Jesus Christ the Lord of lords

Numbers 36:1-2 (ESV)
The heads of the fathers' houses of the clan of the people of Gilead the son of Machir, son of Manasseh, from the clans of the people of Joseph, came near and spoke before Moses and before the chiefs, the heads of the fathers' houses of the people of Israel. [2] They said, "The LORD commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the people of Israel, and my lord was commanded by the LORD to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters.

Came near and spoke before Moses and before the chiefs. The leaders of the clan of Gilead, from the half-tribe of Manasseh came to the leaders of the tribes of Israel and before Moses, to speak their concerns about the welfare of their sisters, and of their tribe. They bring their matter before the leaders of Israel. This was of course the government of Israel at the time. The leaders of the Gileadites were going to the parliament, expressing their concerns to Moses the Prime Minister and to the chiefs of the tribes who were as other ministers. Israel was a theocracy, and therefore God was their King, the Lawgiver and their Judge. This was God's people.

Likewise, any matter or concern that we have, we bring it to our parliament of the Kingdom of God. What is different is, we can make our petitions to God directly through Jesus Christ our Lord. The whole government of the Kingdom of God is laid upon His shoulders:
Isaiah 9:6 (ESV)
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
We don't need to go through a leader, who will go and speak to God, come back and tell us God's directions. We can hear God's directions straight from His Spirit through His word. When we have any petitions and questions we may have, let us not be afraid to go our Parliament, which is Christ, and request God directly. This is the privilege we have in Jesus Christ as children of God.

That is not to say that we ignore the leaders of the Church. We must address difficult issues and concerns to the pastors, elders, deacons or other leaders of the Church. They can give wise counsel and a public decision that can settle any controversy, confusion or scandal that can corrupt the entire church. This happened when Paul and Barnabas addressed to the Apostles and the elders of the time of the problem of circumcision. The apostles then discussed the matter thoroughly with one another, and based on the revelation given by God to them through the Holy Spirit, backed by scripture, they provided the solution to all the people of the Church:
Acts 15:22-29 (ESV)
Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers, [23] with the following letter: "The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings. [24] Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, [25] it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, [26] men who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. [27] We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. [28] For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: [29] that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell."
We also need leaders like the apostles who can make sound judgments based on scripture, in keeping with the Holy Spirit. When it comes to petitions or problems which addresses the whole of the Church, we can't simply leave it to personal prayer. Anointed leaders must get together, debate, intercede and seek scripture and come to a public decision, that we may all able to speak one thing. By addressing the Church of special issues or concerns, we are not only left to one witness, but by an agreement many witnesses, decisions are not left to our own biased and personal opinion. By this we are also kept free from error and pride. By addressing our concerns to the Church, we are not deciding things selfishly for ourselves, but only after godly consensus, we are willing to move forward.

Addressing Church leaders of the problem also stops any unnecessary arguments between the members of the Church. Imagine if Paul and Barnabas only kept fighting those of the circumcision without addressing the apostles and elders. It would only become a personal fight for Paul an Barnabas. But for Paul and Barnabas it was not about winning some fight. They only wanted to tell the truth. Their cause was for Jesus Christ, and not for their own glory. They wanted to see Jesus glorified, and were fighting His glory being diminished. They went to Jerusalem to put an end to the fight. Thus we must also put an end to personal bickering, and address any conflicts to the leaders, lest the fight simply becomes personal.

And thus we commend the Gileadites for coming to the leaders to ask for this matter to be settled. They were not willing to settle this matter by themselves. They were not going to build some rule by themselves saying that the daughters of Zelophehad can only marry from within their tribe. They were not willing to fight with people from other tribes after their sisters had their inheritances lost. They wanted to avoid conflict. They were not about picking personal fights, but they were asking this matter for the love of their sisters, for the love of their own tribe, and for the love of God's word fulfilled in the inheritance being distributed fairly between all the brethren. It can be discerned from the way they courteously handled the matter, that they truly feared God and loved God's commandments.

The LORD commanded my lord. They address Moses as 'lord'. By this time, the respect for Moses had grown exceedingly. Not only by age was Moses the elder of elders, but as this second generation had looked back at the achievements and the works of Moses, they cannot but give respect to this great man of God. And indeed, there would be no greater prophet to arise from Israel until Jesus Christ the Lord of Lords. Moses was quite disrespected by the first generation, but is now very much admired in this second. Moses was perhaps at this time the one of the only surviving members of the first generation, as they were all commanded to die by God's decree in the wilderness. Miriam had died and Aaron had died, and only Moses remained. It is no wonder that they gave such respect to this great man. If people called Moses 'lord', because of his antiquity, because of his close relationship to God, because of His great works and because of his faithfulness, how much must we call Jesus Christ Lord? Jesus Christ is the Lord of Lords. Jesus Christ is not only a lord, but He is God the LORD Himself. He is God, the Ancient of Days, who came in human flesh. How much must we give respect to this King, who is the ruler of all, and who is the great I AM who was before all things. Moses was a murderer, a mere shepherd, who was chosen by God by grace to do great things. We don't owe him any worship. We must only worship Jesus Christ, the Lord of Lords, and declare that His name is Name above all Names, and respect Him as the most important person in all of universe, giving Him equal adoration and honor as we give God.

