A conquering king overtakes enemy territory by exerting the strength of his will upon the other. Christ’s conquest is much the same. The advance of His kingdom is both global and personal.
He has sent forth His Gospel into all the world, and as His disciples we are commissioned to invite all people everywhere to be baptized in the Triune name and to obey all He’s commanded. Across the world there are strongholds of Christ’s kingdom. There are also areas that are still held under the thumb of pagan darkness, but His kingdom will stretch from shore to shore, of that we are sure.
But Christ also is conquering you. He does this by working from both directions. He works from the outside in and the inside out. The seed of the Living Word is planted inside you, but that takes place because a preacher speaks words that go in your ears. The minister sprinkles water upon your brow in the Triune name, but this is a promise of something internal, where the Spirit takes away your stony heart and places a living heart within you.
The Lord’s Supper also reminds us that Christ’s kingdom is advancing throughout the whole world, and that includes the hidden corners of your inner life. It is no accident of the sign before us that it is invasive. It’s both a sign of Christ’s conquest of this world, and it’s the means whereby He conquers. Not with carnal weapons, but by a loaf of bread and a cup of wine He shapes you into someone who lives not like an enemy, nor even a citizen, but as a brother and sister of the King. The Christian life is nothing other than the life of Jesus invading and permeating your whole life and transforming you from both the outside in and the inside out.
So, come in faith and welcome to Jesus Christ…
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