The Advent of the Promised King

Introduction

The past 2 weeks I have brought to our attention about the advent of Jesus in the various ways that comes about. We looked at the advent of the Promised Messiah and the advent of the Promised Heir. Jesus is the fulfillment of each of these and today we will look at the advent of the Promised King.

What is significant about Jesus as King? For me the answer is pretty simple. We need a Savior who is capable to removed the guilt, penalty, and power of sin from us. We need the Heir who is both deity and humanity fully to grant to us the inheritance of the kingdom and salvation making us the children of God.

We need a King to rule over our lives. All of us can look at our world today and know this is true. The insanity of how people think, how they operate, the depravity of sinful action all points to the need of salvation, but to rulership of our hearts. A part of the heart change that takes place in our lives is the surrender to a new ruler- no longer our sin, this world, or ourselves. Equally important to Jesus our Savior is Jesus is King. This is why the Scripture points to it even in the Christmas narrative of His birth.

David Bryant lays out succinctly why this aspect of Christ must be considered more not only at Christmas, but also in our lives more completely.

As supreme, our Lord is not only surrounded by everything, but He also surrounds everything with Himself. As Lord, He encompasses all of us within His rule.

Certainly, Christians properly profess that ‘Jesus is the center of my life.’ And that’s true. But which Jesus is at the center of my life? That’s the issue. Is it the one whose glory enfolds my life, consumes my life, and defines my life because He alone thoroughly sums up my life- both its meaning and its destiny- and sums it up Himself?

As we near closer to the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus, I want you this morning to reflect and think of which Jesus holds your heart. Perhaps the salvation of Jesus is central to you, but not the kingship of Jesus.

The same Jesus who commands the sea to calm, demons to tremble, healed the sick, raised the dead, spoke the world into existence, has angels bow and worship Him, and sits at the right Hand of the Father is the King of Kings who entered humbly that day in a manger. As with every Christmas, don’t be fooled into leaving Jesus in the manger. Don’t be fooled to leave Jesus to the cross and empty tomb. Remember that Christ’s birth was also the advent of the Promised King.

Micah 5:2-5a

Micah’s ministry comes in the time of 3 kings of Judah.

Jotham was a good king who love and obeyed the Lord. Despite his leadership, the people did not follow and remained in their sin.

Ahaz, the son of Jotham, ruled and was a wicked king. He did not follow in his father’s footsteps and practiced idolatry. He constructed idols in Judah, offered his sons as sacrifices to pagan gods, and closed the temple.

Hezekiah, son of Ahaz, rejected his father’s ways and embraced the faith of his grandfather. Hezekiah opened the temple, challenged people to tear down idols, and to worship Yahweh. Hezekiah was far from perfect, but he was obedient and loved the Lord.

This is important because all the king of Judah and Israel were unable to rule in the manner that God desires. Imperfect, sometime wicked, the people of God needed the right King.

By Micah 5, Micah describes the Lord’s King to come. The King who would rule perfectly. A King who would come from David’s lineage and from the humble beginnings of Bethlehem. This would be like saying the King to come is born in Farwell instead of a city of prominence like Dallas or Houston.

Even more this King has an orgin from antiquity or of an eternal nature. He is more than just a human king. He is the Lord Himself as Micah 4:7 tells us.

He also comes at a time when the Lord has stopped communicating with Israel like He once did and a time when Israel is under rule of a pagan government. This King will come at the right time and will bring together the people of God and God Himself.

What is it about this King’s rule that is so significant?

This King is a Shepherd

This King to come is not an elusive King who stands afar from the people, but shepherds them. This is very personal in nature.

He stands firm in the face of danger, pressure, and peril. Nothing will stop this King from shepherding His people.

He will feed His sheep is the idea behind His shepherding. He will care for their deepest needs, protect them, and lead them perfectly.

The King leads in the strength and name of the Lord

This King is deeply tied to Yahweh. Of course, we know Jesus is the Son of God, fully God and fully man.

He is capable of trusting completely and obeying perfectly the will of the Lord.

