| The King Of Glory |
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| Psalm 24:7-8 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.
Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.
We have a King in glory! The Lord Jesus was born King. He has an eternal Kingdom that shall soon come to this earth and He shall reign upon the Throne of David forever! Hallelujah! In this brief study, we are just going to look at a few verses pertaining to our Savior. The above Psalm 24 is called the Song of Ascension. When Jesus, Who being triumphant over death, after His resurrection, ascended into Heaven in a Shekinah cloud of glory, the gates of Heaven burst open wide for the King of Glory! Christ Jesus won the victory-- He is the Lord strong and mighty in battle! Let us review a few verses pertaining to our Savior's title as King. AT CONCEPTION When the angel, Gabriel, appeared unto Mary, he told her that Jesus would have an everlasting kingdom that would never end: Luke 1:31-3 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. AT BIRTH When Christ was born, the angel of the Lord proclaimed to the shepherds near Bethlehem the good tidings that the Savior was born. The angel did not appear to King Herod. The angel of the Lord did not appear to the chief priests and religious leaders of the day. (This alone should tell us something.) The angel appeared to simple shepherds. What a beautiful foreshadow of the ministry of the Lord Jesus. He is the Good Shepherd. He takes care of His sheep. They hear His voice and follow Him. These certain shepherds were invited to participate as witnesses to the Savior and the bible tells us that they, upon seeing the Lord, proclaimed the news throughout the country. They were the first evangelists who told of the glorious birth of our Lord. Luke 2:8-15 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. THE VISIT OF THE MAGI About two years later, the Magi came to Jerusalem in search of the Eternal King of Israel. They expected our Savior to be in the palace but when they inquired inside, they found that everyone there was ignorant of the Savior's birth-- King Herod, the religious leaders and the towns people. They asked: Matt 2:2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. The Magi wanted to worship the Lord Jesus. They came from a very far distance to see the Savior. They journeyed by faith and found that no one knew about the Christ. Herod told them to diligently search in Bethlehem and when they left the palace, they then saw the star and followed it until they reached the house where Joseph and Mary were staying with Jesus. When they entered the house, they fell down at the feet of Jesus and worshipped Him. THEY KNEW that He was the MESSIAH. If we would only let that sink in for a moment. Here we have all of Jerusalem in an uproar about the Magi's visit. King Herod is plotting wickedness. The religious leaders did not join the Magi to Bethlehem...they were unbelievers but the Magi-- the WISE men were very wise for they sought the Savior and found Him. DURING HIS EARTHLY MINISTRY Now, let us consider another verse that is important to this study: John 1:45-46 Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. Here we see Nathanael, who was skeptical in the beginning asking the disciple Philip, "Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?" Oh, but when he met Jesus he soon saw the King of Israel. He recognized Him as the Son of God and King. He said, "Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel." The people upon seeing Jesus perform the miracle of the fish and the loaves wanted to make Him King but our Lord withdrew Himself from them. How else would we be redeemed? The Lord Jesus knew what He would have to do to redeem us. His precious blood would have to be shed. He would out of necessity for our salvation, lay down His own life as a ransom for many and rise again-- victorious over death, hell and the grave. John 6:15 When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone. The Lord told His disciples what He must do. "We go up to Jerusalem." Christ Jesus knew that He would die and yet He willingly went as a Lamb to the slaughter. Our Lord was obedient unto death. He did His Father's will and of His own will, He laid His life down for us: Mark 10:33 Saying, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles: And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise again. As we move further in the Scriptures, we encounter our Savior as King when He rode into Jerusalem. But our King did not take a white horse and dress it with royal apparel. Our King humbly rode into Jerusalem on a young donkey. From His birth to His death, the Lord Jesus lived the life of a humble Servant. Many people of Jerusalem welcomed Him as King: John 12:12-16 On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written, Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass's colt. These things understood not his disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things unto him. Luke 19:38 Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest. But the welcome was short-lived, as just four days later, the crowds would demand that He be crucified. They would shout to the Roman Governor, who was seeking to release Jesus, "Away with this man...We have no king but Caesar!" HIS DEATH Let us now consider His crucifixion. When Jesus was presented to Pilate, the chief priests told Pilate: "We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ a King." (Luk 23:2) So Pilate questions Jesus for himself. The answer he received still echoes down throughout the ages: Joh 18:36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. Our Lord said that His kingdom was not of this world...the world crucified Him but Heaven's gates opened wide for the Risen Lord of Glory! Pilate found Him innocent but to appease the people, condemned Him to die. Our Lord would die with only one accusation above His head: JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. (Mark 15:26; Matthew 27:37; John 19:19) Luk 23:36-38 And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar, And saying, If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself. And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. While our Lord was dying upon the cross, an interesting conversation occurs between the two thieves on either side of Him: Luke 23:39-43 And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. Notice the thief called Jesus, "Lord" and acknowledged that Jesus has a kingdom. Is that not interesting? The shepherds saw the King. The Magi sought and found and worshipped the King. Nathanael saw Jesus as King. Pilate wrote that He is "King of the Jews" and yet the religious people mocked: Matt 27:42 He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. Oh how we rejoice that our Savior was obedient unto death. At His arrest, Jesus told Peter in Matthew 26:53, "Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?" Our Savior became the Passover Lamb. It was prophesied in Isaiah and in the Psalms that Messiah would die for the sins of the people. HIS RESURRECTION AND ASCENSION 1Cor 15:20,25 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept...For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. Jesus was born King and He died King and arose from the dead as King and ascended into Heaven as King and He will return as King! Our Lord told us where He shall reign. Jerusalem is the "city of the great King." (Matthew 5:35) Someday Christ shall rule out of Zion. For now, He is seated at the Right Hand of the Heavenly Father, awaiting the day when He shall return for the Bible says: "The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Until I make thy foes thy footstool." (Acts 2:35-36) Heb 1:8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. HIS RETURN His Kingdom is not of this present world but someday Christ Jesus shall reign from this earth and how the earth awaits the day when "The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever." (Revelation 11:15) And when Christ returns, He is not coming as a humble servant but as the King of glory! In power and in might, shall he physically smite His enemies. It is called the Day of the LORD: Rev 1:7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. (See also Zechariah 12:10) Rev 19:16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. Zeph 3:15-17 The LORD hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the king of Israel, even the LORD, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more. In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack. The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing. Zech 14:9 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one. Zec 14:16 And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. Matt 25:31-34 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world CONCLUSION The manger was the beginning of an eternal King that shall reign forever. As God, Jesus never had a beginning but as man, He was born in a manger. Forever He will always be the unique God-Man. No one else has such a title. It is exclusively His and His alone! He was King and will always be King! Heaven welcomed the King of Glory and rejoiced at His ascension. The children of Israel will someday welcome their King back to earth when He rescues them at Armageddon and will cry, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD." (Matthew 23:39; Zechariah 12:8-10) As Believers in Christ, it is important to know and understand His office as King. His Kingdom is not of this world. We are not of this world. We are in it but not of it. We should not love the things of this world but should love the Lord with all of our hearts and love our neighbor as we love ourselves. The Lord Jesus is Head over His Church and He gave us these commandments. We are to wait in expectation for Christ shall return! 2Peter 3:13 says, Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Someday the Lord will make all things new-- a new Heaven and a new earth. The question is, do you know Him as your Savior? Click here. You can never know Him as King and you will never reign with Him (Daniel 7:27, Romans 8:17) unless you have received Him first as your personal Savior. He is the King of glory and His Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom! Blessed be the Name of the Lord! 1Timothy 6:15-16 Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen. Copyright © 2006 Cobblestone Road Ministries All Rights Reserved FURTHER READING: Jesus Christ Died For Our Sins Jesus Is The Jewish Messiah - Proof From The Hebrew Scriptures Jesus - The Great I AM The Magi and The Star of Bethlehem The Significance of the Two Genealogies of Jesus Psalm 40 - A Messianic Psalm concerning the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ Concerning the Kingdom of God - What Did Jesus Teach After His Resurrection? |
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