WEBVTT 00:00:04.160 --> 00:00:08.640 Hello, I'm Pastor Creighton, and thank you for tuning in to New Sun Churches Podcast. 00:00:08.800 --> 00:00:15.359 We're a gospel centered church in Port Perry, Ontario, proclaiming the true and life-giving word of Jesus as we love and serve our neighbors. 00:00:15.599 --> 00:00:18.320 May God bless you today through his life-giving word. 00:00:19.440 --> 00:00:25.359 Our first lesson is from 2 Samuel chapter 7, beginning at verse 8. 00:00:26.879 --> 00:00:42.159 Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel. 00:00:42.479 --> 00:00:48.640 And I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you. 00:00:48.880 --> 00:01:04.799 And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth, and I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. 00:01:05.439 --> 00:01:14.000 And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. 00:01:14.400 --> 00:01:18.159 And I will give you rest from all your enemies. 00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:23.599 Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:36.079 When your days are fulfilled, and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 00:01:36.560 --> 00:01:43.200 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 00:01:43.599 --> 00:01:48.079 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. 00:01:48.799 --> 00:01:56.319 When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, and the strength of the sons of men. 00:02:10.960 --> 00:02:14.080 Your throne shall be established forever. 00:02:14.800 --> 00:02:21.360 In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David. 00:02:21.599 --> 00:02:23.360 This is the word of the Lord. 00:02:23.599 --> 00:02:25.120 Thanks be to God. 00:02:26.479 --> 00:02:32.479 A reading from the book of Colossians, chapter 1, verses 13 to 20. 00:02:32.800 --> 00:02:43.520 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 00:02:43.840 --> 00:02:48.719 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 00:02:49.039 --> 00:03:00.719 For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions, or rulers or authorities. 00:03:01.039 --> 00:03:04.479 All things were created through him and for him. 00:03:05.039 --> 00:03:10.319 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 00:03:10.639 --> 00:03:13.520 He is the head of the body, the church. 00:03:13.840 --> 00:03:21.840 He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 00:03:22.159 --> 00:03:36.479 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. 00:03:36.800 --> 00:03:38.479 This is the word of the Lord. 00:03:39.039 --> 00:03:40.319 Peace be to God. 00:03:42.080 --> 00:03:55.680 Friends, God has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 00:03:56.000 --> 00:03:57.199 Let's pray. 00:04:04.080 --> 00:04:08.639 Lord Jesus Christ, high and mighty, King of Lord of Lords. 00:04:09.919 --> 00:04:12.879 We come to you without any. 00:05:07.120 --> 00:05:09.279 I know Rachel and I were tuning in. 00:05:19.199 --> 00:05:25.040 Of course, it's something of a modern novelty that we get to watch a coronation happen on television. 00:05:25.120 --> 00:05:27.839 Does anyone remember the first televised coronation? 00:05:28.959 --> 00:05:30.399 Elizabeth II, of course. 00:05:30.639 --> 00:05:32.399 You're looking at me like I'm trying to confuse you. 00:05:32.480 --> 00:05:34.079 I'm not trying to confuse you. 00:05:35.279 --> 00:05:41.360 18 to 20 million people in the UK alone tuned in for King Charles' coronation. 00:05:41.759 --> 00:05:44.319 7.6 million in Canada. 00:05:44.639 --> 00:05:48.720 And in the United States of America, which, by the way, I love the United States of America. 00:05:48.800 --> 00:05:50.560 I may not love everything America gets up to. 00:05:50.639 --> 00:05:52.720 Frankly, I don't love everything Canada gets up to. 00:05:52.879 --> 00:05:54.720 But I love the United States of America. 00:05:54.879 --> 00:05:56.079 I went to school there. 00:05:56.240 --> 00:05:58.959 I worked there, got ordained when I was down there. 00:05:59.199 --> 00:06:00.720 I love the United States of America. 00:06:00.800 --> 00:06:09.439 And it's very clear when you're when you're in America, this is a country founded on a rebellion against the monarchy, against the king, right? 00:06:09.600 --> 00:06:14.959 Nevertheless, 12 million Americans tuned in for the coronation of this king. 00:06:15.199 --> 00:06:24.800 And uh worldwide estimates uh suggest that something like 2 billion people tuned in to watch this coronation. 00:06:25.279 --> 00:06:28.480 Two billion people worldwide. 00:06:28.720 --> 00:06:32.319 And I guess that, I don't know, raises a question for me. 00:06:32.480 --> 00:06:34.000 Why so much attention? 00:06:34.240 --> 00:06:34.560 Right? 00:06:34.879 --> 00:06:55.199 Because if you know you're a little cynical, which sometimes I'm a little cynical, and I start to think, you know, a cynical person could look at this uh ceremony and think, you know, it's a bunch of old dudes in an old dusty church, you know, doing archaic rituals, you know, and and completely out of touch with, you know, the common people or something like that. 00:06:55.360 --> 00:07:01.279 And yet, something like one out of every four people in the world tuned in to watch that. 00:07:01.600 --> 00:07:03.519 And the question for me is why? 00:07:03.759 --> 00:07:08.399 Why would that compel because it's not like it's edge of your seat television, right? 