Christus Rex

The New Testament applies messianic promises from the Hebrew Bible to the present reign of Jesus. He is Christ the King!

Christus Rex – Christ is King! Ever since his ascension, Jesus has reigned as King. He is seated on the Messianic Throne of David and rules from the right hand of God. Because of his “obedience until death,” the man from the small village of Nazareth has become “the Ruler of the Kings of the Earth” – (Matthew 28:18-20).

Before he ascended to Heaven, Jesus declared: “I have all authority in Heaven and on Earth.” His sovereignty over the nations is the supreme political reality today, and his royal authority is without limits. Therefore, he sends his disciples to announce his lordship and salvation to all nations and in every inhabited corner of the world.

• “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses. both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” – (Acts 1:8).

[Cross Dawn - Photo by Hugo Fergusson on Unsplash]

Christ’s enthronement was in fulfillment of prophecy from the Hebrew Bible. He was and is the Anointed Son appointed by God to reign over the nations:

• “Yet I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will tell of the decree. Yahweh said to me, You are my Son! I, this day, have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will give the nations for your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession” – (Psalm 2:6-8).

• “And we bring you good tidings of the promise made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled the same to our children, in that he raised up Jesus; as also it is written in the Second Psalm, You are my Son. This day I have begotten you” – (Acts 13:33).

Unlike the political rulers of this age, Jesus did not come to the throne through armed revolution, military conquest or political machinations. God enthroned him because he gave his life willingly to redeem men and women and reconcile them with their Creator.

In Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do men say that the Son of Man is?” Peter declared, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus was the promised king from the line of David. Nevertheless, Peter’s momentary insight disappeared as soon as Jesus explained what his messianic calling meant, Suffering and Death - (Matthew 16:13-16).

As Israel’s Messiah, Jesus must “go to Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed.” Before his exaltation, he would become the ‘Suffering Servant of Yahweh’ and endure abuse and violent death at the hands of unrighteous men. The way to Zion was through Golgotha, and in God’s Kingdom, humiliation and death must precede exaltation:

• “He will see of the travail of his soul be satisfied. By the knowledge of himself my righteous servant will justify many; and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will divide him a portion with the great, and he will divide the spoil with the strong. Because he poured out his soul unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. Yet he carried the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” – (Isaiah 53:12).

However, because of his obedience unto death, God resurrected Jesus from the dead and exalted him to reign over all things. He became King, not despite the Cross, but because of it:

• “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 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 2:9-11, Isaiah 45:23).

Only after God raised him from the dead did Jesus receive “all authority in Heaven and on Earth.” He attained this authority through suffering and death when he gave his life for others. Self-sacrificial service for others is foundational to the nature of God’s Kingdom, as Jesus himself declared and demonstrated:

• “You know that they who presume to rule over the nations dominate them, and their great ones tyrannize them. But it must not be so among you. Whoever would become great among you will be your servant. And whoever would be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man also came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many” - (Mark 10:42-45, Isaiah 53:12).

God vindicated Christ’s sacrifice by raising him from the dead and exalting him to reign over all things from the Divine Throne:

• “This Jesus did God raise up, whereof we all are witnesses. Being therefore by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured forth this, which you see and hear. For David ascended not into the heavens: but he said himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit on my right hand until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet. Let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified” - (Acts 2:32-36).

THE LAMB REIGNS

The Book of Revelation declares, in the present tense, that Jesus is “the Ruler of the Kings of the Earth.” However, he holds this position because he is “the faithful witness” and “the firstborn of the dead.” In other words, he sacrificed his life and thereby gave faithful testimony, and consequently, God raised him from the dead and installed him as King – (Revelation 1:5-6).

This understanding is confirmed a few verses later when the “one like a Son of Man” reassures John, “Fear not! I am the first and the last! And I am the Living one; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and of Hades.” Not even the realm of the dead is beyond his authority! Death will not have the final word for the faithful followers of Jesus.

But the Christ who rules over the kings of the Earth is the same Christ who spoke to the disciples in Caesarea Philippi, the Messiah who “gave his life a ransom for many.”

In the fifth chapter of Revelation, it is “the slain Lamb” who is found worthy to approach the Divine Throne and take the Sealed Scroll and open its seals. The Lamb “overcame” through his death – (Revelation 5:5-6).

This understanding is confirmed when Heaven and Earth proclaim the Lamb worthy because he sacrificed himself to redeem humanity:

• “And they sing a new song, saying, You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and purchased for God with your blood men from every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation, and you made them a kingdom and priests for our God, and they reign upon the earth. <…>  And they were saying with a great voice, Worthy is the Lamb that has been slain to receive the power, and riches, and wisdom, and might, and honour, and glory, and blessing. <…>   Unto him who is sitting on the throne, and to the Lamb, be the blessing, and the honour, and the glory, and the dominion, forever and ever” – (Revelation 5:9-13).

The name ‘Jesus’ appears fourteen times in the Book of Revelation, and ‘Christ’ seven times. But the term ‘Lamb’ is applied to Jesus twenty-eight times, starting in Chapter 5 and continuing to the end of the Book (“and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city” - Revelation 22:3).

It is the Lamb who is seen ruling with God, the “one who is sitting on the throne” (e.g., Revelation 7:17). It is the Lamb who is declared “the Lord of lords and the King of kings” (Revelation 17:14). And it is “the Lamb who was slain” who is the very center of life in the Holy City, New Jerusalem:

• “And I saw no temple in the city, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are the temple thereof. And the city has no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine upon it, for the glory of God illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb” – (Revelation 21:22-23).

When the Letter to the Hebrews declares that Jesus is “the same yesterday and today, and forever,” the Letter does not engage in metaphysical speculation about the divine or eternal nature of the Son, but instead reassures us that the same Jesus who gave his life “to achieve the purification of sins” is the Christ who is our faithful high priest who mediates for us in the presence of God, the same Son who “sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high” – (Hebrews 1:1-3, 13:8).

And so, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the Son of God who sacrificed his life for his friends and enemies alike on Calvary, is the same Jesus who now reigns as King on the Throne of God.

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SEE ALSO:

• Worthy is the Lamb! - (The reign of Jesus on the Divine Throne is based on his sacrificial death and resurrection, the unshakable basis of his universal authority)

• Lord and Messiah - (The New Testament applies messianic and royal promises from the Psalms to Christ’s present reign. He alone is, present tense, Lord and Messiah!)

• The Royal Shepherd - (The Lamb’s reign began with his Death and Resurrection. Since then, he has been shepherding the nations toward New Jerusalem)

• Cristo es Rey - (El Nuevo Testamento aplica las promesas mesiánicas de la Biblia Hebrea al reinado actual de Jesús. Él es Cristo Rey)