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FAR ABOVE ALL RULE AND AUTHORITY
AND POWER AND DOMINION: huperano pases arches kai exousias kai dunameos
kai kuriotetos : (Philippians 2:9,10; Colossians 2:10;
Hebrews 1:4) (3:10; 6:12; Daniel 7:27; Romans 8:38,39; Colossians
1:15,16; 2:15; Hebrews 4:14; 1Peter 3:22)
Christ’s
exaltation by His Father has resulted in His supremacy over
everything...
For by Him all things were created,
both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones
or dominions or rulers or authorities-- all things have been created by
Him and for Him. (See note
Colossians 1:16)
And being found in appearance as a
man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even
death on a cross. 9 Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed
on Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus
EVERY KNEE SHOULD BOW, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and
under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (See note
Philippians 2:8;
2:9;
2:10;
2:11)
But each in his own order: Christ the
first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming, 24 then
comes the end, when He delivers up the kingdom to the God and Father,
when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. 25 For He
must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. 26 The last
enemy that will be abolished is death. 27 For HE HAS PUT ALL THINGS IN
SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET. But when He says, "All things are put in
subjection," it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in
subjection to Him. 28 And when all things are subjected to Him, then the
Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things
to Him, that God may be all in all. (1Corinthians 15:23-28)
The Jews believed
angels controlled human destiny, but Scripture sees Jesus Christ as the
Creator and Sustainer Who upholds all things by the Word of His power.
Far above (5231)
(huperano from hupér = above + ano = up) So Christ is not just ABOVE but FAR ABOVE. Also
includes idea of rank or dignity. Christ is in a class by Himself so to
speak. The demonic rule, authority, etc aren't even in the same ball
park!"
All (3956)
(pas) all. Terms that follow were traditional Jewish terms to
designate angelic beings of great rank might. Power of Christ
applied in the believer’s behalf cannot be defeated because it far
surpasses that of the hosts of Satan who design to defeat it"
Rule (746)
(arche
[word study])
means the first ones,
preeminent one or leaders.
Arché
speaks of those first in order of rulership in a community, “the
first ones” in the town. The arche is an an authority figure who
initiates activity or process.
In this context arche reflects a high order of demonic creatures
that assist Satan in his warfare against God and His children! (See
notes on spiritual warfare in
Ephesians 6:12)
Authority (1849)
(exousia
[word study])
is derived from éxesti
= it is permitted, it is lawful meaning liberty of action.
Exousía
refers to delegated authority and combines the idea of the "right
and the might", these attributes having been granted to someone.
Vine
explains that exousía evolved
"from the meaning of "leave or
permission" or "liberty of doing as one pleases" and passed to that of
"the ability or strength with which one is endued," then to that of the
"power of authority," the right to exercise power or "the power of rule
or government," the power of one whose will and commands must be obeyed
by others." (Vine,
W E: Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament
Words. 1996. Nelson)
Vincent adds that
"Authority or right is the dominant
meaning in the New Testament." (Word studies in the New Testament. Vol.
1, Page 3-171)
Exousía
means the power to do something and was a technical term used in
the law courts, of a legal right.
Power (1411)
(dunamis
[word study]
from dunamai = to be able, to have power) refers to power,
especially achieving power. It refers to intrinsic power or inherent
ability, the power or ability to carry out some function, the potential
for functioning in some way (power, might, strength, ability,
capability), the power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature. In
the present context dunamis almost certainly refers to evil spiritual
forces which possess this inherent power.
Dunamis is
the implied ability or capacity to perform. It conveys the idea of
effective, productive energy, rather than that which is raw and
unbridled. Note that words derived from the stem duna— all have
the basic meaning of “being able,” of “capacity” in virtue of an
ability. Duna- is the root for English words like dynamic,
dynamo, dynamite, etc.
