I’ve been wrestling lately with a major life decision: Should I go with Alexa or Google for my smart home speaker? I want the most knowledgeable assistant sitting on my kitchen counter so I can ask it to play music, set timers, and tell me a joke. I’ve spent way too much time scouring the internet and trying to decide which system is best. 

My quest for the smartest smart speaker is pretty silly and trivial. But we see in Job 38-39 that when it comes to what’s truly important in life, there is One who knows more than our human minds or any computer can fathom. I’ve always thought of this familiar passage as God’s somewhat-snarky way of putting Job in his place: “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding” (Job 38:4). 

However, as we read these two chapters, we see a mind-blowing description of God’s knowledge of and rule over all of creation. I’d encourage you to grab your Bible and read Job 38-39. Here are a few highlights: 

– God determined the measurements of the earth, and the morning stars sang as He created it. (Job 38:5-7)

– God commands each and every morning. (Job 38:12)

– Each lightning bolt answers to Him as He directs them where to go. (Job 38:22-38)

– God provides food for each animal He has made. (Job 38:35)

– When a mountain goat or a deer gives birth, God knows it. (Job 39:1-4)

– God gives the seas their limits, rules over the weather, created the animals with their instincts, and puts the stars in their places. 

He is God, and you are not—this truth is both humbling and deeply comforting. The God who knows every time a mountain goat gives birth is the One who cares for you. Who sent His Son to die for you. Who made you His child and works all things together for your good. 

No matter what you face this week, you can trust the powerful, all-knowing God. 

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I have a confession to make: I love to tell people what to do. I’m a bossy person, and this character flaw revealed itself early in my childhood. My siblings often told me, “You’re not the boss of me!” Our poor brother had two older sisters telling him what to do, and one day, he snapped, “I don’t need three mommies!” 

It’s a natural human tendency to wonder who’s in charge. Some of us also have the strong desire to be the one in charge; others are looking for someone to follow. But we all understand that someone needs to be the boss. 

For the last few weeks, we’ve been looking at reasons Jesus came. There are countless other aspects of who He is, many of which we won’t know until we see Him face to face. We’ve seen how He is our Redeemer, our Reconciler, and our Righteous Advocate. Scripture also tells us that Jesus Christ is our Reigning King. 

“Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9–11) 

God the Father has highly exalted the risen Son. His name is above every name, proving there is no one greater. Ephesians 1:21 tells us that God has seated Him “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.” Paul pulls out every extreme phrase he can find, but the human language can’t adequately describe the supremacy of Christ’s reign. 

At Christ’s first coming, only a few knelt in worship—a handful of shepherds and a some traveling kings. The angels sang His praise, but much of the world was silent. As word spread about His birth, the reigning king of His time sought to kill the infant Messiah.  

But at His second coming, every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. God will be glorified as all creation sees what we know is true today: Jesus reigns. 

No matter what you face this week, your Savior is also your Reigning King.

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In an episode from the first season of The West Wing, White House Deputy Communications Director Sam Seaborn is on his way out of the office for a weekend away when he runs back to his desk to answer one last phone call. It’s an old high school acquaintance, now a defense attorney, calling to plead the case of a federal death row inmate seeking a stay of execution. 

The defense attorney needs someone with the ear of the President, so he calls Sam. The condemned man doesn’t just need an advocate, he needs an advocate with power and influence to present persuasive arguments to the one man who can grant a reprieve. 

We need an advocate, too. We are condemned by our sin, and the punishment we deserve is death (Romans 6:23). But the Lamb of God who was the redeeming sacrifice for us and reconciled us to God is now seated at the right hand of the Father. What is He doing as He sits there? He’s advocating for us.  

“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” (1 John 2:1)

Jesus has the evidence needed for our forgiveness. John describes our advocate as “Jesus Christ the righteous.” Jesus is not only our redeeming sacrifice, He covers us with His righteousness. He advocates for us to the Father based on the perfect life He lived for us, not any good that we have done. 

Jesus has the ear of the Father. Romans 8:34 tells us that Jesus Christ is at the right hand of the Father, interceding for us. The Father has given the Son the exalted place at His right hand, and we benefit from it. We have a Savior who has the ear of the Creator and Judge, saying, “She’s mine. She’s covered.”

Because of our righteous advocate, “when we enter into the presence of God, we go not to hear his justice prosecute us but to hear his love plead for us” (William Barclay, The Letter to the Hebrews, p. 19). 

No matter what you face this week, Jesus Christ is your Righteous Advocate. 

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I got my first credit card when I was in college. It was meant for emergencies only, but I became very relaxed with my definition of “emergency.” (Is being out to dinner with friends an emergency? What about not having something to wear to a special occasion?) 

By the time I graduated, I racked up more than $1000 in credit card debt and had no way to pay it. The debt weighed on me—I felt the burden of it every day. Finally, I had to tell my fiancé that he was marrying into this debt. He was gracious about it, and we used wedding gifts to pay it off. But I regretted starting married life with barely a clean financial slate and nothing positive to offer our financial situation.  

Here’s what I love about the redeeming sacrifice Christ made for us: He didn’t just wipe the slate clean and leave us to prove ourselves to God on our own. He could have forgiven our debt, put us back at zero, and then let us earn our way into God’s favor. But that’s not what He did. 

In His life, death, and resurrection, Jesus Christ did all that was necessary to fully reconcile us to God: 

“For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” (Colossians 1:19–20)

We have peace with God because of the blood Christ shed on the cross. This is why the baby was born in the stable—to fix the devastation our sin caused in our relationship with God. These verses tell us that His redeeming sacrifice had the power to reconcile all things on earth or in heaven. 

Because the fullness of God dwelled in Him, Jesus Christ has the power to reconcile you to God. You don’t need to worry about getting yourself on God’s positive side with your good works.   Christ’s work has perfectly ushered you into a reconciled relationship with your Heavenly Father. 

No matter what you face this week, Jesus Christ has fully reconciled you to God. 

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