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[4116.18 --> 4118.64] heaven and earth will be perfectly united.
[4118.64 --> 4120.20] And we will experience heaven
[4120.20 --> 4122.92] in our lives on a new earth.
[4123.74 --> 4125.30] So Jesus is in heaven.
[4125.76 --> 4128.00] Now, we're going to ask the second half
[4128.00 --> 4129.02] of Naoko's question,
[4129.48 --> 4132.16] what is Jesus doing in heaven,
[4132.28 --> 4133.54] the control room for earth?
[4133.70 --> 4135.58] What is Jesus giving his time to?
[4135.64 --> 4137.10] This might be one of the most important questions
[4137.10 --> 4138.24] you've never asked.
[4138.90 --> 4140.60] And the first answer to that
[4140.60 --> 4143.90] is Jesus is ruling over this creation
[4143.90 --> 4148.22] with love and justice and power.
[4148.22 --> 4150.48] This creation, Ephesians says,
[4150.54 --> 4151.88] is held together
[4151.88 --> 4154.32] because Jesus gives it life
[4154.32 --> 4155.88] and gives us life
[4155.88 --> 4156.82] and allows us to live.
[4156.88 --> 4157.46] Without Jesus,
[4157.66 --> 4159.68] you sort of unplug Jesus from this world,
[4159.98 --> 4161.12] everything implodes.
[4161.40 --> 4163.54] That's how important his rule is over the world.
[4164.34 --> 4167.44] So many passages in the Bible
[4167.44 --> 4169.44] celebrate the authority
[4169.44 --> 4171.88] and the kingship of Jesus over creation.
[4172.20 --> 4173.38] I want to read just one of them
[4173.38 --> 4174.60] that I touched on last night
[4174.60 --> 4175.88] from Ephesians 1.
[4175.88 --> 4178.46] That's what we read in Ephesians 1.
[4179.04 --> 4179.86] That power,
[4180.72 --> 4182.90] the same power that he exerted,
[4182.94 --> 4183.52] that's God,
[4183.62 --> 4185.32] when he raised Christ from the dead
[4185.32 --> 4187.78] and seated him at his right hand
[4187.78 --> 4188.98] in the heavenly realms,
[4189.32 --> 4191.84] far above any rule and authority,
[4192.50 --> 4193.76] power and dominion,
[4194.04 --> 4195.78] and every name that can be invoked,
[4195.96 --> 4197.82] not only in the present age,
[4197.98 --> 4200.48] but also in the one to come.
[4200.48 --> 4203.18] Can I just invite you to allow that
[4203.18 --> 4205.84] to expand your vision of Jesus, right?
[4206.64 --> 4207.74] What the author of Hebrews,
[4208.00 --> 4210.84] of Ephesians and Romans and Hebrews
[4210.84 --> 4211.84] are all trying to say is
[4211.84 --> 4214.22] Jesus is above every name,
[4214.60 --> 4215.40] every authority,
[4215.70 --> 4216.56] every world leader,
[4216.92 --> 4218.16] every spiritual force
[4218.16 --> 4219.78] that could be invoked now and forever.
[4220.02 --> 4221.90] He's above all those things.
[4222.66 --> 4223.26] And Ephesians says,
[4223.36 --> 4226.12] all things are placed under Jesus' feet.
[4226.42 --> 4227.34] That's the authority
[4227.34 --> 4228.98] of the Jesus we worship this morning.
[4230.04 --> 4232.30] No rival can take Jesus down.
[4232.56 --> 4233.50] No one can kill him
[4233.50 --> 4234.96] because that's already been done
[4234.96 --> 4236.60] and Jesus came back from the grave
[4236.60 --> 4238.28] to rule over all things.
[4239.94 --> 4241.88] There's a writer I read two years ago.
[4243.34 --> 4245.14] His name is David Levithan.
[4245.20 --> 4245.66] Maybe you know him.
[4245.68 --> 4247.50] He's actually a famous American journalist
[4247.50 --> 4248.08] and author
[4248.08 --> 4249.60] and not a Christian.
[4250.12 --> 4251.18] And this is what he writes
[4251.18 --> 4251.78] about the universe.
[4251.92 --> 4253.94] This is just like a startling statement
[4253.94 --> 4255.16] that we need to respond to.
[4255.16 --> 4255.52] He says,
[4255.62 --> 4257.62] if you stare at the universe,
[4258.08 --> 4259.58] the center of the universe,
[4259.92 --> 4261.86] you will find coldness there.
[4263.60 --> 4264.08] Blankness.
[4264.96 --> 4266.00] Ultimately, he writes,
[4266.10 --> 4269.22] the universe does not care for us at all.
[4269.40 --> 4270.38] And then he goes on to say,
[4270.54 --> 4271.76] that's why we have to take care
[4271.76 --> 4272.54] of our own lives.
[4272.84 --> 4274.84] And over and against that statement,
[4274.96 --> 4276.10] which I think is very depressing,
[4276.52 --> 4277.56] all of us can say,
[4277.68 --> 4279.08] at the center of the universe
[4279.08 --> 4281.54] is a living resurrected king
[4281.54 --> 4283.04] in a resurrected body
[4283.04 --> 4285.62] who holds all things together
[4285.62 --> 4288.22] and governs everything in this world
[4288.22 --> 4289.36] according to his purpose
[4289.36 --> 4291.94] and his will will be done.
[4292.70 --> 4293.70] That's your king.
[4294.20 --> 4295.22] That's King Jesus.
[4297.68 --> 4298.16] Secondly,
[4298.30 --> 4300.16] so the first thing about Jesus' kingship
[4300.16 --> 4302.46] is he's right now ruling over creation
[4302.46 --> 4303.78] and it's all held together
[4303.78 --> 4305.08] by his power and his goodness
[4305.08 --> 4305.82] and his justice.
[4306.34 --> 4306.78] Secondly,