Held by Sovereign Grace

It was a moment seared into memory. A young pastor sat before an ordination council, facing hours of theological questioning. Among the voices, one stood out a respected mentor who, after praising the clarity of his statement of faith, leaned in with a pointed exhortation: “Don’t neglect the lordship of Jesus Christ.”

That simple charge reverberates beyond any single ordination. It reaches into the heart of every believer’s faith. In an age where Jesus is often spoken of in terms of tenderness and empathy as friend, brother, companion the church must be careful not to lose sight of another truth just as vital: Jesus is Lord.

The gentle and lowly Christ is the same Christ who commands the universe.

Holding Humanity and Divinity Together

We rightly treasure the human side of Jesus. He is not distant or disinterested. He wept with the grieving. He touched the unclean. He welcomed children. He is the Lamb who sympathizes with our weaknesses and never casts out the repentant. Scripture overflows with this side of Jesus and for good reason.

But could our focus on his humanity sometimes eclipse his divinity?

Christ’s deity is not merely an accessory to his character. It is the very ground upon which his promises stand. The comfort he offers is not that of a fellow struggler who understands us, but of the sovereign King who both understands and upholds us.

Jesus was not created at the incarnation. Long before Bethlehem, he was the eternal Word by whom all things were made (John 1:1–3). Colossians 1:16–17 proclaims that all creation every mountain, molecule, and monarch exists through him and for him. Right now, Christ holds everything together.

He is “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15) the one who reveals the Father perfectly. “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father,” Jesus said (John 14:9). He did not come as a shadow of deity, but as God in flesh.

And that is the marvel: The one who spun galaxies with a word is the same one who walks beside you in suffering.

A Lord Who Loves

It is a paradox we often celebrate but rarely contemplate deeply: Christ is both sovereign Lord and gentle friend. Our minds strain to hold these truths together. He rides upon the clouds, clothed in majesty, yet he stoops to wash feet.

Revelation 19 paints a fearsome picture of the returning Christ a warrior on a white horse, with eyes like flames and a robe dipped in blood. His title? “King of kings and Lord of lords.” And yet, this same King says gently, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

This is no contradiction. His power makes his invitation all the more beautiful. It means his comfort is not wishful thinking it is backed by authority. He doesn't merely sympathize; he saves. He doesn't just understand our grief; he defeats death.

The Missing Emphasis

Over the past decade, Christian literature has beautifully reemphasized Jesus’s kindness, patience, and approachability. Books like Gentle and Lowly have reminded many weary saints that Christ does not recoil from their weakness.

But in recovering that precious truth, we must not let another slip. The power of Christ’s comfort is rooted in the fact that he is not merely with us he is above all. His gentleness is not born of fragility, but of omnipotence harnessed in love.

If Jesus were only human, he could grieve with us but not raise us. He could empathize with our sin but not atone for it. He could comfort us in sorrow but not redeem our pain. His lordship is not a theological luxury it’s our only hope.

Where True Comfort Comes From

The sovereignty of Christ transforms our suffering. The same hands that were pierced by nails now hold the universe and us. His divinity guarantees that every promise he makes is unbreakable. When he says he will never leave us or forsake us, he says it not as a well-meaning companion, but as the Lord of heaven and earth.

When cancer cells multiply, or when loss visits our home, or when depression clouds our mind, it is not enough to know that Jesus understands. We need to know he rules. We need to know he holds every moment in his sovereign hands.

A 2023 Lifeway study found that 78% of churchgoers agree that “Jesus is fully God and fully human.” Yet many still lean into one side more than the other in daily life. This imbalance can dull our worship and drain our hope.

The solution isn’t to downplay Jesus’s kindness it’s to see that his kindness flows from his divine strength. He is the God-man. He is our sympathetic High Priest and the Almighty King. His mercy is not a soft spot; it is a deliberate, divine choice made possible by his power.

Resting in His Sovereign Arms

Each day, we need to be reminded of who Jesus truly is. Not just the one who weeps with us, but the one who reigns over all. Not just the man of sorrows, but the risen Lord who holds the keys to death and Hades.

So we rest not in vague hope, but in sovereign comfort. We are held by the one who spoke galaxies into being and who now says to every burdened heart, “Come to me.”

Come and rest in the arms of Jesus. He is gentle, yes. But those arms are not weak. They are sovereign.

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