Christ Reigns (8:00 am Service)

[0:00] Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for your word. We pray that you open our hearts to receive it. In your precious name, amen. You may be seated.

[0:11] Good morning, everyone. How is everyone doing this morning? Good? Good. As Dan said, I am the director of student ministries here at St. John's, but that is only half the truth.

[0:24] I actually get the privilege of working with my wife, Nicole, in Bowdoin, she is actually both the brains and the beauty behind the ministry, and I'm trying to figure out what my role actually is.

[0:37] But seriously, I love this community, and I love the students who I get to work with, and I feel so blessed to be a part of this staff. I get the privilege of working with Dan and David and Aaron and so many great people like Marion.

[0:52] It's honestly a great community to work for. And I'm so thankful to bring the word of God to you this morning. So, let us begin.

[1:03] In our brief time together, we are going to be looking at Psalm 110. Now, this psalm is a biggie. It's a biggie because it provides a snapshot of the Messiah, the one who would come to deliver, to rescue, and to save the people of God.

[1:23] In fact, there is no psalm more quoted in the entire New Testament than Psalm 110. This psalm is so important because it provides a framework for understanding who Jesus was and what he came to do.

[1:42] In fact, this is the same psalm that Jesus quoted in reference to his own messianic identity in Mark chapter 12 when he was challenging the teachers of the law about who he was.

[1:57] So, the question I want to ask this morning is who is this Messiah Jesus with whom the entire New Testament calls each and every one of us into a personal relationship?

[2:12] You know that Christianity is unique among all the religions in that it calls human beings, people like you and me, into a personal relationship with the living God.

[2:26] Christianity talks about meeting Christ, connecting with Christ, loving Christ, knowing Christ, enjoying Christ.

[2:36] And what Psalm 110 does, what Psalm 110 does, it tells us who this Christ is that we get the privilege of relating to, that we get the privilege of meeting.

[2:52] And what I want to suggest to you this morning is that in Psalm 110, we meet Christ as King, we meet Him as Priest, and we meet Him as Warrior.

[3:08] So, King, Priest, Warrior. Let's begin. Verses 1 to 3 speak to us about meeting Christ as King.

[3:18] And more specifically, they tell us that Christ was a victorious King who accomplished, first of all, a finished work.

[3:29] Verse 1 says this, The Lord says to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool. Now, why is it so significant that the Lord says to my Lord, Sit at my right hand?

[3:46] The book of Hebrews finds great significance in the seated position of Jesus Christ. Here is what we read in Hebrews 11, 11 through 14.

[3:57] And every priest stands daily at His service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until His enemy should be made a footstool for His feet.

[4:21] For by a single offering, He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. What the book of Hebrews is saying is that the Messiah Jesus' work is a finished work.

[4:36] He is not standing offering sacrifices like the other priests day after day. He sat down because His work is finished.

[4:47] And friends, let me tell you this, you do not fully understand or comprehend who Jesus was or what He accomplished unless the word finish leaps into your mind.

[5:01] It says in John 19, verse 30, that when Jesus had received the drink, He said, It is finished. With that, He gave up His spirit.

[5:15] It is finished. In the Greek, this is only one word, and it's in the perfect tense. It literally means, It has been and forever will be finished.

[5:27] In other words, what this is saying is, Every single Bible passage of prophecy that had to take place in the death of the Messiah has been fulfilled. Finished.

[5:38] No more sacrificial systems. No more earthly priests. No more earthly temple. It is all finished. And what this is saying is, There is no more wrath of God towards the sin of repentant sinners.

[5:54] No more judgment toward the repentant. No more punishment or penalty towards anyone who comes to Jesus in faith. It is all finished.

[6:05] Now it is pardon. Now it is forgiveness. Now it is access to God. The whole plan of God has reached its terminal point. It is finished.

[6:16] All the types. All the shadows. They have all found their fulfillment in Christ. It is finished. Friends, do you rejoice in the fact that your king and priest is now seated?

[6:33] Do you take confidence in the fact that His work is finished? We all need to trust in the work of Christ. We all need to rely on the work of Christ.

[6:46] We all need to rest on the work of Christ. But above all, we need to know in our minds and in our hearts and in the very depths of our being that it is a finished work.

[7:01] And not only is Christ's work a finished work, but it is also a powerful work. We read in verse 1, the Lord says to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.

[7:20] Now this little phrase, seated at the Lord's right hand or seated at the right hand of the Father, shows up over and over and over again in the New Testament.

[7:32] In fact, it's even made its way into the Apostles' Creed. But what does it actually mean to sit at the right hand? In the Old Testament, the right hand is a position of prominence or favor.

[7:48] And to be seated at the right hand is to occupy a position of authority or power. And if we bring Ephesians 1.20 into this, it really brings clarity to who Jesus was in this seated position of authority.

[8:05] This is what Ephesians 1, starting at verse 18, says, Having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power towards us who believe, according to the working of his great might, that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also the age to come.

[8:47] What does it mean that Christ is seated at the right hand of God, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion?

