His Very Name Means “God With Us”

In today’s S.O.A.P devotional, we come to a scripture that will give us much encouragement when we go through our dark valleys in this world. The declaration Jesus makes that He has been given ALL authority in heaven AND on earth will help us remember nothing we go through in this life escapes His divine purpose and that His dominion is unlimited in its realm and scope. I think the hardest part is not understanding why we are going through a trial, but as someone has wisely pointed out, it is not our place to understand His immeasurable, unfathomable wisdom, but to trust His all-encompassing, holy goodness.

All He does is baptized in love. To be assured of His authority and promise to be with us always is like glimpsing the rainbow in the dark cloud. The Lord put His rainbow in place as a type of solemn covenant that He can’t, in light of His own perfect nature, break. The rainbow has been faithful to appear for thousands of years. How much more can we be sure of His everlasting covenant made through the shed blood of Jesus–for it comes from the most trustworthy Source. If God can speak the world into existence, He most certainly can speak our sin into non-existence through our faith in the one true Son of God. Beloved, we can take much comfort in the Lord’s certain promises which He seals with the perfect integrity He displays to us in the cross.

Scripture: “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth…and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Observation: Some would wonder why any authority would have to be given to Jesus, but the authority given to Jesus in this verse was not His eternal divine dominion, as He’s always had in the Godhead, but rather His mediatorial authority which was derived from His triumphant incarnate victory over the devil, sin, and death–from His consummation of salvation for the world.

This is supported by His next command, which was to go and make disciples of all the nations so that people could place their faith in Him as the only designated Mediator between God and man. For Jesus has been thoroughly vetted and accepted by His Father, who powerfully proved His acceptance of His Son’s ransom sacrifice for the sins of the world by raising Him from the dead. Jesus was found a most worthy Redeemer, the Lamb of God, who receives “power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” [Revelation 5:12]

And to encourage us even more, Jesus promises us His presence with us so that together with His complete authority in heaven and on earth, we also have the comfort of His divine accompaniment throughout His church’s history–even to the end of the age. Both corporately and individually, we have Jesus with us as He mediates peace with God to the world through us. We are ambassadors for Christ, “as though God were making an appeal through us: we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” [2 Corinthians 5:20]

Application: How bold we can be, knowing we have been sent by One who has all authority in heaven and on earth, to share the gospel message in this sin-sick world. How bold we can be, knowing His role as our Mediator-Savior washes us of all sin, to come before the throne of pure grace with a boldness borne of faith in the last words He spoke from the cross: “It is finished!” Our salvation is complete the moment we believe, and we can rejoice in unspeakable thanksgiving to the “Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” [John 1:29]

Prayer: Abba, Father, I am so grateful for Your faithfulness to Your creation, for Your Son’s exquisite love and humility made manifest in the cross. Thank you for providing our great Passover Lamb and delivering us from bondage to this world. Help us imitate Your love for the lost who wander from danger to danger without a Good Shepherd to oversee their souls. Help us remember the boldness which is our inheritance in Jesus, knowing we have been sent by the One who has all authority. Thank you that we may approach Your throne of grace with boldness, knowing You see Your perfect Son in us, who is beloved and in whom You are well pleased. Please open hearts to His benevolent reign as we proclaim “the excellencies of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

Thank you that You are always with us. Let us be like Moses, who when commanded to proceed to the Promised Land did not settle for merely an angel’s presence, but insisted on Yours. For without You we can do nothing of eternal worth. May all the glory and honor go to Jesus our Mediator and King, Amen.