Barclay writes that dunamis...
can be used of any kind of
extraordinary power. It can be used of the power of growth, of the
powers of nature, of the power of a drug, of the power of a man’s
genius. It always has the meaning of an effective power which does
things and which any man can recognize. (Barclay,
W: The Daily Study Bible Series, Rev. ed. Philadelphia: The Westminster
Press)
Dominion (2963)
(kuriotes from kúrios = lord, mighty one) here is a reference to evil angelic powers.
Jewish writings used to designate angelic powers their ranks."
No authority or
power, natural or supernatural (in the spirit world), is greater than
that of the exalted Son of God, the glorious Lord Jesus Christ.
Victory, not
defeat, should be the norm in the Christian life. God sees every
believer as being in Christ, whom He raised from the dead and seated "at
His right hand...far above all principality and power". Because He
is the Victor and we are "in Him," we too can be victorious over sin. We
can be "more than conquerors" when we yield ourselves to the
all-conquering Christ.
Charles Wesley
alluded to Jesus' rule from above in his famous hymn of many,
Rejoice the Lord is King
Jesus, the
Savior, reigns, the God of truth and love;
When He had purged our stains He took His seat above;
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice;
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice! (play)
AND EVERY NAME THAT IS NAMED NOT ONLY IN THIS
AGE BUT ALSO IN THE ONE TO COME: kai pantos onomatos onomazomenou (PPPNSG)
ou monon en to aioni touto alla kai en to mellonti; (PAPMSD):
(Matthew 28:19; Acts 4:12;
Philippians 2:9, 10, 11; Revelation 19:12,13) (Matthew 25:31, 32, 33,
34, 35, 36; 28:18; John 5:25, 26, 27, 28, 29; Hebrews 2:5; Revelation
20:10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
Name (3686) (onoma)
name [implying authority, character] NT the name concisely sums up all
that a person is. Name in the Bible means much more than in our modern
culture. One's whole character was somehow implied in the name.
Furthermore, in this context, name implies authority, and it was used
this way as when one would come or do something in or by the name of
someone (the name conveying that person's authority).
Named (3687)
(onomazo) means to name, call by name. Jesus is the Name above
all names forever.
The most famous
passage regarding the exalted nature of Jesus' Name, like the present
passage, is in the context of Christ's sacrificial offering of Himself
to God...
"And being found in appearance as a
man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even
death on a cross. Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on
Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus EVERY
KNEE SHOULD BOW, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the
earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father." (See notes
Philippians 2:8;
2:9;
2:10;
2:11)
‘Let any name be
uttered, whatever it is, Christ is above it; it is more exalted than
that which the name uttered affirms’ (Meyer)
Only (3440)
(monon) means alone.
Age (165)
(aion
[word study]) denotes duration of time. “age,” referring to
the present sinful age, the world system now dominated by Satan. Aion is
the popular culture and manner of thinking that is in rebellion against
God which will try to conform us to its ungodly pattern.
The Jews of Paul's
day understood the end times to be divided into two time periods, the
age in which they lived and the coming age. The Messiah, called “the
Coming One,” would rule in the age which is to come.
One to come (3195)
(mello) means to occur at a point of time in the future
which is subsequent to another event and closely related to it (see note
below under "age") The
present tense
pictures this age to
come as on its way.
This "age" would be the age
Paul wrote in and is the same age believers live in today, the age most
commonly known as the "church age". In a scheme which adheres to
a literal interpretation of prophetic passages, the church age is
followed by a seven year period commonly referred to as the
"Tribulation" but more biblically correctly designated as "Daniel's
Seventieth Week".
This period of seven years is not actually called the "Tribulation" in
Scripture, although Jesus clearly designated the last 3.5 year period as
the "Great Tribulation" (Mt 24:21). Revelation 4-19 describes
primarily the events that will transpire during this seven year period
which will terminate with the return of Christ, Who will establish His
1000 year kingdom (the
Millennium)
on earth. This 1000 year period is also known as the Messianic Age,
which is the time when God fulfills ALL of His promises to Israel, which
is in marked contrast to what many teach because they do not interpret
the Scripture literally. At the end of the Messianic Age God will have
vanquished every enemy |
