taketh 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 commandment have I received of my Father.”
The supremacy of Christ has never been stated with more clarity as seen in the wording of this text. Read it again carefully: “No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down myself…” Oh to know this supremacy! This supremacy is not stumbled upon or even achieved. The supremacy that I am speaking of cannot be natural. It must transcend time and space. In fact the supremacy of Christ over death was not a thing obtained in the last hour of the third day or even during an agonizing evening in the Garden of Gethsemane- but rather it was decreed before the foundation of the world. This is why no one else possesses, or ever will possess, this level or kind of supremacy.
I cannot overstate the necessity of seeing the supremacy of Christ as is seen by the eyes of Divinity. To have a horizontal view only of Calvary and the days to follow would cause a blurred, misinterpreted and tainted view of Christ’s expiration of life on earth and His resurrection from the dead. In other words, to see His death and resurrection with the eyes of man would allow only a single vantage point; and that vantage point would rob man of seeing the splendor His death and resurrection. Unless we see Christ’s Gospel vertically, as heaven sees it, we cannot give proper gravity to history’s greatest event. (The death, burial and resurrection are not separate events but rather THE event the Bible refers to as the Gospel of Christ.)
You see, the greatest difference between the one who embraces the message of the Gospel and the one who does not, isn’t in the presenter or the presentation, it is the way he views Calvary and the empty tomb, the glorious event of Christ’s Gospel. Anyone who has ever obtained eternal redemption did so upon the proper viewing of the death of God’s Son. If he only sees Calvary with the ordinary, scaled eyes of depraved man, he cannot embrace the Gospel. Though he may embrace Christianity, he cannot embrace Christ. However, when the Spirit of God removes the scales of blindness, thus revealing the events of Calvary and Christ’s death from a vertical vantage point, the power of the Gospel is unleashed to do its saving work. It penetrates the soul with heavenly supremacy.
Many embrace Christianity from purely social, logical and academic standpoints. Christianity does in fact make since when compared to other major religions. However, the event of the Gospel is neither social, logical or academic. Christianity? Perhaps- but not the Gospel! The religion of Christianity has soothed many sorrows, stroked many strings and solaced many situations- but it has never saved any soul. This is the work of the Gospel alone. Now do you see why so many enter “church” life to only evaporate like vapors in the summer’s mid-day heat? They had a head-knowledge of Christianity but not the Spiritual awakening of Christ’s Gospel. When will we stop blaming the supposed backslidings of supposed Christians on the devil- as if Satan has more power than the Gospel?
Until one sees the event of the Gospel vertically, and not horizontally, he will either dismiss the Gospel or embrace it for purely selfish reasons. However, those who see the Gospel vertically, for what it truly is: the most supreme act of God in the Bible; not only receive that Gospel but seek to live that Gospel as a glorious reflector of the supremacy of Christ in their lives.
Today we have seen the Gospel in the light of Supremacy. Tomorrow we will view it in the light of Sovereignty. Lord willing, Friday, we will behold the Gospel in light of Christ’s Submission. All this is seen in John 10:18.
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