Born to be King
Many have been born destined to be Kings / Queens. Their rule has had varying degrees of impact and durability, but none has sustained like the kingdom of Jesus...
Many kings / rulers have tried to conquer Jesus’ kingdom. They have sought and attempted to destroy it, but each one has failed in their attempts and their own reigns have ended and it’s effects defeated by others and time.
But not the kingdom of Jesus. It has endured 2000 years and was prophesied 1000 years before Jesus was born
What does it mean for Jesus to be KING and to be King of my life?
The prophesy in Isaiah gives us a great picture of Jesus as our king...
He will be called...
Wonderful Counselor
We look to a variety of counsellors to help us work through different issues in our life. We have trusted counsellors, maybe friends we go to when we need to think through a decision. Think about your life – who are the people you go to – maybe different ones, the ones at work, the person down the hall or the one you call across the country, but they are the ones you go to to work through a problem. Maybe a former boss to help you think through career decisions or a specific co-worker.
Then you have others you talk to about your personal life, they may be at work or another friend, school mate, neighbour, but someone you can talk to when you need to.
A counsellor is someone who will put your needs / interest first – ahead of their own or other things. A counsellor is someone with expertise, knowledge, wisdom, experience. You don’t go to your mechanic when you need legal advise because the mechanic doesn’t have legal knowledge or expertise.
Jesus is our Wonderful Counselor –
Col 2:2-4
that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4
Wonderful means the most excellent, best, trustworthy.
We all need a Wonderful counsellor, someone who is both wise and
Wise – good true, trustworthy, of highest excellence
Ps 73:23-24
23 Yet I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory.
Mighty God
Two weeks ago we considered how Jesus became flesh and looked at this rich passage.
John 1:1-3
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning.
3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
Today we need to consider the reality that the preincarnate Jesus created everything, He set the stars in place, started the fire of the sun, formed the heights of the mountains and scooped out the oceans. He is the one who holds all things together
Col 1:15-18
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 1
If he is capable of holding the universe in perfect balance is he also capable to hold your life in balance. Jesus is the Mighty God, the one you can look to for life, meaning, purpose.
The one we can look to in the heat of great need. The God who can change things, create opportunities, orchestrate events.
When I have cried out to God and said “Jesus, you know what I am going through and you know what lies ahead, and I need you to provide for me and my family. And he has – everytime.
Everlasting Father
Litterally – “The father of eternity” “The one who holds eternity” He is the “Eternal One”
One of the most intriguing exercises for our imagination is to consider the eternity of Jesus.
Jesus always was, He had no beginning; As God He is the great First Cause of all things. If we could turn back the hands of time and look down the dark corridor of the ages, we would see Jesus collaborating with the Father at the beginning.
Jesus himself refers to his pre-world splendour in his prayer just before his crucifixion...
John 17:5
5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.
People often ask “who was Muhammed? Who was Buddha” but they also ask “who is Jesus”
Not only is Jesus Lord of the past and the present but as the possessor fo eternity, He holds the future in his hands, Jesus, the timeless.
We may not know what the future holds but we know the one who holds the future in his hands.
Heb 13:8
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
This also calls him ‘father of eternity’ as he includes us in a relationship for all eternity. He has created us for eternity and beckons us into his eternal family.
A Father is one who provides and protects us. He looks after and helps his children live well.
Jesus is the one who brings us to God, looks after us, and prepares us for eternity with him.
He is also our
Prince of Peace
Peace often seems to be the most sought after and at the same time the most elusive treasure. The great cry of the world is for peace. The diligent and devoted effort of so many world leaders is on behalf of peace, yet history seems to mock their efforts.
A famous French historian estimated that there had been 13 years of war for every year of peace.
Nuclear destruction threatens civilization . Every new generation is born under the ominous cloud that threatens to unleash a holocaust.
In this era scientists not only split the atom but also split the personality as well. Now we are beset by neuroses and psychoses that undermines peace from within. The fears of man are so many and varied that psychologist have plotted them from a to z; acrophobia, the fear of heights to zoophobia, fear of animals. People can not sleep. The weight of depression crushes millions and we consume billions of pills a year.
The classic words of Henry Thoreau speak to our time perhaps even more than his own. “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation”
The heart of the problem is the problem of the heart. Peace is not so much an external climate as it is an eternal experience. It is the inner equilibrium to the life surrounded by distorted confusion the world creates.
Phil 4:7
7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
As the Prince of Peace Jesus imparts His peace in three primary relationships.
- He enables us to have peace with God as he reconciles the sin that separates and estranges us from God. The cross at Calvary was the bridge across the impassable chasam of our sin. It lead the way from our fallen condition back to the Holy Creator. Augistine wrote:
“Thou has made us for Thyself, and the heart of man is restless until it finds its rest in Thee”
- Jesus enables us to have peace within ourselves.
He resolves the inner conflicts, mixed motives and tensions that rob us of serenity. He quiets the civil war that rages inside our hearts that pegs our carnal and spiritual natures.
When we are at peace with God and with ourselves then we are capable of being at peace in this third area
John 14:27
27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
- Jesus enables us to be at peace with others.
Once we discover the Fatherhood of God we will learn to practice the brotherhood of humanity. When the vertical relationship is right then the horizontal relationship with take on a proper perspective.
Col 3:15
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.
The four exalted titles from Isaiah help us know the four divine attributes of Jesus as our king and Lord.
Wonderful Counselor speaks of his all knowing OMNISCIENCE
Mighty God declares his divine power and OMNIPOTENCE
The Everlasting Father indicates there is no point in time or space where he is not present, expressing his attribute of OMNIPRESENCE
The Prince of Peace relates to our positive well being and His attribute of OMNIFICENCE, he is unlimited in his ability to care for you and I.
Earthly Kings / Kingdoms will come and go, but the Kingdom of God will last forever. It is eternal. Kings have tried to extinguish it, but they are all dead and God’s Kingdom still stands because it is not dependent upon any single government or king but is held in the hearts of people
Is Jesus – the God Man
Your wonderful counsellor?
Your Mighty God?
Your Eternal Father?
Your Prince of Peace
He was here before you and will be here after you – but will he be your and your life his?
This kingdom is based on a relationship of knowing Him and discovering how to live with him.
Daily choose to look to him for his counsel on life
Know his word / his ways / his values
Trust Him to be your God – the one guiding your life, setting your directions
Look to Him to be your Heavenly Father – Always with you, protecting you, Providing for you, giving you values like a father
Let Him dispel fear from you and bring his peace into your life
Phil 4:8-9