Christ the King who Reigns Forever

As a church this year, we are doing something that we have never done. We are celebrating what is called Advent. And you may be wondering what Advent is. The definition of advent is the coming of a notable person or thing. The Advent season celebrates the coming of what we would argue to be the most notable person to ever walk the earth, Jesus Christ. So in this season, we will take a moment in our gathering to present the theme of the week of advent along with a scripture reading to go along with that theme to remind us of the season that we are in.

We tend to focus on the first advent of Christ in this season. And that is great. We must understand the birth of Jesus. But we often narrowly focus on the first advent when we must also be looking at the second advent as well. It is nice to think of Jesus as the baby in the manger wrapped in swaddling cloths. But also understand that the same baby in the manger will one day come again on his white horse with his sword. As we go through the birth story of Jesus over the next few weeks, we will also be looking forward to his second coming.

Our scripture today will be in Luke chapter 1, verses 26-38. The title of the message is Christ the King who Reigns Forever. We are dealing today with Gabriel coming to Mary to tell her of the birth of Jesus. And even in this declaration he makes to her, he tells her that he will be the one who will reign forever. So I am going to ruin a popular song for you this morning. When you listen to “Mary did you know”, please remember that yes, she did know.

Luke 1:26-38

When you leave here today, I want you to have on your mind that, even before he was even born, Jesus Christ was the King who reigns forever.

1. Christ the King who Reigns Forever was Foretold

Luke 1:26–31 ESV

26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.

Most of us know this story fairly well. Whether you heard it growing up or maybe you hear it every single year in December. But that is great because as I said, we need reminding of the coming of Jesus. So, for reference, I want to give us a quick overview of what is going on.

Mary is what we would consider engaged to Joseph. They are kind of married to the point where he would have to divorce her but it is a little different than what we consider marriage today. They are promised to one another but not yet married. So she is still a virgin and she will say that to Gabriel in a little bit.

Gabriel has come to Mary to tell her that she is going to give birth to a son named Jesus.

I want to look at some of the things that are said in these verses. Luke tells us that she is betrothed (engaged) to Joseph. But he tells us that he is of the house of David. This is something that is important. If you want to study the lineage of Joseph to David, go home and study Matthew 1. It is a quick overview of the family tree. But why is it important that he is of the house of David?

This is something that always perplexed me. I understand the importance of the lineage of Mary to David and how Jesus came from the house of David that way. But Jesus shares no blood to Joseph. He would be his adoptive father. So why would it be important for Joseph to be from the house of David. According to Judaism, even as the adoptive son of Joseph, Jesus would have all of the legal rights as a biological heir. So Jesus, because Joseph was his adoptive father and because Joseph was from the house of David, would have a legal right to the throne of David. He never exercised this right because of the heavenly throne that awaited him. But it is important for us to know the importance that the house of David plays in the first coming of the messiah.

We have verses that point from the line of David to the coming messiah.

Isaiah 11:1 “1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.”

Jeremiah 23:5 “5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.”

So we know that God keeps his promises. Because God said that he would come from the line of David, Matthew tells us the lineage between David and Joseph. And if you want some other important reading to go along with this, Luke 3 shows us the lineage between Mary and David.

Gabriel told Mary that she had found favor with God. Not because of anything that she had done. Contrary to what some people may think, Mary was not sinless. So she had not earned favor with God. It is only because of God’s grace that she has favor with God. Just like each and every one of us. We are not going to do anything to earn God’s favor. We are only accepted by God because of the blood of Jesus Christ applied to us through the grace of God.

But one of the things that sticks out to us in this text is she is told that his name will be Jesus. I know that many people really spend a lot of time figuring out a name for their kids before they are born. Mary didn’t have to worry about that because God had already named him. Jesus. The name Jesus means the “Lord will save”. What a name. When I think of this, I think of the old song “There’s just something about that name”. And for the redeemed, there is just something about that name. We praise God for sending Jesus, just like he said that he would. Christ the King who reigns forever was foretold.

2. Christ the King who Reigns Forever is Eternal

Luke 1:32–33 ESV

32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

Jesus is the son of the most high. He is the son of God. This is a distinction that is reserved only for Jesus. No other person can hold this title. Just as we have already discussed when it comes to Jesus and the house of David, the son is entitled to the fathers throne. And Gabriel says that God is going to give him the throne of his father David. In case you don’t exactly know who David is, I can promise you that it is not talking about me. David was the 2nd king of Israel. David was great king who united the people and brought Israel to a place of power. But also know that David had his high points and his low points.

