We have been through a section of verses that show Jesus’ life in His earthly ministry. We’ve seen Him as servant, teacher, shepherd, intercessor, and healer.
Now we look at His attributes. Today- Omniscience.
CARM.org: The sovereignty of God: His omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence Omniscience is an attribute of God alone. It is the quality of having all knowledge (Isaiah 40:14). God knows all things possible as well as actual because He has ordained whatsoever will come to pass according to the counsel of His will (Eph. 1:11). He does not need to experience something to know about it completely.
Ligonier: Scripture and the Two Natures of Christ The historic Christian understanding of the person of Christ is that He is one person who possesses two natures: a divine nature and a human nature. Each nature retains its unique properties, and the two natures remain distinct, though inseparably united in Christ’s person. Thus, according to His divine nature, as the second person of the Trinity, the Son of God is omniscient, omnipotent, and so forth. According to His human nature, the incarnate Christ needs to eat food to survive, grows in knowledge, and so forth.
GotQuestions: What does it mean that Jesus is omniscient? Despite the condescension of the Son of God to empty Himself and make Himself nothing (Philippians 2:7), His omniscience is clearly seen in the New Testament writings. The first prayer of the apostles in Acts 1:24, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart,” implies Jesus’ omniscience, which is necessary if He is to be able to receive petitions and intercede at God’s right hand.
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Thirty Days of Jesus Series-
Introduction/Background
Prophecies:
Day 1: The Virgin shall conceive Day 2: A shoot from Jesse Day 3: God sent His Son in the fullness of time Day 4: Marry her, she will bear a Son
Birth & Early Life-
Day 5: The Babe has arrived! Day 6: The Glory of Jesus Day 7: Magi seek the Child Day 8: The Magi Offer gifts & worship Day 9: The Child Grew Day 10- the Boy Jesus at the Temple Day 11: He was Obedient Day 12: The Son! Day 13: God is pleased with His Son
The Second Person of the Trinity-
Day 14: Propitiation Day 15: The Gift of Eternal Life Day 16: Kingdom of Darkness to Light Day 17: Jesus’ Preeminence Day 18: The Highest King Day 19: He emptied Himself Day 20: Jesus as The Teacher Day 21: The Good Shepherd Day 22: The Intercessor Day 23: The Compassionate Healer
Now here is another piece of biblical art that I’ve discovered, thanks to Facebook. I’m so thrilled. Julius Gari Melchers’ The Nativity is beautiful and tender. It takes the scene from a different perspective and a different moment in time. We know that usually a nativity scene shows the babe being adored by his parents, the shepherds, animals and sometimes the Wise Men, though they didn’t arrive until a year or two later.
But Melchers, a painter of German descent, took the scene from the point of view of immediately after the birth of the Savior. His aim is to paint “true and clear” and so we are viewing naturalism in a scene that is usually romanticized.
In looking at Mary’s pose, one can almost feel her exhaustion, both emotional and physical. Joseph’s expression is one of concern and perturbation and near overwhelming responsibility. All among a dirty hallway…and yet the Babe’s head is aglow with the promise of God having sent the Light into the world. What were Mary and Joseph thinking and feeling then? We can ask them when we get there, but meanwhile, please enjoy this representation of the glorious moment when all was quiet, before heaven shouted with joy and all hell broke loose…of the coming of Jesus Christ the Lamb.
This section of verses that show Jesus’ life are focused on His earthly ministry. We’ve seen Him as servant, teacher, shepherd, intercessor, and now healer.
Jesus healed people of their afflictions and diseases. He healed Mary who had 7 demons. He healed the woman who’d had a blood issue for 12 years. He healed lepers, even touching them, a dramatic departure from protocol. He healed the Centurion’s servant from a distance. Whether with a word or a touch, the power of Jesus to heal was demonstrated. He healed the blind, the sick, even the dead. He healed Peter’s Mother-in-Law. Strangers or friends, he healed. He did this to show who He was who He said He was- from God and Son of God, Messiah, the prophesied one.
