“The
King of Kings”
[Revelation
1:4-8]
November
22, 2020 YouTube
Today is Christ the King Sunday. It is the day on the liturgical calendar when
we remember that the Son of God, Jesus Christ, is the Sovereign Ruler, the
Lord, and King of the universe. It is a
time when we remember that a war is going on between the Kingdom of God and the
sinful world. And it is a time when we
remember that King Jesus is victor over all evil and sin, and He rules now
Almighty, King of kings and Lord of lords.
We know there is a difference between the Kingdom of God
and the kingdoms of humans. We live in a
world of sin – of contested elections, of leaders who mock each other and
slander each other and tells lies about each other. Our leaders even kill each other and make
wars against each other and force the people of their kingdoms to do horrible
things. Which is exactly what God told
Israel would happen. But that’s another
sermon.
This morning we are looking at some of the opening verses
of the book of Revelation as we think about Christ the King.
We see first, the Triune God is the Universal King.
“John
to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace”
John
addresses his letter to seven representative churches in the province of Asia –
what we now call Turkey. This – as
letters were in those days – is a letter to be shared and read in multiple
places – and in the case of the Scripture, to be read in every church and by
every Christian.
And
John asks that the Grace of God – that giving of a gift when no gift is deserved,
and the Peace of God – that satisfaction in and holy obedience to God – that
these would be for the people of God who receive and read this letter.
And
then, John writes of the Absolute Sovereignty of the Trinity – and let us
remember: there is One God and God exists
in Three Persons, and though we speak about the Three Persons, They are not
Three gods.
“from
him who is and who was and who is to come,”
In
English, we recognize that John is using the form of the verb “to be” in this
description – and this should immediately resonate with us – we should
automatically remember Who this is referring to and where it is first expressed.
Moses
is out caring for the sheep, and he comes upon a burning bush that did not burn
away, and Moses speaks to the bush and asks Who he is to say is sending him to free
Israel from slavery in Egypt, and God responds, “God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I
AM.’ And he said, ‘Say this to the people of Israel: ‘” I AM has sent me to you”’”
(Exodus 3:14, ESV).
God
the Father is YHWH – “I AM” – He is the source of all existence. All being comes from God the Father. All kings exist because God has called them
into existence and God has set them to be kings for the good or the discipline
of their people.
As
Daniel confesses:
“Daniel
answered and said: ‘Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong
wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up
kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have
understanding; (Daniel 2:20-21, ESV).
“and
from the seven spirits who are before his throne,”
Here
we have God the Holy Spirit, the Sovereign King. He is called “seven spirits” because seven is
the number that means “fully, completely” – and the Spirit that has equality
with the Father and Christ, the Son, is God the Holy Spirit, Who is fully,
completely God. He is seen – not on the
throne – but before the throne, not because He is inferior to the Father and
the Son, but because He is ready to go out and be about His work.
As
Jesus says, “Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of
water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of
the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not
marvel that I said to you, “You must be born again.” The wind blows where it
wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or
where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit’” (John 3:5-8, ESV).
“and
from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the
ruler of kings on earth.”
Here
we have Jesus, the Son of God Incarnate, and we are told three things about
Him:
He
is the faithful witnesses. That is,
Jesus is entirely worthy to be believed.
Jesus is unable to lie and all He says is truth. Because of His Incarnation, life, death,
resurrection, and ascension, we have everything we need to know for salvation,
and we are certain that our salvation is sure in Him.
He
is the firstborn of the dead. This does
not mean that Jesus is the first person to ever be resurrected, because we have
accounts of others who were raised from the dead before Him. Jesus raised several people from the dead
before His resurrection. What it means
is that Jesus is the primary and most important One raised from the dead.
He
is the Ruler of the kings on the earth.
Paul
writes to Timothy:
“I
charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ
Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to
keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of
our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will display at the proper time—he who is the
blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has
immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or
can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen” (I Timothy 6:13-16, ESV).
He
we have a description of the One God – of Who Jesus is One Person – Jesus is
the One God – the Son Incarnate – the One Who pays the debt for our sin and
makes us holy. He is the One Who will
return, the Sovereign, the Almighty, the One Who rules over all – the Only
Immortal – the Only One due honor – the Only One Who has eternal dominion –
rule – kingship – over everything and
every one and every kingdom and every king.
So,
even in this brief look, we see that the Triune God is the Universal King.
Second,
King Jesus has made us His.
“To
him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a
kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever
and ever. Amen.”
Why
did God the Son Incarnate in the Person of Jesus? Because He loves us. Because He chose to free us from sin – even
to be willing to go to the cross and suffer and die – shedding His blood – at
the hands of sinful men that we who believe would be welcomed into the Kingdom
of Jesus – holy and sinless.
