Sunday Sermon: Rest in the Resurrection (Matthew 28:1-20)

You are listening to the teaching ministry of Gabriel Hughes, pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Junction City, Kansas. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday on this podcast, we feature 20 minutes of Bible study through a New Testament book.

On Thursday is a study in the Old Testament, and then we answer questions from the listeners on Friday. Each Sunday we are pleased to share our sermon series. Here's Pastor Gabe.

Christ’s Resurrection and the Heavenly Kingdom

Well, I have chosen of the gospel accounts of the resurrection of Christ that we would read from Matthew this morning. And I would think the reason might be obvious because this is the book that we have been in since December.

We had read the story of Christ's birth. We came into the story of Jesus' baptism a couple of months back. The way that he began his earthly ministry was these words in Matthew 4, 17, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

So Jesus came to inaugurate the kingdom of heaven. We started in a series on the Sermon on the Mount, and we will resume with that series next week as we come back into Matthew 5. Even with the beginning of that sermon, there on a mountain in Galilee, just as we're concluding here on a mountain in Galilee, even as Jesus began that sermon, he said, blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

We continue hearing about this kingdom that Christ came to establish not here on earth, but in heaven above with God. When we looked last week at the triumphal entry of Jesus coming into Jerusalem, to the shouts of the people saying, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

They thought that they were celebrating the coming of their king who was going to establish Israel just as it was under David, just as it was under King Solomon, the empire, the success that it was in the world.

And we're quite surprised when he doesn't go into the temple and kick the Herods out, but he went into his father's house and he kicked out the merchants, the money changers, those who were there to glorify themselves rather than glorifying God.

That's where Jesus went. He went to his father's house because his kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. It's a heavenly kingdom that all who are in Christ, we now have fellowship with God in glory above.

And we have citizenship in that kingdom, even now, while we are here on this earth. So as we've been reading about that, going through the gospel of Matthew, we come here to the conclusion where Jesus is about to ascend to the father.

He rises from the grave. He conquers death itself. He's about to go back to the father. And as the king of this kingdom, he says to his disciples, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

There is nothing seen or unseen that does not belong to Christ. And he gives these words to his disciples before he goes away as an assurance to them that they would be comforted. Even in their doubting, they would be comforted and have assurance in Christ alone.

And Jesus finishes with these words, I am with you always to the very end of the age. So as we come into a story that you have heard time and time again, and at least have heard it every Easter, the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, I hope that this will be a reminder for you that Christ seated above at the right hand of God is sovereign and he still reigns over all.

And the glory and joy of that message would be your comfort today. We look again at Matthew 28, verse 1, where it says, now after the Sabbath toward the dawn of the first day of the week, what day is this happening on?

Sunday. Simply no question about that. I was listening to a podcast earlier this week where the podcast host was going through, boy, there sure seems to be a whole lot of controversy about what day all of these things happened in the course of Holy Week.

Like when did Jesus have his last supper with his disciples? Not everybody is settled on Thursday. Now, when you go through the Gospel of John, it's very clear that's when that happened. The meal was Thursday night.

He was crucified on Friday. He was buried in a tomb. He was in the tomb all day. Saturday, he rose again on Sunday. There's simply no question about it, but there's people that just want to cause controversy over this whole thing.

Nevertheless, those that are stirring up this controversy on what days of the week did all of this stuff take place, we seem to be universally accepting of the fact that Jesus did come back to life on Sunday morning.

He rose from the grave on Sunday, and it's because of that we call this day the Lord's Day. It's for that reason that we gather as a church on Sunday. Every Sunday that we gather as a church, we remember and celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Christ.

It's not just at Easter. That may be the day that is marked on the calendar. I prefer to call it Resurrection Sunday because all the different sorts of backgrounds and controversy, it's even wrapped up in that name, Easter.

But we remember the resurrection of our Lord Christ, and we do this every Sunday. It's the reason why we are a church is because Jesus has conquered death for us, and we are in celebration of that. Looking forward to that day when we will receive even our own resurrection, not just the resurrection of the soul to glory to be with God, but even the resurrection of our bodies as we read in Philippians 3 that Christ will raise us and transform our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him to subject all things to himself because he has that authority over all things.

