Why We Need a King
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. (Isaiah 9:6-7)
This verse gets tossed around a lot this time of year; talking about how Jesus came as a baby to be the King of Kings. (see also Matthew 2:2) But as modern-day Americans, do we really understand what it means for Jesus to be “King of Kings?”
Short history lesson: America has never had a king, and the founding of our nation started with rebellion against the authority of a king. Before that, most of history turned on the changing moods of whoever happened to be king.
From the ruthless Pharaohs of Egypt to the supposedly Christian kings of the Middle Ages, the overwhelming majority of kings used their power and wealth to grab up more power and wealth, usually by trampling their powerless and penniless subjects.
Fast forward to 1776, then, and the Founding Fathers thought they had a solution: do away with kings altogether and vote on leaders who would do the will of the people.
(end of short history lesson)
Democracy was a great idea, but no one can look at America at any point in the last 245 years and claim that it’s a perfect system.
The problem: Every human is sinful, flawed, and incapable of ruling with perfect justice and wisdom, whether their power comes from election or inheritance.
In America, then, we have a system of government that divides power among equals as much as possible - namely, democracy. But as Christians, we need to realize that the kingdom of heaven is not a democracy.
Why? Because there is One Who is sinless, flawless, and capable of ruling with perfect justice and wisdom. His power was not given to Him by election or inheritance, but by His worthiness as Creator of the universe.
We’ve learned to rebel against the idea of one sovereign ruler because in human nations it doesn’t work well. But imagine how it would be different to live under a perfect King.
Imagine if your King knew the name of every subject in His kingdom. Imagine if He knew their whole life story, both the past and the future, and loved them regardless.
Instead of building His kingdom on the backs of the lowest classes, He builds His kingdom by raising them up to a place of honor. Instead of shutting Himself up in a castle, He walks among His people and cares for them personally. Instead of sending His subjects into pointless wars, He laid down His own life to make a way for ultimate victory.
Jesus already has all power, so He is not threatened by other powerful rulers. He already has all wisdom, so His every decision is perfect. He owns everything that exists, so He has no need to take money from anyone. He is the very definition of justice, so His kingdom will be a place of justice for all.
When we see Him in all His glory, we will worship Him with joyful adoration, so He will never demand forced allegiance from His people.
A word of warning, though: if this kingdom sounds like the place you want to be for eternity, it doesn’t just automatically happen by virtue of being human. In fact, many of Jesus’ parables contrast those who will enter the kingdom of God with those who will be cast out.
So how can we be part of the kingdom of God? In the simplest terms, by trusting in Christ as Savior. But to continue with the kingdom language, that also means acknowledging Christ as King while still on earth. It means recognizing Him as our Lord and submitting our lives to Him.
And when we enter the kingdom of God, we don’t become the person who scrubs the floors in the castle kitchen. We become sons and daughters of the King, and co-heirs with Christ.
His righteousness becomes our righteousness, His desires become our desires, and His character becomes our character.
Not all at once, but slowly, for the rest of our lives, until the day when we are finally perfected for eternity.
(Actually, I just realized: if there were a castle in the kingdom of heaven, I’m sure one of the sons and daughters would joyfully scrub the kitchen floor. Anyway…)
To our American minds, the idea that submission to authority can be a good thing or even a freeing thing sounds like the propaganda of a greedy monarchy or a tyrannical dictator. But to our renewed Christian minds, we submit joyfully to our Creator and Redeemer.
We are no longer ruled by earthly kings or presidents, but by the King of Kings.
And that is what we celebrate at Christmas: the King who came down from His throne to make a way for lowly sinners to become part of His upside-down kingdom, where the King becomes a servant and the least become the greatest.