Authority of Christ

When you drive north toward Ordos City in China’s Inner Mongolia province, you can’t miss the Mausoleum of Genghis Khan. The massive complex, rebuilt in the 1950s in the traditional Mongol style, houses genuine relics and is an important sanctuary for the shamanic worship of the legendary Mongol leader. But the Khan’s tomb is properly called a cenotaph—a monument to someone buried elsewhere—because it is empty.

While we can be certain his mortal remains are not there, we’re completely uncertain as to where they might be. And that’s odd. In life, he was the most powerful person on Earth. He was the Universal Ruler (“Genghis Khan”) of an empire that would eventually stretch from the Pacific Ocean into Eastern Europe, encompassing large swaths of present-day China, Russia, and the Middle East. Yet his grave is unmarked and remains undiscovered.

This is by design. Despite his exalted status, Genghis Khan retained the frugal, itinerant lifestyle of his youth, and indeed of most Mongols. So, it makes sense that he would want a humble, anonymous burial in his homeland. “Let my body die, but let my nation live,” he is supposed to have said.

Possible Preaching Angles:

1. Christ, Lordship of; King Jesus; Lordship of Christ – Many powerful kings have ruled over large parts of the earth. Many came from humble backgrounds and rose to greatness. Jesus, the true “universal ruler” also had a humble childhood and became the most powerful person on earth. He was also buried in a grave whose exact location is debated today. But the defining difference is that the King of Kings and Lord of Lords rose from the dead and reigns forever seated at the right hand of God.
2. Moses – The burial place of Moses is also unknown, but he was buried by God himself. (Deut. 34:5-6; Jude 1:9)
3. Final Judgment; Resurrection – Although the grave of Genghis Khan is unknown, hidden in the mists of history, God will still raise him up to stand at the final judgment. (Rev. 20:13)

The Lion King tells the story of a king's ascent. From the moment the movie begins, Simba is branded as the heir to the throne. He is designated to the office at the start of the movie by the baboon Rafiki, who lifts up Simba before the animals of the kingdom as they bow before him. He is the future king.

The rest of the story describes Simba's exile and his homecoming to Pride Rock. When Simba returns to Pride Rock, he must battle for the throne, which has been seized by his uncle Scar. Simba conquers Scar and the hyenas, but even though he has been designated, appointed, and even conquered, the forces of darkness, his work remains incomplete.

At the end of the movie, immediately after the battle, an important scene occurs that is sometimes overlooked. The camera suddenly shifts to Rafiki, bringing the story full circle. Rafiki takes his staff and points Simba to Pride Rock. An old era has ended; a new one is about to begin. In order for Simba to claim his kingdom and be installed as the king, he must ascend Pride Rock, the rightful place of the ruler, to ritually demonstrate he has conquered.

Simba dramatically ascends the rock and roars. When he does, the other lions acknowledge his victory, dominion, and authority. Though Simba has been designated as the king from the start of the movie, though he has conquered in battle, he still is not installed as king until he ascends Pride Rock.

In a better way, Jesus is designated as king and Lord from the beginning of the Gospels and from all creation really. But Jesus had to be installed as king; he had to be enthroned; he had to be recognized as king; he had to ascend to the right hand of the father, sit on the throne, and receive from God the Father all dominion and authority. The Ascension is about the triumph of Jesus the king.

For about five dollars you can buy a four-inch plastic bobblehead Jesus that bounces on a metal spring and adheres firmly to the dashboard of your car. One advertisement for this product says you can “stick him where you need forgiveness” and he will “guide you through the valley of gridlock.”

The dashboard Jesus has become a cultural phenomenon. In the song “Plastic Jesus” Billy Idol sings, “With my plastic Jesus, goodbye and I'll go far, with my plastic Jesus sitting on the dashboard of my car.” Paul Newman sang it in the movie Cool Hand Luke. The words begin, “Well, I don’t care if it rains or freezes, long as I have my plastic Jesus sitting on the dashboard of my car.”

To lots of people, Jesus, church, and Christianity are cultural trappings but not life-changing realities. Author Josh McDowell warns that many people today see Jesus “like a plastic statue on a car dashboard—smiling, robed, a halo suspended above his head.” But that superstitious or sentimental view of Jesus is a myth. Jesus of Nazareth was no plastic saint. He’s a real-world kind of Savior.

