The Doctrine of Christ

LESSON EIGHTY-SEVEN Lord of All

1. When Christ returned to heaven after his humiliation upon earth, he was hailed as “the King of Glory.” Psalm 24:7-10, ARV. (It should be remembered that Jehovah of the Old Testament was manifested in Jesus of the New Testament.) TDOC 278.2

2. On the day of Pentecost the apostle Peter testified concerning the exalted position which had been given to Jesus, the crucified. Acts 2:36. TDOC 278.3

3. In his first address to the Gentiles the same apostle recognized Jesus Christ as “Lord of all.” Acts 10:36. (Cf. Romans 10:12.) TDOC 278.4

4. The apostle Paul testifies that Christ is “over all,” and that he is “the Lord of Glory.” Romans 9:5; 1 Corinthians 2:7, 8. (Cf. James 2:1). TDOC 278.5

5. The Lamb that was slain was later declared to be “Lord of lords.” Revelation 17:14. (Cf. Revelation 19:16; 1 Timothy 6:15.) TDOC 279.1

6. Salvation is assured by recognizing Jesus as Lord. Romans 10:9, ARV. (Note the reading in the margin.) (Cf. John 13:13.) TDOC 279.2

7. In the final triumph of the cross every living being in the universe will acknowledge Christ as Lord. Philippians 2:8-11. TDOC 279.3

NOTES

Christ the King of Glory

“After Jesus had blessed his disciples, he was parted from them, and taken up. And as he led the way upward, the multitude of captives who were raised at his resurrection followed. A multitude of the heavenly host were, in attendance, while in heaven an innumerable company of angels awaited his coming. As they ascended to the holy city, the angels who escorted Jesus, cried out, ‘Lift up your heads, O you gates, and be you lift up, you everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in.’ The angels in the city cried out with rapture, ‘Who is this King of Glory?’ The escorting angels answered in triumph, ‘The Lord strong and mighty! The Lord mighty in battle! Lift up your heads, O you gates, even lift them up, you everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in!’ Again the waiting angels asked, ‘Who is this King of Glory?’ and the escorting angels answered in melodious strains, ‘The Lord of hosts! He is the King of Glory!’ And the heavenly train passed into the city of God.”-Early Writings, 190, 191. TDOC 279.4

Justified, accepted, and kept by faith only

“Faith is unto righteousness; confession is unto salvation. Why is this? Is faith after all not enough for our union with the Lord and for our safety in him? Must we bring in something else, to be a more or less meritorious makeweight in the scale? If this is what he means, he is gainsaying the whole argument of the epistle [to the Romans] on its main theme. No; it is eternally true that we are justified, that we are accepted, that we are incorporated, that we are kept, through faith only; that is, that Christ is all for all things in our salvation, and our part and work in the matter is to receive and hold him in an empty hand. But then this empty hand, holding him, receives life and power from him. The man is vivified by his Rescuer. He is rescued that he may live, and that he may serve as living. He cannot truly serve without loyalty to his Lord. He cannot be truly loyal while he hides his relation to him. In some articulate way he must ‘confess him;’ or he is not treading the path where the Shepherd walks before the sheep. TDOC 279.5

The meaning of confession with the mouth

“The confession with the mouth’ here in view is, surely, nothing less than the believer’s open loyalty to Christ. It is no mere recitation o even the sacred catholic creed; which may be recited as by an automaton. It is the witness of the whole man to Christ, as his own discovered life and Lord. And thus it means in effect the path of faithfulness along which the Savior actually leads to glory those who are justified by faith.” TDOC 280.1

“Angels-Archangels! glorious
Guards of the church victorious!
Worship the Lamb!
Crown him with crowns of light,
One of the Three by right, Love,
Majesty, and Might, The great I AM! TDOC 280.2

Highly exalted of God

“Therefore God also bath highly exalted him, and given him the Name that is above every name.’ For still we must think of him as One that has come down into the region of the creatures, the region in Which we are distinguished by names, and are capable of higher and lower in endless degrees. God, dealing with him so situated, acts in a manner rightly corresponding to this great self-dedication, so as to utter God’s mind upon it. He has set him on high, and given him the Name that is above every name; so that divine honor shall be rendered to him by all creation, and knees bowed in worship to him everywhere, and all shall own him Lord that is, partaker of divine sovereignty. All this is ‘to the glory of the Father,’ seeing that in all this the worthiness and beauty of God’s being and ways come to light with a splendor heretofore unexampled. TDOC 280.3

“So then, we may say, perhaps, that as in the humiliation he who is God experienced what it is to be man, now in the exaltation he who is man experiences what it is to be God.” TDOC 280.4

“To Him who loved the souls of men,
And washed them in his blood,
To royal honors raised our heads,
And made us priests to God, TDOC 280.5

“To him let every tongue be praise,
And every heart be love;
All grateful honors paid on earth,
And nobler songs above. TDOC 280.6

“Thou art the First, and thou the Last, Time centers all in thee, The mighty Lord, who was, and is, And evermore shall be.” TDOC 280.7