But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.
(Philippians 3:20-21 NLT)
So much could be said about these few sentences from the Bible, but the last phrase caught my attention: “He will bring everything under his control.” Jesus will bring everything under his control. I hope after a couple minutes of reflection, this thought will reorient and refresh you today.
The Bible says here that Jesus will bring everything under his control—future tense. This verse is talking about when Jesus returns to earth. That hasn’t happened yet. But when it does, everything will be under Jesus’ control, subjected to him.
If in the end everything will come under Jesus’ control, then surely one could argue that he has power over all things now.
Jesus’ Power Over All Things
I looked back at the verse. “He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own.” Wow! Jesus will glorify our bodies. Nebulous as that sounds, think of our imperfect, weak, tired, hungry, hurting bodies transformed into bodies resembling Christ in their perfection, without sin, and without pain (Revelation 21:4). What power would that require?
An earthly doctor has no power over cancer, cysts, kidney failure, brain aneurisms, or the like, and exerts time, effort, and energy, into fighting against such things. But Scripture says Jesus will change our weak bodies into glorious ones in the twinkling of an eye (1 Corinthians 15:52). What kind of might would be needed to take the human body as it is and raise it into an eternal one? That’s some incredible power.
With that same power, Jesus will bring everything under his control.
The Bible teaches us that Jesus has authority over the human heart (Proverbs 21:1), over the human spirit (Ezekiel 36:26), over world events (Daniel 2:21), over Satan (Job 1:12), over creation (Matthew 8:27), over the universe (Hebrews 1:3), over death (Acts 2:24), and the list could continue.
Jesus has authority over all things, the Bible says, not just later but also now—do you believe this?
Again, Philippians 3:20-21 says a lot of things, but I came away from it with this one truth echoing in my mind: Jesus controls everything.
Who Is This Jesus Who Controls All Things?
That could at first be a scary thought—that one person would have total control. Who is this person, we wonder, and what are they like? How will they exercise their power?
Look back at the verse. How is Jesus described? He’s not merely a person. He is our “Lord,” which would mean the one in charge and in control. But notice it also describes Jesus as “our Savior,” the one who used his power in an act of self-giving love to save us.
Long ago, Jesus laid aside his privileges as God, became a man, and humbled himself to the point of suffering an excruciating death as our substitute. In love, he gave us his own life, so that we might be saved from our sins and the wrath of God and brought into a reconciled relationship with God (John 3:16; 1 Peter 3:18).
This Jesus, the one who used his power to draw near to you, who restrained his power to submit to death on a cross for you, who demonstrated his power in rising from the dead so he might give you new life—this same Jesus is the one who controls all things.
What Do You Need to Entrust to Jesus’ Control Today?
Philippians 4:21 says that one day Jesus will bring everything under his control—every power, every circumstance, every person. What in your life is out of your control right now? What thing or person or circumstance are you afraid lies outside of Jesus’ control?
If Jesus has the power to bring everything under his control on the day he returns, surely, everything lies in his power now. What do you need to entrust to Jesus’ power today?