Christ is King!

The reign of Jesus Christ from the Messianic Throne began following his Death, Resurrection, and Exaltation.

The New Testament is clear. God made Jesus of Nazareth Lord and Messiah, and there is no other. His reign began when God exalted Christ following his resurrection. “God has made this same Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah!” – (Acts 2:36).

Salvation in its true and full biblical sense is found only in Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Messiah, who was crucified and raised from the dead to reconcile men, women, and the nations with their creator. He alone conquered sin and death.

The salvation of God is about much more than the forgiveness of our sins, as vital as forgiveness is. Ultimately, salvation will include the Creation itself - the redemption of our bodies and the “New Heavens and New Earth” where righteousness dwells and sin and death no longer occur – (Isaiah 65:17, Acts 3:19, Romans 8:20-23, 2 Peter 3:13).

• “For us, there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through him” – (1 Corinthians 8:6).

• “And there is salvation in no one else, for neither is there any other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved!” – (Acts 4:12).

[Photo by Paul Zoetemeijer (The Netherlands) on Unsplash]

The New Testament links the exaltation of Christ to his death and resurrection by applying messianic texts from the Old Testament to him. Jesus is worthy to reign from God’s throne because of his “obedience until death, even death on the Cross” – (Isaiah 53:10-12, Philippians 2:6-11).

The present reign of the Messiah was inaugurated and confirmed when God raised Jesus from the dead, exalted him to become the Lord over all things, and authorized him to bestow the Spirit of God on his people, thus empowering them to be his witnesses to the nations of the Earth – (Matthew 3:11-12, Luke 24:46-49, Acts 1:8, 2:16-21).

The New Testament uses many passages from the Old Testament to describe the enthronement and reign of Christ, but two passages are used repeatedly, both from the Psalms. The Psalmist foresaw that the Messiah would be installed as king upon his arrival before the Throne of God:

• “But I have been made king by him on Zion, his holy mountain, declaring the ordinance of the Lord. The Lord said to me, You are my Son. This day, I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession. You will shepherd them with a rod of iron. You will shatter them as a potter's vessel” – (Psalm 2:6-9. Quoted from the Septuagint version of the Psalm).

• “The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool! <…> The Lord swore, and he will not repent. You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek” - (Psalms 110:1, 4, LXX. The Roman numeral LXX or ‘70’ is used to represent the Septuagint).

For example, Jesus confirmed that he was the Messiah when he stood before the High Priest of Israel and alluded to Psalms 110:1, combining the words of the psalm with a phrase from the Book of Daniel:

• “And the high priest said to him, I adjure you by the living God, tell us whether you are the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus said to him, You have said; nevertheless, I say to you: From now on, you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven” - (Matthew 26:63-65).

• “I beheld in the night vision. And behold! One coming with the clouds of heaven as the Son of man, and he came on to the Ancient of days, and was brought near to him. And to him was given the dominion, and the honor, and the kingdom. And all nations, tribes, and languages will serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom shall not be destroyed”- (Daniel 7:13-14).

The High Priest understood what Jesus said. This is why “he tore his garments, saying, He has spoken blasphemy!” Not only did the Nazarene identify himself as the Messiah, but he also asserted his destiny to reign over the nations of the Earth from the throne of David, as promised in the Scriptures.

HIS UNIQUE KINGDOM

The New Testament does not simply describe Jesus and his realm as another among the many political regimes of this sinful world.

The kingdom ruled by Christ is of a radically different nature from the governments and political ideologies of the present age. Jesus came to save humanity from the tyranny of sin and death, and to grant men and women everlasting life in the Kingdom of God.

In his sermon on the Day of Pentecost, Peter referred to Psalm 110:1 to confirm that God had vindicated and exalted His Son when he raised Jesus from the dead. Christ now reigns as the Lord over all things, and he bestows the gift of the Spirit on his saints, equipping them to proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom of God to all nations - (Matthew 28:18-20):

• “This Jesus did God raise up, whereof we all are witnesses. Being therefore by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured forth this, which you see and hear. For David ascended not into the heavens: but he said himself: The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit on my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. Let all the house of Israel know assuredly, therefore, that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified” - (Acts 2:32-36. Compare Psalm 110:1, LXX).

• “And Peter said to them, Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For to you is the promise, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will summon” - (Acts 2:38-39. Note the allusion to Joel 2:32, LXX).

• “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea and Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth” - (Acts 1:8. Compare Psalm 2:8 and Isaiah 49:6, LXX).

Jesus Christ is not waiting for a future event before he becomes king. His reign and realm are present realities, and he implements his rule over the Earth through his Spirit-empowered Church.

Jesus does not send armies to conquer other nations through force. Instead, he commissions his Church to proclaim his Good News to all men. As members of his Church, we are envoys sent to announce the reign of the Messiah.

• “Jacob is my servant. I will help him. Israel is my chosen, my soul has accepted him. I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth judgment to the nations” – (Isaiah 42:1, LXX).

• “Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will declare judgment to the nations” – (Matthew 12:18).

PRIEST AND SHEPHERD

Peter refers to the present reign of Christ in his first epistle by alluding to Psalm 110:1. Not only is Jesus sitting on the Divine Throne, but even the hostile spiritual powers have been subjected to him:

• “He is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, angels and authorities and powers being made subject to him” – (1 Peter 3:22. Compare Psalm 110:1).