This King brings security (salvation) to His people.

The way to understand this is that the people will dwell in security. Their security is not in their own merit, ability, or ingenuity. It is in the King Himself. He is the only one capable of making His people secure.

This King’s glory extends to the ends of the earth

This King to come will rule Israel, but His glory will extend beyond that to the ends of the earth.

This won’t be some King who is capable of making a name for Himself in simply a region, but it will span the globe.

This King will be the peace of all

Note it is not that this King simply brings peace, but He Himself is their peace. How? Because of the nature of this King, He is capable of being the perfect mediator/go between the people and God. It is who He is and the power He has that allows Him to be the peace of all.

Why is a king necessary?

Because we need someone to rule over our hearts and lives.

We need a shepherd

Christ comes as the great Shepherd.

John 10:11–18 CSB

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand, since he is not the shepherd and doesn’t own the sheep, leaves them and runs away when he sees a wolf coming. The wolf then snatches and scatters them. 13 This happens because he is a hired hand and doesn’t care about the sheep. 14 “I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 But I have other sheep that are not from this sheep pen; I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. Then there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life so that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have the right to lay it down, and I have the right to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”

We need a King to lead us to God

Jesus, we know from Paul, did not use His divine power for His own gain, but to serve the Father. While He ministered on this earth leading up to His death and resurrection, He did so in the strength and name of the Lord. His mission was to lead us to God via His own life.

Luke 4:18–19 CSB

18 The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

We need salvation

Just as Israel was separated from the Lord so too are we from God. Jesus brings forth security in eternal life of salvation through Him.

John 3:16–18 CSB

16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.

We need peace

We are desperately in need of peace in our lives. Peace with the Lord and peace with one another. True peace can only be found in and through Christ.

Ephesians 2:12–17 CSB

12 At that time you were without Christ, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he is our peace, who made both groups one and tore down the dividing wall of hostility. In his flesh, 15 he made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations, so that he might create in himself one new man from the two, resulting in peace. 16 He did this so that he might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross by which he put the hostility to death. 17 He came and proclaimed the good news of peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.

Micah promised the advent of this King which is fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

Matthew 2:1-12

If Micah presents the need and description of the Messiah King to come, Matthew 2:1-12 reveals our response to this King.

We should see the connections of Jesus being born in Bethlehem and the direct quote of Micah to reveal Matthew’s intention of connecting Jesus to the Messiah King.

But this narrative of Herod and the Wise Men reveal proper responses to the King.

The True King is to be recognized

Matthew presents that King Herod was ruling, yet these wise men from the east come to meet the king of the Jews born.

Herod is a king and to a degree he is as appointed by Rome. However, he is not the true King of Israel. In reality he is a false king appointed by a pagan ruler.

Therefore, Herod takes great offense and is threatened by these men seeking the King of the Jews. The wise men from the east, I believe, were men who studied all sorts of prophecy around the world. I also believe the prophet Daniel in the time of the Babylonian captivity had sway over the wise men at that time and taught about a coming Messiah King.

These men, thousands of years later, recognize some sort of prophecy has been fulfilled and come to seek out the King born.

Application

The reality for us is that many times we have false kings ruling and reigning on the thrones of our hearts. These false kings shepherd us toward the things that do not bring about true salvation, that actually keep us from glorifying the true King, and will not bring a full satisfaction of peace to our lives.

Kings, that operate as functional saviors, like our good deeds, religiosity, comfort, ease, family, social status, friends, achievements in school or on the field/court, money, success, influence, making a name for one’s self, etc.

How do I know these are false? Because once they are removed in some capacity our world crumbles. We can’t function when they are removed from our lives.

The Kingship of Jesus threatens us

Why was Herod threatened by this news of the true King born?

What did Herod stand to lose? Everything. The cost of surrender to the supremacy of Jesus is everything. It mean Herod has to step down from the throne.

When Adam and Eve sinned, what was the lie that Satan used to solidify their temptation into sinful action?

