The Great Sovereign of All

Today is the festival of our great emperor, and we his children rejoice in it, feeling the inspiration of our sacred theme. The one who presides over our celebration is the Great Sovereign himself; I mean the one who is truly great. Of him I declare (and the sovereign who hears me will not take offense, but will rather approve of this praise given to God) that he is above and beyond all created things, the Highest, the Greatest, the Most Mighty One, whose throne is the arch of heaven, and the earth the footstool of his feet. No one can worthily grasp his being, and the indescribable splendor of the glory that surrounds him turns back the gaze of every eye from his divine majesty. [a] His servants are the hosts of heaven; his armies are the powers on high, who acknowledge him as their Master, Lord, and King. The countless multitudes of angels, the companies of archangels, the choir of holy spirits, draw their radiance from him and reflect it, as from fountains of everlasting light. Indeed every light, and especially those divine and bodiless minds whose place is beyond the heavenly sphere, celebrate this majestic Sovereign with lofty and sacred songs of praise. The vast expanse of heaven, like a blue veil, is spread between those outside and those who live in his royal halls. Around this expanse the sun and moon, with the rest of the heavenly lights, like torchbearers around the entrance of the imperial palace, run their appointed courses in honor of their Sovereign. At his word of command they hold out an ever-burning light to those whose lot is cast in the darker regions outside the bounds of heaven.

And surely, when I remember that our own victorious emperor offers praise to this Mighty Sovereign, I do well to follow him, since I know that to him alone we owe the imperial power under which we live. The godly Caesars, taught by their father’s wisdom, acknowledge him as the source of every blessing. The soldiers, the whole body of the people in the country and in the cities of the empire, and the governors of the various provinces gather together, as their great Savior and Teacher commanded, and worship him. In short, the whole human family, of every nation, tribe, and language, together and one by one, however much they differ in their opinions on other subjects, agree in this one confession. Obeying the reason planted in them, and the spontaneous, untaught impulse of their own minds, they unite in calling on the one and only God. [b]

Indeed, does not the whole frame of the earth acknowledge him as her Lord, and declare by the plants and animals she brings forth that she is subject to the will of a higher Power? The rivers flowing in full stream, and the never-failing springs that rise from hidden and inexhaustible depths, credit him as the cause of their marvelous source. The mighty waters of the sea, shut in chambers of unfathomable depth, and the swelling waves that rear up high and seem to threaten the earth itself, shrink back when they reach the shore, held in check by the power of his divine law. The measured fall of the winter rain, the rolling thunder, the flash of lightning, the swirling currents of the winds, and the airy courses of the clouds all reveal his presence to those who cannot see him. The all-radiant sun, which holds its steady course through the ages, acknowledges him alone as Lord, obeys his will, and does not dare to leave its appointed path. The lesser splendor of the moon, waning and waxing at fixed times, is subject to his divine command. The beautiful mechanism of the heavens, glittering with hosts of stars that move in harmonious order and keep the measure of each orbit, proclaims him the giver of all light. Yes, all the lights of heaven, keeping by his will and word a great and perfect unity of motion, follow their track through the heights, and complete their distant circuits as the ages turn. The alternation of day and night, the changing seasons, the order and proportion of the universe, all declare the manifold wisdom of his boundless power. To him the unseen forces that run their course throughout the expanse of space give their due tribute of praise. To him this earthly globe itself, to him the heavens above and the choirs beyond the vault of heaven, give honor as to their mighty Sovereign. The angelic hosts greet him with indescribable songs of praise, and the spirits that draw their being from bodiless light worship him as their Creator. The everlasting ages that came before this heaven and earth, and other periods besides them, without limit and earlier than all visible creation, acknowledge him as the sole and supreme Sovereign and Lord.

Last of all, he who is in all, before all, and after all, God’s only Son, the Word who existed before all things, the great High Priest of the mighty God, older than all time and every age, devoted to his Father’s glory, is the first and only one to intercede with him for the salvation of humankind. As the supreme and highest Ruler of the universe, he shares the glory of his Father’s kingdom. For he is that Light which, high above the universe, encircles the person of the Father, standing between the eternal and uncreated essence and all derived existence, and dividing them. He is that Light which streams down from on high and comes forth from the Deity that knows neither beginning nor end, and lights up the regions above the heavens, and all that heaven itself contains, with the radiance of a wisdom brighter than the splendor of the sun. This is he who holds supreme dominion over this whole world, who is over all things and in all things, and pervades all things, visible and invisible: the Word of God. From him and by him our emperor, beloved of God, receives as it were a copy of the divine sovereignty, and in imitation of God himself directs the administration of this world’s affairs. [c]