He did this to show His omnipotence. He healed to show His compassion. The word Splagchnizomai, meaning compassion, is used 12 times in the New Testament, and each time it’s used it’s Jesus who is experiencing it. Prior to the NT, the word when used meant courage. Splanchnizomai is not the only word used for compassion in the NT but it is distinctly used with Jesus and in the context of His healings.
Jesus took the term a step further and used it to define the attitude that should capture the life of every believer. In the parable of the unforgiving servant, the master had compassion and forgave the servant’s debt (Matt. 18:27). The prodigal son’s father had compassion on him (Luke 15:20). The good Samaritan had compassion on the injured traveler (Luke 10:33). Jesus had compassion on the crowd (Mark 6:34). People needing help asked Jesus for compassion (Mark 9:22; cp. Matt. 9:36; 20:34). Source: Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary
People who need help are the ones who need compassion. Jesus is a God of compassion and He demonstrated this in His willingness to heal.
Usage: This word is used 12 times:
Matthew 9:36: “when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted,” Matthew 14:14: “a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed” Matthew 15:32: “his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because” Matthew 18:27: “lord of that servant was moved with compassion and loosed him, and forgave” Matthew 20:34: “So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately” Mark 1:41: “And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and” Mark 6:34: “much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were” Mark 8:2: ” I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me” Mark 9:22: “him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help” Luke 7:13: “Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said” Luke 10:33: “where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion” Luke 15:20: “his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran,”
Photo by Karen Maes @karen1974 at Unsplash
“When God visits with sickness, we should think (in the use of means) our work is more in heaven with God than with men or with medicine. When David dealt directly and plainly with God and confessed his sins, then God forgave them and healed his body too.” Puritan Richard Sibbes
“It’s a picture of an omnipotent Savior, master of human fate, able to heal, able to give forgiveness of sins, able to save to the uttermost those that come unto God by him. And when he touches the eyes of our blindness we sing, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me”
Perspectives on faith healing often seem as varied as the number of faith healers around. Some say God wants to heal all sickness. Others come close to conceding that God’s purposes may sometimes be fulfilled in our illness and infirmity. Some equate sickness with sin. Others stop short of that but still find it hard to explain why spiritually strong people get sick. Some people just flat out blame the Devil, and they think if they can tie the Devil up in a knot and send him off to Tibet or something, everybody’ll get well.
He asked him, ‘Do you want to get well?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Get up and walk.’ I cannot tell you how many times I would lie in that bed, straining to make my muscles move, and I would sing a hymn that I had learned as a child, ‘Savior, Savior, hear my humble cry. While on others Thou art calling, Jesus do not pass me by.’” But I never got up out of that bed and walked. And it seemed back then that Jesus had passed me by.
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Thirty Days of Jesus Series, Overview-
Introduction/Background
Prophecies:
Day 1: The Virgin shall conceive Day 2: A shoot from Jesse Day 3: God sent His Son in the fullness of time Day 4: Marry her, she will bear a Son
Birth & Early Life-
Day 5: The Babe has arrived! Day 6: The Glory of Jesus Day 7: Magi seek the Child Day 8: The Magi Offer gifts & worship Day 9: The Child Grew Day 10- the Boy Jesus at the Temple Day 11: He was Obedient Day 12: The Son! Day 13: God is pleased with His Son
The Second Person of the Trinity-
Day 14: Propitiation Day 15: The Gift of Eternal Life Day 16: Kingdom of Darkness to Light Day 17: Jesus’ Preeminence Day 18: The Highest King Day 19: He emptied Himself Day 20: Jesus as The Teacher Day 21: The Good Shepherd Day 22: The Intercessor
And so the sympathetic high priest is Jesus Christ, who in the days of His flesh felt what we feel. And of course, the climax comes when He offered prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears. What incident in His life does that speak to you about? Does that remind you of the Garden of Gethsemane? Sure. That was the greatest climax of His suffering for there He began to bear the sins of the world didn’t He? There He began to feel the crush of sin upon Him. He began to feel Satan bruising Him, and it hurt. Do you remember the Garden of Gethsemane, the night before He went to the cross? He went into the Garden to pray and He agonized there and He sweat as it were great drops of blood and He cried to the Father. And His heart was grieving and broken at the prospect and the pain of bearing sin. And He felt the power of sin and He felt temptation. He felt everything Satan could throw at Him, and He got it all even on the cross. He felt everything you’ll ever feel.
