BEEKE QUOTE

Joel Beeke writes in an excerpt from "A Salutation from the Throne of Heaven"; If Christ is unchangeable as the Son of God, we may submit our lives to Him (Job 23:13–14), set our hopes on His promises (Ps. 33:11), and commit our plans to Him (Prov. 19:21), while expecting eternal blessings from Him (Heb. 6:17–18), believing that He will always work for our good (James 1:16–18). How futile, then, it is to challenge Him, His Word, His people, or Christianity itself (1 Sam. 15:29; Num. 23:19; Heb. 1:10–12, 2:1) when we may live by the immutability of the Lord who is and was and is to come. Christ is also almighty and omnipotent over history. In our English Bible, Christ describes Himself as “the Almighty” by using the Greek word pantokrator, meaning “ruler of all” and in the Old Testament by using El Shaddai—“God Almighty.” As El Shaddai and Pantokrator, Christ wields the very might of God to bring all things into subjection to Himself as God’s anointed king and “governor among the nations” (Ps. 22:28). Christ is Lord and Master of history, never its slave or pawn. Whatever powers oppose Him, Christ will prevail. This claim is central to Revelation. Though the power of Christ is contested, He masters all the powers of creation, puts His enemies to flight, conquers the world, establishes His kingdom, condemns the wicked, and brings His loved ones safely home to God.