INTRODUCTION

I am sure by now everyone is wondering just who is going to be the next president of the United States. It is a little unnerving not to know who your new leader and commander-in-chief is. And with all the swirl of controversy surrounding this election, no matter who is finally elected there will always be that little cloud of suspicion hanging over him. Maybe there are still some more votes floating out there somewhere.

Believe it or not, this is not the closest presidential election. Back in 1824 four candidates were evenly deadlocked. Neither Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, William Crawford or John Quincy Adams received a majority of the electoral votes to win the election. The vote was taken to the House of Representatives. It was so tight that it came down to one state – New York. Even the delegates from New York were evenly divided, and so the tie-breaking vote came down to one man, General Stephen van Rennselaer. Some of his colleagues urged him to vote for Crawford and others Adams. Being a pious man, he bowed his head in prayer just before the ballot box reached him. When he opened his eyes he spotted a ballot on the floor by his seat with Adams name on it. He interpreted this as a sign from God, cast his vote for Adams, and that is how John Quincy Adams was made the next president of the United States – by one vote.

Jesus’ installation as King was no fluke of fate or political accident. Psalm 2 is one of the clearest of the Messianic Psalms in the Old Testament. It is quoted extensively in the New Testament always pointing to Jesus as the fulfillment of what is written here. And the clearest of the Messianic prophecies written here tells us that:

GOD ESTABLISHED JESUS AS OUR KING

1. JESUS RULES BY DIVINE AUTHORITY

God the Father speaks loud and clear here when he says, “I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill.” God spoke similar words about Jesus on the day he was baptized in the Jordan River and again on the Mount of Transfiguration. When an employer brings a hand picked subordinate before his employees and tells them, “I am putting him in charge while I am gone. You will answer to him as if it were me,” he wants to make it perfectly clear who is in charge. That is what God is doing here when he points us to Jesus and says, “Jesus is my King and yours.”

In his inaugural address Jesus says (vs. 7), “I will proclaim the decree (command) of the Lord: He said to me, ‘You are my Son; today I have become your Father.’” By saying that Jesus declaring himself to be God’s Son and therefore Divine or God. This is a bold claim, something the Jewish people recognized Jesus was making every time he spoke one of his “I Am” statements. God told King David that one of his physical descendants (the OT Messiah/Savior God) would one day sit on his throne not for 4 or 8 years and out, or even for 40 years, the length of David’s rule, but forever. And only God could do that. So God made this man, Jesus, a physical descendant of King David, our King. Only Jesus was no mere man. He was also God at the same time.

God put it this way, “today I have become (King James says begot) your Father.” John 3:16 says, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only (only begotten) Son that whoever believes on him will not perish, but have eternal life.” People have always wondered what the word begat means. Well, I am a father of five children. I begat five children, 3 boys and twin girls. They were born out of me (and my wife, of course). Jesus had no earthly father. The Bible is clear on that. It states clearly that God was Jesus’ Father. That means that Jesus, therefore, has to be God. We confess it this way in the Nicene Creed, “We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten (born out of) the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made.”

The oldest heresy the New Testament church faced attacked this truth, which is clearly taught in the NT, but is established first in the Old Testament right here. The apostle John used this teaching as the litmus test for true Christianity (see 1 John 2:22-23; 4:1-3, 15; 5:1, 10-12, 20).

The proof that Jesus is God’s Son is seen in his resurrection to life. Jesus did die by crucifixion to pay for and remove forever the world’s sins. But he did not stay dead. Jesus predicted several times that he would rise again on the third day. Acts 13:32-33 tells us, “We tell you the good news: What God promised our fathers he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm: ‘You are my Son; today I have become your Father.’” Paul makes this point in Romans 1:2-4, “the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.” It’s not hard to see that God wants there to be no question that Jesus rules by divine authority.

God’s enemies have opposed this truth for years. Psalm 2 talks about how the enemies of God take their stand against the Lord and his Anointed One (Jesus). God just laughs at them. When Jesus was born, King Herod saw him as a threat to his throne. That’s why he ordered all the baby boys in and around Bethlehem to be killed. Later the Jewish leaders saw Jesus as a threat to their power base. So they plotted and conspired to have him put to death. It appeared like they had succeeded in removing Jesus when he was crucified and buried, but God had the last laugh when he raised his Son back to life. Roman emperors tried to destroy Christ’s followers, only to fail. The last great threat to Christianity was communism, which is based on atheism. Nikita Kruschev (ironically, his son is now a U.S. citizen) once commented that the greatest threat to Russia’s security was not nuclear war with America, but babushkas (grandmas). He said that they (The Russian atheistic system) would teach their children in school that there was no such thing as a God, but the children would go home and sit on their grandma’s lap and the grandma’s would tell them about all about God and Jesus (which says a lot to us about the power of grandparents and the importance of passing on our legacy of faith to the generations following us). And the children would believe them. Communism has fallen and Christ still reigns. In fact…

2. JESUS’ KINGDOM EXTENDS TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH

Jesus told his disciples shortly before he ascended into heaven, “All authority (and power) in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Mt 28:19). Jesus was claiming to be the highest authority in this world and the next. That is what Paul taught in Eph 1:20-23. And in Ph 2:8-10 Paul said that because Jesus was willing to become obedient to death on the cross for our sins, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.”