THIS is what makes Jesus the perfect High Priest. Fully God and fully man, He knows the pain, sorrow, temptation, and devastation of sin, closely and intimately.
Ligonier: The Intercession of Christ A time would come when Satan would sift Peter, and he would fall under the weight of temptation and deny his Lord. But what did Jesus say about that time? He comforted Peter by assuring him that he would not lose his faith. And the reason his faith wouldn’t fail was that Jesus had prayed for him. Peter would not fall away from the faith because Jesus had interceded for him.
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Introduction/Background
Prophecies:
Day 1: The Virgin shall conceive Day 2: A shoot from Jesse Day 3: God sent His Son in the fullness of time Day 4: Marry her, she will bear a Son
Birth & Early Life-
Day 5: The Babe has arrived! Day 6: The Glory of Jesus Day 7: Magi seek the Child Day 8: The Magi Offer gifts & worship Day 9: The Child Grew Day 10- the Boy Jesus at the Temple Day 11: He was Obedient Day 12: The Son! Day 13: God is pleased with His Son
The Second Person of the Trinity-
Day 14: Propitiation Day 15: The Gift of Eternal Life Day 16: Kingdom of Darkness to Light Day 17: Jesus’ Preeminence Day 18: The Highest King Day 19: He emptied Himself Day 20: Jesus as The Teacher Day 21: The Good Shepherd
How can we know God unless He reveals Himself to us? The creation confirms His existence, but what does the creature know of His attributes, Person, or Power? Unless He teaches us about Himself, we will not know. God sent His Son Jesus to earth as a born-babe, to live the full life of sinlessness under the Law, and to teach us about Himself. He was prophesied to die as the atoning sacrifice, and then rise again to receive His people through His work on the cross. Grace abounds.
The word does not occur elsewhere in the New Testament, except in the passage before us. The essential idea is that of bringing to emptiness, vanity, or nothingness; and, hence, it is applied to a case where one lays aside his rank and dignity, and becomes in respect to that as nothing; that is, he assumes a more humble rank and station. In regard to its meaning here, we may remark:
(1) that it cannot mean that he literally divested himself of his divine nature and perfections, for that was impossible. He could not cease to be omnipotent, and omnipresent, and most holy, and true, and good.
(2) it is conceivable that he might have laid aside, for a time, the symbols or the manifestation of his glory, or that the outward expressions of his majesty in heaven might have been withdrawn. It is conceivable for a divine being to intermit the exercise of his almighty power, since it cannot be supposed that God is always exerting his power to the utmost. And in like manner there might be for a time a laying aside or intermitting of these manifestations or symbols, which were expressive of the divine glory and perfections. Yet,
(3) this supposes no change in the divine nature, or in the essential glory of the divine perfections. When the sun is obscured by a cloud, or in an eclipse, there is no real change of its glory, nor are his beams extinguished, nor is the sun himself in any measure changed. His luster is only for a time obscured.
The Greek verb translated “emptied” (keno[ma]o) is where we get the theological term kenosis: the doctrine of Christ’s self-emptying as a part of His incarnation. The verb expresses Christ’s self-renunciation, His refusal to cling to His advantages and privileges as God. The God who has a right to everything and who is fully satisfied within Himself emptied Himself.
