2547AFC112125 – Our Preeminent King
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2 Samuel 5:3-4 – 3 So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron; and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel. 4 David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
Psalm 122:4-5 –
4 To it [The House of the Lord] the tribes go up,
the tribes of the Lord,
as was decreed for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the Lord.
5 For there the thrones for judgment were set up,
the thrones of the house of David.
Colossians 1:13-20 (GNT) [1] – 13 He rescued us from the power of darkness and brought us safe into the kingdom of his dear Son, 14 by whom we are set free, that is, our sins are forgiven.
The Person and Work of Christ [Who is Preeminent over All]
15 Christ is the visible likeness of the invisible God. He is the first-born Son, superior to all created things. 16 For through him God created everything in heaven and on earth, the seen and the unseen things, including spiritual powers, lords, rulers, and authorities. God created the whole universe through him and for him. 17 Christ existed before all things, and in union with him all things have their proper place. 18 He is the head of his body, the church; he is the source of the body’s life. He is the first-born Son, who was raised from death, in order that he alone might have the first place in all things. 19 For it was by God’s own decision that the Son has in himself the full nature of God. 20 Through the Son, then, God decided to bring the whole universe back to himself. God made peace through his Son’s blood on the cross and so brought back to himself all things, both on earth and in heaven.
Luke 23:35-38 – 35 And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!” 36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, 37 and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” 38 There was also an inscription over him [in Greek and Latin and Hebrew (that is, Aramaic)] saying “This is the King of the Jews.”
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you. Well, Adelphos, we’ve done it again – worked our way through another Liturgical Year. This coming Sunday is the Solemnity of Christ the King, the “last Sunday of the year.” The Sunday after this one will be the first Sunday of Advent. Then comes Christmas, New Year’s, and not long after, Lent. But let’s not get too far ahead here; so, why is Jesus our Preeminent King?
Let’s work right-to-left here: Why is Christ a King? His Disciples believed that, as the Meshiach, the Messiah, he was the One Promised by God to occupy the Throne of David for all eternity, the One to restore Israel and defeat all her enemies. Now these days, we know that’s not the case. Jesus did indeed come to be a king but he did not come to be the kind of king that they expected . He came to be the King of all the Universe because that’s what he was since before time began.
Now moving left again , we have preeminent. Previously we’ve talked about preeminence , and what that means is that whatever it is we’re describing gets top priority no matter what. It is preeminent in that nothing else can be elevated to its level. Jesus is preeminent in all things, because God has given him a name that is above all other names. Now, that might seem a little tricky if you’re thinking about the Trinity, because Jesus is God. Nonetheless. God the Father gave God the Son Preeminence and a name that was above all other names when Jesus completed his mission of Salvation.
Lastly, we move to the word “our.” We say “our” because just as God is our father, Jesus is our King. Certainly if we were to think of Jesus as being the King of the Universe, and obviously, since we are part of the universe, He must be indeed our King.
Now that takes care of the obvious. Let’s see how all of that connects up with today’s Key Verses. We start with the nation of Israel coming together with David at Hebron. The implication here is that it was the entire population that came together with David at Hebron and there they committed themselves to be his subjects. In the same way, when we accept the Kingship of Christ, we become subjects of Christ. That is why they call us “Christian.” The suffix -ian means “people of,” so Christ followed by ian means “People of Christ.” When I was a teenager we were told that the IANS stood for “I am now saved” following Christ. I think that’s also a pretty good way to remember it. We can recall that David had been anointed ha-Mashiach by Samuel in front of his father and all his brothers. Now, we should also note that they came together before the Lord. This was like a religious conclave held in the presence of God. Those who were to be governed chose and accepted the king by acclamation of assent. Recall that the nation of Israel was new to the idea of having a King. Like little children, they were saying, “everybody else has got a king, so we want one too.”
Today, when we say Christ is our King, The King of the Universe, we also choose him to be our King. But, there is an important difference. Jesus is the King of the Universe whether we acknowledge that or not. However, for him to be our King, we must also claim him through the same acclamation of assent. Because God loves us so much that he gave us the gift of Free Will, we have the capacity to reject Jesus as our King. This, too, is presented to us in the history of Israel. Throughout the Old Testament, Israel rejected God as their King by their disobedience.
In our Key Verses from the Psalms, We have a passage from the beautiful Psalm 122. I learned the beginning of that Psalm when I was a kid. It says, “I was glad when they said unto me “Let us go up to the house of the Lord.” It wasn’t until I was an adult that I learned what it meant by “Let us go up to.” Jerusalem is on a mountain and there is no way to get up to the top of the mountain unless you go UP to the top. Well, duh! Add in our Key Verse we also read, “as decreed by the Lord.” Recall that all of Israel was to go to the Temple in Jerusalem for certain of the Feast Days. When I applied that to my own life, I rejoiced that I could be in the company of other believers, and we congregated – literally – to praise and worship the Lord. Going back to the content of the Psalm, that it is “decreed to “give thanks to the Lord.” then we have a phrase that must be read more carefully – For there the thrones for judgment were set up. Set up, that is, for the Judges of Israel. In the Bible, these persons were military leaders called by the Hebrew word שָׁפַט shaw-fat’, which means to judge as in to administer justice, govern, vindicate, punish. They were the Sheriff, if you will, or perhaps like Marshall Dillon who kept everyone in line. You can find out more about them in 2513AFC040425 – Spirit and Life.
