CHRIST The KING

Text Psalm 45:6-7
" Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre. Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.”

We decided to make an Old Testament passage the text for this message titled "CHRIST The KING" for us to appreciate that the Old Testament patriarchs like Enoch, Abraham, Job, David etc knew The Lord Jesus Christ and had a deep relationship with Him (Genesis 18:1, 10, 13). They knew God much more than those of us in the New Testament can ever imagine. Job says in Job 19:25-26 "For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth; And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God." Who was Job referring to as the Redeemer? Job's testimony which was by the inspiration of The Holy Spirit, pointed towards Jesus Christ The Redeemer Who will come to save His people from sin and God's judgement (Matthew 1:21; Romans 3:24). He prophetically expressed the conviction that after his body might have decayed in the grave, he would physically be raised to life and see the Redeemer-God in a resurrected body. Jude verse 14-15 makes reference to Enoch the seventh from Adam prophesying about the second coming of The Lord Jesus Christ thus: "And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him."

It is erroneous therefore to think that those of us in the New Testament know God better than those in the Old Testament. The difference between the Old Testament believers and those in The New Testament is that while those in the Old Testament looked forward to what The Lord Jesus will do, we in the New Testament look back at what Christ had done.

Psalm 45:6-7 points to the following:

A. The exaltation, prominence and authority of Christ as the King
Christ Who is the radiance of God's glory, and the express image of His Person, and upholds all things by the word of his power (Hebrews 1:3) is the Son of God and the Messianic King. He is God by nature, equal with the Father before, during and after His time on earth (John 1:1; John 14:8-9). God The Father has set His Son above all others by anointing Him, glorifying Him and giving Him a Name that is above every other name (John 13:32; Philippians 2:9-11). As the KING of Kings and LORD of Lords, He will judge the world in righteousness (Revelation 19:11).

B. The duration of His reign
The Kingdom of Christ commenced with His first coming. This is because Christ is the Kingdom. He therefore personifies the Kingdom and wherever the King is present, there resides the Kingdom. He demonstrated God's Kingdom on earth through His healing, the performing of miracles and the driving out of demons (Matthew 4:23; Matthew 12:28). Currently He lives in every believer by The Holy Spirit Whom He has given to us (Romans 8:9). His Kingdom at the moment is therefore more of spiritual in nature. The physical establishment of His Kingdom will be heralded at His second coming at the end of the age (Daniel 7:21-22; I Corinthians 6:9-10; I Corinthians 15:50; Galatians 5:19-21). Revelation 11:15 speaks of the duration of Christ's Kingdom as that which will be without end "The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and He shall reign forever and ever."

C. His most significant characteristics
The most significant characteristics of The Messiah according to our main text are:

i. He loves righteousness
Righteousness characterises God's Kingdom. Christ enjoins us to seek first God's Kingdom and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33). Romans 14:17 says that "For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." Christ loved the church to the point that He gave Himself for her in order to make her holy and clean (Ephesians 5:25-26). Our relationship with Christ is hinged upon the extent to which we yield ourselves to Him; our prayer lives and how much of His Word abides in us (Luke 21:36; Colossians 3:1-6;1 Thessalonians 5:17; Colossians 3:16).

2. He hates wickedness
Christ hates wickedness as much as He loves righteousness. His hatred for wickedness made Him to die on the cross in order to crush evil and save us from sin (Matthew 1:21; Colossians 2:15; I John 3:. Christ while here on earth confronted all forms of sin and satanic stronghold of unrighteousness. He spoke against evil and hypocrisy of the religious leaders of His time (Matthew 23). We have to love righteousness and hate wickedness like our Master Jesus Christ.

The Holy Spirit leads people to look at the cross of Christ. His cross teaches us to see the evil of sin and the beauty of holiness. As a Prophet, Priest and King, Christ is given the Holy Spirit without measure (John 3:34). He gives His Holy Spirit to all who believe in Him and have become God's children by adoption (John 14:18, 26; Romans 8:14-16; Galatians 4:4-7).

John 3:36 declares that "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." To believe in the Son of God is to obey and be subject to Him. Failure to obey and not be subject to Him is considered as unbelief. Unbelief is therefore the rejection of God's Son and disobedience to His Word (Luke 10:16; John 12:48; 1 Thessalonians 4:. God will ultimately respond to the rebellion of the nations and peoples against His Son on the day of judgement (Psalm 2:1-12; John 5:22; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Colossians 3:23-25).

Conclusion
As we celebrate the Lord’s birth and as this year draws its curtain, we should ask ourselves this question, ‘How can I escape the wrath of God’? We can only escape God’s wrath by accepting the Lordship of His Son over our lives. God gave His Son as an offering for sin on the cross. The Atonement was from God’s loving heart and was never forced on Him (John 3:16; 1 John 4:10). Through the death of Christ on the cross believers have obtained eternal life from God. Eternal or Everlasting life is a divine type of life that frees us from the power of sin and satan and removes us from earthly and temporal desires in order to know God (John 8:34-36). God’s free gift of life comes with responsibilities. It requires that we enter into the way of salvation and subject ourselves to the righteousness of God (Romans 5:1; Philippians 2:12-13).

Are you a child of God or a child of the devil? Do you have a relationship with The One Who made you? Should the trumpet sound or you die now will you be with Him in glory? Examine yourself now and see if you are in the faith. If you are in a church that does not build you up and prepare you for eternity with Christ, then come out of that place now. It is nothing but a synagogue of satan (Revelation 3:9). Repent of your sins and turn to The Lord Jesus Christ for salvation.