Notice that Philippians 2:7 does not specify what the Son of God “emptied” Himself of. And here we must be careful not to go beyond what Scripture says. Jesus did not empty Himself of His divine attributes—no such attributes are mentioned in the verse, and it is obvious in the gospels that Jesus possessed the power and wisdom of God. Calming the storm is just one display of Jesus’ divine power (Mark 4:39). In coming to earth, the Son of God did not cease to be God, and He did not become a “lesser god.” Whatever the “emptying” entailed, Jesus remained fully God: “in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form” (Colossians 2:9).
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Thirty Days of Jesus Series, Overview-
Introduction/Background
Prophecies:
Day 1: The Virgin shall conceive Day 2: A shoot from Jesse Day 3: God sent His Son in the fullness of time Day 4: Marry her, she will bear a Son
Birth & Early Life-
Day 5: The Babe has arrived! Day 6: The Glory of Jesus Day 7: Magi seek the Child Day 8: The Magi Offer gifts & worship Day 9: The Child Grew Day 10- the Boy Jesus at the Temple Day 11: He was Obedient Day 12: The Son! Day 13: God is pleased with His Son
The Second Person of the Trinity-
Day 14: Propitiation Day 15: The Gift of Eternal Life Day 16: Kingdom of Darkness to Light Day 17: Jesus’ Preeminence Day 18: The Highest King
One night, Nikos Politis was asleep. He began dreaming. He dreamed he saw a warrior angel from heaven in full armor and regalia. Nikos was entranced by the fact that the ‘angel’ had perfect hair. Soon myriads of angels joined the first angel. They began to sing. This song is supposedly to summon angels to fight demonic forces. In the singer’s own words, we read-
This hymn was given with power to break chains and set the captives free and destroy from Jesus Christ! For this reason the words of the hymn are influenced by the Holy Spirit, and convey a message of liberation! They are instruments of divine restoration on the lips of whoever sings them with faith in his heart!
Politis is a Greek man, and part of the worship team at a church in Greece called All Nations Church Thessaloniki. This church is part of the global denomination of a church started in Nigeria by a man named Prophet TB Joshua. The church and its satellites – including the branch in Thessalonica – are all false.
His song “You Are the Almighty God” was published in 2022. Since then it has gained worldwide attention, mainly from the more charismatic quarters, but also elsewhere. If you go to Politis’ Youtube to find the song, these title cards appear before the song begins:
If you go to Politis’ Youtube to learn more about this song, you will see the ‘SCOAN’ logo on older videos. It stands for Synagogue Church of All Nations, the name of the mother church in Lagos, Nigeria and all their satellite branches. In Greece they recently changed their church’s name to ‘Christian Church of All Nations’ Thessalonica, dropping the term synagogue due to Greek government “suggestion”.
Scenes below are screen shots of Politis’ church members’ reaction when hearing or singing this song. The author and the church itself attributes the physical and emotional reactions to the fact that the Spirit supposedly “influenced” the lyrics. No.
If this is what singing that song does to a person, count me out
Insensate on the floor (but carefully holding his glasses after remembering to remove them first…?)
People have been making all sorts of outlandish testimonies and claims of visions when listening to or singing this song. People in the Youtube comments make all sorts of claims in their comments, too. Here is one man interviewed who made a claim of a vision while the congregation sang Politis’ song-
From THE ANCIENT OF DAYS VISITS CHURCH WHILE THE CONGREGATION SINGS ANOINTED SONG!!! Last Sunday, when our brother Nikos Politis was singing the hymn, as I was praying, all of a sudden, I lifted my eyes and I saw an angel on that corner flapping his wings very powerfully! At first, I thought it was my imagination, but then I realised it was real! How did you feel that moment when you suddenly saw an angel before you? I really wanted to jump out of joy, but I restrained myself. I felt calmness…
Do angels even HAVE wings? No. Do people feel calm when an angel appears? No. Scripture reports they are greatly troubled, fearful, or fall to their feet. (Luke 1:12, Luke 1:29, Revelation 22:8). The first thing an angel usually says to the person is “Fear not”.
From Youtube comments:
One day my son was crying non stop, he wouldn’t stop screaming uncontrollably, once I played the song for the first time, he instantly stopped and started smiling.
