King of Kings

KING BY RIGHT

Examined in this discussion is the aspect of Jesus Christ in which He holds the titles of King of Kings and LORD of Lords, along with the reasons why He has earned those titles. More than seven hundred years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem Isaiah prophesied of Jesus' advent upon the Earth.

Isaiah 9:6-7: "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of host will perform this."

This prophecy concerning Jesus Christ clearly identifies Jesus not only as teacher and savior but as head of all governments in His Kingdom which will last forever.

More than four hundred years before Jesus was born the prophet Daniel, described the king of Babylon's dream of the coming world kingdoms. He discussed Jesus Christ's role as King of kings at the end of Earth's worldly kingdoms.

Daniel 2:44-45, "And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.

"Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold-the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain and its interpretation is sure."

In this passage Daniel foretells the time which will soon appear when Jesus Christ will return to Earth in all of His glory and power to destroy all of the world's earthly kingdoms and to establish His own Kingdom over which He will rule and reign forever.

Speaking of this future coming of Jesus Malachi 3:1-3 describes His sudden appearance upon the Earth, "'Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the LORD, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple. Even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,' says the LORD of hosts.

"'But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire and like the launders' soap. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the LORD an offering in righteousness.'"

DIVINE DECREE

Jesus Christ's right to rule as King of Kings is established by Divine decree, Psalm 2:4-7, "He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the LORD shall hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, and distress them in His deep displeasure. 'Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion'"

Speaking of the establishment of Jesus Christ's Kingdom Psalm 45:6-7 prophesied, "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your Kingdom. You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions."

That Jesus Christ would arise from the dead to be established as the King of Kings was prophesied in Psalm 16:8-11, "I have set the LORD always before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices. My flesh also will rest in hope. For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. You will show me the path of life; in your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."

RIGHT TO RULE

Emphasizing Jesus Christ's right to rule because of His relationship with the Father God, Psalm 110 1-2 states, "The LORD said to my LORD, sit at my right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool. The LORD shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion. Rule in the midst of Your enemies!"

St. Peter further clarified this concept in Acts 2:34-36, "For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself; 'The LORD said to my LORD, sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool.'

"Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both LORD and Christ." Hebrews 1-8 clearly labels Jesus as the Son of God Who also will rule as King of Kings, "God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds, who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For to which of the angels did He ever say: 'You are My Son, today I have begotten You?'

"And again, 'I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a son.'?

"But when He again brings the firstborn into the world He says, 'Let all the angels of God worship Him.'

"And of the angels He says: Who makes His angels spirits and His ministers a flame of fire."

"But to the Son He says: 'Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.'" St Paul describes reasons why Jesus Christ deserves to be King of Kings to rule over all of the kingdoms of the earth, Philippians 2:5-11, "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

"Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is LORD, to the glory of God the Father."

KING THROUGH BLOOD COVENANT

Christians look forward with expectant anticipation to the day when Jesus Christ shall appear, crowned as King of King and LORD of Lords to establish His kingdom on Earth. Jesus already has been crowned as King of Kings. The first earthly view of Jesus wearing a crown occurred at Calvary where Jesus hung on the cross, giving His life, shedding His sacred blood for the redemption of all mankind who would take advantage of His ultimate sacrifice for sin.

In mockery Jesus was crowned with a crown of thorns, pushed upon His head by the Romans as He hung on the cross. From the thorns which pierced His scalp blood flowed down His face, marring His visage, even as predicted in Isaiah 52:14.

In this situation Jesus fulfilled the example presented in the Bible in Genesis 22:6-13 when Abraham was presented with a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. This ram caught in the thicket served as the sacrifice Abraham had been ordered to make, thereby sparing His son Isaac from being sacrificed. Earlier on that occasion Abraham had prophesied to Isaac that God would supply the sacrifice, even though Abraham had believed that he would be required to sacrifice Isaac.

