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.