Heb.2:5 – For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak.
Matt.28:18 – And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
The beginning of the Great Commission in Mathew used to leave me scratching my head. Apparently, the man called Jesus is what He is speaking about in this passage. Whatever He gave up when He became a man He got back and more after He was crucified and raised up from the dead. It was not only Jesus who was given authority as a man, all of His sons and daughters have been given authority to walk and act in His Name. Don’t you know that Jesus rules the Universe now as a man and in the coming age we will rule with Him under His authority?
So two things are important to grasp here. First, as I said, we will reign with Christ on earth at His return and we will also reign with Him throughout the Universe in the new heaven and new earth where righteousness dwells. This new heaven and earth will be habitable and quite amazing.
The second point is that this authority given to Christ and then to us affects is our work now in this life. We are to preach the gospel and move in the power of signs and wonders in order to see the harvest of this age completed. Here is what the Pillar Commentary says about this.
“First he made clear that in his risen state he was in a situation very different from that when he had been the penniless preacher and healer they knew so well. “All authority has been given to me,” he said, which points to an end to the time when he was “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief . . . stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted” (Isa. 53:3-4, KJV). Now he has received the fullest possible authority, for it is authority in heaven and on earth. He is making clear that the limitations that applied throughout the incarnation no longer apply to him. He has supreme authority throughout the universe.”
So…..as we observe the signs of the end of the age breaking out all around us, our anticipation of the coming kingdom intensifies. These signs also call out to us for action; the Lord is coming soon, its time to reach our generation.
