As God's sent and anointed One, Jesus was the Christ from the time that He was born (Luke 2:11; Matt. 1:16; John 1:41; Matt. 16:16). But after thirty-three and a half years, when He ascended to the heavens, God officially made Him the very Christ of God (Acts 2:36). When Christ entered into His ascension, God made Him officially the Christ, the Anointed One of God to carry out God's economy.
Acts 5:31 says that Christ was exalted to God's right hand as a Leader, and Revelation 1:5 says that He is the Ruler of the kings of the earth. Napoleon considered himself to be the leader of Europe. Eventually, however, he was exiled, and he acknowledged that Jesus was above him and belonged to a different class. He admitted that he founded his empire upon force as a mere man but that Jesus founded His empire upon love and was more than a man. Even Napoleon said that he was convinced of the divinity of Jesus Christ. The real Leader and Ruler of Europe and of the entire world is Jesus.
The entire earth today uses the same calendar. According to history, the one whose calendar you use is the one to whom you are in subjection. If any used the calendar of a certain king, he would have to be under the rule of that king. Today all the peoples on the entire earth are under Jesus Christ because they use His calendar. Even the atheistic countries use the calendar of Christ. When you use one's calendar, you admit you belong to that one. Now we are in the year 1993, but the globe has not existed for only 1993 years. It has existed for only 1993 years in the status of Jesus. Jesus' birth has become the landmark of the calendar of all the peoples on earth. He is the Ruler of the kings of the earth to rule over the entire earth. Revelation 19:16 says that Christ is the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
Acts 5:31 says that Jesus is not only the Leader but also the Savior to save God's chosen people through His sovereign rule over the earth in their environment. His being the Leader is related to His authority, and His being the Savior is related to His salvation. He rules sovereignly over the earth with His authority that the environment might be fit for God's chosen people to receive His salvation (cf. Acts 17:26-27; John 17:2). Without His being the Ruler, we could not have believed into Him to receive Him as our Savior.
I was born in China near the beginning of this century. For many years, the people of China knew nothing about Jesus. If the world situation had not been under the Lord's ruling, the gospel could not have gone to China. The Lord in His sovereignty governs the whole earth to regulate everything for all of His chosen people. Although I was chosen by the Lord before the foundation of the world, I was born in China. How could I hear the gospel? It was through the Lord's arrangement of the world situation.
Because of the Lord's sovereign arrangement of our environment to save us, we have become heavenly citizens. Our nationality is heavenly. The Lord is the Leader and the Ruler of the whole earth. Based upon this, He can be our Savior. Through His sovereign ruling, He arranged for us to be born at a certain time and at a certain place so that He could save us and make us His heavenly citizens. Many of us were born in different countries and at different times, but today we have become fellow citizens in the kingdom of God (Eph. 2:19). Our King, Christ, arranged everything for us to receive Him as our Savior.