Christ The King
2 Sam 5: 1-3; Col 1: 12-20; Luke 23: 35-43
Deacon Larry Brockman
Christ the King! That means Christ is not the President; not the Prime Minister; not the Emperor- e is none of these other things. Rather, He is a King. You see, He is not elected by either the people, like a President, or by the leaders, like a prime minister; nor is He the leader by virtue of conquest like an Emperor. Rather, He is chosen and anointed by God the Father.
Now at first blush, the difference may not mean a lot to you. But when you really think about it, well, being a King versus any of those other things is quite profound. You see, being the King means that Christ is sovereign. He is above all else and first and foremost as Paul says. No one else either compares to Him nor can they ever compare to Him. Rather, He is all of the things that Paul talks about in the letter to the Colossians.
Christ is not King by virtue of acceptance by the people or the leaders of the people or by conquest. That’s why David was anointed King. But it is different with Christ. He is the absolute King not subject to any other authority- not to the people, the leaders, or conquered slaves.
The fact that Christ the King is above everything else implies that God’s creation is a hierarchy. We know that there are angels and that angels are in a hierarchy. We don’t know what else God created outside of our universe. But the rest of creation in our Universe has levels within it; it is a hierarchy. To drive that message home, God created hierarchies all over the place for us to see. The animal Kingdom is a hierarchy; the plant kingdom is a hierarchy. Even the Universe is a hierarchy of galaxies with dependent stars with planets subject to them. So, we know the Kingdom of God to be a hierarchy as well.
Now we are used to the phrase that “All men are created equal”. But you know what- that is not really true if everything is a hierarchy, is it? What is true is that God created each one of us as He saw fit. God does not create junk; so everything He created is good, and everything he created was created for a purpose. God uniquely “gifted” each of us with the life that we have in the times that we were born into; we are all pieces of a giant jigsaw puzzle that is in God’s mind.
We are all of equal value to God; but that doesn’t mean that we are all created with equal value in our frame of reference because God made some of us more talented than others in the eyes of our peers.
You see, the reality of who we really are is only known to God. We are like icebergs floating on the sea to the world. To God, he sees all of us, including the potential we will have in the Kingdom of God; the only thing the world sees is the part that sticks above the surface. God sees the part below the surface as well.
Now I mention all of this because we need to be good subjects. We need to recognize Christ as the King, like the so-called good thief in the Gospel rather than scoff at God and his ways like the bad thief did. Good subjects submit to their King without question. They do the will of the King at all times and they accept the role they were given without coveting something more for themselves.
In return, like any good sovereign, the King will protect and serve His loyal subjects and provide for their common good. But God is so much more than the best of benevolent Kings from of old, that His subjects will enjoy everlasting happiness and joy.
Life is about learning to live the life God intended for us; to be happy with the gifts and blessings that we have; learning to avoid comparing ourselves to others; and learning to share for the common good. Life is about becoming loyal subjects of Christ the King. If we trust Him and submit to Him; ultimate happiness will be ours our forever.
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