00:07:08.800 --> 00:07:11.279 I mean, it's not like who shot JR or something like that. 00:07:11.360 --> 00:07:19.279 It's not like, you know, it's not exactly something that might command our attention, but nevertheless, it gained so much attention. 00:07:19.439 --> 00:07:20.240 Why would that be? 00:07:20.399 --> 00:07:25.360 Here's there's many, probably many different answers to that question we could we could submit. 00:07:25.519 --> 00:07:28.560 Here's here's one answer that I would submit to you for your consideration. 00:07:28.959 --> 00:07:41.759 Could it be that there's something about this coronation service and all of its ceremonies and everything that the monarchy represents that resonates existentially with us in some way or another? 00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:48.800 In some way, we long for the realization of everything that a king represents, right? 00:07:49.120 --> 00:07:54.639 The peace that a king offers, the protection from enemies that a king offers, right? 00:07:54.879 --> 00:07:58.000 The provision and prosperity, right? 00:07:58.079 --> 00:08:02.560 The blessing of the monarch's subjects. 00:08:02.720 --> 00:08:11.920 Do we long for that true king and there's something that resonates in as an archaic a ceremony as a coronation like that is? 00:08:12.160 --> 00:08:18.160 I wonder if this is why stories like Lord of the Rings resonate with us so uh profoundly. 00:08:18.399 --> 00:08:21.120 Because we long for the return of the king, right? 00:08:21.519 --> 00:08:25.439 Or why Lion King is easily the best Disney movie, right? 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:27.519 Snow White probably being a second. 00:08:27.600 --> 00:08:28.879 Thank you, Rebecca. 00:08:30.160 --> 00:08:40.320 You know, or even Marvel movies like Black Panther, right, stand out to us because we long could it be that we just we long for the true king to sit on the true throne? 00:08:40.559 --> 00:08:41.519 Something like that. 00:08:41.759 --> 00:08:47.840 And we long for all of the ways that that is going to provide the peace and protection and provision that we long for. 00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:49.360 Do we long for that? 00:08:50.000 --> 00:09:02.799 Now we've been journeying through or looking through, I should say, kind of the lens of the first three quarters of the Bible called the Old Testament, everything that anticipates Jesus and points forward to him. 00:09:03.039 --> 00:09:15.519 And we've been looking to understand more deeply who Jesus is through this lens, through the lens of three offices that God establishes in the Old Testament to minister to his people. 00:09:15.679 --> 00:09:29.360 We've been looking at the offices of prophet, who reveals God to the people of God, the priest, who reconciles God's wayward, alienated, guilty people to their holy God. 00:09:29.600 --> 00:09:33.919 And now this week we want to come to the final office, that of king. 00:09:34.159 --> 00:09:42.320 And I want to submit that as the King of Kings, Jesus reigns over us and all creation. 00:09:42.559 --> 00:09:45.279 I want to submit to you that that's what we find in Scripture. 00:09:45.360 --> 00:09:54.639 That is the central affirmation of Jesus' kingship and the fulfillment of all of our longings and biblical longings for a true king. 00:09:54.879 --> 00:10:01.279 As the King of Kings, Jesus Christ reigns over us and over all creation. 00:10:01.440 --> 00:10:05.679 And that is very good news if indeed he is a good king. 00:10:06.399 --> 00:10:12.559 So I want us to interrogate that main idea with a few questions, the questions we've been asking for the last couple of weeks. 00:10:12.639 --> 00:10:14.879 I want us to ask, what is a king, right? 00:10:14.960 --> 00:10:16.159 How do we understand that? 00:10:16.399 --> 00:10:18.879 What makes Jesus the king, right? 00:10:19.039 --> 00:10:20.320 What's so significant about him? 00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:26.879 And finally, I want us to ask, well, what difference does Jesus reign, does his kingship make to me? 00:10:27.120 --> 00:10:34.080 Three questions to interrogate this idea that as the King of kings, Jesus reigns over us and all creation. 00:10:34.240 --> 00:10:40.879 And here's what I'm hoping for us as we study this third office that Christ fulfills. 00:10:41.039 --> 00:11:00.320 I hope that we gain a greater sense of who we pledge our allegiance to as Christians, and we have a greater, more concrete sense of hope that we carry with us into a world that still anticipates the king sitting on its throne in glory. 00:11:00.879 --> 00:11:05.759 Okay, so Jesus, the King of Kings, reigns over us and all creation. 00:11:05.919 --> 00:11:07.519 Let's ask our first question. 00:11:07.840 --> 00:11:09.519 What is a king? 00:11:09.759 --> 00:11:11.120 Here's one Dr. 00:11:11.279 --> 00:11:12.559 Google definition. 00:11:13.279 --> 00:11:20.080 A king is a ruler who exercises supreme authority over a people or a territory, right? 