[8:59] Well, it certainly means a lot of things, but I want to focus on one thing. It means this, that Christ is in authority over every evil power.

[9:11] Friends, we live in a world at war. Some of you see warfare in your homes. You see warfare against your own children right now.

[9:24] You see warfare in your marriage. You see direct attack on your finances, on your emotions, on your relationships, and even on your bodies.

[9:37] You see warfare stirring up mental illness in your loved ones or even in yourself. But here's what this verse is saying.

[9:48] Psalm 110, Ephesians 120. Here's what they're saying. No matter what unseen spiritual force you or your family is facing, Christ is above them all.

[10:01] Christ is greater in power, greater in majesty, greater in authority than any spiritual enemy that you face. And how do we respond to this king whose work is finished, whose work is powerful?

[10:18] How do we respond? We offer ourselves as free will offerings, as living sacrifices to Jesus the king, the one who makes a claim of absolute obedience on our life.

[10:33] As verse 3 says, your troops will be willing on the day of your battle, arrayed in holy splendor. Your young men will come to you like dew from the morning womb.

[10:45] So we meet Christ as king. That's the first point. Next, we meet Christ as priest. We read in verse 4, the Lord has sworn and will not change his mind.

[10:57] You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Why is it that this king priest from Genesis 14, why is this king priest Melchizedek a type, an Old Testament image of Jesus?

[11:13] It has to do with his priesthood. You may not have known this, but the priesthood was an inherited office in ancient Israel.

[11:24] To be a priest in ancient Israel, a man had to trace his lineage back to the tribe of Levi, one of the sons of Jacob. But we read of this priest in Genesis chapter 14 named Melchizedek, whose priesthood was not based on his ancestors, but was entirely due to God's calling.

[11:47] He was a priest of the Most High God purely by God's calling and commissioning of him. Like Melchizedek, Jesus did not trace his priesthood back to Levi, his forefather.

[12:01] Rather, he traced his priesthood back to God himself. So in other words, Jesus' priesthood is an eternal priesthood.

[12:14] The power of Jesus' priesthood, the effect of his prayers for us, his sacrifice, his representation of his people to God, and from God to the people, the power of Jesus' priesthood is not based on his great-grandfather, who he was back 50 generations ago.

[12:34] The power of Jesus' priesthood was due to his own intrinsic person, what the authors of Hebrews in Hebrews chapter 7 says, the power of his indestructible life.

[12:48] Now, what does that mean? The power of his indestructible life. Jesus, our high priest, is immortal unlike all other Jewish priests throughout the Old Testament who were mortal.

[13:04] They all served for a period of time and then died and passed away, and disappeared from the scene. But Jesus, our high priest, he died.

[13:16] But thank God, he rose again from the dead on the third day. His priesthood lasts forever. His life and mediation on behalf of everyone who turns to him can never be destroyed.

[13:33] Friends, do you understand why it is that a person who has fully surrendered their lives to Christ and who has been born again by the Spirit will certainly inherit eternal life.

[13:46] Your security before God and my security before God is based upon Jesus' eternal priesthood. Here is what Hebrews 7, 24-25 says, But because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood.

[14:05] There he is able to save completely those who come to God through him because he always lives to intercede for them. This is amazing.

[14:15] What this text is saying is that his prayers for you can never be ended. His fingers can never ever be pried off of your life.

[14:28] He has a grip on you that is eternal. If you've turned to him in repentance and faith, your salvation is as eternal as his priesthood.

[14:41] Friends, do you thank God those of you who have turned to Christ in faith and repentance? Do you thank God that you are being kept not by your own efforts, but by the eternal priesthood of Jesus Christ?

[14:57] Do you thank God that you belong to him and you may stumble, but you will never stay down because Jesus, your eternal priest, will come to your aid?

[15:11] So we meet Christ as king, we meet him as priest, and lastly we meet him as warrior. Here is what we read in verses 2 through 5.

[15:25] The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion, saying, rule in the midst of your enemies. The Lord is at your right hand. He will crush kings on the day of his wrath.

[15:35] He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead and crushing the rulers of the whole earth. He will drink from the brook along the way, and so will lift up his head. Friends, the kingdom of God that belongs to Jesus by right is becoming his in actual fact as the people of God extend Jesus' reign throughout the world.

[16:01] Now how does the kingdom of God come in fact? When a person gives their life to Jesus Christ and is born again by the Spirit of God, God's reign is extended over one more life.

[16:17] When a person is set free from bondage, from a habit, from an addiction that is keeping that person from experiencing God's peace and God's joy, the reign of God is extended over one more life.

[16:34] When a person is healed by the power of God, the reign of God is extended over one more life. And friends, the reign of God is not extended by military power or by armies or might.

[16:51] It is extended by the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And it is allowing Jesus Christ to transform lives, communities, and even entire cities by the power of his Holy Spirit and the power of his gospel.

[17:12] So who is this Messiah Jesus we meet in Psalm 110. He is our king, he is our priest, he is our warrior. Amen.