Christ is King!

Christ’s reign from the Messianic Throne began following his Death, Resurrection, and Exaltation – Psalms 110:1. The authors of the New Testament are clear. Jesus of Nazareth is King, Lord, and Messiah, and there is no other. Moreover, his reign began when God exalted him following his resurrection. “God has made this same Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah!” – (Acts 2:36).

Furthermore, ‘salvation’ in its full biblical sense is found only in Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah who was crucified in order to reconcile men, women and the nations with their creator:

“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).

The New Testament links Christ’s exaltation to his self-sacrificial death and resurrection by applying messianic texts from the Hebrew Bible to him. Jesus is worthy to reign from God’s “right hand” because of his “obedience until death, even death on the Cross” – (Philippians 2:8).

This present reign of the Messiah of Israel and the Ruler of the nations of the Earth was inaugurated and confirmed when God raised Christ from the dead and placed him on the Divine Throne.

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

Two passages from the Psalms are used repeatedly in the New Testament to describe Christ’s enthronement and reign. The Psalmist foresaw that his dominion would commence upon his arrival before Yahweh:

• “Yet I have installed My King on Zion, my holy mountain. Let me tell of a decree, Yahweh has said to me: You are My son. This day, I have begotten you. Ask of me and let me give nations as your inheritance and as your possession the ends of the earth” – (Psalm 2:6-8).

• “The declaration of Yahweh to my Lord: Sit at My right hand until I make your enemies your footstool! <…> Yahweh has sworn, and he will not repent. You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek” - (Psalms 110:1, 4).

Jesus confirmed that he was the Messiah when he stood before the High Priest of Israel and alluded to Psalms 110:1 and combined the verbal allusion with a key 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, henceforth, 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 saw in the night visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of heaven one like unto a son of man, and he came even to the ancient of days. <…> And there was given him dominion, glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him”- (Daniel 7:13).

The High Priest understood what Jesus had just said, and therefore, “he tore his garments, saying, He has spoken blasphemy!” Not only did Christ identify himself as the Messiah, but he also asserted his destiny to reign from the throne of David.

In his sermon on the Day of Pentecost, Peter cited the same Psalm to confirm what God had accomplished when he raised Jesus from the dead. The resurrection not only confirmed the status of Jesus as the Messiah of Israel, but God also installed the newly risen Nazarene as Lord and King.

Moreover, Jesus reigns as the Lord who bestows the gift of the Spirit on his Church, the “Promise of the Father”:

• “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 thou on my right hand, Till I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet. Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly, that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified” - (Acts 2:32-36).

Jesus Christ is not waiting for a future event before he can become king, or to inaugurate the Kingdom of God. His reign and realm are present realities.

THE EPISTLES

Peter refers to Christ’s reign in his first epistle when he alludes to Psalm 110:1. Not only is Jesus reigning from 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).

In his Letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul describes the reign of Jesus as a present reality. And since Jesus possesses all authority from God, he reigns 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 did put all things in subjection beneath his feet” - (Ephesians 1:17-22. See also - Colossians 1:12-20, 2:10-15).

When Paul applies clauses from both Psalms to the exaltation of Jesus, he uses past-tense verbs, but present and future-tense verbs when describing the current reign of Jesus. He was installed as King following his resurrection and ascension. Since then, he has been implementing the Kingdom. This process will continue until his future “arrival” or ‘Parousia’, at which time Christ will have fully established the Kingdom of God:

• “For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. And the last enemy, death, will be destroyed; for He put all things in subjection under his feet” - (1 Corinthians 15:24-28).

• “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).

The events listed in 1 Corinthians 15:24-28 leave no room for further victories over Christ’s enemies after his return. That day will mean the end of death and the complete establishment of the eternal Kingdom. After that, “God will be all in all.”

In his Letter to the Philippians, Paul declares that the obedient death of Jesus was why God exalted him and made him sovereign over all things, including the Cosmos and the nations of the Earth:

• “And in fashion being found as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even until death, yea, death upon a cross. Wherefore also, God highly exalted him and gave him with the name, which is above every name, so that, in the name of Jesus, every knee might bow, of beings in heaven and on earth and underground, and every tongue might openly confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord for the glory of God the Father” - (Philippians 2:8-11. Compare Isaiah 45:23, 52:13, 53:12, Romans 14:9-11).

Because Jesus is far above every name, he 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).

• “Behold! There came with the clouds of heaven one like unto a son of man. And he came to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom will not be destroyed” – (Daniel 7:13-14. Compare Daniel 2:44-45).

The Letter to the Hebrews cites both Psalms to demonstrate the superiority of Jesus over the obsolete Levitical system. The Son is the High Priest who mediates for his people in the presence of God. 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 according to the order of Melchizedek” – (Hebrews 5:5).

Thus, according to the testimony of Scripture, Jesus reigns as the King over all things. Even the realm of the dead is not beyond his authority. His sovereignty began with his resurrection. Ever since then, he has been subjugating his enemies and liberating men and women from the tyranny of sin and death wherever his followers announce the Gospel.

• “Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. <…> Fear not! I am the first and the last, and the Living one. And I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades!” - (Revelation 1:5, 1:17-18. Compare Psalm 89:27, 89:37, Isaiah 48:12).

[NOTE: Text printed in small capital letters represents quotations and verbal allusions from the Old Testament]

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SEE ALSO:

• The Son of David - (Jesus is the Son of David and heir to the Messianic Throne, the beloved Son of God, and the Suffering Servant of Yahweh)

• Servant and King - (Following his baptism in the Jordan River, the voice from Heaven identified Jesus as the Son of God and the Servant of the LORD)

• Call His Name Jesus! - (Jesus means ‘Yahweh saves.’ In this Man of Nazareth, the Salvation promised by the God of Abraham and Israel has arrived for all men)

• Le Christ est Roi! - (Le règne de Christ du Trône messianique a commencé après sa Mort, sa Résurrection et son Exaltation - Psaumes 110:1)