So he can even take our body, which by that point has probably been ground into powder. It's nothing but dust. But Jesus has authority over all things to raise our dusty bodies and transform it to be like his glorious body.

This is the promise that has been given to us in scripture. So we remember this every Sunday. We celebrate this when we gather as a church that we look forward to this resurrection of the dead, this resurrection unto glory that we have with Christ our Lord.

The Women at the Empty Tomb

So now after the Sabbath, Jesus fulfilling even all the Sabbath laws and everything that went along with that, for as Jesus had said earlier, even here in the book of Matthew, he himself is Lord of the Sabbath.

He rested on that day in a tomb. Sunday morning, he comes back to life. Dawn of the first day of the week. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to the tomb and behold, there was a great earthquake. Now, why was it they were going to the tomb?

He's already dead. He's buried inside. The stone is rolled in its place. Well, they were there to anoint the body of Jesus. We know that from the other gospel accounts. Why would they have reason to do that when we know that Jesus had already had plenty of spices that had been placed with him?

In the gospel of John, it talks about how Nicodemus had even gone through a transformation from that conversation that he had with Jesus in John 3 to suddenly becoming a worshiper of Jesus and even bringing all these spices that were placed with him in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea where Jesus was buried.

So he had certainly been anointed already. Why were the women coming to do that again? Well, remember something that I mentioned to you last week, that when Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead in John chapter 11, he did this four days after Lazarus had died.

And when he came to the place where Lazarus had been buried, the people were like, why are you even bothering? By this point, his body stinketh. You roll away that tomb, his spirit is not even present with his body anymore.

That's really what they meant by that, by saying, by this point, his body is decayed. It stinks. The spirit is no longer with him. Because the belief of the people at that time was the spirit still kind of hung around with the body for three days.

Until the body was so decayed, there was absolutely no chance of resurrection anymore. That's what made the miracle of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead all the more incredible, that it happened four days after he had died, not just three.

But here, this is three days after Jesus had died and was buried in the tomb. And so the women were still of the understanding, still of that belief that was prevalent in the culture at that time, that the spirit of Jesus was still with his body.

And so they were going to anoint the body as an act of worship. Unto the Lord, believing his spirit was still there. So they come to the tomb on that Sunday morning. They would not have been able to do it on Saturday.

That was a Sabbath rest. And so they come as early as they could have come on Sunday. And when they get there, they find that the stone has been rolled back. Now, Matthew doesn't necessarily give us these events in a chronological order.

They're going to the tomb. When they get there, the guard is already gone. The tomb is open. It is empty. The angels appear to them and tell them exactly what it is that has taken place. But prior to this occurring, we know, according to what Matthew tells us, that an angel had descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.

His appearance was like lightning and his clothing white as snow. Now, the women were not there to see it, and Matthew was not there to see it either. But this account that he gives of the angel is exactly the way that Daniel describes an appearance of an angel when the angel Gabriel appeared to him.

So Matthew uses the same account of the angel's appearance to Daniel in the way that he writes his account here in Matthew chapter 28. And it's not like these things would have been mysterious to him anyway.

For based on what we have coming up here in verses 11 through 17, or I'm sorry, 11 through 15, we have an account from soldiers who saw this angel descend. Eventually, this story came out and was spread far and wide, and probably because one of these soldiers was quite a blabbermouth.

I mean, how can you keep to yourself that an angel of the Lord appeared to us? We saw a being come down from heaven who was white like lightning. And eventually, this story had spread among the Jews and had continued to be spoken about to this day, Matthew, in the day that he was writing this particular gospel.

So we have this broken up for us into three parts. We're reading the first part with the women coming to the tomb, and then you have another scene that takes place between the soldiers and the chief priests.

And then we finally have the scene with Jesus appearing to his disciples. So here, as the angel addresses the women, the angel says, "'Do not be afraid.'". Look at the contrast, and some of you noticed it when we were doing the reading at the beginning of the sermon.

