Jesus is King -or- Everybody Wants to Rule The World

 Preparing for Easter

Welcome to our first sermon as I enter the pulpit at Pleasant View Methodist Church. 

It is a joy to be in fellowship with you all as we seek to serve the Lord in our Global Methodist tradition. For many of us it has been a long road to get where we are. The One focus for us has been our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ. We saw some flaws in the old system that we thought needed corrected or changed in order to keep ourselves on the straight & narrow. This process of making changes, reforming our belief system, taking another branch in the tree, it really is nothing new. The process seems to have started in the early centuries when councils met to discuss and struggle with what statements and creeds were right for us to hang on to or discard. While Jesus was God's only and perfect son, we human beings are not perfect. We seem to waver and change and lose our perspective at times. We lose our focus on who Jesus is and why he came. Sometimes it behooves us to take a step back, re-examine what it is we say we believe. There is always a need to take a fresh look at the truth and the scriptures that hold the key to who God truly is as we seek to understand what we need to know as followers of Jesus. 

As we get started with this talk on some different titles that we give to Jesus, It came to me four that seem to stand out or get used very often. So, why not give some attention to those words. First of all, many of the prophecies of the Old Testament point to the coming of a King. Jesus would be that King. One of the most widely known scriptures that points to this person who would fill the throne room seat we find in Isaiah chapter 9.

All I have to do is read those 7 words from verse 6 and Handel's Messiah comes rolling through my mind. 

Set beautifully to the words from Isaiah 9 this inspiring melody leaves with little to argue about regarding the King-ship of Jesus. This is what he was called to become and settles for us the very matter of his title as Ruler of All. When dealing with Jesus and his Kingship, we need to deal with a couple of other words. How about "authority"? What authority gives Jesus this role as King? We could simply say that God gives him this place in history and time for all. Scripture is also the place, where by, we see God speaking and working. The same phrase we see in the opening of the Bible itself is almost repeated in the opening of the Gospel of John. This authority comes from The Word. Jesus is The Word. God spoke the world into existence. We have the written word, that we can pick up and read in many different languages. We have The Word that God spoke and the heavens were unfolded before us. 

Its an "acceptance" thing. Its not a matter of long definitions and impressive descriptions. It's a matter of "God says its this way and that's how it is". Several years ago I was doing a message on the Passover. Naturally, I had questions about the entire practice and matter. Why cook the meat this way? Why mark the doorways in this fashion? Why make the bread in such a manner? As an outsider, a Gentile, an un-Jewish person, the whole festival and event would make a person ask lots of questions. I hopped on the phone from the church of office one afternoon. It was a Friday and my questions were hitting me late in the week. I realized that there might not be any one around in any office I called as lots of religious people have a tradition of checking out early at the end of the work week. I started at what I thought would be the ideal place to call. New York City. Brooklyn, to be specific. I was on Google Maps and zeroed in on a Jewish Tabernacle and looked up the phone number. It rang a few times before someone picked up. The Jewish Rabbi that answered seemed a bit perturbed. He was heading out for the weekend. He was in the process of throwing his bags in the car and I had caught him at just the wrong time. Here I am trying to explain my questions to him about the Passover about the why's and the practices and the strange circumstances. "Why did they make the bread the way that they did?" I simply remember a pause at the other end. And then a stark, resilient answer. "Because that's the way God said to do it." He was apologetic. He wished he had more time to answer my questions but he had to go. I hung up the receiver and just kind of knew I had my answer, but i also felt I still needed more. What do the scriptures say about two or three witnesses? I made one more phone call. This time I struck gold but not exactly what you would think. I swung my look on Google Maps all the way out to Colorado and found a Messianic Fellowship in which to call. If you don't understand the differences herein, a regular Jewish Temple or Tabernacle are simple Jewish people and in their tradition, the Messiah has not come yet. They are still waiting. I kind of felt like there was that bit of a twinge or crank in my first conversation because the rabbi knew he was dealing with an outsider asking questions. My second inquiry brought me to a Messianic believer. This rabbi knows that Jewish is the Messiah and they believe that He has come. They are looking to the 2nd coming as we do in the Church. So this conversation was much kinder and gentler. I posed my questions as I had to the Brooklyn rabbi and the Colorado rabbi was indeed easier to speak with and less congested with the hustle and bustle of life. But he ultimate just said the same thing to me. He said, "I could give you some large details about the why's and the traditions of the Jewish people, but at the end of the day, what the Brooklyn rabbi told you is all you need to know. 'Because God said to do it that way.'" 

Jesus is King because God the Father says He is King.

