Wednesday, January 15, 2025

Jesus the King


"Q. 26. How doth Christ execute the office of a king? A. Christ executeth the office of a king, in subduing us to himself, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies." (Westminster Shorter Catechism) 

In what two ways is Jesus king?
While Jesus has eternal dominion over all as God, he also has received a mediatorial dominion over all as our Redeemer, on the basis of his death and resurrection, to the end that he might save, lead, and protect God’s elect and restore God’s reign over a fallen world (John 17:2, Matt. 28:18, 1 Cor. 15:24-26). It is in this second sense that he was “given” all authority in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28:18). Not only does Jesus, as our Redeemer, execute the offices of a prophet and of a priest, but also of a king

Why do we need a king?
By nature, the fallen world is under the domain of Satan and the judgment of God. They are condemned outlaws, hostile to God, doing whatever their corrupt will desires, under a tyrant’s sway. They are like sheep without a shepherd (Matt. 9:36, 1 King 22:17, Ezek. 34:5-6), scattered, going their own way, subject to ravenous wolves. But by grace, sinners are brought into the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God and of his Christ (Col. 1:13-14). Jesus binds the strong man and plunders his house, drawing people into his kingdom (Matt. 12:25-29).

As early as Genesis 3:15, mankind was taught to believe in the king who delivers sinners from the domain of darkness with victory over the serpent. God said to that ancient serpent the devil, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Gen. 3:15).

When did God first promise kings for his people? 
God promised to Abraham and Jacob to raise up kings from their offspring (Gen. 17:6, 16; 35:11), and instructions for a king were given in Deuteronomy 17. The book of Judges pointed to Israel’s need for a king to deliver and lead them. “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes”(Judges 21:25).

After God rejected Saul from being king, whom did he raise up and establish as king over his covenant people?
King David, son of Jesse, a shepherd from Bethlehem. The kingdom of Israel under King David and his heirs was an Old Testament manifestation and type of the kingdom of God. God chose this people and provided them with a king to deliver them and give them peace and rest (2 Sam. 7:8-11, Ps. 78:70-72). He promised to raise up David’s offspring to succeed him and to establish his throne forever (2 Sam. 7:12-16, Ps. 72, 89:1-37).

The kings like David, Asa, and Jehoshaphat received God’s word from the priests and enforced it, guided the people by it, delivered the people from their enemies, gave them peace in the land, and interceded for the people.

Yet, as David’s descendants acted corruptly, the kingdom fell. Was God done with the offspring of David? What did the prophets say? 
The prophets explained to the people that this situation was temporary. God would remember his covenant with David and raise up his heir and restore his kingdom and make it greater than ever before (Is. 9:6-7, 11:1-10, Ezek. 34:23-24, Micah 5:2-4). The king would come to Israel and shepherd God’s people and extend his reign to the ends of the earth. This would be the Christ, God’s anointed, who would deliver his people and establish heaven’s reign on earth. As the fulfillment of this prophecy, Jesus came as the Son of David, the promised king (Luke 1:31-33).

How does King Jesus subdue us to himself? 
He does so by subduing our hearts by converting us by his word and Spirit, so that we offer ourselves freely on the day of his power (Ps. 110:3, see also Acts 15:14-18). He powerfully calls out of the world a people to himself, bestowing saving grace upon his elect, rescuing them from the domain of darkness. He applies redemption by his word and Spirit.

How does King Jesus rule us? 
He rules his people internally by his grace, by his Spirit who writes God’s word on our hearts. He rules his people externally by his officers, his laws, and his censures (Eph. 4:11-12, 1 Cor. 12:28, Is. 33:22, Matt. 18:17-18). He also rules them in his providence by rewarding their obedience, correcting them for their sins, and ordering all things for their good (Rev. 2:10, 3:19).

How does King Jesus defend us? 
He defends us from our enemies by preserving and supporting us under all our temptations and sufferings, and by restraining and conquering our enemies. He both carries his sheep and he fights off the lions and bears (Is. 40:11, 1 Sam. 17:34-36).

The kingdom of heaven is both a shelter and a transforming power, a place of protective defense and a power of righteous sway. It is a tree where the birds make their nest and it is leaven which transforms the dough (Matt. 13:31-33). (1) It is a shelter where there is reconciliation with God rather than condemnation, favor rather than wrath. In this kingdom there is justification and adoption, and thus peace and joy, through Jesus Christ (Col. 1:12-14). We take refuge under the protection of our king. (2) Jesus reigns in our hearts by his grace, producing sanctification, societal reform, and a new way of life. As a little sin can spread its corrupting influence in people and communities (1 Cor. 5:6), so the reign of Christ spreads its reforming influence in people and communities.

How does King Jesus restrain and conquer his and our enemies? 
As Jesus places us on his side, his enemies become ours as well. As the world hated him, so it hates his disciples. Therefore, in addition to death, our enemies include the world, the flesh, and the devil. But Jesus shall restrain and conquer them, for his glory, for our good, and to fulfill his messianic task to restore the world. He “will shatter kings on the day of his wrath. He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses” (110:5-6). As Psalm 2 describes the choice, we must either submit to the king and take refuge in him or suffer his wrath and perish (Ps. 2:12). He wields this power even now as he extends his kingdom (Rev. 2:15-16, 22-23). For example, he overthrew Jerusalem for its persistent persecution of him and his disciples. But one day he will return in glory to raise the dead and judge the world, repaying with affliction those who afflicted his church, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God or obey the gospel, purifying his church of all hypocrites, bringing all of this work to perfect completion (2 Thess. 1:6-10). 

Psalm 110 serves as a good summary of his kingship. Jesus was enthroned as king when he ascended to his Father’s right hand on the basis of his victorious work of redemption (Ps. 110:1). He now rules in the midst of his enemies, making his enemies his footstool (110:1-2). He does this in two ways, (1) by subduing the hearts of his people by his word and Spirit, so that they “offer themselves freely on the day of [his] power” (110:3), and (2) by restraining and conquering all his and our enemies, executing judgment among the nations (110:5-6).
"[The kingdom of God] was symbolized in the throne of David in Jerusalem and the Jewish theocracy, and it was visibly set up in its higher spiritual form when the long-promised Son of David, having redeemed his people on the cross, rose from the dead, ascended to the heavens and sat down at the right hand of God. This kingdom is not one among the many competing kingdoms of the earth. It is antagonistic to the kingdom of Satan only: all the natural kingdoms of men, except in so far as they are compromised with the kingdom of Satan, are penetrated and assimilated and rendered subservient to its own ends by the kingdom of God. All other kingdoms have their rise, progress, maturity and decadence, while this kingdom alone is eternal, growing broader and waxing stronger through all ages until its consummation in the city of God."
-A.A. Hodge, "The Kingdom Of Christ," Popular Lectures on Theological Themes (1887)

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