The guards were terrified. They became like dead men. They passed out on the ground at the appearance of this angel. Like, there's a guard that is set up at the tomb there because, well, the Pharisees think that the disciples are going to try to rob the grave, take away the body of Jesus, and so they can perpetuate this myth that this savior of ours who said that he was going to rise from the dead, look, he did.

His tomb is empty. They think there's going to be some grave robbers that are going to come after him. And then all the people are going to go after this mythology surrounding Jesus. That's what the Pharisees are prepared for.

So they ask Pilate for a guard to be set at the tomb, and Pilate permits them to use some of those Roman soldiers. There are armed Roman soldiers there at the tomb of Jesus, and all of that guard is no match for one angel of heaven.

All he has to do is show up, and they become like dead men and pass out on the ground. And when they gather themselves, they flee. They run away. The women get there. The tomb is open. There's no one, not even a body inside.

And they are perplexed. They are even a bit terrified as to what possibly could have happened. But though the angel struck fear into the hearts of these armed soldiers, these strapping manly men, how does the angel address the women?

Gently. With love and with compassion. Verse 5, the angel said to the women, Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. Yes, indeed, he was dead. The angel saying, you seek Jesus who is crucified, is acknowledging to these women, you're right in what you saw.

He died. He died on the cross. There was simply no question that he was dead. There's all sorts of theories and myths from the skeptics floating around that Jesus just simply kind of passed out from all the pain and suffering on the cross.

They took his body down. They buried him in a tomb. And then there's this thing that you've probably heard called the swoon theory, where like the cool air of the tomb revived his body. And after a couple of days, he just kind of, oh boy, what a trip that was.

Let's get out of here. And somebody rolls back the stone from him, I suppose. And even after all the beating that he received and having a spear driven through his side, that wasn't enough to keep him down.

He's going to go on a seven mile hike over to Emmaus. That's the swoon theory for you. Anyway, that's not what happened. We know. We know that Jesus was dead, dead, dead. People saw him die on the cross.

I don't know if you've ever seen a body that is dead after a lot of pain and suffering. I have. And there's simply no question that that body is dead. Have you seen a person die with their eyes open? I have.

And you can see there is no life in that person anymore. The breath from them is gone. And this is minutes after the body has perished. You can tell the difference between who they were five minutes ago and who they are right now.

That body is devoid of spirit. Something has transformed. All of the chemical properties of the body are exactly the same as it was five minutes ago. But there's no life in it. Medical science can't explain it.

But you know when you see it, that body is dead. The women were there at the cross. They saw it. They saw Jesus beaten, carrying his cross, crucified, suffered, and died. They heard his words, Into your hands I commit my spirit.

It is finished. They heard him breathe his last and give his spirit up to the Father. They saw the spear driven into his side, which doesn't just merely poke the side. It goes up under the rib cage to the heart and water flow from the side of Jesus, demonstrating this body's dead.

The body of Christ is dead. They saw him taken down. They saw him wrapped. They saw him carried to a tomb, even his face covered and buried in this tomb. And the stone rolled in its place. They wept tears as they saw him placed in this tomb.

A seal put over the tomb and a guard placed there to ensure that his body would not be stolen. They were there. They saw it all. They knew he was dead. It made no logical sense that the tomb was empty.

And the angel acknowledges with them when they get there, you seek Jesus who was crucified. Yeah, he was dead. But come and see the place where he lay. He is not here for he is risen just as he said. Now, whenever I read these words straight out of Matthew chapter 28, he is not here for he is risen as he said, come see the place where he lay, then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead.

Whenever I read these words, there is always every single time a tune that is playing in my head when I read them. Because I was raised on Keith Green and he has this song about the bells ringing, Jesus Christ is risen from the dead, joy to the world, he is risen, hallelujah, he is risen.

I even hear the tune in my head as I'm quoting it for you here. So every time I read these words in Matthew 28, I hear Keith Green, for he took the words straight from scripture and put it in that song, rejoicing in the promises of God that were fulfilled in Christ who was crucified for our sins and rose again from the grave three days later, he is risen, hallelujah.