Even as the ram was caught in the thicket by its head, so Jesus' head was caught in the thicket formed by the crown of thorns. This lowly crown spoke to Jesus' role as King of kings which He soon is to fulfill at His second coming. Even as the ram's head caught in the thicket revealed the saving of Isaac's life from destruction, even so, as the Lamb of God, Jesus' head crowned with thorns pointed to man's salvation from eternal death, to those who believe in the name and sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

It is not insignificant that blood trickled down from the crown of thorns as well as gushing from His side, spilling from the stripes on His back and from the nail wounds in His hands and feet. When He was striped in Pilot's hall at the whipping post He not only bled from the lacerations, but He bled inwardly as His tissue was bruised by the force of the lashes. Isaiah states that He was bruised for our iniquities (which become generational sins, tendency for which is passed down through generations following in children and grandchildren-as addictions, witchcraft,anger, violance, infidelity, etc) and that by his stripes we are healed.

Additionally the very perspiration from Jesus' body the night before in the garden of Gethsemene as He agonized in prayer to the Father presented as great drops of blood. The sacrifice of Jesus was accomplished with great loss of blood. This is significant in that since Adam, a covenant between God and man has always been accomplished with the shedding of blood.

BLOOD SACRIFICE

God had decreed in Genesis 2:17 that if man disobeyed God's commandment not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil he would surely die. Since that time of disobedience to God's command man has been required to present a blood sacrifice to wipe out his sin before God. For sin death is required, either permanently and eternally from the sinner himself or through the death of a substitional sacrifice. Before the advent of Jesus Christ the sacrifice of animals with bloodletting in the manner described in the first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch, sufficed for bringing man back into fellowship with God. These animal sacrifices were shadows of the ultimate sacrifice that was to come. Hebrews 9:22 states, "According to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission."

Jesus Christ was the perfect and sinless sacrifice for mankind's sin, accomplished with the shedding of His blood on the cross.

Through Jesus' bloody sacrifice we are born again, forgiven of all sins and brought into new life in Christ Jesus. We never again will be required to fear suffering the loss we had brought upon ourselves through our rebellion from the expressed will of God for our lives. The blood of Jesus is sufficient for all sins for all time.

In many ways through nature we are reminded of our dependence upon the blood. Leviticus 17:11 emphasized, "For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar, to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul."

Jesus promised that His blood was sufficient for the forgiveness of sins in St. John 6:53-56, "Then Jesus said to them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him."

This was difficult for Jesus' disciples to comprehend, but Jesus clarified the concept on the evening before His crucifixion as He and His disciples at the last supper in the upper room. Matthew 26:26-28 states, ""and as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, 'take, eat, this is My body.'

"Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, 'Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.'"

Of interest is the physical law that nothing already created on earth can be destroyed, only changed through action of the types of energy, such as electrical, chemical, heat, etc. Jesus blood fell to the ground at Calvary. Insects ate that blood. Mice ate the insects. When they died their bodies, containing atoms metabolized through the digestive systems of the insects, mice, etc. decomposed and the atoms were washed eventually into the sea where much of them were evaporated into the air, condensed into clouds and then were re-dispersed throughout the world by rain. Plants took up those atoms through the soil and redistributed them through the food chain and death cycles until those very atoms composing Jesus' blood have been recycled over and over for two thousand years. Since the blood of Jesus was formed from stem cells from His bone marrow, like everyone else, and since those atoms have been recycled, the food we consume today most likely contains many of the same atoms that circulated through Jesus' body 2000 years ago, converted and reconverted because of the natural laws of physics through energy transformation. When we take the bread and wine of communion we can truly believe that we are partaking of elements of Jesus' body, as He said. We are, as the bible asserts, flesh of His flesh, bone of His bone.

After Jesus death and resurrection St. Paul emphasized the need for Christians to remind themselves of their dependence upon the shed blood of Jesus Christ for remission of their sins through grace by faith. In the Lord's supper, known as communion, St. Paul's words are repeated, as found in I Corinthians 11:25, 26, "In the same manner, He also took the cup after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.' For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes."

The wine or grape juice serves to remind us of Jesus' blood sacrifice and the right He has to be King of Kings and LORD of our lives. The creator and King of all creation submitted to an ignominious death to salvage mankind from eternal destruction.