00:11:20.320 --> 00:11:28.240 Traditionally understood not merely as a political administrator, right, a bureaucrat, but as a personal embodiment of rule. 00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:30.080 And I think that's really, really key, right? 00:11:30.240 --> 00:11:33.360 A king is does more than just fulfill certain responsibilities. 00:11:33.759 --> 00:11:40.960 A king, or, or I'm going to keep using king to you know parallel with Christ, but we could we could just as easily substitute monarch, right, of any sort. 00:11:41.200 --> 00:11:48.480 A king is the personal embodiment of the reign that he executes, right? 00:11:48.720 --> 00:11:53.039 The personal embodiment of the ideals of his realm, right? 00:11:53.120 --> 00:11:56.080 So a king, a monarch, reigns, right? 00:11:56.240 --> 00:12:04.320 A king rules, a king judges, a king, uh, a good king leads his people into war to protect his people from their enemies, right? 00:12:04.480 --> 00:12:09.360 And a king symbolizes the unity and identity of his realm, right? 00:12:09.759 --> 00:12:15.919 In ancient cultures, uh kings were often considered divine or or semi-divine, right? 00:12:16.080 --> 00:12:23.279 They were like the next notch up on the ladder between us and uh the rulers of heaven, so to speak. 00:12:23.440 --> 00:12:32.320 So in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia and Babylon, just to name a few, uh, kings were understood to be an embodiment of the divine, right? 00:12:32.399 --> 00:12:40.000 So when a king spoke, he the king spoke as as um as one who could give a divine mandate, right? 00:12:40.320 --> 00:12:43.919 What he says goes, because what higher authority could there be? 00:12:44.080 --> 00:12:47.200 This is this is God understood to be among us, right? 00:12:47.519 --> 00:12:50.080 Now, this is I'm I'm talking about ancient cultures here. 00:12:50.159 --> 00:12:57.759 Obviously, I'm not talking about our monarchy here in Canada, and I'm not talking about biblical monarchies either, but I think it's helpful to get a sense of the context. 00:12:57.840 --> 00:13:06.000 This is what the surrounding nations in uh the nations that surround Israel, broadly speaking, would have considered their kings to be. 00:13:06.240 --> 00:13:17.919 Because a king is is divinely anointed, or I should say a divine embodiment, a king therefore is authorized to rule, to judge, to legislate in whatever way he sees fit. 00:13:18.159 --> 00:13:24.080 Maybe that makes sense of some of our stuff if we've read about ancient cultures and the things that they got up to, right? 00:13:24.879 --> 00:13:38.879 The thing that often stands out to me about the Old Testament, yes, it can seem like a strange, different culture in a lot of ways, but stranger still is comparing the Old Testament to the culture of all the surrounding nations at the time, right? 00:13:39.039 --> 00:13:54.399 I mean, as strange as the Old Testament might seem to us in our 21st century Canadian culture, the Old Testament called for God's people, the people of Israel, covenant people of Israel, to be a people who stood out from all the surrounding nations and their ideals and their principles. 00:13:54.559 --> 00:14:02.960 They were going to be a different sort of people who witnessed to a different sort of reign, a different sort of God making himself known to his people. 00:14:03.200 --> 00:14:13.840 And so Hebrew kingship was not understood that this is our, this is uh the king is the divine embodiment and therefore speaks as God and makes laws as God. 00:14:14.000 --> 00:14:19.360 The king himself is not divine, the king is rather appointed by God. 00:14:20.080 --> 00:14:23.759 And therefore, the king is under God's law. 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:25.440 Do you see the difference that that makes? 00:14:25.600 --> 00:14:29.039 The king can't just say, you know, here's what it is. 00:14:29.279 --> 00:14:34.720 The king himself has to submit to the very same law that all of God's people submit to. 00:14:34.799 --> 00:14:42.639 And that's why the kings, uh kings of Israel, if we read through the Old Testament, are so frequently called into account by the prophets, right? 00:14:42.799 --> 00:14:47.200 The prophets are charged with ministering God's word to God's people, right? 00:14:47.279 --> 00:14:49.759 They're going to make God's will and ways known. 00:14:49.840 --> 00:14:55.840 And so frequently that calls them into conflict with kings who are really just self-interested, right? 00:14:56.000 --> 00:14:58.480 Who are using power for their own gain. 00:14:58.799 --> 00:15:06.720 And that is a profound difference from all the cultures and nations that surround Israel, where kings just get to call the shots, right? 00:15:07.600 --> 00:15:10.080 A kingship for Israel is conditional. 00:15:10.240 --> 00:15:15.200 It's conditional on the king's faithfulness to God's word, right? 00:15:15.519 --> 00:15:23.440 Faithfulness brings blessing to himself and to God's people, but disobedience brings judgment, right? 00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:37.679 So having established all this, and as we see the kingship kind of being woven into the narrative, the story of the Old Testament, we come to 2 Samuel chapter 7, which is our Old Testament reading this morning. 