And behold, he is going before you to Galilee, there you will see him. This is part of the message that the women are supposed to share with the disciples. See that I have told you. The angel addresses these women with love and with care.

As God had instructed the angel to do. And our Lord deals with us the same way. This is the gospel message that is being proclaimed by an angel to these women. Jesus was crucified, but he is risen. And they being the first witnesses there at the tomb to see it are now to go and tell the disciples of Jesus of what they had seen and witnessed.

And my friends, the gospel came to us in the same way. There was likely some conviction that happened in your heart over your sin. And in that conviction, maybe even realizing I have sinned against God, what I deserve is death.

I deserve the judgment of God because of my sin. But how did God deal with you when your heart came to understand that? He dealt with you with grace and with love. To hear this good news, God gave his son to die for you so that you will not suffer the judgment for your sins that you deserve.

Christ took it for you. So by faith in Jesus, you have nothing to fear of even the grave itself. For Jesus has conquered death for you. And you know what you get? Even though you're a treasonous criminal against the kingdom of God, by faith in Jesus, you get the kingdom of God.

You become a fellow heir with Christ forever with him in his glory. This is the gentleness and the love and the mercy and the grace that God has shown us. And while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

The angel dealt so wonderfully and carefully with these women who loved the Lord their God. He wasn't so gentle with the soldiers, but he was loving with these women, just as our Lord is with us when we're convicted of our sin and we hear the good news of the gospel of Christ.

The angel gives them instructions, go tell the disciples that he has risen. So they departed quickly, verse eight, from the tomb with fear and great joy. I mean, we tend to think, we look at this story and we would be like, how would you be afraid of this?

Because we think we know better. I wouldn't respond in this way. I would be going away from there. Woo-hoo, he has risen from the dead. They're rather confused about everything that is going on. They just saw an angel.

They just saw an empty tomb. They saw the dead body of Jesus and now he's alive. Folks, that just doesn't happen. People don't witness that. You don't ever see that, but they're seeing it. And they're confused about all of this because they don't understand what it means.

The other gospels point us to that as well. They see that Jesus has risen from the dead, but what's the point of all this? We don't get it. It had not yet clicked with them, the prophecies that had been made about Jesus in the scriptures that he has now fulfilled in his death and in his resurrection.

In fact, as you go down, the disciples, when they go to the mountain in Galilee and they see him, they worship him, but they still doubt. And when you read in Luke 24, they continue to doubt all the way up to the Mount of Olives right before Jesus is about to ascend into heaven.

On that very day, 40 days after he had risen from the dead, they still don't get this. And then Jesus opens their minds to understand the scriptures. And there still was yet maybe even more confusion among them until the Holy Spirit came upon them on the day of Pentecost.

That would be a few days later. We know that all of their doubts were set aside and confidence in the message of this gospel had completely overwhelmed them by the time they go into Jerusalem and share this good news, which we read about in Acts 2.

And this in fulfillment of exactly what Jesus said to his disciples, don't be afraid about what you are to say, for my spirit will be given to you and you will know exactly what to say. With the spirit of God upon them from Pentecost on, they knew exactly what it was that they were proclaiming with absolute boldness and confidence that had been fulfilled in Christ according to the scriptures.

So still some confusion here as to what's going on. Great joy in their hearts that Jesus has risen from the dead, but still fear and trembling, seeing an angel, seeing an empty tomb, not knowing what these things mean.

So they go to the disciples with fear and with great joy and behold, Jesus met them, verse 9, and said, Greetings, and they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. Once again, demonstrating all the more the love of our Savior.

There was a messenger who came to them and told them the good news and then they met Christ himself. My friends, that's still exactly the same way with us. Someone, an evangelist, came to us and shared the good news of the gospel and then it's through the gospel, through the word of God, when we set our eyes to it, when our hearts are open to receive it, when our mind is transformed to behold the glory of God that has been written about in his word, we meet Jesus in the pages of scripture.

And even more than this, there is a day that we are promised where we will meet Jesus face to face. And the words that we will hear from our Savior will be these, Well done, my good and faithful servant, for great is your reward.

