Let the Church Bow Down: Encounter Christ as KingSample

THE KING’S TIMELINE

Jesus is King.

But how long has He been, and will He be King?

Jesus Christ, as the Son of God, has forever reigned with the Father since before the dawn of time and space. But Jesus Christ, as the Word-made-flesh, the divine-human person, has a timeline.

In a certain sense, Jesus became King. He was always the anointed One, but just as King David was anointed long before he was enthroned (1 Samuel 16:11-13; 2 Samuel 5:4), so King Jesus took His seat as King of the universe only after dying for us in triumphant love, rising from the dead with authority and power, and ascending into heaven before the presence of the Ancient of Days.

Jesus’ kingly ministry continues today. He is not waiting for a time in the future to begin actively exercising His rule; Jesus reigns right now. We may not see it or recognize it, but Jesus is sovereign over everything. Empires rise and fall, pandemics erupt then wane, wars break out then cease, but in the midst of all the good and bad of the happenings in our world, Jesus is present, active, and directing the course of history toward its inevitable conclusion by His Spirit.

What is that future conclusion? It is nothing less than the restoration of creation, the unity of heaven and earth, and the dwelling of God with humanity. This is the eschaton, the end times, that Jesus’ reign will bring about. He will continue to reign as long as it takes to reconcile all things under God and even then, He will continue to be enthroned with the Father forever.

The past, the present, and the future belong to Jesus. May we thus encounter Him as the King who is, who was and who is to come.

Pray with me: Father, thank You that Jesus’ reign marches on from His Ascension to eternity. Fill my heart with the Spirit of Christ and adjust my perspective to recognize that my King is unstoppable. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.