Through the blood of Jesus we experience the New birth, being "born again", as Jesus described the process. Even in mankind's natural existence man's first birth is accomplished through great sacrifice of pain and loss of blood. The mother provides for fetal blood to be formed with genetic inputs from the father. The mother loses a considerable amount of her own blood in the birthing process.

In delivery mankind is reminded of his dependence upon blood, even as the cutting of covenants with God involve the evidence of blood. For example, in circumcision, which was established as a covenant between God and man, blood was very much in evidence.

The trail of blood which brought mankind back into fellowship with God led to the ultimate manifestation of love at the cross of Calvary. Jesus paid it all.

When the blood of Jesus Christ was shed on the cross, creation's most precious blood, the very blood of God himself, was shed to bring mankind back into fellowship with God through the second birth, for those who would believe in this transaction. Because of Jesus' willingness to offer Himself as our blood sacrifice for sins He has earned His position as King of Kings and LORD of Lords. Not only was Jesus Christ the creator of all that was made in the universe, but this very creator stooped to give himself to rescue mankind and bring us back into fellowship with himself.

"St John 1:1-4 makes this clear, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men."

KING THROUGH POWER

In every reference in which Jesus Christ is described in His full glory as King of kings, the grandeur and awesome power in His majestic being is clearly evident. In Isaiah 6:1-5 the throne of God is described, "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the LORD sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filed the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings; with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said; 'Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!'

"And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. So I said:

"'Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.'"

It is obvious that when mankind comes face-to-face with God in His glory the awesomeness of God's greatness, purity and power is overwhelming. Man's feeble accomplishments are as nothing before the magnitude of God's power and glory.

The book of the Revelation describes Jesus as King of kings several times. In Chapter 1:13-18 St. John describes Jesus as the Son of Man, "...clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, 'Do not be afraid, I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.'"

Jesus is saying that although He was crucified He has risen from the dead, to live in power and glory forevermore. Further, through His willingness to become the perfect sacrifice for sin he has snatched the keys of hell and death from Satan. As a result, because of Jesus, mankind can be redeemed back to the status he enjoyed before the fall of Adam which plunged all mankind into the sentence of destruction and death because of sin.

AWESOME MAJESTY

Revelation 4:1-11 describes the Throne Room of Heaven, "...behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance, and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads. And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God....The four living creatures , each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: 'Holy, holy, holy, LORD God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!'

"Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 'You are worthy, O LORD, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.'"

God's showed great compassion and mercy in providing salvation which is free to all mankind because of Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the cross. Jesus voluntarily humbled Himself to be born as a man into a lowly household, living a life of sacrifice and dying a despised and brutal death. There therefore is a tendency among mankind to devalue this great salvation and to consider Jesus Christ in his humble earthly role. Natural human nature, in error, considers that if it is free it must be without value. But make no mistake about it, in His current and forthcoming role as King of kings and LORD of lords, He will not exhibit Himself as the humble lamb of God, riding on a donkey. His next appearance on earth will be as mighty conqueror, Majestic King of kings, riding on a victorious white horse. Every knee will bow before Him, some in terrifying fear and trepidation; others, the redeemed, in worship and praise before His majesty, power and glory.

This scene is described in Revelation 11:15-19. "Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, 'The kindgoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our LORD and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!'"

"And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshipped God, saying, 'We give You thanks, O LORD God Almighty, the One who is and who was and who is to come.., because You have taken Your great power and reigned. The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, and those who fear Your name, small and great, and should destroy those who destroy the earth.'

"Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the arc of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, and earthquake and great hail."

CONQUERING KING

Revelation 19:1-6 describes the setting for the introduction of Jesus Christ as King of kings, "...I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, 'Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the LORD our God! For true and righteous are His judgments, because He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication; and He has avenged on her the blood of His servants shed by her.'

"Again they said, 'Alleluia! Her smoke rises up forever and ever!'