God was giving Jesus the throne of his father David. But not in the sense that one may think. See, Jesus would never rise to any sort of political power. That was the messiah that people wanted. They wanted someone to come to power and overthrow the Romans who had taken control of their land. But that just isn’t what happened. In fact, Jesus became a suffering servant rather than a powerful politician. What Gabriel is doing here is even more solidifying Jesus’s earthly inheritance as a ruler. Even though the throne that he will sit on is not an earthly throne.

I want to put this into perspective somewhat.

Jesus could have ruled from an earthly throne. He had a lineal right to it. It was also offered to him from Satan. In Matthew 4 at the temptation of Jesus, Satan offered him to rule over all the kingdoms. Matthew 4:8–9 “8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”” Jesus could have ruled from an earthly throne. But we needed a sacrificial lamb for the atonement of sins. This is why in the Old Testament they would have to always be going back and taking more sacrifices to be made for the atonement of their sins. But with Jesus, he will be the eternal sacrifice. He will go to the cross of Calvary to die for sins. And now reigns eternally.

We see the evidence for the eternal reign of Jesus here in verse 33. Luke tells us that Jesus will reign over the house of Jacob. When he talks about the house of Jacob, he is talking about the nation of Israel. There is somewhat of a parallel here of Jesus being the “king of the Jews”. But not only will he reign over the house of Jacob, but he will do this forever. There is no timeline to this. As Americans, we know that our top leader, the president of the US, will change periodically. A president can only serve so many years. Then we will elect another one. But the reign of Jesus is eternal. Luke says there is no end to his kingdom. Yes, this means that nothing is out of his reach but this also means that there is no timely end to his kingdom.

If you are someone who has been saved by the grace of God, you now have been adopted into God’s family. Jesus reigns over your life. You are a follower of Jesus Christ.

If you are a Christian, this should bring you hope. That is the theme for this week of Advent. Hope. But not hope in the things of this world. Hope in Jesus Christ. When we think of eternity, it can sometimes be intimidating and maybe makes us anxious. But for the one who has been saved by the grace of God, I pray this gives you hope. You are secure in the work of Jesus Christ. Not because of anything that you have done, but because of what Jesus has done for you. Praise God for that. Because I will tell you from personal experience, if it was up to me to be able to earn my way towards God, I will completely fail. I am thankful for Christ the king who reigns forever and the fact that his reign is eternal.

3. Christ the King who Reigns Forever is Holy

Luke 1:34–35 ESV

34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.

Mary questions what Gabriel is telling her. But the angel gives her some comforting words. Mary doesn’t understand how this can happen so he explains to her that this will be a work of God. That no man could make this work, but that this will be because of the Holy Spirit. And that the power of God will overshadow her. An event like this could never take place apart from the power of God. And we see the significance of this display of power because it is a testimony to the work of the trinity in redemption. Without the work of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, we would not have redemption. The Father is the one who originates our redemption. Ephesians 1:4 tells us that God the Father chose us before the foundations of the Earth. God the Son (Jesus) is the one who bought our redemption for us. Ephesians 1:7 tells us that we have redemption through the blood of Jesus. And the Holy Spirit is the one who guarantees our redemption. Ephesians 1:14 tells us that.

Just the same that the trinity is the one who works our redemption, the trinity is at work in Luke 1:35 “35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.” The Holy Spirit comes upon Mary, God’s power covering Mary, and the birth of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. This is all a display of the power of God in redemptive history.

I want us to focus in on what the angel said that Jesus will be called. He says that Jesus will be holy. This word in the original language could be translated a few different ways. It could be translated consecrated, dedicated, pure, or one of my favorites, set apart. And the reason I like the term “set apart” is because it makes a distinction. To be holy is to be different. In the world that we live in, we are told by media and the culture to live our lives certain ways. And these ways contradict the holy life that we must be pursuing as followers of Christ. This is why we must know what it means to be holy. And the way that we know what it means to be holy is to look at the life of the holy one and live that way. Someone challenged me a while back to what he called the red letter challenge. If you have a bible with red letters in it in some spots, that is when Jesus is verbally speaking. He told me to find a bible with the red letters and just go through it and write down what Jesus is saying. Jesus gives us instructions. Follow these instructions. Do the red letter challenge and just see what Jesus says and follow his commands.