And even the hope and the promise of that day in those words fill us with comfort and confidence even now. Jesus says to them, do not be afraid. Just as the angel said to them, so Jesus says. Remember, we go back to the way that Jesus began his earthly ministry.

It started with a messenger, John the Baptist. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And then Jesus comes as the king that the crier was going before. And here the king comes and says the exact same words.

The king has come, so repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And so here the same way, a messenger goes before Jesus saying he is risen. And then Jesus himself shows up to them and says, here I am.

Do not be afraid, just as the angel had said. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me. The angel gave them the message first. Jesus comes and confirms it for them. Now that's the first section of this story that we're reading here in Matthew 28.

The Soldiers’ Report and the Pharisees’ Cover-Up

We jump into part two in verses 11 through 15. And we kind of leave the action a little bit of the stuff that's going on with Jesus' resurrection and the angel and the women and the disciples needing to know that Christ has risen again.

Who are we reading about now? Well, we're reading about those soldiers that had been stricken like dead men because of the angel that had appeared to them. They go and they go talk to the Pharisees, the chief priests, who had been given authority by Pilate to arrange this guard and set them up there at the tomb.

So some of the guard go into the city and they told the chief priests what had taken place. This wasn't really a Roman thing. It was kind of a Jewish thing. Why do you want us to guard the tomb of Jesus?

We don't know. But we were doing that and something happened. So they told the chief priests, who then assembled with the elders and took counsel. And they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers.

And they said to the soldiers, tell people, his disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep. Now consider just the hardness of heart of these Pharisees. This was good news for the women.

They had heard, they had seen for themselves that the body of Jesus was gone and an angel declaring to them he had risen. And then they saw the risen Savior for themselves, because it is only they who were worshipers of the Lord Christ who would see the risen Lord.

It was not going to be an appearance that Jesus was going to make to just anybody, but to those whom he had chosen. The Pharisees, the guard, they weren't going to be privy to this information. But even though they had seen what they had seen and a testimony had come to them, yet their hearts were hard against it.

Jesus had warned the Pharisees that there are many who are going to blaspheme God. They will even blaspheme the Son. But the one thing that the one sin that is unforgivable is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.

Because it is the testimony of the Holy Spirit himself that had come to them, and yet they would not accept it and say rather of Christ that a demon was in him. That was a sin that was simply unforgivable.

When you had seen exactly what you had seen, and yet you would attribute these things to Satan. Just how right was Jesus' assessment of their hearts when he would say something like that? Well, we see the confirmation of it here in Matthew 28.

A testimony had been given to these Pharisees. An angel came. The body is gone. And the Pharisees say, well, let's just tell people that you fell asleep and his disciples came and robbed the tomb. They did not want to believe in the supernatural working of God, the miracle that had been performed right before their very eyes.

So they, as enemies of God, continue to conspire against the declaration of the gospel. And we still have that going on even today. Peter even said in 2 Peter 3, scoffers will come in the last days with their scoffing.

And what did Peter say they would do? They would deliberately overlook the facts that Jesus was a real person, that he died on the cross, that he was buried in a tomb, and that he rose again from the grave.

My friends, these things are historical facts. There is more evidence to the resurrection of Christ than there is an even single shred of evidence to Darwinian evolution. And yet people will mock this testimony and believe in the thing that there has never been a single eyewitness to.

These are the scoffers who have come in the last days with their scoffing. They will mock the gospel and believe in myths and mumbo-jumbo and ridiculous mysticism, basically, which is all Darwinian evolution amounts to.

It is a religious belief that is false. What we believe here is truth. And it takes more than just believing that Jesus was a real person who died and was buried and rose again, but that your life would even be changed by it, that you would be convicted in heart of your sins, and that you would worship Christ as King who reigns above in glory.

All of these things essential to the salvation of the person. They don't just believe in historical facts on a page, but that they believe them with such conviction in heart that it changes the person's life.

That you're no longer the man or woman who walked in sin, who walked for yourself, but you are, as we had already quoted today from Galatians 2 .20, you are crucified with Christ. And it is no longer you who lives, but it is Christ who lives within you.

