He is All

COLOSSIANS 3. II

Addressing Cornelius, a Gentile, and mentioning the Name Jesus Christ, Peter adds by way of a parenthesis, “he is Lord of all”, Acts 10. 36.That He is Lord of all men will be publicly manifested when the time of display (the millennium) is ushered in. But that He is “Lord of all” now cannot come to us other than as a tremendous challenge. Is He indeed Lord in every department and aspect of our lives., or is there only partial instead of total submission? Actually it is normal Christianity (although, somewhat paradoxically, probably unusual) that He should become Lord of all to the newly born again believer. The conversion of Saul of Tarsus (later Paul) becomes the pattern conversion as he exclaims, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do”, 9.6. His subsequent history serves only to underline the complete subjugation of will in this most remarkable of all men to the One who Himself came to do only the will of His Father.

Writing to the Colossians, Paul, speaking of the sphere of new creation, says of the Lord Jesus that He “is all (everything) and in all”, Col. 3. 11. “Everything" – what a challenge! We may be admitting Him into so much of our Lives as true lovers of Himself who has done everything for us, but has he really become to us everything? We sometimes sing (words which may practically be beyond our own experience):

Jesus, Thou art enough

The heart and mind to fill;
Thy patient life to calm the soul;

Thy love – its fear dispel.

This surely is something to be arrived at – something to be grown into, necessitating probably a certain maturity. It involves doubtless daily communion in secret with Himself, culminating, as in the case of the apostle, in a philosophy of life expressed in his own words “For to me to live is Christ”. It will readily be seen that the Lordship of Christ in its totality, His being everything to us meaningfully, are matters which are entirely individual. In the Song of Songs the dialogue is suggestive of the reciprocal affection of Christ and the Church, His Bride. In great detail, she is able to speak of the perfections of the heavenly Bridegroom, finally exclaiming “His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely”, 5. 16. Mary illustrates the Church in true affection, and the Lord said of her as she sat at his feet enthralled and listening to His word, “Mary has chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her”, Luke 10. 42. The Lord’s supper, increasingly more significant to the heart and mind of those gathered to His name, provides a unique opportunity for the mutual outflow of love. The Spirit brings before the hearts of His own the personal love of Christ for His Church, when He again says of the loaf “My body … for you”, and of the cup “my blood … shed for you”. He is soon to take us to be forever with Himself. In the meantime, especially on this precious occasion, we have the privilege of responding to the One who is “altogether lovely" in true worship and adoration.