The duties of the King were based on the traditional duties of a father, the head of a household like that of our Old Friend, Abraham. They were the spiritual leader, the Priest if you will, of the family, leading them in worship. They were the teachers and law-givers for the family in their role as Prophets who spoke the decrees of God. Lastly, they were the rulers as kings and their duty there was to govern and defend the family – in David’s case, the entire nation of Israel – against all enemies as the military leaders. The “thrones of judgement” described there allude to the ultimate and preeminent authority of God as we described last week in 2546AFC111425 – Immutable Justice. Our El Shaddai-Olam is the Beginning and the End of Governance of THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE, i.e., all of Creation.
Now we begin to see how these Key Verses are related to the title of this post as well as the title of the Solemnity – The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. As an aside here to those who state, “I’m a very spiritual person attuned to the Universe.” It is important to remember that the Universe is not God. God created the Universe, but the Universe is not God, and God is not the Universe. God is “outside” the Universe but permeates it in every Time and Place. There is no place that we can be that God is not already there to welcome us. BUT WE FORGET! We must not forget to remember God in all situations, seasons, circumstances, and times – we might say his Name in prayer, but do we remember Who he is and remember his Love and Faithfulness? (↔ Music Link) We can know all the names and attributes of God and be replete with information about him, but it is essential that our Deposit of Faith is not merely informational; it must always be TRANSFORMATIONAL! I’ll insert another little something here that will look familiar:
LIGHT ≡ GOD ≡ TRUTH ≡ WAY ≡ LIFE ≡ ETERNAL ≡ LOVE
We know God is Light, but we also know there is a shadow of darkness on this old World of ours. There is no shadow without there be light, therefore, we must learn to pray in every season of Life. Efficacious prayer will never be closed to WE who learn to pray in all situations, seasons, circumstances, and times – AND THEN DO IT. Not only that alone but we will also be able to weather every storm. I’ve used this image is several writings, so I will use it again here because it demonstrates another point-of-faith we must not forget: There is no shadow without there be light – The Darkness shows us where to Find The Light. It surrounds us and fills us because we are Children of Light, not of Darkness. Sure, I can dig the ”spiritually aware mantra “we’re all made of stardust.” True that. But Stardust and we ourselves are made in the likeness and image of God. Every time we forget that, then we participate with the Darkness, not the Light. We are Baptized into the roles of Priest, Prophet, and King. In each AND all of those roles we are called to [1] follow God and [2] lead “at home, at school, at play” (↔ Music Link) all day, every day, ‘til by death we depart. That’s our God-given job, and it is very much like the job God gave to Jesus.
The Apostle Paul tells us, He rescued us from the power of darkness and brought us safe into the kingdom of his dear Son, by whom we are set free, that is, our sins are forgiven. That is the core of the Absolutely Perfect Plan – forgiveness of sin and restoration of our intimate spiritual relationship with God through the transformation of our lives in the Life, Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension into Heaven of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ of God who is THE King of the Universe. The Apostle Paul continues with Christ is the visible likeness of the invisible God. He is the first-born Son, superior to all created things. For through him God created everything in heaven and on earth. All the first-born children of our dear Old Friend, Abraham, are dedicated to God from the womb – that is, from conception to natural death. In Jesus, we, too, are adopted as first-born heirs of the Father. We are destined to be reunited with God as whole, resurrected, glorified beings – restored to our Oneness with God that existed in our First Parents before that Dark Liar came into our lives. Compatibility with our Creator, his Creation, and each other was lost through the Death of Original Sin.
And that is how it should be, according to the APP, because, as The Apostle Paul states further, Christ was present at creation For through him God created everything in heaven and on earth, the seen and the unseen things, including spiritual powers, lords, rulers, and authorities. God created the whole universe through him and for him. Christ existed before all things, and in union with him all things have their proper place. The Father generates, the Son is Begotten, and the Holy Spirit proceeds. Through the Irreproachable Wisdom of God (adding that to the list!), all things were ordered in perfect harmony until sin brought in discord. Leaders, rulers, Angels, spirits, all were ordered in perfect array. That orderliness will be restored, and – God willing – soon and very soon (↔ Music Link)
He is the head of his body, the church; he is the source of the body’s life. He is the first-born Son, who was raised from death, in order that he alone might have the first place in all things. For it was by God’s own decision that the Son has in himself the full nature of God. In Hebrews 1:3 [2] The Apostle Paul calls Jesus’ nature “the refulgence of his glory.” Jesus is literally the Life of the Church as its head. “That he alone might have first place in all things” is the declaration of preeminence because it is God’s own decision that the Son has in himself the full nature of God.
This is made possible only through the Incomparable Grace of God. If we add that to our list we get: God’s Perfect Integrity, Endless Mercy, Everlasting Love, Eternal Salvation, Immutable Justice, Irreproachable Wisdom, and Incomparable Grace. ALL OF THAT (and more) is in Jesus, our Lord and our God, the King of Glory (↔ Music Link) The King of the Entire Universe, The King of All Creation and that makes Jesus OUR KING because Through the Son, then, God decided to bring the whole universe back to himself. God made peace through his Son’s blood on the cross and so brought back to himself all things, both on earth and in heaven. That includes us, does it not? For that to happen God The Father required only one thing – the bloody sacrifice of his Only Begotten Son.
We think we know the story, but do we? Or did we, have we, do we join The World thus: And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!” The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” There was also an inscription over him [in Greek and Latin and Hebrew (that is, Aramaic)] saying “This is the King of the Jews.”
The King has come. Marana tha! Maran atha! God’s Preeminent King saves!
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!
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Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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[1] Passages marked (GNT): Good News Translation (GNT) are from the Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition)© 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
[2] New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE) Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner. Used by permission.
