In this blog, we are picking back up where we left off in the Understanding the Times and Seasons series. To review, we have been exploring the need for a new rubric of symbols to better orient ourselves as believers in our current cultural moment.  We drew from Nathan Stones article three symbols: (1) The Wasteland, (2) Evil Dwells in the Wasteland, and (3) Christ the Knight.

Here we will suggest a much needed fourth symbol which is intended to complement Nathan Stone’s first three symbols. This fourth symbol is directly related to Stone’s third symbol, Christ the Knight or Warrior King. As British Anglican bishop J.C. Ryle said, “We have to do with a conquered foe, not a conquering foe. We follow a Captain who is unconquerable!”

Christ is King and his Kingdom is perfect in heaven. Now, his express purpose is to begin to extend his Kingdom to earth.

In this blog, we will examine Christ’s coronation and ascension into heaven, and the commission that he gives to his embassy and ambassadors here on earth.

Christ’s Coronation and Ascension

There are two settings for the Great Commission. Christians tend to be familiar with one but not the other. The one most often referenced is Christ’s commission to his followers after his resurrection. Christ summoned the disciples to Galilee for his coronation and gave them their marching orders (Matthew 28:16-20).  

But before this earthly commission, his heavenly charge was necessarily given. Jesus had to first establish himself as Christus Victor – Christ the Victor.  He did this by conquering the fear of death in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36-46, especially v. 42), then, by conquering Satan himself by his death on the cross (Colossians 2:15), then, conquering death itself in the resurrection (Matthew 28:5-6). Through these acts, Christ the victorious King took his rightful place as ruler over all.

Jesus went to the cross as the Lamb of God and rose from the dead as the Lion of Judah. He is the Warrior King. Now it is in his authority as the Warrior King that he says, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18). There is no power in heaven or on earth that matches the conquering power of our matchless Lord!

Christ states that he has been given all authority over both heaven and earth. He stated that almost 2000 years ago and that statement has never changed. Too often today, we think that Jesus is king of heaven but will not be king of earth until he comes back. This is a grave mistake as it has disengaged the church from her task to disciple nations. 

No! Jesus was King of earth then and IS King of the earth now.

Before Jesus goes to the cross, when he is brought before Pilate, we read these words in John 18:33-37 (ESV):

“Are you the King of the Jews?”

Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?”

Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?”

Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.”

Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?”

Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”   

In response to Pilate’s question, Jesus says that his kingdom is not of this world, it is from another realm. But he adds that the reason he was born into the world was to be king. This is why when he taught his disciples to pray this way: “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” 

Christ’s express purpose is to bring the Kingdom realm of heaven here to earth. He brought his disciples into that same mission and taught them to pray accordingly. To help make this a reality in your own mind, the next time you pray the Lord’s prayer, pray it this way: “thy kingdom come, thy will be done in _______________,” and insert your country or city; “as it is in heaven.” Say thy kingdom come to the United States or to Brazil or to Japan or Uganda as it is in Heaven.  

The King IS Come! – Jesus, The Eternal Present Tense  

My favorite Christmas carol is Joy to the World, penned by Isaac Watts. The hymn retains its power three centuries after its initial publication. This hymn celebrates the coronation of King Jesus and announces the marching orders for his Kingdom for his subjects, imago Dei humans. The first stanza reads:

Joy to the world, the Lord is come
Let earth receive her King
Let every heart prepare Him room
And heaven and nature sing
And heaven and nature sing
And heaven, and heaven and nature sing   

The hymn opens with a benediction – Joy to the World, an act of praise or blessing, like the salutations of Paul at the beginning of his letters, “Grace and Peace to you!” Here the word of benediction is joy—the delight of the heart and mind.     

What’s the cause of the joy to the world? “The Lord is come!” The world—her peoples, nations, citizens, institutions and all creation—is to celebrate the coming of the Messiah and His Kingdom. Joy to the world!    

Notice that Watts, rather than using the past tense “has come” in that first line, writes “the Lord IS come.” While it is true that the coming of Christ is a historic event, Watts understood that the coming of Christ was more than a past event. His coming as the Messiah was ushering in a new era of human history impacting past, present and future. 

In her book The Unexpected Journey, Deborah Barr refers to God as The Eternal Present Tense! Jesus, who preexisted space and time at a moment in time enters space and time as the God-Man. We witness this eternal present tense in the book of Exodus when Moses is dialoging with God. In Exodus 3:13-14 (ESV) we read:

Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?”

God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me…”

Likewise, when Jesus is in dialog with the Pharisees, we read these words (John 8:57-59 ESV):

So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

Why did the Jew try to stone Jesus? They understood that when he claimed to exist before Abraham, he was claiming to be the Eternal Present Tense—that he is God!

He was announcing that the long promised coming of the Messiah and his Kingdom is come. Heaven is breaking through to earth, eternity is breaking forth into time, the Kingdom of Light is breaking forth into the kingdom of darkness. God has become human.  Watts understood that Jesus IS the Eternal Present Tense, and so he uses the present tense and active voice by saying “The Lord is come.” While Jesus was incarnate, lived, died, resurrected and ascended into heaven, Christ’s coming is an ever present and ongoing engagement in the world because he is the Eternal Present Tense.

Reflect on this reality for a moment. What does this mean for your life? What does it mean for the world?

Also note both the personal and cosmic scope. On the personal level: Let every heart prepare Him room for the King to reign. As a personal reflection, has your heart prepared room for the King of Kings, the Eternal Present Tense to enter your heart?

On a cosmic level, let heaven and nature sing!  In Luke 19:40, Christ rebukes the Pharisees when he says that if the people did not recognize that Jesus was the Messiah, “the very stones will cry out.”

Wow, this is the reason for the people of the world to celebrate! Joy to the world, the Lord is come!

After Jesus declared the jurisdiction of his reign, he then gave more specific marching orders to his ambassadors. In the next blog, we will examine the charter of Christ’s Kingdom.

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