It’s not important whether you have Jesus on your car’s dashboard, but it’s vital to know he’s living in your heart. He isn’t plastic, he’s powerful. He’s not small, he’s infinite. He’s not a good-luck token. He’s the risen Lord of time and eternity.

Imagine a basketball game. It's almost the end of overtime; it's time for one last shot. Who do you want to have the ball? You want the calmest and best player out there. Or imagine the security of the nation is threatened. Threat levels have gone through the roof, and an attack is imminent. Who do you want to have the nuclear codes? Who do you want making the final call on what to do or not to do? You want someone who is calm under pressure. Or here's one more example. Imagine you need a crucial surgery to save your life or the life of a loved one. Who do you want behind that scalpel? Who do you want performing the surgery? Of course you want the best doctor available.

That's how the Gospels present Jesus as he faces the cross. He's under extreme pressure—pressure that we will never even fathom. He's actually sweating drops of blood. And yet at every stage Jesus is calm. He is in control of himself.

But Jesus also leaves every sports star, every politician, every surgeon far behind. It's not just that Jesus is in control of himself; Jesus is in control of the events themselves. It's not just that he's able to handle his own adrenaline; he's able to dictate the result. It's not just he's able to act wisely under pressure; he's able to determine the outcome. Jesus isn't just able to respond skillfully to what he finds; he already knows what he will find, and has already mapped out the solution to the deepest human problem of all. Jesus stands out in this because he is in control of the entire sweep of human history, even as he goes through his death.

In March 2002, the former ruler of Afghanistan, the 87-year-old Mohammed Zahir Shah, returned to his homeland after 30 years of exile. Here's how an article in the Chicago Tribune described his grand and glorious welcome:

On Thursday, thousands of invited guests lined up for hours at the airport and people gathered on the streets leading to a refurbished seven-bedroom villa to see the former ruler. Delegations arrived from across Afghanistan's 32 provinces. Governors and their advisers, members of women's groups carrying posters of the king, most of the interim administration, royalists, warlords, men in turbans and others in suits all converged on the pockmarked runway where shells of bombed airplanes lay. Two red carpets were laid out. The newly trained honor guard was on hand, and young women and children in traditional embroidered dress greeted Zahir Shah with flowers and poems.

I hope you're thinking of the contrast when Israel's Messiah was born, when he came to his own people.

Families and children around the world have grown to love a special retelling of the biblical storyline from The Jesus Storybook Bible written by Sally Lloyd-Jones. In her introduction to the big story of the Bible, Jones writes:

There are lots of stories in the Bible, but all the stories are telling one Big Story. The Story of how God loves his children and comes to rescue them. It takes the whole Bible to tell this Story. And at the center of the Story there is a baby. Every story in the Bible whispers his name. He is like the missing piece in a puzzle—the piece that makes all the other pieces fit together, and suddenly, you can see a beautiful picture.

Medieval cartographers (mapmakers) sketched hic sunt dragones (translated "there be dragons") on the edges of their maps. Those three words were used by the medieval cartographer of the famed Lenox Globe (c. 1503-1507) to describe the outer boundaries where knowledge ended and speculation began. After drawing on all of his knowledge, the mapmaker could only write those three provocative words to convey that these areas were at best unexplored, and at worst, perilous.

Yet maps of that era often held another image—Christ. For instance, The Psalter map (c. 1250), so called because it accompanied a copy of the book of Psalms, featured dragons on the bottom, as well as Jesus and the angels at the top. Such a map reminds us of the availability of "true north" as followers of Christ: Yes, there be dragons; but there is also Jesus and the angels. And we can follow him—and find our way.

To illustrate the point that God does actually prevent a lot of terrible things from happening that we're not aware only to get no credit for it, retired minister Bob Russell wrote the following:

J. Wallace Hamilton (a famous preacher from the mid-20th century) used to tell about a mother cat, with a baby kitten in her mouth, trying unsuccessfully to get across a busy New York City intersection. She would meander timidly out into the traffic and then dart back to the curb when nearly hit by a passing car. A traffic policeman in the center of the intersection, seeing her plight, thrust up his hands to stop traffic in both directions. The anxious cat scampered across to the other side and disappeared down an alley.

Hamilton pointed out that the cat had no idea that the authority of the New York City Police Department had been called upon to enable her to get safely across the street. Then he added, "I wonder how many times the mighty hand of God goes up to get us safely to where he wants us to be and we're not even aware of it."

