King Of Kings And Lord Of Lords: A Sermon For Christ The King Sunday

King of Kings and Lord of Lords: A Sermon for Christ the King Sunday

1 Timothy 6:13–16 NKJV

I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing, which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.

Today is Christ the King Sunday on the Christian calendar in which we remember that Christ is not only Savior but King as well. The celebration arose because the Kingship of Christ was being subjugated to the role of Jesus Christ in redeeming us from sin. It has gone so far in the some corners of the Church that some feel that making Christ one’s Lord is optional. One must accept Christ as Savior. It would be good to accept Him as Lord as well but not essential. But what does the Scripture say about this? There have been many books written on this subject which time would not permit this morning to discuss in detail. So, this morning, I want to zero in on one of the texts which talk about the Kingship of Christ. We will look at 1 Timothy 6:13-16 this morning.

Paul wrote this first letter to Timothy near the end of his life. He may have written others to Timothy besides the two we have in the Bible, but the Lord caused these to be recorded for us to overhear. In this epistle as in the Epistle to Titus, Paul is concerned in maintaining the church and provide for its continuation before the return of Christ, however long that might be. He talks about the qualifications for church leaders (elders). He is concerned that sound doctrine be passed down to the next generation of the church. He is interested in the moral conduct of the members of the church. He wished to establish a means of government to provide for the order of the church.

After telling Timothy of these things, he goes on to solemnly charge Timothy to keep what Paul had commanded him. He does this in the presence of God the Creator of all things and Jesus christ who witnessed the good confession before Jesus Christ. God, as Creator owns the universe. It is His and not ours. This implies the right of being King of the Universe as well. He is not just ruler over the church or even the Earth, but the Cosmos. The second part of the charge is interesting. Why does He mention Christ’s confession before Pilate? When we look at this in the Gospel of John we see that part of the dialog between Jesus and Pilate concerned the nature of Christ’s claim to Kingship. He tells Pilate that He is a King, but that His Kingship is not of this world. (John 18:36) He is not a king like Caesar. The problem among the Jews is that Caesar was the type of king they really wanted. this goes back to the Book of 1 Samuel when Israel asked Samuel for a king just like the other nations. (1 Samuel 8) They did not want God to rule over them. This is why before Pilate they would solemnly confess that they had no king but Caesar. (John 19:15) They did not want Jesus to be their king. Their views on Jesus soured soon after He fed the 5000. They numbered the men for battle and were about to take action. they tried to seize Jesus and make Him king. But instead of taking this crown, he sent His disciples away and withdrew. The only crown He would bear in this world was the crown of thorns on His head by which he bore the curse of sin on our behalf.

However, we must not think of Jesus as being some sort of spiritual or philosopher-king. This reduces Jesus to being a Savior. But when we read what Paul wrote to Timothy, we realize that Jesus’s Kingship is an absolute one. Paul calls Jesus “the blessed and only potentate”, “the King of Kings and Lord of Lords”, and who alone possesses immortality. It adds that He now lives in unapproachable light that no one can see or ever see. It is He who is worthy of the doxology of everlasting power and glory. To this Paul adds the solemn “amen.”

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You might say at this point: “Wait a second preacher!” Isn’t Paul referring to God with all this praise, the one we call the “Father?” They would see this as saying that when Jesus returns, He will show us the Father. These words are certainly applicable to the Father, but what about the Son, or the Holy Spirit for that matter? Do we not confess One God in Three Persons, co-eternal, co-equal in power and glory? Do we not read in Matthew 28 that we are to baptize in the “name” of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost? Just before that, does it not say that ALL authority in Heaven and Earth has been given to Jesus? Please note that there is only one name but three persons connected by “and” which is a co-coordinating conjunction which joins elements of equal weight. There is no doubt that Jesus who has authority over Heaven and Earth is certainly a king. and as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, he rules over all temporal kings as well. Caesar followed the example of oriental despots in calling himself by this title. for example, Herod was a client king to Caesar. Even Jesus acknowledges the divine right of kings when in His confession before Pilate He tells him that he would have no power over Him at all unless it had been given it from above, that is heaven and not Rome. (John 19:11) People do not have any authority over Jesus in their own right, but Jesus Christ has power over all people high and low.