491 - Embracing the King and His Kingdom

All Hail, King Jesus!

Often it is difficult for us to visualize Jesus as King, because we are pretty much clueless as to what life is like under a king? All we know about kings and kingdoms come from Netflix mini-series or old British movies. But the Scriptures clearly state that Jesus is King. And it also makes it abundantly clear that Jesus, our King, has a kingdom. But what does that mean? How do we begin to understand the King of Kings and His coming Kingdom?

So ask yourself, what do we know about earthly kings and their kingdoms? What is true about them? Because if what we know about human kings is true, it would be reasonable to assume the same is also true about Jesus and His Kingdom.

Consider the following.

A king must have a kingdom.

Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.” Pilate therefore said to 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, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice” – John 18:36-38.

And within his kingdom, a king sovereignly rules.

Which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, (to what extent) far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also (where) in that which is to come – Ephesians 1:20-21.

As sovereign king, he has absolute power over life and death, over justice and punishment, over blessings and rewards, over wealth and poverty, over sickness and health, over order or chaos, over everything in his kingdom.

I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, (which means) so that you do not do the things that you wish – Galatians 5:16-17.

This means that any freedom the king grants to his subjects is granted to them by the merciful grace of the king.

But there is so much more. It gets even better.

What Can We Learn About Jesus and His Kingdom?

If Jesus is king, then these are some of the most important lessons we can learn about living under a king as subjects to his kingdom.

• In life, the best thing to do is please the king.

• And that includes honor, respect, adulation, sacrifice, commitment, loyalty, faithfulness, and obedience.

• Citizens of the kingdom support the king, and the kingdom first.

• And as a result, the king and his kingdom protect them from evil and harm both from within, and without, the kingdom.

This brings us to the crux of this message. Consider carefully how you would answer this question.

If you were called to give an account of your faithfulness to the King, how would your life line up with the following three verses?

“No one can serve two masters; (why) for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (wealth, the personification of riches, earnings, gains, materialism)” – Matthew 6:24.

Do not love (agapáō) the world (kósmos) or the things in the world. If (since, because) anyone loves (agapáō) the world (kósmos), the love (agápē) of the Father is not in him – 1 John 2:15.

And finally…

Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know (eídō) that friendship (philía) with the world (kósmos) is enmity (hatred, hostility, war) with God. Whoever therefore wants to be a friend (phílos) of the world (kósmos) makes himself an enemy of God – James 4:4.

And if you really want to dig a bit deeper into the meaning of these verses, spend a little time online looking up a few of the Greek words. Believe me, it helps.

To download the slides to this message, click – HERE