Christ, The King

by G. Jarvie, Glasgow | Category: General | Oct 1976

"The LORD shall be King over all the earth" (Zech. 14:9).

How fitting it is that He who stooped to the lowest place should now fill the highest place: that He who wore the crown of thorns, should now be crowned with many diadems (Rev. 19:12). "Who is this King of glory?" asked the psalmist, and then he answered, "The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory" (Psa. 24:10). Prophetically, Psalm 47 speaks of those glorious days when the Lord will be King over all the earth. "Sing praises of our King, sing praises. For God is the King of all the earth" (Psa. 47:6,7).

Once He came, born in a stable. Yet He was Israel's King. Of Him, Zechariah wrote, about five hundred years before He came, "0 daughter of Jerusalem: behold thy King cometh unto thee: He is just and having salvation: lowly, and riding upon an ass, even upon a colt, the foal of an ass" (Zech. 9:9). And so He came, just as Zechariah had written. What humility, Israel's King riding upon an ass! But He was rejected! The rulers would not have Him. And as He looked on the city, He wept over it (Luke 19:41). "0 Jerusalem, Jerusalem" He said, "which killeth the prophets, and stoneth them that are sent unto her! how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" (Matt. 23:37). What a lament! Years later Jerusalem was razed to the ground, and those who were left alive were carried away as slaves.

Nineteen hundred years have passed, and Israel have not repented. Nor will they, until they have passed through the days of the Great Tribulation. Then in the time of their deep sorrow He will come to them again in power and great glory. What a deliverance that will be and what humiliation for them when they see the marks of the wounds they gave Him on the cross! Then, He was despised and rejected by them, as Isaiah had foretold. Caesar was their king, they had cried, and Jesus must be crucified. Pilate had put over His head the words, 'THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS' (Luke 23:38). To make sure that everyone could read it, it was written in Hebrew, Latin and Greek. The Jews' rejection of Him could not have been more complete and decisive. They were determined that He would never be their King. The last they saw of Him was His lifeless body on the cross. 0 Earth, Earth, is it to be wondered at that bloodshed and sorrow are your portion now! Yet darker and more awful days lie ahead, of which we can see the shadows falling now.

But Israel's Messiah who is the King of all the earth will come again, for,

"The earth is the LORD's, and the fulness thereof;

the world, and they that dwell therein" (Psa. 24:1).

Christ must reign, until He has put all His enemies under His feet (1 Cor. 15:25). First of all He will come for His Church, and then to Israel. In the dark days of the Tribulation, two-thirds in the land of Israel will be cut off and die (Zech. 13:8), but one-third will be brought through the fire and refined, and to them He will come as king and Deliverer. He will say of them, "Thou art My people; and they shall say, Thou art my God" (Hos. 2:23).

And what of the rest of mankind? Will they accept Him? "He must reign" wrote Paul. He will reign, for He is the King of all the earth. When

He comes to earth, He will be opposed by the world's armed might. Under the rule of the Man of Sin, the Lawless One, the earth will have attained world government, which many are looking forward to now. It will come, but it will be anti-God government. In Israel's land, in the place which is called in Hebrew Har-Magedon, God's enemies will be massed to oppose the King (Rev. 16:16). The battle will be short. The nations will rage and the kingdoms will be moved, but the Lord will utter His voice and His enemies will melt before Him. Those who know His name will be still and will know that He is God; and that He will be exalted among the nations (Psa. 46:6,10). And then the King will take His rightful place and reign over all the earth.

What a transformation there will be when He reigns! Then will be fulfilled those wonderful promises of Psalm 72, the psalm of Solomon:

"In His days shall the righteous flourish;

And abundance of peace, till the moon be no more.

All kings shall fall down before Him;

All nations shall serve Him.

For He shall deliver the needy When he crieth;

And the poor, that hath no helper .

Men shall pray for Him continually;

They shall bless Him all the long day."

When the King reigns not only will mankind rejoice in Him, and be subject to Him, even the animals will be at peace.

"The wolf shall dwell with the Iamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them" (Isa. 11:6).

It is not enough that men and animals should be subject to the King and be at peace, for nature itself will respond, and,

"The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing ... sorrow and sighing shall flee away" (Isa. 35:1,2,10).

Shall we not say from our hearts,

"King of my life, I crown Thee now;

Thine shall the glory be.

Lest I forget Gethsemane,

Lead me to Calvary"?

What part shall we have in those glorious days when the King reigns over all the earth? "If we endure", Paul says, "we shall also reign with Him" (2 Tim. 2:12). What a privilege we have to live and serve and suffer for Him who is the King of glory! Many have laid down their lives for Him, and to them He will give the crown of life (Rev. 2:10). "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope that it waver not; for He is faithful that promised" (Heb. 10:24).

G. Jarvie, Glasgow | Oct 1976
General