The Scriptures sing quite a lot of melodic traces about Jesus. John Calvin recognized three specifically because the munus triplex, the threefold dimension of our Lord’s ministry: Jesus is Prophet, declaring God’s glory; He’s Priest, intervening to make atonement for sin; and He’s King, ruling over God’s kingdom. The third of those—Jesus because the Divine King who governs His church and workouts “all authority in heaven and on earth” (Matt. 28:18)—is a specific supply of encouragement to Christians.
This melody begins way back to Genesis, when Jacob prophesies that “the scepter shall not depart from Judah” (49:10), and it carries on by means of God’s promise to David of an everlasting dynasty (2 Sam. 7:11–16), Isaiah’s anticipation of a righteous monarch (32:1), Zechariah’s prediction of a kingly procession into Jerusalem (9:9), and throughout the intertestamental divide to the angel’s promise about Jesus: “The Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David” (Luke 1:32).
Jesus’ standing because the Divine King has radical implications for our salvation, for the cosmos, for the long run, and for our on a regular basis lives.
Jesus, the King of Salvation
Jesus got here onto the religious battlefield in a lot the identical manner as David got here out of the ranks of Israel as they cowered earlier than Goliath, confronting the evil that confronted his individuals (1 Sam. 17). There, the anointed one stepped ahead as a consultant; he conquered Goliath alone, however the victory belonged to the entire nation. Likewise, “nice David’s better Son,” Jesus, went alone to defeat the evil of sin and dying on the cross, and He gained a victory for all who come to Him by religion.
The cross is the epicenter of Christ’s reign. It’s there that He declares, “It’s completed” (John 19:30). It’s there that He triumphs over His enemies. After we flip to Jesus, our triumphant King, we flip to “Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2). We’re to be cross-oriented and cross-centered, week by week and daily returning our consideration to the cross, at which we discover the facility and the knowledge of God (1 Cor. 1:24). We’re to keep in mind that within the resurrection, the Father gave His “Amen!” to all that Jesus had performed.
On the cross, our King gained the battle with sin and dying and saved us for His kingdom.
Jesus, the King of the Cosmos
Jesus can also be the King of the entire cosmos by advantage of His artistic energy. As John writes, “All issues have been made by means of him, and with out him was not any factor made that was made” (1:3). The theologian Abraham Kuyper mentioned, “There may be not a sq. inch in the entire area of our human existence over which Christ, who’s sovereign over all, doesn’t cry: ‘Mine!’” Certainly, he holds the very molecules collectively by the phrase of His energy (Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:3). Isaiah 40:25–26 speaks to His sovereign reign as Creator:
To whom then will you evaluate me,
that I must be like him? says the Holy One.
Raise up your eyes on excessive and see:
who created these?
He who brings out their host by quantity,
calling all of them by title;
by the greatness of his may
and since he’s sturdy in energy,
not one is lacking.
But Jesus is twice the Divine King of the cosmos, since He not solely common it but additionally secured its redemption by His victory on the cross. All our view of historical past, all our view of the world, is to be shaped by and framed by His victory. Thus Paul is ready to write that the entire cosmos “waits with keen eager for the revealing of the sons of God” (Rom. 8:19). Even in its “travail” (Rom. 8:22 KJV), the world and every part in it’s bending towards its Divine King.
The earth shouldn’t be, in its current type, going to stay as it’s, as a result of the King goes to rework it. Conversations about environmental preservation could also be godly to the diploma that they bend their knee to the approaching King, who has left the earth in our cost (Gen. 1:28). But we ought to not be consumed by temporal considerations, since we’re ready for a day when there might be “new heavens and a brand new earth by which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13).
Jesus, the King of the Future
But Jesus shouldn’t be solely King over eternity previous; He’s additionally King over all that’s to come back. God in Christ created time. He’s the controller of time. All the times of our lives have been written in His e-book earlier than considered one of them got here to be (Ps. 139:16). Due to this fact, we are able to put our heads on our pillows at evening and relaxation content material that He can and does take care of our tomorrows.
We don’t have to be unduly alarmed by the considered the long run. There’s little profit in wringing our fingers on a regular basis and speaking in regards to the “good outdated days.” As an alternative, we must always remind ourselves that Jesus Christ, the King of our future, has solid a path for us into resurrection glory: “As by a person got here dying, by a person has come additionally the resurrection of the useless. For as in Adam all die, so additionally in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:21–22).
Christ’s future reign all through all of eternity is the attitude from which all of current historical past must be considered. The occasions of at the moment are worthy of our consideration. We are able to and may stroll fastidiously, “not as unwise however as sensible, making the perfect use of the time” (Eph. 5:15–16). We ought all the time to be trustworthy within the locations and occasions by which we discover ourselves. But we don’t want to stress ourselves due to evildoers (Ps. 37:8). We are able to belief that God is working all issues collectively for good so that we are going to be conformed to the picture of the Son (Rom. 8:28–29) within the presence of the Son (1 John 3:2).
We are able to see the historical past of the world by means of a prism of 4 phrases: the good, the dangerous, the new, the excellent. God made the world good when He made it. We made the world dangerous by means of our sin. Jesus Christ has made a brand new begin potential by means of the redemption of the cross. And in the future, Jesus, the King of the long run, will make every part excellent in His presence.
Thus, we are able to look to our tomorrows and say,
So be it, Lord; Thy throne shall by no means,
Like earth’s proud empires, go away;
Thy kingdom stands and grows eternally,
Until all Thy creatures personal Thy sway.
Jesus, the King of Life
If the kingship of Jesus impacts the character of salvation, if the kingship of Jesus impacts the fact of the cosmos, if the kingship of Jesus impacts all the problems of the long run, absolutely the kingship of Jesus has one thing to say to every of us.
At some point, Paul tells us, “on the title of Jesus each knee [will] bow, in heaven and on earth and below the earth, and each tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:10–11). That isn’t merely an expression of devotion. It’s a assertion of reality. And once we perceive it, it’s transformative.
Christ’s future reign all through all of eternity is the attitude from which all of current historical past must be considered.
We ought to not let all of the skullduggery of our day drag us down. We should raise our eyes and lookup. We are able to come to Him with all our fears, our hurts, our losses, and our failures—as a result of “there’s not a good friend just like the lowly Jesus. No, not one!”
It’s mentioned of Katharina Luther that on one event when her husband Martin had continued for some days in a sullen state, she placed on her mourning garments.
“Who has died?” Martin requested her.
“I consider God died,” she answered.
“Come now,” mentioned Martin, “God can not die.”
“Then why,” she mentioned, “have you ever been appearing as if He has?”
Jesus Christ shouldn’t be useless. He’s a risen, reigning King. He’s the King of our salvation, the King of the cosmos, the King of the long run, and the King of our lives. On this world, we might have bother, however we are able to take coronary heart, as a result of He has overcome the world!
This text was tailored from the sermon “Divine King” by Alistair Begg.
