“Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.” (Matthew 16:28)
It was springtime, 2011, and the world was captivated by the marriage of England’s Prince William to Princess Kate. The hoopla had begun months before the wedding ceremony. News websites dedicated their pages to it, magazines their cover stories, late-night talk-show hosts their opening monologues. It took on almost fairy tale status by the time of the actual event, even by those far away and socially unaffected by it.
So strong was this international love affair that American comedian Jerry Seinfeld found himself under scorn after having the audacity to tell a British reporter what he thought about the whole thing. He suggested that it was all just a show, that the British love to play dress-up and pretend that their royalty has real substance. In reality, he said, it was all just make-believe nonsense. His sentiments provoked pages of heated retort in the comments section of one website I read.
But it was the response of an American commenter that arrested my attention. He fired back at the English defenders by claiming that the Brits don’t understand the mindset of the U.S. We are independent people who refuse to submit to any king, he asserted, that is why we rebelled against England centuries ago. And that is why we will rebel against anyone who dares to exercise rule over us. America is the land of the free.
Such a bold declaration of autonomy is neither unique nor rare. Human nature, it seems, universally rejects the claims of others to rule over us. Even the princess-to-be expressed her self-rule when she refused to take the traditional marriage vows of submission and obedience to William, though they had been used in the British wedding liturgy for centuries. She would love her husband, she would not be under his authority. She would be the king of her life. That’s the way most people think.
God thinks differently.
Jesus Is Your King . . . Today
In Luke 22:29, Jesus told the apostles about the kingdom His Father had promised Him. Although not reflected in the English translations, He used a Greek word (diatithemi) which speaks of making a covenant. Sometime in the past, probably prior to creation, God the Father made a covenant with God the Son to establish a kingdom for Him. Someday, Jesus would have subjects over which to rule and reign, citizens to fill His monarchy and do His bidding. It was an oath from His almighty Father. It could not not come to pass.
When John the Baptist appeared to announce the coming of Christ, he said it this way: “The kingdom is at hand.” Jesus picked up the same language Himself. On one occasion, speaking to the rich, young ruler, He said, “The kingdom is not far from you.” What did this mean? Simply that the kingdom was near because the King was near. Wherever Jesus is, the kingdom of God is.
The point? Jesus is ruling now. He sits, currently, at the right hand of the Father reigning over all things. He has been granted authority over heaven and earth now. The whole world is the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Certainly, the unopposed, consummated kingdom is future, but we must not forget or minimize the nowness of it.
Who are the citizens of His kingdom? Every human being ever created. Every man, woman, and child is created to be a loyal subject to the throne of King Jesus. That means that you and I belong to Him.
Obviously, many humans reject Jesus as king and will suffer the deserved consequences. Yet, too often Christians forget that we have a King, that we have been purchased, that we do not belong to ourselves, that we are owned. In our confession, “Jesus is Lord!” we declare Him to be our king, our authority, our sovereign ruler. It does not do, then, to regard Him as our advisor, our insurance agent, or our cheerleader. There may be a sense in which He is all of those things, but He is much, much more. His wish must be our command, and His command our wish. He deserves our unwavering allegiance and obedience because He is our King today.
Jesus, the King of Every Nation
Jesus is called “King of kings” and “Lord of lords.” Consider the significance of those appellations. They imply that other kings and lords exist. They do because God created nations and governments. And with nations and governments come national rulers. So, for a man to become the leader of a country fits the divine design for the world. But the designed purpose for each and every leader is to bring his kingdom under the rule of Jesus, the Highest King.
This is not the same thing as saying that nations should govern according to Judeo-Christian standards, a conclusion driven more by systematic theology than by exegesis. Moral behavior is not the goal, intentional devotion to God’s Son is. The latter will always lead to the former, but the difference lies in the motivation. A citizen may obey the laws of the land in order to stay out of jail, but that is not the same thing as obeying the Law-giver for the sake of love and duty.
For Americans, this should impact, among other things, the way we vote. We may be tempted to vote for our bank account’s benefit. Or maybe a particular political issue reaches up out of the booth with a red highlighter marking our ballot with all of its supporting nominees. Or maybe we affiliate with a certain political party and sense the need to remain loyal to its cause. Whatever else competes for our allegiance, our highest loyalty must be to our King. We should vote for the candidate who consciously seeks to bring America under the rule of Christ because the U.S. does not exist merely to be a protector of freedom and democracy, or a pioneer in technology, or a champion of free-market economics. It exists to bring glory to Jesus.
Living in Jesus’ Kingdom
According to the apostle Paul, the kingdom of Christ is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17). Therefore, in honor of our King, we should:
- Diligently and willingly strive to obey His commandments.
- Declare His message of peace with men and seek to be at peace with men.
- Be the most joyful people on the planet.
Jesus cares about our obedience (righteousness). In His kingdom, He expects people to pursue what is right in His eyes. Thankfully, His law is not hard or burdensome, but easy and light. He commands us to love Him and others.
He also cares about our relationships with Him and with others (peace). Good citizens of His kingdom do not stir up trouble. They serve. They bless. They give. And, they live in light of His affectionate grace.
He expects gladness (joy) to characterize those who have tasted His goodness. Kingdom joy is not a carnal, ephemeral, pleasured, experience-made happiness, but a profound delight created by God’s Spirit. If we find our joy in the Lord Jesus, who does not fail or change, we will never be disappointed or despairing. No matter what happens, we are always and forever people who deserve Hell but have been given Heaven.
Do righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit characterize your life? What percentage of your time, thinking, spending, and working is given to these things? Are you a faithful citizen of His kingdom?
Every Day of Your Life Belongs to Him
If Jesus is king, then there is no such thing as “free time.” Jesus owns it all, every nanosecond. Moreover, He is the King of every stage of life. Take singles, for example. The American view of the young unmarried person, say, in college or just out, sees a time of unattached, uncommitted freedom to have fun before the burden of responsibility falls on their shoulders. Enjoy the good life now, we say, because the next time you have this freedom, you’ll be too tired and old to take advantage of it.
Such thinking is too pessimistic and dull for the “times of responsibility.” But more importantly, it is too unChristian for all times. The single person is free from domestic duties, but not from dominion duties. He or she is still the subject of King Jesus, still bound to spend every moment intentionally Christ-obsessed in all things. It could be reasonably argued that unmarried individuals should have more robust ministry objectives than marrieds because of the amount of energy and “free time” at their disposal. A truly Christian perspective of the typical twenty-something would see a great, God-sized ambition to serve the King. (We’ll consider this in greater detail later.)
Nor is retirement a Christ-honoring concept. I don’t mean retirement from one’s employment. I mean the ideal of RV-ing around the country (or the world) emptying the storehouses you filled during all those hard years of working for the man. We think we deserve it. We don’t. Rather, we are slaves to our Master who claims every breath down to the Final Exhale. Retirement from the job, for the healthy person, should be seen as an opportunity for more effective contribution to the kingdom of Christ.
Conclusion
Do you remember how the book of Acts ends? It doesn’t, at least not the way most do. Luke gave us the most profound non-conclusion ever. There’s no “the end” or “and they all lived happily ever after,” just Paul imprisoned at Rome. But it’s not his location that matters, it’s his message. He was boldly proclaiming the kingdom of God. His part in the story was over, but the Story he was telling wasn’t. It had really only just begun. We’re still living it. We’re still telling it. We’re in Acts 29. And our call is the same: to boldly proclaim the kingdom of God.