My lord was commanded. We see here why it was that Moses was so honored and respected. Firstly, God spoke to this man directly, and the word of God came forth from him. As God explained to Miriam and Aaron, when they tried to attack the authority of Moses, God spoke not to Moses in visions and dreams, and in riddles, but directly, as a man speaks to his friend. Thus Moses was to be honored as a lord, for the word of God came to him directly, by God's grace. But Jesus Christ is worth more honor than Moses because not only did the word of God come through Him, He is God's Word Himself. Christ is the Word of God made flesh. God Himself was made into flesh and came to the world as the Message of God's love to the world. How much more must we honor this Son of God, the Word, whom God has sanctified and sent into the world?:
John 10:34-36 (ESV)
Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your Law, ''I said, you are gods''? [35] If he called them gods to whom the word of God came-and Scripture cannot be broken- [36] do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ''You are blaspheming,'' because I said, ''I am the Son of God''?

Another reason why Moses was so highly esteemed was because he obeyed the commandments of God. God told him, and Moses did. However, he was not perfect. He failed when he disobeyed God and struck the rock two times instead of speaking to it, that water may flow out. However it can be assumed that this was God's will, to show that Moses, though a servant faithful in all God's house, was not God. He was just a man, being imperfect. However, beside this only fault, how can we fault this great man of God? What makes a great man of God? Obedience. Obedience is the fruit of faith. Moses was a man of faith, and thus, he obeyed almost all of God's commandments, by God's grace. Let us also aspire to be people of faith, that by believing in the commandments of God, we may be able to obey all of his commandments. We don't do this to be saved, but we do this apart from our salvation. We know that whether we obey God's commandments or not will not add to the state of our salvation. But, we obey God's commandments simply because God commanded it. And if God commanded, because we love Him, and we believe that He is most glorious and most wise, we obey. We obey expecting nothing for it in return, simply because we love God unconditionally.

If Moses was so honoured for obeying His commandments, must we not honor Jesus Christ, who perfectly kept all of God's commandments in all points, even when God told Him to bear the wrath against our sins?:
Philippians 2:8 (ESV)
And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Jesus Christ was the only Person that perfectly reflected the glory of the only God. He always did those things that were pleasing to God, perfectly mirroring the character of God without any faults:
John 8:29 (ESV)
And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him."
John 5:19 (ESV)
So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.
Indeed Bible calls Jesus THE image of God. Jesus Christ is the complete visible Glory of the invisible God:
Colossians 1:15,19 (ESV)
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. [19] For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
Must we not then honor Jesus Christ who not only kept God's commandments perfectly, but who is the very image of God, who always does those things that are pleasing and who follows what God does with 100% synchronization, as a perfect mirror image? We must fall down and worship Him who is God, and is one with God the Father.

If we have thus seen that Jesus is far more superior than all lords, even far above Moses, we ought to forsake the worship of corruptible men. We are to give human leaders honour, but compared to Christ, their works must to our eyes look like filthy rags before us. Our honor for them must look like hatred compared to the honor that we give to Jesus Christ. God Himself honors the Son above everyone because of who He is and for what He has done on the Cross:
Ephesians 1:20-21 (ESV)
that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, [21] 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.
John 10:17 (ESV)
For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.

In one sense, everything that God sees in the universe looks worthless to Him because He always compares everything and everyone with His Son. God is always seeing everything with His Son. In fact, anything that is highly esteemed by men is an abomination to God, because whatever it may be, it is nothing compared to Jesus Christ:
Luke 16:15 (ESV)
For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.
In fact, God considers nations and everyone in them as nothing, and less than nothing, because He always compares them to Christ's perfections:
Isaiah 40:15-17 (ESV)
Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as the dust on the scales; behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust. [16] Lebanon would not suffice for fuel, nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering. [17] All the nations are as nothing before him, they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.
See what God is saying in the above passage. God has a "scale" in front of Him. He has the WORLD on one side of the scale, and what is on the other side? Jesus Christ. The whole world is like worthless dirt to God, when weighed with Christ. They are like air and less than air to Him. God takes no notice of them. They are NOT as valuable to Him as His Son. But how amazing is the love of God, that God threw away His precious Treasure, His Son, that He may not destroy us? We ought to be thankful to our God forever.

So then, if the nations are nothing to God, and Christ is everything to the Father, should we not also count everything as nothing, and consider Christ as our everything? If God, who has infinitely perfect standards is so unsatisfactory with the world, but is so satisfied only with His Son, who are we to be satisfied with anything less than Jesus Christ? Why are we worshipping men, who are worth nothing but the breath that is in them?:
Isaiah 2:22 (ESV)
Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?

Let us give infinite value to Jesus Christ, who is God's only Beloved. God only loves us because He loves Jesus Christ. God loved us and gave His Son for us, not because He loved us more than Christ. But God desired to give His Son a Wife, the Church, who would praise Him and love Him forever for redemption. Why do we always make the Gospel about US? It is truly an abomination to God. It was ALL for the Son, for His glory, for His Name's fame. When Christ was at Gethsamane, the Father gave His Son no other option but to die, because He loved the Son, and wanted to give His Son what was best for Him. The Son knew this, and desired that the Father's will be done. And because Christ believed that the Cross was the best thing the Father had for Him, He willingly drank of the cup. And because of this, Christ was raised to be the Name above all names. And for an eternity we will praise Him for what He did. It was all so that the Son may get the glory. Let us praise Jesus Christ, and not any other. As John commanded, let us keep ourselves from idols:
Revelation 7:9-10 (ESV)
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, [10] and crying out with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"