THE GREAT KING
We need first of all to consider God's covenant with David: that, of his descendants, He would raise up a wholly righteous seed (the Christ) who would sit and reign upon his throne for ever. (Literally, for the aeon of the aeons, i.e., the Millennium.) In 2Samual 7 we read of how King David wanted to build a house or Temple for God. God told him that it was not to be David who would build that Temple. However God did promise David that He would build him a house or dynasty that would last for ever. We read:"And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever."....... "And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever." 2Samuel 7v12-13 &16David himself says:
"These be the last words of David. . . The spirit of the Lord spake by me, and His word was upon my tongue. The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me: One that ruleth over men righteously, that ruleth in the fear of God he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, a morning without clouds; when the tender grass springeth out of the earth, through clear shining after rain. Verily my house is not so with God; yet He hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for it is all my salvation, and all my desire, although He maketh it not to grow." (2 Samuel 23.1-5).This promise was not fulfilled in David's lifetime but God does not change His word is trustworthy and sure. So we read of God's promise to Mary the mother of Jesus, who was a direct descendant of David:
"Thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Most High: and the Lord God shall give unto him THE THRONE of HIS FATHER DAVID: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end" (Luke 1.31-33).The world has already had a preview of that perfect character, God has prepared to be the Great King of Israel and indeed the King of all the world. The four Gospel accounts have preserved for mankind an indelible record of his life and work at his first coming. Before he commenced his work he had thoroughly mastered the teaching of the Old Testament scriptures so that he might obey all his Father's commandments perfectly; he set an example of flawless righteousness and he taught the people without fear or favour. At the end although he knew the terrible death that awaited him, he voluntarily surrendered to crucifixion, willing to submit totally to his Fathers will. Peter sought to change the mind of Jesus, striving to deter him from going to Jerusalem and ultimately to his death. Yet Jesus rebuked Peter saying:
"Thinkest thou that I cannot beseech my Father, and He shall even now send me more than twelve legions of angels? How then should the scriptures be fulfilled that thus it must be?" (Matthew 26.53-54).Nonetheless, Jesus looked forward in perfect faith, to that great reward which he knew that he would receive at the time appointed by his Father in heaven. Thus Paul exhorted the disciples:
"Let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and hath sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12v1-2)When Jesus returns in power and great glory, he will be accompanied by his Father's angels, for we read Jesus said:
"When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the angels with him, then shall he sit on the throne of his glory: and before him shall be gathered all the nations." (Matthew 25.31-32).Thus the Angels that Jesus spoke of to Peter that he could call upon his Father for will now be with him, prepared to do his bidding. It is they whom Jesus will send to the four corners of the Earth to gather his elect to the judgement seat.
So lets go on now to examine some aspects of Jesus upon his return.
1) THE PHYSICAL APPEARANCE OF JESUS
When Jesus came before, it was foretold of him by the prophet Isaiah:"Who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected of men..." (Isaiah 53.1-3).Surely Jesus was despised and rejected, crucified upon the cross, a cruel death. Yet when he returns in the full glory of the Spirit Nature that he now has, to reign as a great and glorious King, his appearance shall be greatly changed. David foresaw his changed appearance:
"My heart overfloweth with a goodly matter: I speak the things which I have made touching the King: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer. Thou art fairer than the children of men; grace is poured into thy lips: therefore God hath blessed thee for ever. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh O MIGHTY ONE, thy glory and thy majesty. And righteousness: and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things. Thine arrows are sharp; the peoples fall under thee; they are in the heart of the king's enemies. Thy throne, O God is for ever and ever: a sceptre of equity is the sceptre of thy kingdom Thou lovest righteousness, and hated wickedness: therefore God thy God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia; out of the ivory palaces stringed instruments have made thee glad" (Psalm 45.1-8).The righteous have been promised and look forward to the time when as Isaiah records:
"Thine eyes shall see the King in his beauty." (Isaiah 33.17).Jesus was born exactly like us, he was of the same nature and prone to the same weakness, but now, raised from the dead after a life of complete obedience to his Father, he is clothed with divine nature.
"God having of old time spoken unto the fathers in the prophets... hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in his Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things.... who being the effulgence of his glory, and the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power." (Hebrews 1.1-3).To Jesus as we read has been given all power and authority by God. Following his resurrection Jesus spoke to his disciples: " And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth." (Matt 28v18) Thus mighty in power and appearance Jesus shall rule the nations with as we read an iron rod, yet with justice and righteousness, faithfully executing God's will and purpose.
2) RE-UNITES THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL
Because of the disobedience of King Solomon, God divided the nation of Israel into two Kingdoms, but because of the righteousness of Jesus Christ his Father will reunite them in his hand, that Jesus might reign over a united Kingdom and people:"Say unto them thus saith the Lord God: Behold I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: and I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one King shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms anymore at all." (Ezekiel 37.21-22).The Kingdom of God though, is not confined merely to the land of Israel, but will be a world wide Kingdom, with Jesus ultimately bringing all into subjection to God. [1Corinthians 15.25]
3) RULES WITH FIRMNESS, WISDOM, JUSTICE AND MERCY.
Man now makes laws and rules as he sees fit, there is no universal concept of justice. Each country has it's own legal system with laws acceptable to some countries but unacceptable to other countries. However in the Kingdom age no longer will man devise laws as he sees fit, no longer will there be injustice, a law that benefits one section of the community at the expense of another. Jesus will rule with justice because his judgement will be on an entirely different level:"The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding the spirit of counsel and might the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord... he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked" (Isaiah 11.2-4).The law that Jesus will rule by shall be the law of God, a law that is infallible and irresistible:
"Give THE KING thy judgements, O God and thy righteousness unto the king's son He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgement...He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor. They shall fear thee while the sun endureth, and so long as the moon, throughout all generations...In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace, till the moon be no more. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea and from the river unto the ends of the earth ...All kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him" (Psalm72.l-ll).We read that the law shall 'go forth from Jerusalem'. The Kings of Israel were said to sit upon the throne of the Lord God, for it is he who is the ultimate King of all. The Kings dispensed justice and ruled, yet so many times they failed to obey the Lord their God. Their rule was but a faint shadow of what was to come. But Jesus shall indeed sit upon the throne of God and rule with the full authority and power of God:
"Then the moon shall be confounded and the sun ashamed; for the Lord of Hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously." (Isaiah 24.23).We must always remember that Jesus shall be King and rule because he alone is worthy to do so:
"And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross. Wherefore also God highly exalted him, and gave unto him the name which is above every name; That in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things on the earth and things under the earth And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2.8-11).He is the Son of God and it is God's good pleasure to give to him the Kingdom and as God promised to David, that Kingdom shall be an everlasting Kingdom:
"I saw in the night visions, and behold there came with the clouds of heaven one like unto a son of man, and he came even to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given unto him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples nations and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed" (Daniel 7.13-14).