I listen to this song on a loop every night and I am convinced that I am being healed from an incurable cancer.
I can’t speak for others but my first experience of singing along was walking into his throne room where he is sitting. Seeing him on his throne… I never had this experience with any Christian songs ever. What I heard was ‘you finally came.’ Thank you.
There are a number of things to be aware of here regarding this song and its ever-widening impact. Of course, false churches and false pastors have been present on earth since the beginning. That is not new. But it is good to remember that they are part of the spiritual warfare Jesus said would occur. The people in those churches are not the enemy, but the power behind them is. The doctrines they put forth are.
Below is a link to a BBC news investigation that exposes the many corruptions of this Synagogue Church of All Nations and its now deceased leader, TB Joshua, a self-proclaimed prophet with a “prophetic birth.”
God did not add to His closed canon by ordering an angel to deliver this song to Politis. The lyrics have no power. The enscripturated word on the page has no power, but the Holy Spirit behind God’s inspired words does. That is why unsaved people who read the Bible do not understand it, (1 Corinthians 2:14). Only the Spirit can illuminate it to minds. The Spirit uses God’s words to transform minds.
So in like manner Politis’ lyrics have no power in and of itself. However, the power behind the words does have a spirit, the demonic, and that IS a force that will alter people’s minds. From the screen shots above and the claims of people in the Youtube comments, we can see how people predisposed to the demonic are affected. If a person is unsaved, you are predisposed due to a sin nature to believing what satan wants you to believe, including things like angels with wings and perfect hair appear randomly to a man and tell him to write a song that will be an ‘instrument of divine restoration’.
Didn’t God already deliver to us an instrument of divine restoration? Yes. That instrument is God’s Son Jesus.
Anything that competes with Jesus as the SOLE deliverer is false. Anything that competes with the Bible as sole word from God is false.
Thirdly, music contains doctrine. We can sing and play solid songs like O Holy Night, or we can play songs that purport to have doctrine but it’s weak or twisted. Or we can play or sing songs that are obviously demonically inspired, like Politis’ You Are the Almighty God.
Here is an extra sad thought- I became aware of this song because a student wanted me to play it. He explained that an angel from heaven gave the song. I demurred, because I always vet anything I play for my students at school, and also because it’s ingrained in me through years of training in discernment (Hebrews 5:14) to check first.
What a tragedy that a child grows up thinking these false things! It’s almost worse than not knowing anything of God at all.
I’m glad I checked. Though the song title initially had me hopeful, upon seeing the first title card above, I shut it down. I never listened to the song, I do not want what it says nor what it stands for entering my soul.
Beware of false doctrine, which can come via any method- sermons, Bible studies, books, youtube or podcasts, and music. God IS the Almighty God and He will judge the people who claim to say things He did not say. (Jeremiah 23:21). It will be a painful judgment.
We are flowing through a section of verses which focus on Jesus as the Second Person of the Trinity.
Further Reading
Though the verse is literally speaking about King David, the relation of David to Christ means the verse also prefigures the preeminence of King Jesus. The throne, through David’s line, would last forever through Christ.
Verse 27. Also I will make him my firstborn. Among the kings the seed of David were to be most favoured and indulged with most love and paternal regard from God: but in Jesus we see this in the highest degree verified, for he has preeminence in all things, inasmuch as by inheritance he has a more glorious name than any other, and is higher than the kings of the earth. Who can rival heaven’s Firstborn? The double portion and the government belong to him. Kings are honoured when they honour him, and those who honour him are kings! In the millennial glory it shall be seen what the covenant stores up for the once despised Son of David, but even now faith sees him exalted as King of kings and Lord of lords. Lo, we bow before thee, thou Heir of all things! Our sheaves do obeisance to thy sheaf. All thy mother’s children call thee blessed. Thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise. Jesus is no servant of princes, nor would he have his bride, the church, degrade herself by bowing before kings and eating the bread of a pensioner at their hands. He and his kingdom are higher than the kings of the earth. Let the great ones of the earth be wise and submit to him, for he is Lord, and he is the governor among the nations.
