Christ the KING

Perhaps out of envy and pride, there are some who characterise God as a cruel authoritarian, labelling Him a tyrant because He has all power.  But if God truly was cruel and intolerant, why would He create people He gives the freedom to oppose, rebel and hate Him?  Why would He choose to freely put on human flesh, suffer and die so sinners could be saved and reconciled to Himself?  Because God is loving, His will is that none would perish but all come to repentance.  All who perish will do so justly, and all who are saved is due to receiving His grace by faith in Christ.

There is an opposite error to the "cruel ogre" caricature of God by those who despise Him, and it is often perpetuated by professing Christians who view God as a grandfatherly pacifist who ignores the folly in his grandchildren he dotes upon.  Their view of God ignores what they feel are uncomfortable subjects like holiness, justice and eternal condemnation.  The picture of Jesus returning to earth in the future riding a white war horse wearing a robe dipped in blood clashes with their preferred subject matter of Jesus healing the sick and holding infants in His arms to bless them:  meek, mild, never raising His voice, with a touch so gentle and comfort so serene judgment and condemnation seem foreign to His nature.

Let us not forget Jesus is the KING OF KINGS, the almighty sovereign who rules over all He has created.  The power and authority of earthly kings are merely a shadow of God's power He wields forever as LORD over all.  His first coming revealed Jesus as the servant of all, the Good Shepherd of the sheep who sought to save the lost, and His second coming will reveal another side of Him as He rules with a rod of iron.  Anyone who thinks Jesus is soft and squeamish concerning punishing His enemies who hate Him--think again.  Jesus has always been more than a "nice guy" with polite manners as we would frame Him in our own image:  He alone is God, and we have been created by Him and for Him.  Every person God has created and given the gift of life with the myriad of blessings that only come from Him, He will hold to account for their accepting Him or having adversarial judgments of Him.

Jesus spoke a parable about a man who received for himself a kingdom, and then the king went to a distant land with a promise to return.  He gave each of his 10 servants an equal amount of money to invest while he was away.  Luke 19:14 says, "But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, 'We will not have this man to reign over us.'"  The king's citizens did not acknowledge their king or that he had any authority over them.  Upon the return of the king, he settled accounts with his servants and gave those who were faithful to do the task he committed to them greater responsibilities based upon their ability.  The conclusion of the parable must have been sobering to those who hated and rejected Jesus the Son of God in Luke 19:27:  "But bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay them before me.'"  Upon Christ's return, He will settle accounts both with His servants by rewarding them--as well as destroying His enemies who refused His rule.  In the end, all people will bow before Jesus:  some in worship, and others in death.

God's will is for all people to be reconciled to Him as Paul wrote to believers in 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2:  "Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. ²¹ For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. ¹ We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. ² For He says: "In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you." Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation."  God calls believers to declare His glory among the heathen, and of all people Christians ought to have understanding concerning God's nature, character and power.  Today is the day to be saved; today is the day to be reconciled to God by faith in Christ.

Let us be faithful to do as it is written in Psalm 96:9-10:  "Oh, worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth. ¹⁰ Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns; the world also is firmly established, it shall not be moved; He shall judge the peoples righteously."