00:15:37.840 --> 00:15:46.240 And this is a pivotal, pivotal, pivotal text for how we understand the significance of kingship for God and for his people. 00:15:46.799 --> 00:15:50.159 The context of all this is David has been anointed king. 00:15:50.320 --> 00:15:54.000 He's succeeded Saul, who wasn't a faithful king, right? 00:15:54.159 --> 00:15:56.000 And Saul's been done away with. 00:15:56.159 --> 00:16:08.559 Now David is reigning in a splendid palace, and he looks and he sees God's people worshiping in the tabernacle, which is basically like a like a sort of well-done-up tent or something like that. 00:16:08.639 --> 00:16:09.679 And he says, This isn't right. 00:16:09.759 --> 00:16:15.039 It's not right for me to reign in a palace while God's people go and worship in what's essentially a tent. 00:16:15.200 --> 00:16:19.120 He wants to build a permanent temple, a house for God. 00:16:19.600 --> 00:16:32.399 And so he goes to the prophet Nathan and talks with the prophet Nathan, and Nathan hears from the Lord, and now he goes back to David, and he gives, he does what a prophet is supposed to do, which is to speak God's word to God's people. 00:16:32.480 --> 00:16:33.919 And in this case, it's David. 00:16:34.159 --> 00:16:35.840 And what does Nathan have to say? 00:16:36.080 --> 00:16:44.559 Nathan articulates God's purposes for his king and God's ultimate will for kingship. 00:16:44.799 --> 00:16:50.480 So in 2 Samuel chapter 7, I won't go into too much detail, but let's just sketch it out here for a minute. 00:16:50.559 --> 00:16:51.679 What's a king supposed to do? 00:16:51.840 --> 00:16:52.879 Verse 8. 00:16:53.840 --> 00:16:56.559 Nathan reminds David where he came from, right? 00:16:56.720 --> 00:17:01.440 You were a shepherd boy, and God appointed you to be the king of his people. 00:17:01.600 --> 00:17:04.319 And the parallel there, I think, is very, very important. 00:17:04.640 --> 00:17:14.960 Just as David shepherded and cared for his flock of sheep, so now as king, God has appointed him to shepherd his people, his covenant people, Israel, right? 00:17:15.359 --> 00:17:19.599 He's meant to care for them, to protect them, to provide for them in all of these ways. 00:17:19.759 --> 00:17:22.319 A king shepherds God's people, verse 8. 00:17:22.559 --> 00:17:34.079 Then verses 9 to the beginning of verse 11, God makes it clear that his desire is for David as king and for kings to administer protection and peace from their enemies, right? 00:17:34.319 --> 00:17:40.799 And then we come to the real uh guts of it in the second half of verse 11 through to verse 16. 00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:49.519 And this is where God gives a promise to David that will resonate through the rest of the biblical story, right? 00:17:49.759 --> 00:17:52.160 Here's what God says to David. 00:17:52.799 --> 00:17:55.039 Let me pull up my verses here. 00:17:55.200 --> 00:18:06.000 When your days are fulfilled, right, and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come for your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 00:18:06.319 --> 00:18:12.079 He shall build a house for my name, right, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 00:18:12.319 --> 00:18:15.680 I will be to him a father, he will be to me a son. 00:18:15.920 --> 00:18:22.000 And then God goes on to say, verse 16, Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. 00:18:22.160 --> 00:18:24.720 Your throne shall be established forever. 00:18:24.880 --> 00:18:26.559 So here's a very interesting reversal. 00:18:26.640 --> 00:18:27.359 Did you catch that? 00:18:27.599 --> 00:18:32.960 David wants to build a house for God, and God says to David, No, no, no, no, David, it's not time for you to build me a house. 00:18:33.039 --> 00:18:34.000 That'll come later. 00:18:34.160 --> 00:18:35.920 I'm gonna make a house for you. 00:18:36.160 --> 00:18:36.640 Right? 00:18:36.880 --> 00:18:39.200 And by house, God means dynasty. 00:18:39.359 --> 00:18:46.720 I'm gonna establish a royal dynasty that's going to come from your lineage, and that dynasty is going to last forever. 00:18:46.960 --> 00:18:57.599 And that dynasty, it's understood, is going to usher in all of the hopes and all of the longings that God's people have for the true king, for peace and for protection and for provision. 00:18:57.839 --> 00:19:02.880 This king is going to fulfill the hopes for kings forever, right? 00:19:03.680 --> 00:19:05.200 A king reigns. 00:19:05.359 --> 00:19:06.880 That's the bottom line here. 00:19:07.119 --> 00:19:13.599 A king provides peace, protection, provision, and God's king reigns for his people's benefit. 00:19:13.839 --> 00:19:14.160 Right? 00:19:14.319 --> 00:19:26.480 He will judge according to God's law, he will protect his people from enemies, and in this case, God's promising David, the chosen king will do so for all time, for the rest of eternity, right? 00:19:27.119 --> 00:19:34.160 And now this promise just hangs over the biblical story as we know as we make your way through scripture. 00:19:34.319 --> 00:19:37.039 And here's what I just want us to pause for a moment and consider. 00:19:37.119 --> 00:19:46.799 I want us to consider, I want us to appreciate just how confused and desolate Israel becomes. 