And the life you now live in your flesh, you live according to the Son of God, who died for you and demonstrated his love for you in this way and rose again from the dead. The Pharisees did not want to believe this.

They scoffed at it. They mocked at it. They wanted to lie to people and lead them astray. Exactly the false teachers that Jesus warned about in Matthew 7. Beware wolves who come to you in sheep's clothing.

They look like they should belong among you, but they come as ravenous wolves with dangerous lies that would lead you astray and to death to be devoured rather than to salvation in the Son of God. The guard, fooled by these very things that the Pharisees had said to them, they took the money and they did as they were directed.

But not everyone who was among the Pharisees was sympathetic to the cause of the Pharisees, the scribes, and the teachers of the law. Some of them were indeed being persuaded by the things that Jesus had taught and the miracles that had been performed before their very eyes.

One of them I've mentioned to you already, Nicodemus. So as he had heard about these things, eventually these stories start going around. The guard don't keep quiet. There are Pharisees who indeed were transformed by the message of the gospel of Christ.

And so this story has been spread among the Jews to this day, as Matthew says here in Matthew 28, 15. Now, it would not require somebody to squeal on the plot for Matthew to know this, for he is writing by the authority of the Holy Spirit.

But I tend to lean on the side of nobody really truly kept quiet over this whole thing. How can you keep quiet when you saw an angel of the Lord? One of these guards goes down to whatever would have been the Roman pub of that day, has a beer, and starts telling stories.

Eventually all of these things come to light. The scriptures say all that's hidden in darkness will eventually come to light. And indeed, that's what happened here. Any attempt that the enemy makes against the gospel of God will not succeed.

Consider these words that we read in Psalm 138. I give thanks to you, O Lord, with my whole heart. Before the gods I sing your praise. In other words, all those who think that they deserve praise, God alone is worthy of my praise.

So it is to the Lord that I sing my praises. I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness. For you have exalted above all things your name and your word.

On the day that I called, you answered me. My strength of soul you increased. All the kings of the earth shall give thanks to you, O Lord, for they have heard the words of your mouth. And they shall sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord.

For though the Lord is high, He regards the lowly, but the haughty He knows from afar. Like those who are lowly, who are humble in spirit, who come before the Lord, they are friends of God. But those who are proud, those who are boastful, those who reject the gospel message, those who think that they do not need God, I am good enough by the works that I do, they are the haughty and the Lord knows them from afar.

They are not friends of God. They do not have the ear of the Lord. They are far from Him. Verse 7 of Psalm 138, Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life. You stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me.

Those enemies of the gospel that exist even today, even governments here in the United States of America that are writing down people's license plate numbers because they went to a church gathering in their cars this morning, even they who are enemies of the gospel of Christ, God will stretch out His hand against them, and His right hand will deliver those who fear the Lord.

Verse 8, The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me. Your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands. God will overthrow His enemies, and He will deliver us by His might.

The Great Commission and Trusting Christ

Let's look at the last portion here of Matthew chapter 28, verses 16 through 20. And here's where we come to the linchpin of the words of Christ at the conclusion of this gospel. Now, the 11 disciples went to Galilee, of course, minus Judas who had hung himself.

They went to Galilee to the mountain that Jesus had directed them to go to. And when they saw Him, they worshiped Him, but some doubted. Now, whenever we talk about the great commission of Christ, we're usually quoting Matthew 28, verses 19 and 20.

Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son. But don't miss verse 18, and don't look past that this was being said as a response to their doubt.

We have doubt mentioned in verse 17, and how does Jesus respond to the fact that Matthew says, they worshiped Him, but some doubted. They still didn't understand these things and why these things had taken place the way that they had.

How does Jesus respond to this? Verse 18, Jesus came and said to them, all authority, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Jesus reigns over all. And so it's understanding this, we don't have any reason to doubt.

When we look to the authority of Christ, who is seated in heaven above and has all authority over things that are seen and things that are unseen, all things that are created from the farthest reaches of the universe to the very seat where you are sitting in today, everything that exists is under the authority of God.