Also I will make him my firstborn,…. Or, “make him the firstborn”; make him great, as Jarchi interprets it; give him the blessing, the double portion of inheritance: so Christ is made most blessed for ever, and has all spiritual blessings in his hands; and is heir of all things, and his people joint-heirs with him. Christ is God’s “firstborn”, or “first begotten”, Hebrews 1:6, being begotten by him, and of him; … even him the Father promises to make “higher than the kings of the earth”; having a kingdom of a superior nature to theirs, and a more extensive and durable one; and even they themselves shall be subject to him; hence he is called “King of kings”, Revelation 19:16.
The King of Kings shall reign forever, His Kingdom shall endure.
Thirty Days of Jesus Series-
Introduction/Background Day 1: The Virgin shall conceive Day 2: A shoot from Jesse Day 3: God sent His Son in the fullness of time Day 4: Marry her, she will bear a Son Day 5: The Babe has arrived! Day 6: The Glory of Jesus Day 7: Magi seek the Child Day 8: The Magi Offer gifts & worship Day 9: The Child Grew Day 10- the Boy Jesus at the Temple Day 11: He was Obedient Day 12: The Son! Day 13: God is pleased with His Son Day 14: Propitiation Day 15: The Gift of Eternal Life Day 16: Kingdom of Darkness to Light Day 17: Jesus’ Preeminence
Beginning with verses that declare the Son, this section of the Advent flow of verses I’ve selected focus Him as the Second Person of the Trinity. Christ is preeminent. Always and forever.
Let us exult in verses which proclaim a truth that should enlarge our heart and shake our soul with wonder.
He put on humanity that we might put on divinity. He became Son of Man that we might become sons of God. He was born contrary to the laws of nature, lived in poverty, was reared in obscurity, and only once crossed the boundary of the land in which He was born, and that in His childhood. He had no wealth or influence, and had neither training nor education in the world schools.
His relatives were inconspicuous and uninfluential. In infancy, He startled a king. In boyhood, He puzzled the learned doctors. In manhood, He ruled the course of nature. He walked upon the billows, and hushed the seas asleep. He healed the multitudes without medicine, and made no charge for His services. He never wrote a book, yet all the libraries of the country could not hold all of the books about Him. He never wrote a song, yet He has furnished the theme for more songs than all songwriters together.
We should talk about Jesus often and be clear about his identity, resisting every temptation to make him peripheral, secondary, or assumed. And we may find that talking about Jesus often brings his preeminence to have a deeper bearing on our lives. It helps to remind us of his role in two things we deeply care about — the gospel and the glory of God.
Institute for Creation Research devotional: Preeminence of Christ Christ is also preeminent in our reconciliation, “having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself” (1:20), so that He can “make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (1:27).
CROWN HIM LORD OF ALL! Below, Chapter 4 excerpts from Warren Wiersbe’s “BE” series
Colossians 1:13–20
The false teachers in Colossae, like the false teachers of our own day, would not deny the importance of Jesus Christ. They would simply dethrone Him, giving Him prominence but not preeminence. In their philosophy, Jesus Christ was but one of many “emanations” that proceeded from God and through which men could reach God. It was this claim that Paul refuted in this section. Probably no paragraph in the New Testament contains more concentrated doctrine about Jesus Christ than this one. We can keep ourselves from going on a detour if we remember that Paul wrote to prove the preeminence of Christ, and he did so by using four unanswerable arguments. He holds all things together (v. 17). “In Him all things hold together” (NIV). [T]he Christian has an answer: Jesus Christ! Because “He is before all things,” He can hold all things together. Again, this is another affirmation that Jesus Christ is God. Only God exists before all of Creation, and only God can make Creation cohere. To make Jesus Christ less than God is to dethrone Him.
Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, pp. 114–116). Victor Books.
the-end-time.org 