The offices of Christ

Christ Our King

Jesus Christ is our King because he reigns over all things, having conquered sin and death, and his kingdom shall have no end. A king rules and protects his people. Jesus is the promised Son of David, the KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS, who was crowned not by force but by the cross and the empty tomb, and who now reigns at the right hand of God until every enemy is put beneath his feet.

And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.Revelation 19:16 (KJV)

What it means to call Christ our King

A king in Scripture is one who rules, defends, and provides for his people. He is their head and their protector, and their welfare is bound up with his reign. To confess Christ as King, the third of his three great offices, is to say that Jesus is Lord over all, and that his authority is not borrowed or temporary but belongs to him by right and forever.

This kingship is unlike any earthly rule. Jesus told Pilate, My kingdom is not of this world. He did not seize power by armies or wealth, and he does not reign by fear. His crown was a crown of thorns before it was a crown of glory, and his throne was first a cross. He conquered not by taking life but by laying down his own, and rose from the dead as the King over the last enemy, death itself.

Yet his reign is total. The kingdom of God, which was the very theme of his preaching, is the rule of God breaking into the world through him. He is King over nature, over sickness, over demons, over death, and over the human heart. The book of Revelation shows him at the end with a name written on his vesture and on his thigh: KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. Every other power in heaven and earth stands beneath him.

The Old Testament hope of a coming King

From early in Israel's story God promised a king. To David he swore a covenant that his throne would be established forever, that one of his sons would reign without end. The prophets took up the hope and enlarged it: a child would be born, and the government would be upon his shoulder, and of the increase of his government and peace there would be no end, upon the throne of David.

Psalm 2 sets this coming King at the center of history. Against the raging of the nations, God declares, Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. The Lord says to him, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee, and promises, Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. The psalm ends with a summons to every ruler and every heart: Kiss the Son, and, Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

So Israel waited for the Messiah, the Anointed One, the true Son of David who would sit on David's throne and reign in righteousness. This hope was not merely political. The prophets saw that the coming King would establish justice, gather the outcast, defeat every enemy of God's people, and extend his rule to the ends of the earth, until the whole creation was set right under his hand. Every faithful king of Judah was a shadow of the King who was to come.

How Jesus fulfills the kingly office perfectly

Jesus is the Son of David the prophets promised, and he reigns in a way no earthly king ever could. The angel told Mary that the Lord God would give him the throne of his father David, and that he would reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there would be no end. He announced the kingdom of God, showed its power in every healing and deliverance, and welcomed into it the poor, the sinner, and the child.

He came to his crown by an unexpected road. Rejected by the rulers of this world and lifted up on a cross that bore the title, This is the King of the Jews, he turned his death into his victory. By dying he defeated the powers that hold humanity in bondage, and by rising he broke the grip of death forever. Then he ascended, and God set him at his own right hand, far above all principality and power, and put all things under his feet. He reigns now, whether the world sees it or not.

His reign moves toward a certain end. Scripture says he must reign until he hath put all enemies under his feet, and the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. Revelation shows him returning in glory, no longer as the child of Bethlehem or the man of sorrows, but as the rider called Faithful and True, on whose vesture is written KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. The kingdom the prophets saw from afar will then be seen by all, and every knee shall bow to him.

His kingship is total in its reach and gentle in its heart. He rules the raging of the nations and the rising of empires, and he also rules the quiet of a single life given to him. He is King over death and hell, and King over the smallest fear that troubles his people. Nothing lies outside his authority, and yet he wields it for the good of those who are his, gathering the outcast, lifting the fallen, and defending the weak. This is a King worth trusting, for he won his crown by love and rules by love, and his throne is founded not on conquest for himself but on the laying down of his life for his own.

What Christ our King means for us

Because Jesus is King, his people are safe. A good king defends his own, and there is no power in heaven, earth, or hell that can pluck us from his hand. The one who rules over all things rules them for the good of those who trust him, so that all things work together for good to them that love God. To belong to this King is to be kept by a strength that never fails.

Because he is King, we owe him our allegiance. To follow Christ is to bow to his rule gladly, to obey him as Lord, and to let his will order our lives. This is not a heavy servitude but a joyful freedom, for his commandments are not grievous, and his yoke is easy. Psalm 2 says, Blessed are all they that put their trust in him, and to trust the King is to find in his rule the very thing our restless hearts were made for.

And because his kingdom is coming, we live in hope. The world's injustice will not have the last word, for the King is on his throne and will return to make all things right. We pray, as he taught us, Thy kingdom come, and we labor in that hope, knowing that our work in the Lord is not in vain. The one who reigns at God's right hand is coming again, and his kingdom shall have no end.

To live under this King is to be free of many smaller fears. We need not be ruled by the powers of this age, by the opinion of the crowd, or by the dread of what tomorrow may bring, for our King holds all of it in his hand. We give him our loyalty not grudgingly but gladly, finding that his commandments are not grievous and his service is perfect freedom. And when the world seems to belong to other lords, we remember that the true King has already conquered and is only waiting to be revealed. Kiss the Son, the Scripture says, and blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

A note for all traditions: the threefold office of Christ, Prophet, Priest, and King, is a historic and non-denominational way of understanding Jesus, shared across the Christian church. Every verse above is quoted from the King James Version and can be read in its own context. In every tradition there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, and the invitation of this page is simply to know him.

Related: Christ Our Prophet · Christ Our Priest · The threefold office together · The offices of Christ