"And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshipped God who sat on the throne, saying, 'Amen! Alleleuia!' "Then a voice came from the throne, saying, ' Praise God, all you his servants and those who fear Him, both small and great!'

"And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thrunderings, saying, 'Alleluia! For the LORD God Omnipotent reins!'"

Verses 11-16 describe Jesus at His appearing, "Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns., He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.

And the armies in heaven clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written:

KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.'

After this great appearance of Jesus Christ the Bible relates that Satan is cast into the bottomless pit in great derision by one angel. Satan will be held in the pit for the thousand years of peace while Jesus will rule and reign from Jerusalem.

JUDGMENT

After Satan is cast into the pit the righteous, redeemed saints, or born-again Christians, will be judged for their deeds after receiving salvation. This is called the Bema-seat judgment where rewards will be granted for Christian service. All of these people will be "saved" and will be experiencing eternal life because their sins have been blotted out by the blood of Jesus.

After the one thousand or millennial reign on earth the wicked dead will be raised for judgment. None of these will enter into heaven because they had not appropriated the sacrificial blood of Jesus Christ for their sins. They have no cover nor forgiveness for their sins. Revelation 20:11-14 describes this scene of the great White Throne Judgment of the damned.

"Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.

The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death." Although these will be cast into hell and will not enter heaven, their degree of eternal punishment will be determined by the wickedness of their sins.

It is this terrifying scene about which Jesus referred in Matthew 22:13, Matthew 24:51, Matthew 25:30 and Luke 13:28, "There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

Today is the day of mercy and grace when forgiveness from all sin is available freely in a heartbeat to anyone who will call on the name of the LORD, according to numerous scriptures such as Joel 2:32, Zechariah 13:9, Acts 2:21 and Romans 10:9-12.

Acts 2:19-21 quotes Joel 2:30, Matthew 24:29 and Romans 10:13, "'I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath; Blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the noon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.'"

The shortly to appear "Day of the LORD" is awesome and final. The frivolousness and futility of many of the actions of men on earth will be revealed once and for all with terrifying finality. At stake are the eternal souls of men and women who will be judged for their deeds. Their only covering from final damnation is the blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God and soon to be revealed King of kings and LORD of lords.

This aspect of Jesus Christ is one that unredeemed mankind would rather forget. No one wants to face judgment for their evil deeds, such as all of us have done. They prefer to think of Him as the lowly shepherd and gentle teacher of love and right ways, showing compassion to all. This, indeed, is the role we experience today, but as the Bible clearly teaches, the ultimate role of Jesus as Messiah, Savior and King of kings is to rule the universe with a rod of iron.

As Philippians 2:9-11 clearly states, "Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is LORD, to the glory of God the Father."

We individually have a choice as to the nature of that bowing of our knee to Jesus Christ. We may bow in grateful adoration to One Who has redeemed us and saved us from the fall into sin, or we may bow at the end as dishonored and condemned souls who have refused to appropriate the blood covering for our sins. The choice must be made by one and all. The Bible clearly teaches that there is no exception.

If you never have taken the opportunity to have your sins forgiven,

tossed into the sea of God's forgiveness, never to be remembered any more, you may appropriate that grace and mercy instantly as you bow your heart to God's grace and by faith appropriate the blood of Jesus for total forgiveness and eternal life in His kingdom.

If you should like to receive forgiveness and new birth in Christ Jesus, you may repeat these words."O God, I confess that I have been a sinner. I have failed to live a perfect, sinless life. I have not obeyed your rules at all times. I believe that Jesus Christ was sacrificed on the cross, His blood shed for me, to cover my sins, then resurrected from the dead. I accept this sacrifice by faith. My sins now are covered with the blood of Jesus. I am born anew in the second birth. You now see me as perfect, like Jesus, all of my sins forever removed from your consciousness. Thank you for your free salvation. I await the soon coming of Jesus Christ in His second coming, to rule and reign forever as King of kings and LORD of LORD."

If you meant those words God accepts you into His Kingdom of joy and peace. Your soul is secure eternally and you will never experience the second death because of the gift of salvation, eternal life, through Christ Jesus