In a 2015 commencement speech at Dillard University, Denzell Washington urged graduates to put God first and thank him constantly:

Put God first in everything you do … Everything that I have is by the grace of God, understand that. It's a gift … I didn't always stick with him, but He stuck with me … While you're [on your knees], say thank you. Thank you for grace, thank you for mercy, thank you for understanding, thank you for wisdom, thank you for parents, thank you for love, thank you for kindness, thank you for humility, thank you for peace, thank you for prosperity. Say thank you in advance for what is already yours … True desire in the heart for anything good is God's proof to you sent beforehand that it's already yours … When you get it, reach back, pull someone else up.

I've heard people say, "I'm checking out Christianity, but I also understand Christians can't do this and the Bible says you're supposed to do that. You're supposed to love the poor or you're supposed to give up sex outside of marriage. I can't accept that." So people want to come to Christ with a list of conditions.

But the real question is this: Is there a God who is the source of all beauty and glory and life, and if knowing Christ will fill your life with his goodness and power and joy, so that you would live with him in endless ages with his life increasing in you every day? If that's true, you wouldn't say things like, "You mean, I have to give up ___ (like sex or something else)."

Let's say you have a friend who is dying of some terrible disease. So you take him to the doctor and the doctor says, "I have a remedy for you. If you just follow my advice you will be healed and you will live a long and fruitful life, but there's only one problem: while you're taking my remedy you can't eat chocolate." Now what if your friend turned to you and said, "Forget it. No chocolate? What's the use of living? I'll follow the doctor's remedy, but I will also keep eating chocolate."

If Christ is really God, then all the conditions are gone. To know Jesus Christ is to say, "Lord, anywhere your will touches my life, anywhere your Word speaks, I will say, "Lord, I will obey. There are no conditions anymore." If he's really God, he can't just be a supplement. We have to come to him and say, "Okay, Lord, I'm willing to let you start a complete reordering of my life."

Bill Klem was the father of baseball umpires: colorful, judicious, and dignified. He was beyond passionate about America's favorite pastime, declaring, "To me, baseball is not a game, but a religion." The first umpire to use arm signals while working behind home plate, Bill umped for 37 years, including 18 World Series. He became known as "the Old Arbitrator," a deferential nod to his keen eye for calling balls and strikes.

On one such occasion, as he crouched and readied behind the plate, the pitcher threw the ball, the batter didn't swing, and, for just an instant, Bill said nothing. The batter turned and snorted, "Okay, so what was it, a ball or a strike?" To which Bill responded, "Sonny, it ain't nothing 'till I call it."

I think a defining question for a Christian is: Who was Christ? And I don't think you're let off easily by saying a great thinker or a great philosopher, because actually he went around saying he was the Messiah. That's why he was crucified. He was crucified because he said he was the Son of God. So, he either, in my view, was the Son of God, or he was … nuts. Forget rock 'n roll messianic complexes, this is like Charlie Manson type delirium. And, I find it hard to accept that a whole millions and millions of lives, half the earth, for two thousand years have been touched, have felt their lives touched and inspired by some nutter.

Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte was born in 1763, the son of a French government worker. As a young man he joined the army, and by the start of the French Revolution, he had risen to sergeant. Eventually, he became one of Napoleon's first marshals. But in an odd twist of history, Bernadotte found favor in the eyes of the King of Sweden, Charles XIII, for his treatment of Swedish soldiers taken prisoner during a battle with Napoleon's troops. When Sweden's crown prince suddenly died in 1810, Sweden astonishingly offered to put Bernadotte next in line for the throne—the commander of a former enemy!

The son of a French government worker was renamed Charles John, the new Crown Prince of Sweden. In 1818, after the death of King Charles XIII, Bernadotte assumed the throne as King Charles XIV John. He was a popular but harsh monarch who reigned until his death in 1844 at the age of 81. It is said that during the embalming process they discovered an ironic secret: Years earlier, when the king was still simply Jean Baptiste, he had acquired a tattoo, obviously during the French Revolution. On his chest was a picture of a red cap, a symbol of liberation, with the French words "Mort aux rois!" or "Death to All Kings."

History is filled with leaders like Bernadotte—people who railed against the authority over them but then seized power and lorded it over others. There is only one King who had all the power of the universe, and yet released it to save others.

A skeptical friend once asked pastor and author William Willimon, "Why do you need a supernaturally resurrected body of Jesus to make your faith work?"

