110. Jesus Christ is Lord of the world and Lord of history because everything was made for his sake.

Jesus Christ is Lord of the world and Lord of history because everything was made for his sake.

YOUCAT Catechism + Catechism of the Catholic Church Lesson 110

Ave Maria series

110  Why is Jesus Christ the Lord of the whole world?

Jesus Christ is Lord of the world and Lord of history because everything was made for his sake.  All men were redeemed by him and will be judged by him.  [668-674, 680]

Christ by Titan in the Prado Museum, Madrid.

Christ the King is a title of Jesus based on several passages of Scripture. It is used by most Christians including Catholics, Anglicans, Presbyterians, Lutherans and Methodists. ..…110

He is over us, and the only One to whom we bend the knee in worship; he is with us as Head of his Church, in which the kingdom of God begins even now; he is ahead of us as Lord of history, in whom the powers of darkness are definitively overcome and the destinies of the world are brought to perfection according to God’s plan; he comes to meet us in glory, on a day we do not know, to renew and perfect the world.  We can experience his nearness especially in God’s Word, in the reception of the sacraments, in caring for the poor, and whenever “two or three are gathered in my name” (see Matthew 18:20).  157,163

In him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.  Colossians 1:16

[668-674, 680]

"FROM THENCE HE WILL COME AGAIN TO JUDGE THE LIVING AND THE DEAD"

HE WILL COME AGAIN IN GLORY

Christ already reigns through the Church. . .

668 "Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living."( Romans 14:9.)⁵⁴⁹ Christ's Ascension into heaven signifies his participation, in his humanity, in God's power and authority. Jesus Christ is Lord: he possesses all power in heaven and on earth. He is "far above all rule and authority and power and dominion", for the Father "has put all things under his feet."(Ephesians 1:20-22.)⁵⁵⁰ Christ is Lord of the cosmos and of history. In him human history and indeed all creation are "set forth" and transcendently fulfilled.(Ephesians 1:10; compare Eph 4:10; 1 Corinthians 15:24,27-28.)⁵⁵¹ –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

669 As Lord, Christ is also head of the Church, which is his Body.( Compare Ephesians 1:22.)⁵⁵² Taken up to heaven and glorified after he had thus fully accomplished his mission, Christ dwells on earth in his Church. The redemption is the source of the authority that Christ, by virtue of the Holy Spirit, exercises over the Church. "The kingdom of Christ [is] already present in mystery", "on earth, the seed and the beginning of the kingdom".(Lumen Gentium 3;LG 5; compare Ephesians 4:11-13.)⁵⁵³ –CCC

670 Since the Ascension God's plan has entered into its fulfillment. We are already at "the last hour".(1 John 2:18; compare 1 Peter 4:7.)⁵⁵⁴ "Already the final age of the world is with us, and the renewal of the world is irrevocably under way; it is even now anticipated in a certain real way, for the Church on earth is endowed already with a sanctity that is real but imperfect."( Lumen Gentium 48 § 3; compare 1 Corinthians 10:11.)⁵⁵⁵ Christ's kingdom already manifests its presence through the miraculous signs that attend its proclamation by the Church.( Compare Mark 16:17-18,20.)⁵⁵⁶ –CCC

. . .until all things are subjected to him

671 Though already present in his Church, Christ's reign is nevertheless yet to be fulfilled "with power and great glory" by the King's return to earth.(Luke 21:27; compare Matthew 25:31.)⁵⁵⁷ This reign is still under attack by the evil powers, even though they have been defeated definitively by Christ's Passover.( Compare 2 Thessalonians 2:7.)⁵⁵⁸ Until everything is subject to him, "until there be realized new heavens and a new earth in which justice dwells, the pilgrim Church, in her sacraments and institutions, which belong to this present age, carries the mark of this world which will pass, and she herself takes her place among the creatures which groan and travail yet and await the revelation of the sons of God."( Lumen Gentium 48 § 3; compare 2 Peter 3:13; Romans 8:19-22; 1 Corinthians15:28.)⁵⁵⁹ That is why Christians pray, above all in the Eucharist, to hasten Christ's return by saying to him(Compare 1 Corinthians 11:26; 2 Peter 3:11-12.)⁵⁶⁰ Marana tha! "Our Lord, come!"(1 Corinthians 16:22; Revelation 22:17,20.)⁵⁶¹ –CCC

672 Before his Ascension Christ affirmed that the hour had not yet come for the glorious establishment of the messianic kingdom awaited by Israel(Compare Acts of the Apostles 1:6-7.)⁵⁶² which, according to the prophets, was to bring all men the definitive order of justice, love and peace.( Compare Isaiah 11:1-9.)⁵⁶³ According to the Lord, the present time is the time of the Spirit and of witness, but also a time still marked by "distress" and the trial of evil which does not spare the Church(Compare Acts 1:8; 1 Corinthians 7:26; Ephesians 5:16; 1 Peter 4:17.)⁵⁶⁴ and ushers in the struggles of the last days. It is a time of waiting and watching.( Compare Matthew 25:1, 13; Mark 13:33-37; 1 John 2:18; 1 John 4:3; 1 Timothy 4:1.)⁵⁶⁵ –CCC

The glorious advent of Christ, the hope of Israel

673 Since the Ascension Christ's coming in glory has been imminent,( Compare Revelation 22:20.)⁵⁶⁶ even though "it is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority."( Acts 1:7; Compare Mark 13:32.)⁵⁶⁷. This eschatological coming could be accomplished at any moment, even if both it and the final trial that will precede it are "delayed".(Compare Matthew 24:44; 1 Thessalonians 5:2; 2 Thessalonians 2:3-12.)⁵⁶⁸ –CCC

674 The glorious Messiah's coming is suspended at every moment of history until his recognition by "all Israel", for "a hardening has come upon part of Israel" in their "unbelief" toward Jesus.( Romans 11:20-26; compare Matthew 23:39.)⁵⁶⁹ St. Peter says to the Jews of Jerusalem after Pentecost: "Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for establishing all that God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old."(Acts of the Apostles 3:19-21.)⁵⁷⁰ St. Paul echoes him: "For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?"(Romans 11:15.)⁵⁷¹ The "full inclusion" of the Jews in the Messiah's salvation, in the wake of "the full number of the Gentiles",(Romans 11:12, 25; compare Luke 21:24.)⁵⁷² will enable the People of God to achieve "the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ", in which "God may be all in all".(Ephesians 4:13; 1 Corinthians 15:28.)⁵⁷³ –CCC

IN BRIEF

680 Christ the Lord already reigns through the Church, but all the things of this world are not yet subjected to him. The triumph of Christ's kingdom will not come about without one last assault by the powers of evil. --CCC