Question 30: How does Christ perform the office of a king?
Christ performs
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.
DAY 1: PSALM 110:1-2
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
The entire chapter of Psalm 110 is about the rule of the Lord. There are two Lords used in this verse. The first is the proper name of God, Jehovah. The second Lord here is the Hebrew word adown, which carries the meaning of master or lord. This is one who is in charge. It can speaks to the one who is in charge of affairs. This word also is used in reference to kings and is used in reference to God Himself. There seems to be an inter-Trinitarian conversation going on. The Father says to the Son that He is to sit at His right hand. This refers to his place of honor. He has accomplished His work of redemption and now is seated.
He is patiently waiting till His
Father makes his enemies His footstool.
This is the picture of the conqueror.
When someone had been conquered the conqueror would advance and place
his foot upon the neck or head of the enemy as a sign of his victory. Genesis
The rod spoken of here is a depiction of His authority that is given to Him in order to bring the world into subjection to His leadership. We will look at it a little more in the next lesson. His strength is personal, social and political. He will be an absolute dictator.
The ruling in the midst of His enemies is a reference to Psalm 2:9. It speaks of his destruction of His enemies. When He sets up His kingdom there will be the removal of the old ways of leadership and there will be no one to rise up and overthrow Him. Those who would wish to revolt against the Lord’s command will find themselves facing the same fate as all the enemies of Christ. So, His rule will come about in similar fashion to those of previous empires, only it will be total devastation of all His enemies and a complete and total rule of His kingdom forever.
DAY 2: MATTHEW 2:6
`But you,
The context
for this passage is the wise men coming to Herod and questioning him as to the
whereabouts of the King of the Jews that had been born. Herod did not know and so questioned the
chief priests and scribes as to the birth place of the Messiah. The verse we are looking at today is their
response, which is quote taken from Micah 5:2.
Micah prophesied over seven hundred years before Christ came on the
scene! Incredibly he predicted that the
Messiah would be born in the little town of
We see that
the King will come and will and be a Ruler and that He will shepherd the people
of
So, though Christ is indeed King now, when He returns He will not only exercise rule and authority over the hearts of believers, He will manifest His power and rule over the entire world. It does not take away from His rule now, it will simply be made manifest physically in the future. He came the first time as a suffering servant, but He will return as the King of kings and Lord of lords.
DAY 3: LUKE 1:32-33
"He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."
The context of this verse lies in the announcement by the angel Gabriel to Mary about the birth of Jesus Christ. The angel announces that she will conceive by the Holy Spirit and bring forth a son, who will be called Jesus, the Son of God.
The angel tells Mary several things about the boy she will give birth to. First she is told that He will be great. The Greek word is megas. In the context it seems to speak of the quality of the person of Christ. One definition for the word is “predicated of rank, as belonging to: persons, eminent for ability, virtue, authority, power; things esteemed highly for their importance: of great moment, of great weight, importance; a thing to be highly esteemed for its excellence: excellent. He will be of the highest quality of man. This is to say He will be morally perfect. Though all men have sinned and we are all unrighteous, Christ was great among men. Listen to the Father as He proclaims the greatness of His Son, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Jesus was great because He was without sin. In other words, He was holy.
Second, the angel says that he will be the Son of the Highest. MacArthur points out that “since a son bears his father’s qualities, calling a person someone else’s “son” was a way of signifying equality. He the message becomes clear: Jesus would be equal to the Most High God.
Third, the angel tells Mary that God will give His Son the throne of His father David. Jesus comes from the line of David. We see this clearly in the first chapter of Matthew. During the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D., the records of genealogy were destroyed. Thus the only clear record we have of anyone who can rightfully claim the throne of David is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only one in existence who can prove His claim to the messianic line of David. Therefore, His rule is assured of.
Lastly, we are told that when He comes and takes office and that is exactly what He will do, since there will be no democracy, He will establish a kingdom that will be permanent and eternal. Unlike the great empires of the past and even of today, Christ’s kingdom will not become corrupt. It will not be invaded and overrun. There will be no coups there. Instead there will be the King, in all His glory ruling and reigning over the house of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never terminate. However, the end to which all things relate will be towards Him and His kingdom.
Even as we look into 1 Corinthians
Scripture: Psalm 110:1-2; Matthew 2:6; Luke 1:32-33; 1 Corinthians 15:25