Of course, we know that every knee does not bow before Jesus nor does everyone confess him as Lord. Most people today totally ignore him altogether. Few recognize his reign over all things. That’s nothing new. When Jesus stood before Pilate who mockingly asked Jesus where his kingdom was, Jesus replied, “My kingdom is not of this world.” There were those who looked for Jesus to establish a visible earthly kingdom. Jesus told them in Luke 17:20-21, “The kingdom of God does not come visibly, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.”

We live in a world where there are clearly defined boundaries between countries, but Jesus’ kingdom has no geographical boundaries. That’s because Jesus rules and reigns in the hearts of believers all over the world by faith. Wherever the gospel is preached, there you will find Jesus’ kingdom. Like God the Father says in this Psalm, “I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.”

Whether people believe it or not Jesus is the King of kings. But there will be no mistaking this fact when Jesus returns on the last day in power and glory with all his holy angels with him. Read Rev. 19:11-16 for a clear picture of that great and dreadful day. It will be a great day for believers and a dreadful day for unbelievers. That is when everyone everywhere will know that Jesus IS King of kings and Lord of lords. Then every knee will bow before him and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. We can play an important role in helping to extend Christ’s kingdom every time we share our faith with an unbelieving friend, neighbor, relative, classmate or co-worker. We can do it by supporting the ministry here at St. Mark’s, especially our Hispanic Outreach. And we can do it through our regular, consistent and generous offerings to the work here and around the world by supporting the mission work of the Wisconsin Synod.

It is easy for us to confess Jesus Christ as Lord with our mouths, but do our lives make this confession as well? Jesus’ rule may extend over all the earth, but does he rule in our hearts and over every aspect of our lives? Or do we resist his rule and authority over certain aspects of our life? When you start an honest examination of your heart and life, it is not hard to uncover lots of areas where we have failed to submit fully to Jesus’ authority. It is our nature (sinful, that is) to resist. That is the rebel in us. And that is precisely what Jesus came to crush in us through the gospel.

3. JESUS’ POWER CRUSHES OUR ENEMIES BEFORE US

God says here, You will rule them with an iron scepter; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.” The only iron Jesus held in his hands was the iron nails that held him to the cross. And the only scepter he held was a wooden cross, but Scripture tells us that Jesus triumphed over his enemies with the cross. That is where he crushed Satan’s head (eliminating his power over us). That is where he broke sin’s power over us (we don’t have to live as a slave to any sin that we have been struggling with). And with his empty grave Jesus destroyed death and make life and immortality available to us through the gospel.

Earthly kings were responsible for leading and governing God’s people. That is why Solomon asked for wisdom from God, because he felt inadequate to govern this great people of God’s by himself. Another responsibility of a king was to protect the people from their enemies. Jesus has done all that and so much more. Most kings demand obedience from their subjects. Our king deserves our willing obedience. Most kings force the people to bow before them. Our king has earned our willing submission to him. Most kings make the people serve them. Our king came, not to be served, but to serve and give his life over to death on the cross as a ransom price to pay for our sins.

The question is not, does Jesus rule, but does he rule in our hearts? How often have we challenged or rejected his rule preferring to be in charge of our lives instead? How often have we ignored his rule over us giving him little/no thought or time. What place does Christ have in our hearts? If it is true that where our treasure is there will our hearts be also, then ask yourself, “Is Christ the greatest treasure of my heart?” Can the people around me and those who live with me easily recognize that fact? Thankfully, all our failures, all our sins of rebellion and resistance and ignoring Jesus’ rule have been paid for by Jesus. His iron scepter has broken through the hardness of our hearts giving us hearts that believe in Jesus as Savior and willingly submit to his authority as Lord and King over us. God gives us the desire to want to serve and please him. “For God is working in you, giving you the desire to obey him and the power to do what pleases him” (Ph 2:13).

God has established Jesus as our King. Jesus rules by divine authority. His kingdom extends to the ends of the earth. And by his power he has destroyed our enemies of sin, Satan, death and hell for us. This Advent season as you anticipate his coming crown him the King of your heart through faith. Give the throne in your heart to him. And share your faith with others to extend Christ’s rule into yet another heart. Amen.