We should strive to be holy just as Jesus is holy. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 11:1 “1 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” We need to desire to be like Christ. And to do that, we must know the Jesus of scripture. Not the Jesus that we have designed to meet our own desires. But the Jesus of the bible. We need to love the things that Jesus loves and hate the things that Jesus hates. Holy means set apart. We need to be set apart from our own carnal desires and stop pursuing self righteousness and pursue Jesus Christ. Because Christ the king who reigns forever is Holy.

4. Christ the King who Reigns Forever is Lord

Luke 1:36–38 ESV

36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

In these verses we deal with things that seem to be impossible. One of Mary’s relatives, Elizabeth is in her old age but she too had conceived. In the beginning of Luke 1, we see that Elizabeth is pregnant with John the Baptist. Gabriel is reassuring Mary that even in the midst of things that seem unlikely and even impossible, that nothing is impossible with God. We can try to imagine things that God would be able to do, but our capabilities of understanding the power of God is limited. Because with God, nothing is impossible. A woman who is unable to get pregnant getting pregnant, not impossible. And this isn’t the first time that God has done this.

Think back to the Old Testament. Abraham and Sarah were in their old age and had yet to conceived any children. But God promised to them that Abrahams descendents would be great. Well Abraham was nearly 100 years old and Sarah was 90. This is impossible to us. If this were to happen today, you would not be able to find a news station that was not covering this. It would be the headlines of every news paper, be on every television station, and it would be the most shared article on Facebook. Because to us, this is impossible. But verse 37 in our text tells us Luke 1:37 “37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”” And just as Sarah and Elizabeth both conceived in their old age when they shouldn’t have been able to, Mary, as a virgin, would conceive too.

And because of what the angel said to Mary, she answered him in humbleness. “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” I am yours Lord. Do with me what you will and I will serve you. Mary sees God as Lord. And she is going to give birth to Jesus, the son of God. And she will see him as Lord as well. Do we see Jesus as Lord?

See, in our time today, there is this increasing though pattern that Jesus does not need to be Lord. We want him as savior but we don’t want him as Lord. I personally have to fight this fleshly though on a constant basis. And maybe there are different reasons that this happens. Maybe people do not see a need to have him as Lord at all, maybe we see grace as something that we can abuse. I am going to tell you something that I have to tell myself often. And don’t get me wrong, I am a failure many times. I often see myself as the worst sinner through my own eyes. But if Jesus is not Lord of all, he is not Lord at all.

We must surrender our whole selves to him. When we sin, we must be grieved over our sin. We need to identify sin and strive to kill it in our own lives. We need to be obedient to Christ and his teachings. When God says go, we go. When God says stop, we stop. Why? Because he is the king who reigns forever. Because he is Lord.

Conclusion

As I close, I want to speak to the 2 different kinds of people who are here today.

To the ones who have been saved by the grace of God already. I want you to leave here challenged. When was the last time that you saw Jesus Christ as the one who reigns forever? Do you truly give him the throne over your life. Do you love the things that he loves and hate the things that he hates?

I want to give you something practical to do this week. Find a bible that has red letters in it. Go through the 4 gospels accounts and write down the things that Jesus says. Use this as a litmus test to see where you are being obedient and where you need to work.

But if you are here today and you have never made a real profession of Jesus Christ being Lord, I want you to focus in on me right now. The bible tells us in Mark 1 that we need to repent and believe in the gospel. To repent means to turn. What do we turn from and turn to. We turn from our sinful lives and turn towards Jesus Christ. But we are told to believe in the gospel as well. The gospel is that we are born into a sinful life because of our father Adam. We need to be made right with God. So God sent Jesus to be the sacrifice for us. He lives a perfect life, died a horrible death, and was raised from the grave 3 days later. And when we believe that he did that for us, then we are saved.

But know that this isn’t the finish line as a believer. This is the starting line. And we want to help you in this life. So let us know if you have come to a saving faith today or maybe even recently so that we can walk this road with you.