00:19:47.119 --> 00:20:01.920 Because this is a promise that comes from God, and it's understood God keeps his promises, and yet David's most immediate successor, Solomon, governs with something like a heart that's half faithful to God, but ultimately succumbs to idolatry. 00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:18.319 And after Solomon, the kingdom splits into two, and after that, both the northern and southern kingdoms get invaded by foreign powers, and the people get put into exile, and now no one is sitting on the promised throne. 00:20:18.480 --> 00:20:26.319 And so if we're among God's people and all of this is happening from one generation to the next, we've got to be asking this question: has God abandoned us? 00:20:26.559 --> 00:20:28.640 Has he forgotten his promise? 00:20:28.880 --> 00:20:32.799 I thought God promised a king that would last forever. 00:20:33.119 --> 00:20:34.640 And now what's happening here? 00:20:34.799 --> 00:20:43.359 If we've ever felt like God has not come through for us, then we know something of how the people of Israel are feeling in this biblical history. 00:20:43.599 --> 00:20:49.759 Will God fulfill his promise for a lasting king by way of the Son of David? 00:20:50.400 --> 00:20:53.519 And that phrase son of David is really important, isn't it? 00:20:53.759 --> 00:20:55.200 That's resonant, isn't it? 00:20:55.359 --> 00:21:02.880 Because if we know our New Testament, we know that the Son of David is one of the names that is so frequently applied to Jesus. 00:21:03.200 --> 00:21:11.759 Jesus, we understand, is the fulfillment of this promise that a king will reign forever, and a king in David's lineage. 00:21:12.079 --> 00:21:17.279 Jesus is the anticipated king who fulfills this promise. 00:21:18.319 --> 00:21:19.519 But how is that the case? 00:21:19.599 --> 00:21:20.880 Let's ask the second question. 00:21:21.039 --> 00:21:23.839 What makes Jesus the king? 00:21:25.680 --> 00:21:27.279 Let's look at a couple key passages here. 00:21:27.359 --> 00:21:30.880 We didn't have an readings this morning, but I want us to look at Matthew chapter 21. 00:21:30.960 --> 00:21:32.240 And here's what I want us to see. 00:21:32.400 --> 00:21:36.160 As the son of David, Jesus is Israel's promised king. 00:21:36.319 --> 00:21:38.640 So Matthew 21 is the triumphal entry. 00:21:38.720 --> 00:21:40.160 Do we remember Palm Sunday? 00:21:40.240 --> 00:21:40.480 Right? 00:21:40.640 --> 00:21:45.839 Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem and everything that Jerusalem means for him, the cross and resurrection. 00:21:45.920 --> 00:21:52.000 But here we are, it's Palm Sunday, and Jesus is making his way into Jerusalem triumphantly, right? 00:21:52.400 --> 00:21:55.519 Celeb uh in a celebratory way. 00:21:55.759 --> 00:21:58.480 Sorry, my brain just kind of stopped there for a second. 00:21:59.039 --> 00:22:01.680 And as you may Makes his way into Jerusalem. 00:22:01.759 --> 00:22:02.240 What's happening? 00:22:02.319 --> 00:22:05.440 The people are tossing their cloaks, they're waving palm branches, right? 00:22:05.599 --> 00:22:08.160 Symbols of kind of receiving royalty, right? 00:22:08.319 --> 00:22:10.559 Tossing your cloak down would be a sign of submission. 00:22:10.720 --> 00:22:13.839 Waving palm branches is a sign of victory. 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:23.039 And Matthew, the narrator of his gospel, interjects that all of this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet as Jesus is riding in on a donkey. 00:22:23.200 --> 00:22:29.039 It says, Behold, your king is coming to you, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the full of a beast of burden. 00:22:29.119 --> 00:22:31.440 That's what Zechariah chapter 9 says. 00:22:31.599 --> 00:22:37.519 Jesus is fulfilling the promise that he is the coming king, coming to reign forever. 00:22:37.759 --> 00:22:45.200 And he's coming not as a warlord, he's not coming in military might, he's coming on the humble beast of burden, a donkey, right? 00:22:45.440 --> 00:22:46.400 A colt. 00:22:48.079 --> 00:22:54.079 His arrival is not overthrowing the Roman Empire, which rules Jerusalem at this time. 00:22:54.240 --> 00:23:02.640 Rather, he's coming to provide peace, protection, and provision through for his people, but not by way of military might or violence. 00:23:02.799 --> 00:23:07.839 This is the king we anticipated, but it is not the king we expected. 00:23:08.559 --> 00:23:14.319 Your king is coming to you humble, mounted on a donkey. 00:23:14.799 --> 00:23:23.920 And so we have Jesus before Pilate on Good Friday, or I suppose the evening of Maudi Thursday, whatever the timeline is. 00:23:24.079 --> 00:23:28.640 But here's Jesus before Pilate, on trial, preparing for the cross. 00:23:28.880 --> 00:23:32.240 And Pilate says to him, So you are a king, right? 00:23:32.559 --> 00:23:34.960 They're tossing Jesus' words back at him. 00:23:35.359 --> 00:23:38.480 Jesus answers John 18, You say that I am a king. 00:23:38.640 --> 00:23:43.200 For this purpose I was born, and for this purpose I've come into the world to bear witness to the truth. 00:23:43.359 --> 00:23:46.799 Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice, right? 00:23:46.960 --> 00:23:48.799 My kingdom is not of this world. 