After the phone call I hung up with that feeling of simple awe. God spoke. And the world came into being. God spoke and said we would call Him 'Wonderful Counselor' "Mighty God' 'Everlasting Father' 'The Prince of Peace'. And for every believer that is exactly who Jesus is. 

Lets take a gander at a couple more scripture references that could speak to the matter this morning. The Old Testament holds the predictions, the prophecies, if you will, of what would transpire. The Gospels tell of what happened while Jesus was actually here, walking among us. The Epistles begin to remind and teach the next generation of believers about what this Jesus taught and told. We've looked at a tremendous Old Testament reference already. Lets roll over to John chapter 18 for a statement Jesus himself makes. 

The Son of God. He came from the Father. He will go back to Him. 

The Son will sit down at the right hando the Father and will rule.

Jesus uses a couple of interesting phrases. "My kingdom" and "this world".

What exactly does he mean by "my kingdom"? And, what & where is "this world"?

Everything as far as the eye can see belongs to God. Yet Jesus says his kingdom is not of this world.

How do we make sense of that statement and those words?

If Jesus' kingdom is not of this world, then where is it?
Jesus would describe it from other places in scripture.
The church in Laodicea from Rev 3 is where Jesus would say that he comes to the door of our hearts.

He knocks. He wants to enter. His kingdom truly lives in our hearts and lives. 
We open up ourselves and make room for Him. 

"This world", out here, is more of a geography lesson. 

This world where we put our feet in the dirt is more of a battleground. 

This world that we live in will pass away. It will go by the wayside.
A new Jerusalem, a new heaven, a new earth will come. 

There is a battle over -this place-. 

Our enemy likes the think he owns something here. 
The Apostle Paul would refer to him as "the god of this world". 
Not that he has any really governance. He owns nothing, He created nothing. 
Satan, himself, is a part of the creation like everything else. 
He would like to rule all of this. He would like to trick us into to thinking that he does in some way. 
Paul's phrase is simply a reminder that this system of rebelliousness and sin came from one place.
It began with Lucifer and the fire has been burning ever since. 
(The tune to Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire" might be rolling through some of heads.)

"We didn't start the fire

It was always burning, since the world's been turning

We didn't start the fire

No, we didn't light it, but we tried to fight it"
- Billy Joel from the album "Storm Front" (1993)

One last piece of scripture as we seek to make sense of our topic, this morning. 
We jump into the always confusing and controversial book of Revelation for final reference. 

The imagery of Revelation is steep in a dream like state that the Apostle John finds himself confined to the aisle of Patmos. It can be difficult to understand. Dragons and false prophets and an apocalyptic look at what the final chapter of not just this book, but of what life on this earth could be like in the last days. 

This dream that John is having is tied to the very nature of all that has transpired and all that will be to come. Look at Jesus. He is said to be "dressed in a robe dipped in blood". Why would that be? Well, he did die for the sins of all mankind. As in many dreams the signs and moments that we see speak of something else or to someone else. Many people have the craziest dreams and keep a "dream dictionary" next tot heir bed so when they wake up in the morning they can look things up and ask "What did that mean?" I invite you to think of John's in similar fashion. God does use our dreams to speak to us and his did a real fantastic one with John. The Prophet Joel said what? "Your old mean shall dream dreams and your young men shall see visions?" What else did John see in this dream? Well, if you are a king, it makes sense that He would have an army. "The armies of heaven were following him". Right out of the Gospels comes imagery, like the blood. Jesus himself said that "the word of God was a double edged sword" "able to divide even to soul and spirit". A king going into battle would also have a sword and the Revelation shows that as well. A king would also have a title that all would know him by. This one is pretty significant. "King of Kings and Lord of Lords". It signifies that there are other kings ruling and there are other lords in governance. This is the Top Brass. This is the Head Honcho. "Every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord."

Let me say this to you as we wrap up...
If you want to understand who Jesus is, the best place to go is scripture. Jesus the Word. This referred to as "The word of God, written, for all to share." God spoke and the heavens and the earth unfolded. God did that with The Word. If we want to understand Jesus, scripture is the best place to go. A king has authority. We find that authority in the basis of scripture. The real matter, and all of us leaving our "United" roots and going "Global" have no doubt felt this and experienced this - The real matter is, do we trust what these scriptures tell us? Or, are we trying to find some other way to explain what and who God is? There is no other way. There is no other King or Lord. There is no other One where by we find that leadership to fill the hole in our lives. We need someone to lead us and guide us. We need to give our hearts and lives to the King of Kings. 

Blessings to you on this first Sunday together.

I hope we have many more to come

Jeremy