1 Timothy 6:15 – Emperor of Identity
13 I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, 14 that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing, 15 which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords…
David Garrow references the thinking of a voter weighing options for United States Senator and considering a candidate whose background was not typical. "If your parent is from another country, your vision is larger than just the United States."
Along similar lines, the apostle Paul is inspired to widen Timothy's admiration for Christ, and ours. Calling Him Potentate, Paul has placed Christ in the courts of influence, and celebrated Him as preeminent there. He has declared Christ King of Kings, first among those who are first among their brethren, and so he is. As the Israelites from whom Christ spring, humanly speaking, sought Saul as a champion like themselves but able to go before them and inspire healthy intimidation in their adversaries, so He is. Paul declares himself an Israelite of the Israelites, Jesus is so much more so.
Yet, Paul crowns Him again even more splendidly. Christ is not only the most splendid example of one tribe or people. His worth transcends cultures. Thus Paul can call him Lord of lords, using the same were Paul's contemporaries used for Caesar, and topping it. The association would have been ready in the minds of his original audience. Caesars meld together disparate, insular cultures into one identity as Romans. At least ideally from Rome's point of view, because Rome has conquered, these different identities as residents of Gaul or Palestine become secondary because mutual allegiance is to the Emperor.
How much is Jesus, then, the Better Caesar? He conquers in ways Caesar never could, enabling us to break down the strongholds of His enemy and the captor of His people) 2 Corinthians 10:4-5.) By Him, we are conquerors positioned to storm the gates of Hell (Matthew 16:17-18,) and also more than conquerors (Romans 8:37.) We reflect back in gratitude, already and eternally, and are one in that affection whether we originate from America, or Argentina, or Australia. Our perspective is better because the Author and Finisher of the faith which animates our new life (Hebrews 12:2) is not confined to the assumptions and presumptions one culture.
Although we will experience this in its fullness when we worship in the Hereafter with representatives from every tribe and tongue (Revelation 7:9,) Paul also speaks of it as already accomplished, meaningful oneness. "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ," he declares in Galatians 3:27, "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ." Since I can put on the garb of a native of Fiji without truly being of that people, Paul makes the implications plane at the most basic level of identity in verse 28. He worships oneness in Christ, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus."
You see, Christ as Emperor of the Emperors does more than redraw political boundaries with His conquering might. He does more than enforce a nod toward artificial, fearful, resentful oneness by uprooting people from the cultures from whence they came. Just as Matt Chandler says He doesn't need raw material because He MAKES raw material, He Who made men in Genesis can remake us thereafter, and at infinite varieties. Even in our new bodies, representatives of distinct cultures will celebrate our mutual Emperor of Emperors (Isaiah 2:1-4), not with a pinch of incense but with genuine, wholehearted devotion.
David Garrow references the thinking of a voter weighing options for United States Senator and considering a candidate whose background was not typical. "If your parent is from another country, your vision is larger than just the United States."
Along similar lines, the apostle Paul is inspired to widen Timothy's admiration for Christ, and ours. Calling Him Potentate, Paul has placed Christ in the courts of influence, and celebrated Him as preeminent there. He has declared Christ King of Kings, first among those who are first among their brethren, and so he is. As the Israelites from whom Christ spring, humanly speaking, sought Saul as a champion like themselves but able to go before them and inspire healthy intimidation in their adversaries, so He is. Paul declares himself an Israelite of the Israelites, Jesus is so much more so.
Yet, Paul crowns Him again even more splendidly. Christ is not only the most splendid example of one tribe or people. His worth transcends cultures. Thus Paul can call him Lord of lords, using the same were Paul's contemporaries used for Caesar, and topping it. The association would have been ready in the minds of his original audience. Caesars meld together disparate, insular cultures into one identity as Romans. At least ideally from Rome's point of view, because Rome has conquered, these different identities as residents of Gaul or Palestine become secondary because mutual allegiance is to the Emperor.
How much is Jesus, then, the Better Caesar? He conquers in ways Caesar never could, enabling us to break down the strongholds of His enemy and the captor of His people) 2 Corinthians 10:4-5.) By Him, we are conquerors positioned to storm the gates of Hell (Matthew 16:17-18,) and also more than conquerors (Romans 8:37.) We reflect back in gratitude, already and eternally, and are one in that affection whether we originate from America, or Argentina, or Australia. Our perspective is better because the Author and Finisher of the faith which animates our new life (Hebrews 12:2) is not confined to the assumptions and presumptions one culture.
Although we will experience this in its fullness when we worship in the Hereafter with representatives from every tribe and tongue (Revelation 7:9,) Paul also speaks of it as already accomplished, meaningful oneness. "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ," he declares in Galatians 3:27, "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ." Since I can put on the garb of a native of Fiji without truly being of that people, Paul makes the implications plane at the most basic level of identity in verse 28. He worships oneness in Christ, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus."
You see, Christ as Emperor of the Emperors does more than redraw political boundaries with His conquering might. He does more than enforce a nod toward artificial, fearful, resentful oneness by uprooting people from the cultures from whence they came. Just as Matt Chandler says He doesn't need raw material because He MAKES raw material, He Who made men in Genesis can remake us thereafter, and at infinite varieties. Even in our new bodies, representatives of distinct cultures will celebrate our mutual Emperor of Emperors (Isaiah 2:1-4), not with a pinch of incense but with genuine, wholehearted devotion.
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