00:23:49.039 --> 00:23:52.799 Yes, I'm a king, but I'm not a king like the kings that you know. 00:23:52.960 --> 00:23:55.920 I'm not a king who is going to crush his enemies. 00:23:56.000 --> 00:24:00.079 I am a king who is going to conquer by way of self-sacrifice, right? 00:24:00.240 --> 00:24:02.799 Because let's bear in mind Jesus is the king, yes. 00:24:02.960 --> 00:24:04.240 He is a priest also. 00:24:04.400 --> 00:24:12.480 And he is the priest who is endeavoring to reconcile us to God by way of his own sacrifice on the cross. 00:24:12.799 --> 00:24:15.759 He is the priestly king, the kingly priest. 00:24:16.240 --> 00:24:19.680 And thus his kingdom is going to look different than the kingdoms of this world. 00:24:19.839 --> 00:24:24.160 It is not a kingdom to be measured in might or power in the way that we understand it. 00:24:24.400 --> 00:24:31.119 It's a kingdom whose strength is in sacrifice, in submission to God's will. 00:24:31.839 --> 00:24:35.519 This is not a king who conquers in the way that we expect. 00:24:36.000 --> 00:24:38.960 Jesus, the Son of David, is Israel's promised king. 00:24:39.039 --> 00:24:48.720 He fulfills the promise of 2 Samuel 7, but he fulfills it in a way we don't expect by way of the cross and by way of his resurrection. 00:24:48.960 --> 00:24:59.599 And it's because of the resurrection, and it's because of his ascension into heaven that the Apostle Paul can say that Jesus doesn't just reign as Israel's promised king, he's certainly that. 00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:03.359 He's also king of the whole cosmos. 00:25:03.680 --> 00:25:06.000 Did you catch that in Colossians chapter 1? 00:25:06.240 --> 00:25:13.599 Just open up to me if you can for a second in Colossians chapter 1, because holy smokes, this is just an amazing, amazing passage, right? 00:25:14.559 --> 00:25:18.240 Why is Paul writing this letter to this church in Colossae? 00:25:18.559 --> 00:25:22.240 Paul is writing to correct an error of understanding. 00:25:22.400 --> 00:25:32.400 Many of the Colossian Christians have this idea that Jesus was just one of many kind of divine spirit beings who bridged the gap between God and humankind. 00:25:32.559 --> 00:25:37.119 But you know, he's just kind of one spiritual person among many, right? 00:25:37.279 --> 00:25:39.680 Spiritual beings among many who can do that. 00:25:39.920 --> 00:25:45.359 And Paul is writing to make clear the preeminence and the uniqueness of Christ. 00:25:45.599 --> 00:25:50.720 Christ stands alone as mediator between God and humankind. 00:25:51.200 --> 00:25:52.559 And so Paul writes this. 00:25:52.720 --> 00:25:54.160 What has Christ done for us? 00:25:54.400 --> 00:26:07.680 He's delivered us into the kingdom, pardon me, he's delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 00:26:07.920 --> 00:26:08.319 Right? 00:26:08.480 --> 00:26:12.720 In Christ, we Christians have a new citizenship. 00:26:12.960 --> 00:26:21.680 We are citizens of a heavenly kingdom, of God's kingdom, where Christ reigns and rules as God's beloved Son. 00:26:21.920 --> 00:26:30.799 And Paul wants to make clear how Christ's reign and rule relates to God, relates to creation, and relates to us, the church. 00:26:31.039 --> 00:26:37.759 First, Christ is the image of the invisible God, he writes in verse 15. 00:26:38.400 --> 00:26:39.759 Christ is the image. 00:26:39.920 --> 00:26:44.880 Maybe it brings to mind our reading from Hebrews chapter 1 all the way back at our prophet sermon, right? 00:26:45.119 --> 00:26:48.160 Christ is the exact imprint of God's nature. 00:26:48.319 --> 00:26:53.119 When Jesus speaks, he speaks as truly God and truly man. 00:26:53.279 --> 00:26:58.160 And therefore, as a human being, he reveals the life of God to human beings. 00:26:58.319 --> 00:27:09.200 When we look in the face of Jesus, we are looking into the face of God, not just someone who tells us about God, someone who reveals the very life of God as a human being. 00:27:09.440 --> 00:27:13.119 And so Jesus, we read, is the image of the invisible God. 00:27:13.279 --> 00:27:19.200 When we look at Jesus, we see who God is and his heart towards us. 00:27:19.599 --> 00:27:20.240 Right? 00:27:20.720 --> 00:27:22.319 He is God incarnate. 00:27:22.480 --> 00:27:25.599 That's how God, Christ relates to God his Father. 00:27:25.759 --> 00:27:30.400 And then we ask, well, how does Christ and Christ's kingship relate to all creation? 00:27:30.559 --> 00:27:32.319 And Paul is an answer for that too. 00:27:32.559 --> 00:27:39.039 He is the firstborn of all creation, for by him all things were created in heaven and on earth. 00:27:39.200 --> 00:27:44.319 And he goes on to describe all of the various principalities and powers that follow, right? 00:27:44.799 --> 00:27:55.359 With relation to creation, Jesus is the firstborn, which we shouldn't understand to mean that Christ is the first created thing among other created things. 00:27:55.599 --> 00:27:59.839 We should understand firstborn rather suggests an heir, right? 00:27:59.920 --> 00:28:02.400 Or someone who is supreme or preeminent. 00:28:02.559 --> 00:28:09.599 He's the heir apparent of all creation because all things that were created were created through him and for him. 00:28:09.839 --> 00:28:12.480 He's the very purpose for creation. 