“You will be like God”… The heart of our sinful nature and sinful action is an attempt to be God. This is why we need the reign of Jesus in our lives. Because the constant temptation is to live apart from Him or to live as though He is lesser.

His rule and reign over our lives threatens the very nature He died to transform. To be threatened by and to reject the kingship of Jesus is to deny the transformation He brings to us.

Application

We shouldn’t be threatened by the rule of Jesus over our lives. To do so is to act in our sin nature. Instead we should embrace His rule as the one who shepherds us, leads us properly to the Lord, grants security in salvation, is more glorious than anything els in this world, and is our peace.

False kings/rulers try to use Jesus or dethrone Him

Herod, deep down, knows that what is taking place is beyond him. After a thorough investigation he comes to the wise men and secretly tells them to report what they find so he too can worship this king.

What is taking place here?

Herod is using Jesus to manipulate these men so that he can ultimately dethrone Jesus. We know that when the wise men do not come back Herod then issues the slaughter of all boys who were 2 years old or less in Bethlehem and surrounding areas.

Application

David Bryant, who I mentioned earlier, brings an idea that we try to make Jesus a mascot rather than a monarch. Perhaps we don’t seek to “kill” Jesus as Herod was planning, but we tame Him.

“many of us have redefined Jesus into someone we can both admire and ignore at the same time! To be our mascot, we’ve redesigned Him to be reasonably convenient-someone praiseworthy, to be sure, but overall kept in reserve, useful, “on call” as required.”

This is ultimately done so that we don’t have to bow to the true King, but instead either use Him for our gain or dethrone Him for something lesser.

Our Response

If we can conclude that Jesus is the rightful Messiah King who has come. If we can conclude that He is to be the rightful King over our hearts and lives versus lesser things, then what is our response?

I think we follow the pattern of the wise men.

Honor and surrender

They find Jesus, about 2 years old, and their immediate response is to fall to their knees.

They pay homage, respect, and show surrender to this King.

We honor Jesus when we surrender to Jesus. When we surrender our finances, our children, our salvation, our jobs, our hardships, our successes, our life decisions, our goals, our wants, our desires to Him.

Worship Him

We are told not only did they submit in surrender, but they acted in worship. Surrender and submission are not passive in nature. They require action. They require change.

Paul said to present your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing, as it is your true worship. Worship happens in song, but it is more than that. Worship is your life. The glory of the King that extends to the nations does so amongst His people who call on His name for salvation and live for Him as those who recieved salvation.

Present to Him what is due to Him

The wise men present to Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Kingly and costly gifts. These are what is due to Him as the rightful King.

I ask you, what are you holding back in your life from King Jesus? If our lives are to be an act of worship unto Him, is there an area of your life that you keep for yourself and not to Him?

Is there a gift your are withholding from Him? Remember, the cost of following Jesus is,

If anyone wants to follow after [Surrender] me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me[surrender].

Conclusion

The advent of the King is crucial for us to see Jesus as more than merely a Savior or the one who grants us to be a child of God. Those these are crucial, it wasn’t just those that led the apostles and so many early followers to lay everything of their lives down for Jesus. A baby in manager is true, but we cannot lose sight of who that baby is: The King of the Universe coming to rule in the hearts of those who would believe.

I want to end with a quote from David Bryant once again,

Just as an anchor firmly tethers a ship in a storm, even so Christ supreme over the grave holds us, unshakable, to every single dimension of God-given hope. He ties us directly to a future in which “there will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face…and they will reign forever and ever” (Rev. 22:3-5)

His resurrection gives us a rock to cling to in life’s disillusioning floods and most disheartening storms. It reassures us that when our destiny is consummated in Christ we’ll discover that not one of our labors for heave was ever in vain.

The ramifications of this for today’s Christians are breathtaking. It should provide us incomprable, God-concocted cures for eveyr other crisis we face. It should compel us to lose our lives for His sake and the gospel’s-to serve the advance of His global cause among earth’s peoples-knowing that in the end because He lives (and reigns) we shall live (and reign) also.