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by Bible League International

January 3rd, 2023

Scripture

Devotion

According to our verses for today, there are two things that God the Father has done for the benefit of the church. He has appointed Jesus Christ to be the head over everything and He has placed all things under His feet.

What does it mean that Jesus Christ has been appointed to be the head over everything? In virtue of His victory on the cross, Jesus sat down at the right hand of “the Majesty in heaven” (Hebrews 1:3) and from their rules over all things in the created order. He rules over everything in the spiritual realm of the created order, including the angelic hosts. He rules over everything in the material realm of the created order as well, including the physical universe, the plant realm, the animal realm, and the human realm. Most notably in this context, within the human realm Jesus has been placed as the head of the church, which is His body.

What does it mean that all things have been placed under the feet of Jesus Christ? In virtue of His victory on the cross, God placed all the enemies of Christ and His church under Christ’s feet. In ancient times, conquerors would place their feet on the necks of those they conquered as a symbol of the conquest. That’s why Joshua had his chief men place their feet on the necks of the kings they conquered (Joshua 10:24). The Apostle Paul is alluding to that practice here as well as to Psalm 110:1: “The LORD says to my lord: ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.'” Although Paul knew there were battles still to be fought, (1 Corinthians 15:25-27), he also knew that Christ’s victory gave him essential control over Satan, demons, and the people they influence.

Thus, everything in the created order is under the control of Jesus Christ and, in particular, His enemies in the created order have been ignominiously placed under His feet.

God did all this for the benefit of the church. How does this benefit the church? Since Jesus is in control, nothing within the created order, especially the enemies, will be able to thwart the mission of the church.

That’s why your part in Christ’s prophecy, that we will be His witnesses to the ends of the earth, is being fulfilled day by day (Acts 1:8).

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