Part 3: Jesus Not Only The Savior But Also The King

Chances are that one day you will switch on CNN, BBC or AlJazeera
and you will hear the shocking news that Jesus has returned back to Jerusalem
and assumed office in his palace
and is now the defactor ruler of this world,
without inviting anybody's opinion about it
or any poll or any democratic statement about it.
From that moment on, Jesus will not anymore be a King
to those that voluntarily submit themselves to him
But he will be ruling the nations with an iron stick he says.
That means, He will rule the world like God has already planned
from a long time ago
What will that do to our plain church on Sunday?
What will that do to our denominationalism?
Do you really think that when Jesus is acting King
there will still be this 40,000 denominations around?
I don't think so.
What will that do to our money?
So when Jesus is the acting King in this world,
it will change our lives forever.
My point is why don't we change it right now?
Because,Jesus is King already right now.
The fact that Jesus at this point is yet invisible
doesn't mean he has no power, or he doesn't exist
or he doesn't have any influence.
At the moment he is invisible, yes.
And he requires our voluntary submission to him.
The moment He is visible that will change
and it will be required that we will ALL bow our knee to him.
Let's go find out how that will work.
If you watch a film, probably made in Hollywood
or you read one of those novels, Dan Brown kind of novel,
there seems to be an amazing obsession
basically with the most powerful man on the planet.
So the American president is often introduced
as the most powerful man in the world.
And Angela Merkel in Germany, (from where we send this to you)
would then be the most powerful woman in the world.
And power has been defined as the ability to
basically influence and represent, to steer
and maybe even be Commander-in-Chief of the armies
But when people have been telling you in the films
and in the books that these people are the most powerful folks
on the planet, that is not entirely correct.
There is one other being that is far more powerful than that
and has far more influence throughout history.
And that ladies and gentlemen would be - Jesus Christ
who says about himself that yesterday, today and tomorrow
and forever he will be the same.
So it is a king who is not only called a King, but a King of kings.
And let me read you a number of verses to establish that.
Because we need to rediscover something about this Kingship again.
In Zechariah 9 we read this: "Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion!
Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey,
He will proclaim peace to the nations.
His rule will extend from sea to sea
and from the River to the ends of the earth."
It is a pretty powerful statement about the nature of Jesus.
And make no mistake, the nature of the rule of Jesus
is already now compared to a political ruler.
One of the first things we need to learn: Jesus isn't just God;
He is also a King.
When I say He isn't just God, this is what I mean with it:
When we talk about God we often relegate him to some sort of religious domain.
He is supposed to take care of Sunday services, of tithes and offerings
and all this kind of religious things,
and make sure that our church roofs don't leak.
He is kind of a "Sunday God".
But you know what?
He is a God from Monday through Saturday through Sunday,
24/7 throughout history, and from the river to the ends of the earth
as the Bible has been saying.
So he is not just a religious God that we can tuck away.
And the point about Jesus that most people miss
is that he isn't just a God to whom we can go for salvation
and forgiveness and love and grace.
All this is true, but we will miss out terribly
on some other aspects of his Kingship.
And that means that He is about justice and about righteousness
and that he is a political King; He is the head of a political entity
that is called the Kingdom of God.
Many people are just choosing to say that Jesus is my savior
but he is not really the King of my life.
When they do this they just completely miss out who Jesus really is.
They will be terribly shaken up once they recognize who Jesus really is.
Let me take you to another statement about Jesus, THE KING
in the book of revelations.
Sometimes when you hear the 'Sunday school stories' about Jesus,
you get the idea that Jesus is some sweet guy, about 1 meter 70-75,
wearing a white gown and birkenstock sandals and walking around
being sweet and nice to everybody and reciting poems.
Not quite who He really is.
There is another side to him, specially after he was resurrected from the dead.
And I would like you to look at it in the book of revelation, first chapter.
It says here that Jesus Christ is the faithful witness,
the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
Now that's an amazing statement, that isn't your 'birkenstock' guy.
He is the ruler of the kings of the earth!
He runs Obama and Merkel and all the other heads of State.
He rules them in a way that only He can do.
There is another statement about Him just a couple of verses down
where John is hearing this voice like a trumpet
and he turned around to see the voice that was speaking to him
and it says,"when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands,
and among the lampstands was someone “like a son of man,”
dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet
and with a golden sash around his chest.
His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow,
and his eyes were like blazing fire.
His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace,
and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters.
In his right hand he held seven stars,
and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword.
His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
And when I saw him, I thought,
"cool guy and I went away, had some breakfast and went to church".
Not so.
When I saw that, John says, I fell down like dead!
Jesus has that kind of effect on people.
When you really see who Jesus is after the resurrection,
when the kernel of wheat fell in to the ground and died
when he then came back to life, he is not just a little lamb anymore.
He is now also the Lion of Judah; the Lamb and Lion in one person!
And what we as followers of Christ have to absolutely rediscover
is that Jesus isn't just only a saviour that forgives our sins,
He is also the acting King.
I found out in this world today where everybody talks about democracy,
that there are 44 monarchies left, which are run somehow by a king.
But of those 44 monarchies,there are only a few countries
actually its Brunei, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Swaziland and Vatican City
where there is actually a ruler that is not only a king in a ceremonial way,
like the British queen or something like that who hasn't much political power
but they actually have the political power.
And I want you to know that Jesus portrayed in the New Testament
and in the Old Testament is a King who has and holds actual political power
right now. Let me sum this up by saying that Jesus is in this sense
a ruler and King of the country called the Kingdom of God.
He is yes, the savior; but he is also the King.
Number two: He is the creator. Through him everything was created.
And that also means he owns everything.
He is not just a king who looks at this world, as if it doesn't belog to him.
He owns it.
He is also the supreme commander of the heavenly hosts.
That means not just the joint chief of staff,
or the commander in chief of the American army
or any other army in this world.
He has a military power that he represents that is awesome and unsurpassed.
I think He is also the chif banker.
Because basically money and wealth and everything that it represents
is being laid at his feet.
And finally, He is the final Judge, the supreme court
that is basically sitting on the white throne where every injustice,
every issue, my issues, and your issues, issues of the nations and mafia
and whatever has happened will come to be laid down there.
If that is the case then I'd like to challenge you
for a new kind of an allegiance to this King.
Unswear yourself from any other allegiances that you have
with any other king or any thing or any one who have a role like that
in your life and pledge allegiance to this King.
And then don't stop there.
Don't just say that on a nice Sunday morning.
But align youself with this King and with his Kingdom and his decrees
because only then will we find life
and will be living as authentic citizens of the Kingdom.