The
author of Hebrews explains:
“he
entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats
and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.
For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with
the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much
more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself
without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the
living God” (Hebrews 9:12-14, ESV).
All
who believe in the Savior God sent are now part of the Kingdom of God and King
Jesus is our King. We are the Kingdom of
God due to the work of Jesus on our behalf.
And He has made us a priesthood to God the Father.
What
does that mean? Peter explains:
“But
you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own
possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of
darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are
God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy”
(I Peter 2:9-10, ESV).
As
the Only Holy King, Jesus chooses us to be His, makes us His, makes us holy,
makes us His possession so we will proclaim the Glory of Jesus to the world and
glorify Him when His Kingdom has come in all its fullness.
We
are tasked now with telling the world that Jesus is the King of kings – He has
made the Only Way to be right with God and welcomes all who will repent and
believe into His eternal kingdom. This
is the only kingdom and the Only King Who will rule with justice and grace, in
holiness and peace. He will never sin
against His people – all is true and right and assured. He is the Good King, the Almighty King – the
King Who determines all that happens in history and all of eternity. And we carry Christ in us – He is seen in us
and through us and we will reflect Him back to Him in the Kingdom where will be
in His Presence forever in joy and thanksgiving.
King
Jesus has made us His.
Third,
He is coming to judge the world as King of kings.
“Behold,
he is coming with the clouds,”
We
will remember that Jesus ascended back to the Father up through the clouds
beyond the sight of the disciples.
“And
when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a
cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he
went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, ‘Men of Galilee,
why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you
into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven’” (Acts
1:9-11, ESV).
Just
as Jesus was taken into heaven by a cloud, He will come with the clouds on the
last day.
What
does that mean? Is it merely a reference
to physical clouds?
Jesus
may have been seen to leave by a physical cloud and return with physical
clouds, but clouds also symbolize majesty and kingship. So, just as Jesus ascended back to His throne
in majesty as King of kings, He will come in majesty as the King of kings to
judge the world and bring His kingdom to earth in all its fulness.
These
images are given to us to impress upon us the rank and glory of Jesus over the
Creation. There is no authority higher
than Jesus. Our God is the King over
all. No other king has any claim or just
cause against Him. And He alone rules
forever and ever. As Mary was told:
“And
the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with
God. And behold, you will conceive in
your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 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, and he will reign over the house of Jacob
forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end’” (Luke 1:30-33, ESV).
Jesus’
return will not be a day of joy for all people:
“and
every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth
will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.”
This
is the fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah:
“And
I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit
of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they
have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and
weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn” (Zechariah 12:10, ESV).
John
states that this refers to Jesus, “And again another Scripture says, ‘They will
look on him whom they have pierced’” (John 19:37, ESV).
In
the Zechariah passage, we are told that those who believe will mourn over the
piercing of the Christ – over His crucifixion and death for our sin, but in the
Revelation passage, John states the opposite – but equally true understanding
of this passage – indicated by these people wailing.
John
– in Revelation – is referring to the people who never believe savingly in
Jesus – who will see Jesus coming in majesty as the King of kings, and they
will wail in horror over Him and be burned in their hearts for the sins that
they have committed and be full of self-pity that Jesus is King of kings and
they will now suffer eternally for their sin.
Here
we have the coming and the consequences of the return of the King of
kings: those who love Him and believe in
him will weep with joy for what He has done to save them, and those who never
believe will weep that Jesus is the Only Savior and that they will suffer
eternally for rejecting Him.
Jesus
is coming to judge the world as the King of kings.
“’I
am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is and who was and who is
to come, the Almighty.’”
For those of us who believe that Jesus is God the Only
Savior, His being the King of kings and His soon coming return are a joy and an
assurance of His promises to us.
Jesus is the Almighty God and Savior. Under His rule on earth, we will never again
live under an oppressive government, or even, simply, a sinful, human
government. We will live under the rule
of the King of kings alone – the holy, perfect, just, glorious rule of the King
of kings.
Jesus makes us His people, a people who will worship and
glorify Him for all of eternity in His Kingdom.
The Father says of the Son, “But of the Son he says, ‘Your throne, O
God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your
kingdom’” (Hebrews 1:8, ESV).
The Deity and Kingship of Jesus assure us that all His
promises will come to pass – that everything is occurring according to His
Plan, and – at the end of the age – He will come to rule over us in the flesh in
Paradise – in a kingdom without sin or end.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, we thank You that Your Son loves us and
saved us for Himself. We thank You for revealing
that He is the Almighty King of Kings and He is making all things right –
preparing us for His Kingdom. Help us to
look to Him and His promises as we bear with the frailties and failures of our
rulers – on every level. Help us to pray
that our leaders would turn to and believe in Jesus for their salvation and
hope. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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