00:28:18.240 --> 00:28:23.920 And with relation to the church, we read, he is the head of the body, the church. 00:28:24.079 --> 00:28:26.799 And that's a very vivid metaphor, isn't it? 00:28:27.039 --> 00:28:31.039 That both suggests biology, because we know how important our head is, right? 00:28:31.200 --> 00:28:33.519 Even when my head sometimes feels kind of empty. 00:28:33.680 --> 00:28:36.960 It's an important part of the body and it directs the rest of the body. 00:28:37.119 --> 00:28:40.000 But we can also think of a political metaphor here, right? 00:28:40.160 --> 00:28:45.200 We can think of the body politic and the head, the head of state, and the role that the head of state plays. 00:28:45.279 --> 00:28:54.160 It's almost this idea that the church represents the kingdom of God on earth as it's breaking into all creation. 00:28:54.400 --> 00:28:55.599 And Christ is our head. 00:28:55.759 --> 00:28:57.359 He is the one who gives us direction. 00:28:57.599 --> 00:29:01.440 He is the one who reigns and who rules and gives us life. 00:29:02.079 --> 00:29:08.079 So Paul concludes, verses 19 and 20, that Christ is the fullness of God. 00:29:09.200 --> 00:29:15.039 Maybe another way of putting it would be that Christ reveals God to us. 00:29:15.519 --> 00:29:17.359 He does so as the prophet, right? 00:29:17.519 --> 00:29:20.000 And he reconciles all things to himself. 00:29:20.160 --> 00:29:22.160 That's his priestly role, isn't it? 00:29:22.400 --> 00:29:24.960 Whether that's on heaven or whether it's in earth, right? 00:29:25.119 --> 00:29:28.559 All creation, he's the firstborn, he's preeminent, he reigns as king. 00:29:28.720 --> 00:29:34.480 In verses 19 and 20, we have prophet, priest, and king all listed out for us, right? 00:29:34.880 --> 00:29:35.680 In their significance. 00:29:35.839 --> 00:29:38.000 What an amazing passage this is. 00:29:38.240 --> 00:29:43.359 What an amazing glimpse of how glorious Jesus is. 00:29:44.640 --> 00:29:45.279 Right? 00:29:45.680 --> 00:29:49.440 Jesus reigns as Israel's promised Messiah and King. 00:29:49.599 --> 00:29:55.519 He fulfills the promise of 2 Samuel 7, but he also reigns on all the cosmos. 00:29:56.960 --> 00:30:01.920 Church reformer John Calvin writes this about the nature of Christ's kingship. 00:30:02.079 --> 00:30:14.079 He says Christ's kingship is spiritual in nature, and from this spiritual nature we infer its efficacy and benefit for us, as well as its whole force and eternity. 00:30:14.319 --> 00:30:17.680 So Jesus presently reigns as king in heaven. 00:30:24.160 --> 00:30:31.200 This is why we can describe God's kingdom on earth in this age as something like a mustard seed, as something like leaven and bread. 00:30:31.359 --> 00:30:37.440 It works its way into the fibers of creation in sometimes an easy-to-overlook way. 00:30:37.839 --> 00:30:41.359 We're called to be salt and light in that way, aren't we? 00:30:41.680 --> 00:30:47.680 And that's why we often talk about Christ's kingdom as having this already and not yet dynamic, right? 00:30:47.920 --> 00:30:49.839 Christ's kingdom has been inaugurated. 00:30:58.319 --> 00:31:02.079 And that's why we pray, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 00:31:02.319 --> 00:31:09.119 Because while Christ's will is fully accomplished in the glory of heaven, earth has a way of lagging behind, doesn't it? 00:31:09.359 --> 00:31:19.920 And we long for that day when things on earth will be made as they are in heaven, as heaven and earth reunite under the reign and rule of the glorious Lord Jesus. 00:31:21.839 --> 00:31:25.039 So it's not our job, saints, to usher in the kingdom. 00:31:25.279 --> 00:31:29.839 It's not our job to do the hard work to make Jesus' kingdoms happen. 00:31:30.079 --> 00:31:31.680 He's already king. 00:31:32.400 --> 00:31:36.160 We ask him, what can we do to make that kingship known? 00:31:36.319 --> 00:31:40.559 And we anticipate that day where he will return in glory. 00:31:41.920 --> 00:31:44.000 So what difference does all this make to me? 00:31:44.079 --> 00:31:45.200 Let's ask that. 00:31:45.519 --> 00:31:45.839 Right? 00:31:46.000 --> 00:31:49.279 Jesus is the king, reigns, and rules over everything. 00:31:49.440 --> 00:31:51.359 What difference does his reign make to me? 00:31:51.440 --> 00:31:53.519 Let me just name two things very quickly. 00:31:53.759 --> 00:32:03.680 First off, if Jesus is the king who reigns over everything, then first and foremost, we owe him our allegiance as his subject. 00:32:04.319 --> 00:32:05.359 And what does that mean? 00:32:05.519 --> 00:32:10.880 I suspect he speaks to at least something of what that means in John chapter 18. 00:32:11.279 --> 00:32:18.799 He says to Pilate, You say that I'm a king, for this purpose I was born, for this purpose I've come into the world to bear witness to the truth. 00:32:18.960 --> 00:32:20.319 And what do we do about that? 00:32:20.559 --> 00:32:24.880 Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice. 00:32:26.960 --> 00:32:29.680 Subjects listen to their king. 00:32:30.079 --> 00:32:44.160 And if he is the king of all creation, the king from whom all creation comes, and the king for whom the very purpose of creation is bound, then when we listen to Christ, we listen to the voice of truth. 00:32:44.480 --> 00:32:46.880 And we hand ourselves over to that truth. 