In our final post of the Beholding Christ Series, we will focus on Christ and His office as King. When Jesus began His public ministry He proclaimed that the Kingdom of God was at hand and He called people to repent and believe this good news (Mk. 1:15). Immediately preceding this proclamation Jesus was baptized (Mk. 1:10), which we would see as His anointing for His fulfillment of the threefold office of Prophet, Priest, and King. Jesus is proclaiming that the Kingdom of God has been inaugurated because He, the King, has come.
The Lord made a covenant with David that his throne would never come to an end (2 Sam. 7:13, 16; Ps. 89:3). When Matthew begins his gospel account he makes clear that Jesus is in the line of King David (Matt. 1:6). If we return to Mark’s gospel, Jesus makes clear in chapter 12 that He is great David’s greater son. Jesus quotes from Psalm 110:1 and asks how can great King David refer to another as his Lord (Mk. 12:36). The answer is that David would have a son who would be greater than he. That greater son is Jesus!
In His ministry, Jesus proclaimed the Kingdom and how to enter into it (faith and repentance). In His works, Jesus displayed the reality of the Kingdom, the gospel (the good news of the Kingdom Mk. 1:15) is the complete reversal of sin and its curse.
Jesus made clear that as King He came not to be served but to serve (Mk. 10:45). Before Jesus would take a seat on the throne at His ascension, part of His coronation would be the cross where He would ransom His people (Mk. 10:45). In seeming defeat on the cross, Christ was actually reigning and defeating the sin that enslaves His people as well as the death that awaits them. His resurrection and ascension prove His victory over both sin and death (Rom. 8:2).
In His first coming, Jesus inaugurated His Kingdom. When Jesus returns at His second coming, He will consummate His Kingdom and we will know the fullness of His reign. He will bring final judgment on those who do not belong to Him and He will gather His people to Himself. On that day His blessings will flow “as far as the curse is found” to quote Isaac Watts. On that day sin and death will be no more, all the blind will see, all the deaf will hear, all the lame will walk, and all the hungry will be fed. Christ will come with complete power and majesty and He will make all things new (Rev. 21:1-5). Joy to the world, indeed!
Written by Matt Baker