The Apostle Paul portrays the reign of Jesus as a present reality and an ongoing activity. Christ is reigning over his people, the nations, and the Cosmos. And since he possesses all authority from God, he rules over the powers and principalities of this age, whether hostile to him or not:

• “According to the energy of the grasp of his might which he energized in the Christ when he raised him from among the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavens over-above all principality, authority, and power, and lordship, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the coming one, and he put all things in subjection beneath his feet” - (Ephesians 1:17-22. See also - Colossians 1:12-20, 2:10-15. Note the verbal allusion to Psalm 110:1).

When Paul applies clauses from the Second Psalm and Psalm 110:1 to the exaltation of Jesus, he uses past-tense verbs. But present-tense verbs are used when he describes the current reign of Jesus, which will continue until Christ returns and completes the Kingdom of God:

• “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order. Christ, the first fruits, then they that are Christ's at his arrival. Then comes the end, when he will deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when he will have abolished all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. For he put all things in subjection under his feet. But when he said, All things are put in subjection, it is evident that he is excepted who did subject all things unto him. And when all things have been subjected to him, then the Son also himself will be subjected to him that did subject all things to him, that God may be all in all” - (1 Corinthians 15:22-28).

• “Who will lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God who justifies! Who is he that condemns? It is Christ Jesus who died, indeed rather, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us” - (Romans 8:33-34).

Because Jesus possesses the highest authority imaginable, his sovereignty is not limited to Heaven, restricted to the Earth, or delayed until the future. Echoing a passage from the Book of Daniel, Christ declared after his resurrection:

• “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth!” – (Matthew 28:18).

• “And to him was given the dominion, and the honor, and the kingdom. And all nations, tribes, and languages will serve him” – (Daniel 7:14).

The Letter to the Hebrews cites Psalm 2:6-9 and Psalm 110:1-4 to demonstrate the superiority of Christ’s priesthood and sacrifice over the Levitical system. For example:

• “Having achieved the purification of sins, he sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; having become by so much better than the angels, as he inherited a more excellent name than they. For to which of the angels said he at any time: You are my Son; this day have I begotten you?” - (Hebrews 1:3-5).

• “So, Christ also glorified not himself to be made a high priest, but he that said to him: You are my Son; this day have I begotten you, as he said also in another place, You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek” – (Hebrews 5:5).

• “Now, in the things which we are saying, the chief point is this: We have such a high priest, who sat down on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man” – (Hebrews 8:1-2).

According to the Book of Revelation, Jesus now reigns as King over all things. He is the “Lord of Lords and King of kings.” Even the realm of the dead is not beyond his authority, and his sovereignty began following his death and resurrection – (Revelation 1:5-6, 17:14).

But Jesus is no tyrant. The Messianic Son is the “slain Lamb,” the shepherd who leads the nations of the earth to the City of God. He conquered his enemies and redeemed men and women by his sacrificial death, not by the sword– (Revelation 5:5-6, 9-10).

• “And she gave birth to a son, a male, who is to shepherd all the nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and unto his throne” – (Revelation 12:5. Compare Psalm 2:9, Isaiah 66:7).

• “After these things I saw, and behold, a great multitude that no man could number from every nation and of all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, arrayed in white robes, and palms in their hands. And they cry with a great voice, saying, Salvation unto our God who sits on the throne, and unto the Lamb. <…> They will hunger no longer, neither thirst any longer; neither will the sun strike upon them, nor any heat. For the Lamb that is in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will lead them to fountains of waters of life” – (Revelation 7:9-10, 16-17. Compare Psalm 2:8, 3:9, 22:27, Isaiah 49:10).

• “And the city has no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine upon it, for the glory of God illuminated the city, and the lamp is the Lamb. And the nations will walk amidst the light of the city, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it” – (Revelation 21:23-24. Compare Isaiah 66:19).

And so, Jesus reigns. But he is the exceptional and merciful ruler who overcomes his enemies through his own death and resurrection. Ever since his exaltation, Christ has been guiding the nations and kings of the earth toward everlasting and abundant life in the City of New Jerusalem as his Church proclaims his message to the nations.

Every man and woman who submits to his lordship and embraces the salvation freely offered by Jesus Christ will inherit everlasting life in the City of God. Christ is king over the Earth and the entirety of Creation, and we must conduct our lives with that present reality in mind.

[Citations of Old Testament passages in this article are based on the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint. Text printed in small capital letters represents quotations and verbal allusions from the Old Testament. The Septuagint is represented by the Roman numeral for ‘seventy’ or LXX based on the Latin name of the translation, ‘Interpretatio septuaginta virorum’]

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SEE ALSO:

• The Shepherd King - (The Lamb’s reign commenced with his death and resurrection, and since then, he has been shepherding the nations toward New Jerusalem)

• Reigning from Zion - (Following his resurrection, Jesus began his reign from the Messianic Throne as prophesied by David – Psalm 2:6-9)

• Why do the Nations Rage? - (The conspiracy by the earth’s kings to unseat God’s Son is applied by the New Testament to the plot to destroy Jesus – Psalm 2:1-6)

• To the Ends of the Earth - (Jesus has come in these last days to provide salvation for men, women, and children of all nations, and everlasting life in the age to come)