THE KING FROM
HEAVEN
“And
the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found
favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and
bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. 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.” (Luke 1:30-33).
That child born to Mary in Bethlehem was a King. He was ordained
to be a king from the past. He was presented as a King to
mankind. Although He was rejected He shall yet rule as a King
over all kings and Lord over all lords.
I. THE GLORY OF HIS
PAST
He Was
Glorious In His Inheritance.
As
the born child of Mary and the foster child of Joseph He was of
the lineage of David and by virtue of that fact an heir to the
throne over Israel. Far above that He was the Son of God. The
prophet wrote of Him in Isaiah 7:14, “. . .Behold, the virgin
shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.”
Immanuel means “God with us”. Again the prophet spoke in
Isaiah 9:6, “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is
given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name
will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting
Father, Prince of Peace.”
Another prophet, Micah, spoke, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you
shall come for the to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose
goings forth are from old, from everlasting.” (Micah 5:2).
The child Jesus was the rightful heir to the throne of David by
right of His human inheritance and He was the rightful
ruler over all mankind by right of His divine inheritance.
He Was
Glorious in His Authority.
Who
spoke the worlds into existence and imparted life to all
creatures? It was the same Person Who indwelt Himself in that
little baby’s body. “All things were made through Him, and
without Him nothing was made that was made.” (John 1:3).
“For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that
are one the earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or
dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created
through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him
all things consist.” (Colossians 1:16, 17). “God, who at
various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the
fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by
His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom
also He made the worlds:” (Hebrews 1:1, 2)
He Was
Glorious In His Possessions.
We
have considered that baby Jesus was born in a stable and raised in
poverty. But He was not poor before His birth. 2nd
Corinthians 8:9 says of Him, ”For you know the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He
became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.”
Before His birth He wore a crown of diadems and was clothed in
garments of splendor. He sat on a heavenly throne and ruled the
universe with a golden scepter. He possessed all things. (Isaiah
6:1-3).
He Was
Glorious in Honor.
Isaiah had a vision of the Lord sitting upon a throne and his
regal garments filling the temple. He saw the Seraphim cover their
faces with two wings and their bodies and feet with two wings and
they cried out, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts: the
whole earth is full of His glory!” (Read Isaiah 6:1-4).
Who is this
exalted Person before Whom the most exalted angels tremble? John
tells us in John12:41, “These things Isaiah said when he saw
His glory and spoke of Him.” It is clear in the context that
John is speaking of Jesus Christ in John 12:38-41.
II. THE
WONDER OF HIS PREPARATION
Every detail
of His birth was prophesied during the four thousand years of
Biblical history.
His virgin birth – Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 7:14
A descendent of Abraham – Genesis 12:3
Of the tribe of Judah – Genesis 49:10
Of the family of David – Isaiah 9:6
Born in Bethlehem – Micah 5:2
Born in time so that 483 years after Cyrus gave command to
rebuild the Temple He would present
Himself as King to Israel – Daniel 9:25
In like manner
every detail of His life, death, resurrection, ascension, priestly
intercession, coming again and eternal reign was foretold by the
Old Testament Scriptures.
Nations were
prepared for His birth. Hearts were ready to receive His
message. Idolatry had failed to satisfy the longing needs of the
soul. The most brilliant philosophers who ever lived had taken
the intellect as high as it could go and still the mind was
unsatisfied. A universal peace under the Roman Empire along with
a highway and seaway system made possible unrestricted missionary
travel. A Greek trade language made universal communication
possible. Synagogues, located everywhere, with the Scriptures
read in them every Sabbath made possible the immediate
presentation of the story of Christ to the civilized world.
III. THE
GRACE OF HIS COMING
Was mankind
worthy of His coming? No. Did mankind as a whole receive Him
after He came? No. He knew all of this in advance and yet He
came.
Consider His
Condescension.
“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, Who,
being in the form of God, did not considerate robbery to be equal
with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a
bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found
in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to
the point of death, even the death of the cross.”
Philippians
2:5-8). He was born in the dung and mire of a stable. This was
to show His willingness to be born in the muck and mire of the
human heart. Just as that stable had since been scrubbed, cleaned
and decorated with marble, tapestry, gold and precious stones,
even so He cleans up the heart and life of the person where He
comes to dwell.
Consider His
Presentation.
He
was presented as Israel’s King in fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9,
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of
Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and
having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal
of a donkey”
Israel had to
choose whether to accept Him as their King. As a nation they
rejected Him. God recorded their decision as being “We will
not have this man to reign over us!” (Luke 1914).
Pilate had to
choose whether to accept Him or reject Him as his King. He did
not want to make the decision and tried to avoid it, but this no
man can do. Jesus said, “He who is not with Me is against Me…”
(Matthew 12:30). Pilate asked Him “Are You a king, then?
Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this
cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world,…”
(John 18:37). Pilate had to choose whether He would acknowledge
Jesus Christ as the rightful King He was or turn Him over for
crucifixion. He attempted to wash away the responsibility of his
decision in a bowl of water but he shall never wash from them the
blood of Christ---not even in the eternal lake of fire. .
Thank God,
many have received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Of these it
is written in John 1:12, “But as many as received Him, to them
He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe
in His name.”
IV. THE
CERTAINTY OF HIS REIGN
The archangel
Gabriel said, “And He will reign over the house of Jacob
forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” (Luke
1:33).
He came in humility, He shall come in glory.
He came in weakness. He shall come in power.
He came as a lamb. He shall come as a lion.
He came and was rejected. He shall come and reign.
He came and wore a crown of thorns. He shall come with many
crowns.
He came to bear judgment. He shall come to judge.
Just as surely
as the promises of his first coming were fulfilled as prophesied,
even so it shall come to pass that the following prophecy of His
Second coming will become history. “Then the seventh angel
sounded: ‘And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The
kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of
His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” (Revelation
11:15).
Those who will
allow Him to reign as King in their heart now shall be privileged
to reign with Him in His kingdom. If you have not done so, I
encourage you to place Him on the throne of your heart right now.
Copyright © 2004 Thomas E Berry
Scripture quotations from NKJV unless otherwise noted
Copyright © 2008 Truth Helpers Inc.
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