just as He is the Head of the church (v. 18).

b) He is the Upholder of All Things:

Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:3. The universe is neither self-sustaining nor
is it forsaken by God (Deism). Christ's power causes all things
to hold together. The pulses of universal life are regulated and
controlled by the throbbings of the mighty heart of Christ.

c) He Has the Right to Forgive Sins.

Mark 2:5-10. Luke 7:48--"And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven."
Certain it is that the Pharisees recognized that Christ was here
assuming a divine prerogative. No mere man had any right to forgive
sins. God alone could do that. Hence the Pharisees' charge of
blasphemy. This is no declaration of forgiveness, based upon the
knowledge of the man's penitence. Christ does not merely _declare_
sins forgiven. He _actually_ forgives them. Further, Jesus, in
the parable of the Two Debtors (Luke 7), declares that sins were
committed against Himself (cf. Psa. 51:4--"Against thee, thee only,
have I sinned").

d) The Raising of the Bodies of Men is Ascribed to Him:

John 6:39, 40, 54; 11:25. Five times it is here declared by Jesus
that it is His prerogative to raise the dead. It is true that others
raised the dead, but under what different conditions? They worked
by a delegated power (Acts 9:34); but Christ, by His own power (John
10:17, 18). Note the agony of Elisha and others, as compared with
the calmness of Christ. None of these claimed to raise the dead by