“For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father.” (John 5:22-23)
“For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil. 2:9-11)
I do not lay claim to fully understanding the concept of the Trinity, and I know I need to tread very carefully here because all 3 members comprise the Godhead. I choose to think the whole Trinity concept was God’s way to try to explain the unexplainable to finite beings. However, whatever the case it is clear the Three have entirely unique functions within the Godhead, and that is what I speak of. We’ve discussed Jesus and the Spirit, but what about the Father and the Son?
In Mark 9, we find a story of Jesus taking just His three Amigos up a mountain, where He was transfigured into His future glory before them. Moses [writer of the law] and Elijah [foremost prophet of God, leader of the “sons of the prophets,” and one of the rare ones “taken up” into heaven without dying] appeared with Jesus on that mountain. When the Amigos wanted to build three tabernacles for whom they no doubt considered three of the greatest prophets [thereby signifying an equality between them in the eyes of the builders], the Father’s voice thundered from a cloud, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!” and the other two vanished from sight. What was the Father saying? “Don’t live according to the former laws and prophets I sent. There’s a new voice, a new covenant, and a new law come town, and it’s this One, my Son, the new mediator between Me and You.”
According to the verse from Philippians 2 above, the Father is glorified when Jesus’ name is exalted above every other name, every knee bows to Him and every tongue confesses Him. Isaiah 53 says the Father was pleased to crush the Son if He would offer Himself as the final sacrifice for sin. There are no egos involved in what goes on within the Godhead, just a perfect plan for the salvation of the creation God so loved, and with that the glory and homage due the One who had to suffer the most to bring it about. The Father sits on the throne now veritably beaming over the glory, the fealty, and the honor being given to the name that is above all names: the name of Jesus Christ!
What could prove this new heavenly hierarchy [prior to Jesus’ coming there were only mere mentions of a Messiah to come and the Spirit, and Jehovah God was everything] more than answering the question of who will reign over the final judgment of all things? In Revelations 5 we discover and eye-opening event that triggers the entire end-times scenario and answers our question, “Who Yo Daddy” [at least for now] “I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a book written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?’ And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the book or to look into it. Then I began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it, and one of the elders said to me, ‘Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.’ And I saw between the throne and the elders a Lamb standing as if slain.”
Here we find the Father holding on to a book sealed with a number of seals keeping it from being opened to reveal its secrets. We find great sadness in heaven over this. Why? No one is found worthy, “in heaven or on earth,” to open it. Would this not include the Father who is holding the book, the one with it in His very hands? What blasphemy is this, that the Father Himself wouldn’t be worthy? I don’t believe it has that much to do with worth but rather those functions and purposes I mentioned before. Like I said, treading carefully.
Ah, but then the sadness is broken, and the question answered as another present says, “Don’t worry, there is one who is worthy to open it!” The book is then handed from the Father to a “Lamb who was slain” and all heaven breaks forth in worship of this One who is infinitely worthy “to receive power!” Why would Jesus, in referring to both the Father and the Spirit, hold center stage? That much is no secret. The passage in Revelations says it: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain!” How is it the Holy Spirit was able to come and indwell men, whereas prior to the Cross He was “placed upon” people? Jesus was slain and so opened the door to indwelling! How is it that the temple of God can now be established in our hearts, when before it was an external, material thing? Jesus was slain and brought the kingdom of heaven to earth! Why is it the Spirit only passes on what Jesus instructs rather than speaking on His own, and when the time for judgment of the earth comes, it will be Jesus and not the Father uniquely able to initiate and then complete the process? He was slain!
Jesus is the pivot point of it all because He, according to Paul, uniquely emptied Himself of divinity, humbled Himself to come to earth, further humbled himself to be born in an animal’s stall, live as an itinerant carpenter, be tortured for the ignorance, pride, and foolishness of man, and then be murdered in the most painful fashion the all-time purveyors of torture could devise, all to pay the price to rebuild the bridge between man and God that was teetering on the brink! He alone paid the price to change everything, both in heaven and on earth!
That Jesus alone will be sitting on the Judgment Seat is confirmed in the verse from John 5 above, where He said not even the Father would judge anyone anymore but had given that function to Him so He might be honored [feared] as the Father. Why? The Father did not come to earth, live as a man, face sin in the flesh and die to destroy its effects. Nor did the Spirit do that. Jesus alone did that. Jesus is now the only One to have experienced life both as God and man. Now, it is true when Jesus has accomplished all He came to do I believe this “hierarchy” will change [discussed in Part III of this series], but until then Jesus needs to take center stage because He is the link that ties the Trinity, creation, and man together in a harmony that had all but been destroyed before His appearing. Without the Lamb being slain, the Spirit does not come. Without the Lamb being slain, the Father still “does not care for us” (Heb. 8:9). Without the Lamb being slain there is no salvation, no kingdom of heaven come to earth, no indwelling, no peace, no hope, and no love. This is why the judgement will involve truth and revelation as to whether or not we knew Jesus and He knew us, period.
Oh yes, my friends, the “Name above all names to which every knee shall bow…the Alpha and Omega…the first born of all creation through whom and for whom everything was created, the One before all things, the head of the body, the firstborn from the dead who has first place in everything, the One by whose name alone demons are cast out, the dead are raised, and the sick are healed, the One crucified whom Paul preached “as a matter of first importance” needs, for now, to take front and center stage in our hearts and our lives! Without Jesus we’d still be under the law we couldn’t keep, an un-caring Father would still stand behind an impenetrable veil, and the Spirit would still be waiting to be unleashed. Let’s give the honor due the Son to Him until such time as all is accomplished, and the Father becomes our all in all.
Do you wish to walk by the Spirit? Abiding in, and obedience to the command of, Jesus comes first. Do you wish to please “Abba Father?” Ditto. Do you wish to enjoy the benefits of the gifts of the Spirit and, most importantly, further the kingdom of heaven on earth? It can only be accomplished in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ: our Lord of lords and King of kings!
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