Willimon replied:

I don't need a resurrected Jesus. Come to think of it, I'm not sure I want a resurrected Jesus. In fact, [in one sense] a resurrected Jesus is a real nuisance for me, personally. I've got a good life, I've figured out how to work the world, on the whole, to the advantage of me and my friends and family. My health is good, and everybody close to me is doing fine. I have the illusion that I'm in control, that I'm making a so significant contribution to help Jesus … on my own. No, I don't need a bodily resurrected Jesus. In fact, [once I truly embrace the resurrection of Jesus], my life would become much more difficult.

[So] when the possibility of resurrection really comes through to you, when the rumor that something's afoot becomes a reality for you, well, you can see why the women [in the Gospel stories] were scared that first Easter.

There's a very important letter that every pilot-in-training needs to learn about—the letter V, short for velocity. V-speeds are derived from aircraft designers and manufacturers during flight testing. Heeding to the limits of V-speeds maximizes aircraft performance and safety. The FAA has designated at least 35 different V-speeds. All of them are important, but there are six that every pilot must master.

For instance, according to the FAA manual, VR is the speed required to get a plane airborne in a reliable, predictable fashion. VS refers to the plane's stalling speed. One knot higher and you're flying. One knot lower and you aren't flying. VA is often called the plane's "design maneuvering speed." Given rough flying conditions, exceeding the VA speed can cause structural damage to the plane. It essentially implies a warning: slow down, or cool it. VNO is self-explanatory. It corresponds to the upper limit of the plane's airspeed in smooth air conditions.

Finally, there's the velocity classification known as VNE, which essentially stands for "Never," as in, "Don't even think of going there!" VNE is the absolute, never-to-be-exceeded limit for your aircraft. An article in Flight Training magazine explained why you should never break the limits of VNE:

The manufacturer, its engineering staff, and the test pilots who brought the airplane to market are all in agreement: You should never attempt to fly your airplane faster than VNE for any reason. Even the color code—a red line on the airspeed indicator—says stop. So take their word for it.

Possible Preaching Angles: (1) Disobedience—This illustrates what happens when we flaunt God's "training manual" and decide for ourselves how we can live our lives. (2) Sabbath and Rest—This illustration could also be used in a sermon about the Sabbath or true rest. When we continually break the physical limits given to us by God, we're flirting with danger and possible disaster.

Manhattan, New York, pastor Tim Keller once said that in 1970 a Sunday school teacher changed his life with a simple illustration.

The teacher said, "Let's assume the distance between the earth and the sun (92 million miles) was reduced to the thickness of this sheet of paper. If that is the case, then the distance between the earth and the nearest star would be a stack of papers 70 feet high. And the diameter of the galaxy would be a stack of papers 310 miles high."

Then Keller's teacher added, "The galaxy is just a speck of dust in the universe, yet Jesus holds the universe together by the word of his power."

Finally, the teacher asked her students, "Now, is this the kind of person you ask into your life to be your assistant?"

In his book titled The 100, astrophysicist Michael Hart asks a provocative question: Who are the 100 most influential people in history? Of all the human beings who have ever lived, who has had the deepest impact on our lives today?

Hart's list includes Sigmund Freud, the originator of psychoanalysis. You may not like Freud's theories, but he opened up an entire new field of human endeavor called psychology, and people still use the words that he coined—ego and Oedipus complex and death wish.

Hart also includes Louis Pasteur. According to Hart, Pasteur ushered us into the realm of modern medicine. He convinced the scientific community that these tiny, unseen things called germs caused a lot of diseases. Pasteur also figured out how to inoculate human beings so we don't get these terrible diseases. The fact that you're here alive and well is in some measure owed to this French biologist and chemist from 150 years ago.

But what really made the book interesting and popular was that Michael Hart had the chutzpah to rank the top one hundred world changers. He established the NCAA playoffs of human greatness. What do you think he did with Jesus Christ? Sure enough, Jesus did make it onto Hart's list. He said that Jesus was the inspiration for the most influential religion in history. Hart even wrote, "Jesus had an extraordinarily impressive personality." That's a nice compliment. Based on Jesus' impressive influence throughout history, Hart ranked Jesus as the 3rd most influential person in history, right after Muhammad and the scientist Isaac Newton (incidentally, Newton was also a Christian).

Hart was attempting to answer a question that every single person has to answer: What will you make of Jesus? How will you rank Jesus? Is he in the top 100? Is he in the top ten? Is he number one on your list? Or does Jesus belong to his own list—the list called Lord and Master and Savior of my life? The way you answer that question will affect everything about your life. It's the critical question of your life.