00:32:47.119 --> 00:32:54.160 And we lay down whatever false truths or substitute truths we might pick up for ourselves. 00:32:54.400 --> 00:32:55.599 I love the way that C.S. 00:32:55.680 --> 00:32:56.720 Lewis describes this. 00:32:56.880 --> 00:33:02.480 He says, fallen humanity is not simply an imperfect creature who needs improvement. 00:33:02.720 --> 00:33:06.480 He is a rebel who must lay down his arms. 00:33:06.960 --> 00:33:13.599 This process of surrender, this movement of full speed astern is what Christians call repentance. 00:33:13.839 --> 00:33:20.000 And this is the spiritual movement that moves us from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of the beloved Son. 00:33:20.240 --> 00:33:41.200 We turn away from all substitutes and we turn towards the truth in our King Jesus, and we do that again and again, and it's why we confess our sins together as the church every single Sunday, and we do as Christians, I hope, every single day, because our hearts so frequently wander, and yet our citizenship is bound up with Christ. 00:33:41.519 --> 00:33:46.640 And so we run to him again and again as the King who gladly invites us back. 00:33:47.279 --> 00:33:57.200 We owe him our allegiance as his subjects, therefore we listen to his voice, but we also have great hope for the future in our King Jesus. 00:33:57.519 --> 00:34:06.720 We confess Sunday for Sunday that the King will return in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom shall have no end. 00:34:06.960 --> 00:34:14.320 The peace and protection and provision that we long for will be provided for us in Christ for all eternity. 00:34:14.480 --> 00:34:19.440 And we look forward to that day when things on earth will be as they are in heaven. 00:34:19.760 --> 00:34:24.159 And this means that the justice we long for will finally be realized. 00:34:24.400 --> 00:34:34.480 Because, friends, we know how powerful kings can be, and we know that it's not just kings who are powerful in our world, and we know that powerful people often use their power for awful things. 00:34:34.719 --> 00:34:38.079 And we think, will anyone ever call them into account? 00:34:38.559 --> 00:34:40.079 And the answer is yes. 00:34:40.320 --> 00:34:51.199 Because if Jesus reigns as King over everything, then we know that justice will one day be fully realized, that all evil and suffering will be answered for. 00:34:51.920 --> 00:34:53.760 And that heartens us. 00:34:54.159 --> 00:34:58.719 And we long to see that day where that's where that arrives. 00:34:59.519 --> 00:35:07.360 And then we look forward to that day where Christ reigns on his throne, and we are promised, will reign with him. 00:35:07.760 --> 00:35:10.639 We will make his kingship known. 00:35:10.880 --> 00:35:17.360 Paul writes to Timothy, if we endure, that is the church, we will reign with Christ. 00:35:17.840 --> 00:35:36.400 And then to the church in Ephesus, Paul writes, God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him, which is enthronement language, in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages we might show the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. 00:35:36.719 --> 00:35:57.119 We saints are called to reign with Christ as a royal priesthood in him, to make his kingship known, to make his peace and protection and provision known to all creation that longs for their king, and we will do so for all eternity. 00:36:02.960 --> 00:36:05.599 So do we do we desire to know God? 00:36:07.280 --> 00:36:12.480 Jesus reveals God to us as the prophet, the word become flesh. 00:36:12.719 --> 00:36:18.800 Do we need assurance of how God regards us and how we relate ourselves to God rightly? 00:36:19.039 --> 00:36:23.920 Jesus reconciles us as the great high priest. 00:36:24.480 --> 00:36:26.800 And do we long for peace? 00:36:27.039 --> 00:36:28.559 Do we long for protection? 00:36:28.719 --> 00:36:34.159 Do we long for the eternal provision that only the true King can provide? 00:36:35.039 --> 00:36:36.559 There's good news. 00:36:37.280 --> 00:36:44.960 Jesus Christ reigns over us and all creation as the King of Kings. 00:36:45.840 --> 00:36:59.039 Therefore, we submit to him as the king to whom our allegiance is owed, and we find in our returning king hope for our future. 00:37:00.320 --> 00:37:06.960 He has transferred us from the Dominion of Darkness into the kingdom of his beloved Son. 00:37:07.280 --> 00:37:07.920 Amen. 00:37:10.320 --> 00:37:12.800 We hope that you've been blessed by God's word today. 00:37:12.960 --> 00:37:18.320 If you live in the Port Perry area, we hope that you'll come and worship with us in person on Sunday at 10 a.m. 00:37:18.719 --> 00:37:22.079 If you'd like to learn more about Newsong Church, we'd love to connect with you. 00:37:22.320 --> 00:37:27.119 Please find our contact information at newsongportperry.ca and reach out to us. 00:37:27.360 --> 00:37:32.559 Newsong's ministry is entirely funded by the generous giving of those who worship and journey with us. 00:37:32.719 --> 00:37:40.880 If you feel called to support our ministry with a financial gift, please go to newsongportperry.ca slash giving to make your contribution. 00:37:41.119 --> 00:37:43.840 Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.