To understand the Messiah (Christ, Anointed One) of the Bible one must understand the authority that is promised to him. Let’s examine a few passages that tell of his authority and assess our own beliefs in light of the Scriptures.

Psalm 2 is a psalm of the Messiah. It begins by saying, “Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, ‘Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.’” The word translated Anointed is the Hebrew word “masiah (מָשִׁיחַ)” and is how we can tell that this is a Messianc Psalm. What does God say of the Messiah? That he has set him as king (v.6), that he will put all the nations under his control (v.8), and that all rulers of the earth are to be subject to him (vv.10-11).

Psalm 110 is another Psalm about the Messiah. Jesus himself pointed this out in Luke 20:41-44 (see also our Luke Study). Jesus teaches us that David himself refers to the Messiah as Lord and asks the question: “David thus calls him Lord, so how is he his son?” Consider the words written: “The Lord says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand,
until I make your enemies your footstool.’ The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies(v.1-2)!” The Messiah is to rule over the entire world. In fact, God says to him that he is to sit at his right hand while God subdues his enemies for him. He rules even in the midst of his enemies; who are all who deny him and rebel against his rule.

And how is it that the Messiah can have such power? How is it that he rules over the earth, seated in Heaven, with all power and authority? Psalm 45 helps us to understand this. It reads, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness; you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness beyond your companions (v.6-7).” It is because the Messiah is addressed as God himself. The Messiah is addressed as God and his kingdom is declared to last forever. This is why God anoints (same Hebrew root as previously mentioned) God. It is the Father who anoints the Son (for further understanding read On the Trinity). This is why the Messiah has such power and authority to rule; it is because he himself is God.

The New Testament writers understood this clearly and it is evidenced in what they have reported and written. In Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus declared that all authority in heaven and earth have been given to him. He then commanded his disciples to go to the nations to make them obedient disciples; a mission the church still participates in to this day. The Apostle Paul made reference to the fact that Jesus is ruling now as the Father is subjecting all things under his feet (1 Cor 15:25; Eph 1:22). The author of Hebrews wrote, “But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet (10:12-13).”

The Apostle Peter also proclaimed in Acts 2:33–36:


The consistent witness and testimony of the Scriptures is clear: Christ is seated in Heaven and reigns over all things. There are none who are independent of his Kingdom. There are only those who rebel as his enemies (whom he still rules in the midst of) and those who bend the knee and declare Jesus Christ is Lord.

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