Christ Our King

week 4

Heb 7:1-3 “1 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. 3 He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever.”

Colossians 1:15–20 ESV

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Christ King of Salvation- Cosmos-Future

As King, Jesus rules in such a way as not to allow sin to reign over us any longer. In the Old Testament, the monarchy was established for the nation's peace, prosperity, and welfare. A king has many roles, but ultimately, he takes responsibility for the welfare of his people by doing three things; he leads, provides, and protects.

Practical Application We follow the Kingship of Christ by leading with the goals of His kingdom on our hearts. We seek to do justice, show mercy, and faithfulness to those we lead. Elders, Parrish Leaders, Pastors, Ministry leaders

The Kings of the Old Testament

42 kings served in the Old testament: North and Southern Kingdoms

Only 8 were considered Good.

What was the King supposed to do?

God prescribed the role and function of a king who would be faithful in all aspects of his life.

Deuteronomy 17:14–20 (ESV)

14 “When you come to the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ 15 you may indeed set a king over you whom the Lord your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 16 Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’ 17 And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold.

18 “And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. 19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, 20 that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.

What we see time and time again are kings who are unable to lead in the way God prescribes.

Saul, most notably, was one who God used to show how kings would mistreat the people. After Israel demanded to have a king, Samuel gave this warning.

1 Samuel 8:10–18 ESV

10 So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king from him. 11 He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. 12 And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. 15 He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. 16 He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys, and put them to his work. 17 He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. 18 And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”

the earthly kings would TAke and not give.

The Old Testament is full of examples of earthly kings who did not serve the best interest of the people nor lead the nations to God.

Jesus as Our King

Name above All Names (Jesus Christ, the Conquering King)

How Does Jesus Reign?The Shorter Catechism is famous because of its opening question: “What is the chief end of man?” (Answer: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.”)28 But later in its exposition of the gospel it asks another important question, this time about Jesus:How doth Christ execute the office [ministry] of a king?That is precisely the question these scenes force us to ask. Here is the Catechism’s answer:In subduing us to himself, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies.29

Jesus fits the description of what kings are supposed to be about. Christ establishes peace and prosperity for the welfare of His people. Christ in his earthly ministry and his ministry now: leads, provides, and protects His people.

The way Christ leads, provides, and protects should not be seen in our view of leadership. In tricky Political landscape we live; most of the time, we only think about Jesus as King from American political discourse point of view.

CHRIST’S kingdom is far greater than any limited view we have for Him to fit in our unique frameworks. Today, I want to present the Kingly office of Christ in three ways: Salvation-Cosmos-Future.

Salvation

Christ is king of salvation

Col 2:13-14 “13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.”

The cross and His bodily resurrection from the dead has given us everything we need to bring salvation for those who will believe. So Jesus has done everything that we needed to be saved from sin. He has done everything we needed in order for us to be saved from the judgment of death. And he has done everything necessary to set us free from the bondage of the Devil

Christ has given us all we need:

Name above All Names Jesus Christ, the Conquering King

But how is it that Jesus’ resurrection leads to the resurrection of those who believe in him? How can it be—as Scripture makes clear—that because Jesus rose from the grave, it is an ontological impossibility for believers not to be raised?

Here is the biblical logic:

• We are “in Christ.”

• We are therefore united to him.

• We can never be separated from Christ.

• Christ has been raised from the dead.

• Therefore, because we are in him we have been raised and we will be raised!36

Cosmos

Name above All Names Jesus Christ, the Conquering King

Scripture teaches us to think of the kingly reign of Christ in cosmic terms. Here a key text is Colossians 1:15–17: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth.”

Col 1:16-17 “16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

Christ is the Source, Sustainer, and Goal of created reality

Name above All Names Jesus Christ, the Conquering King

There is, then, this great cosmic dimension to the kingship of Jesus. He is the source, the sustainer, and the goal of all created reality. “The universe was made by Him, is providentially sustained by Him and is utterly dependent on Him.”

Maybe an illustration about the 23 degree axis

the earth’s axis is tilt 23-23.5 degree axis for seasons and vegetation. any degree shift would cause utter destruction.

Christ is in control of this. He upholds the world by the Word of his power!!! Hebrews 1:1-3

Hebrews 1:1–3 ESV

1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

and

Name above All Names Jesus Christ, the Conquering King

And by this reminder from the prologue to the Gospel of John:

All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.41

In a cosmos of otherwise impenetrable mystery, we are greatly helped by knowing that Jesus is king in the cosmos.

The Future

Christ will return

Name above All Names Jesus Christ, the Conquering King

So in 1 Corinthians 15, we discover that there is an order to resurrection. First, Christ the first fruits, then, when he comes, those who belong to him.

Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.42

Knowing Christ will return gives us hope. It gives us a new perspective. We anticipate the new creation that will come when He returns.

Joel Kaye

Joyce Small Dan Fore

some of our officers will discuss how they practically (lead, protect, provide)