Theme: Christ our King of kings
Text: Dan. 7:9-10, 13-14; Rev. 1:4-8; John 18:33-37
There are not many kingdoms in the world today and the kings of the few remaining ones have practically lost all their power and authority. These days some kings on occasions dress and behave just like everyone else to prevent being recognised. There is a story of a European king travelling incognito through his kingdom. He visited a small Church on Sunday and sat down in an empty seat. After some time “the owner” claimed his seat and told him to move to another seat. During the service the minister recognised the king and announced his presence. We can only imagine how embarrassed the “seat owner” must have felt, not only because he did not recognise the king but also because of the way he behaved. Many people today not only fail to recognise the King of kings but also treat Him with disrespect. They expect Him to fit their idea of a king by acting and behaving the way they want. Our perceived idea of Christ does not change the truth that Christ is the King of kings
Jesus Christ is the King of kings. He became flesh and lived among us since only a sinless man could redeem the human race. All of us inherited Adams sinful nature for in Adam “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). Christ, the sinless Son of God, died in our place to pay the penalty for sin “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”. (Rom 6:23) Christ, the King of kings, died in our place to give us His life. It is therefore unimaginable that one would obey an earthly king like Caesar and refuse to obey Jesus Christ. Pilate recognised Caesar as a king, served and obeyed him but failed to recognise the King of Kings and had Him treated worse than a criminal. Jesus Christ submitted to the will of the Father and endured God’s judgement on sin to save us. He has been given power and authority to rule as the King of kings. The prevalent idea of many people today, including even Church members, is that the power and authority of Christ is to be used to do what we want. This idea was completely contrary to those held in biblical times when the king did what he wanted.
Under Roman rule to call anyone except Caesar a king was punishable by death. Caesar relied on human beings like Pilate and military strength to enforce his rule and decrees. Unlike Caesar, the King of Kings needed no humans or military power to enforce His rule and will. He possesses all power and authority in heaven and on earth derived from God and through His Word establishes His will. His dominion is an everlasting one and His kingdom cannot be destroyed. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, who is and who was and who is to come. Jesus Christ took our place and died on the cross to give us His righteousness so that we could become God’s beloved children. All we need to do is to believe “in Him whom God has sent.” (John 6:29)
The King of kings is our source of blessing. He made us a new creation and is the source of our new nature. Our new godly nature does not depend on anything we have done but on what Christ has done for “By grace are we saved through faith, and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God”. (Eph. 2:8) Christ is the source of life and died to give us His life “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”. (Rom 6:23) “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. For whoever believes in him is not condemned. (John 3:17) Christ is the source of our new relationship with God. His sacrifice paid the penalty for sin to give us a new status as God’s beloved children. Simply put the Son of God became the Son of man that sons of men may become sons of God.
As God’s beloved children we have access to His presence and His grace. The grace of God is not only God’s undeserved favour but also God’s empowerment to lead a new abundant life. There is nothing we have done to deserve this. It is only because of what Christ did on our behalf. Christ gave His life to make a relationship with God possible. Are you enjoying the blessings of this relationship or are you missing out on God’s blessings?
Christ has done so much for us that He deserves our attention and devotion. This is only possible with a renewal of the mind. A renewed mind accepts God’s word and follows His directions and the only way to renew the mind is to read and meditate on the Word of God. Christ deserves from us a life of service. This life of service is through the love and care for people Jesus loved and cared about. He loved and cared about the sick, the possessed, the outcasts, the hungry, and those in all kinds of prison. Christ deserves that our lives are a source of blessing. We cannot have access to God’s abundant provisions and not live a life of blessing others. God blesses us to be a blessing as we feed the hungry and give water to the thirsty. We are a blessing when we welcome the stranger, clothe the naked and visit the sick and the prisoner. We are a blessing when we comfort the grieving, the lonely, and the hurting.
If Christ were to visit us would we continue doing the same things we always do? Would we continue saying the things we always say? Would we take Him with us everywhere we had planned to go? Or, would we, perhaps, change our plans until He left? Would we be glad to have Him meet our closest friends? Or would we hope they would stay away until His visit ends? Would we be glad to have Him stay on forever? Or would we long for Him to leave? It would be interesting to know what we would do if Jesus Christ came in person to spend some time with us. Do you really believe that Jesus is the king of kings? Pilate allowed Jesus to be crucified with the words ‘King of the Jews’ written above his head in three different languages although he did not believe it.
Are we also calling Jesus king when our actions clearly show we do not believe it? Why are we tempted to think that helping those in need is the responsibility of the government and various well-meaning organizations? According to Christ this is also an individual responsibility. Believers have received a new nature, a new status and a new direction that makes them ambassadors of Jesus Christ on earth. We are His representatives to be a blessing to the needy, suffering, deprived and sick people in our midst. The Accra Ridge Church has been fulfilling this mandate by giving the needed assistance to help those in prison. We will soon be celebrating the birth of Christ and the occasion is giving us a unique opportunity to show how thankful we are for all that Christ has done for us. Let us obey the Lord and demonstrate our love and compassion for those in prison. Christ gave so much for us and we have the opportunity to respond to His love by giving to those He loves. As we plan to celebrate Christmas let us also give to make the season a blessed time for every prisoner to the praise and glory of Almighty God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen!
