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Who is the King of glory? God the Father said about God the Son: “I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill (Psalm 2:6). So wherever we find the 'King' associated with Zion in the Old
Testament, we can identify God the Son, and many other references to 'King' are
referenced to the One who became Jesus of Nazareth: “In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon the throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple...Then said I, Woe is me! For I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts (Isaiah 6:1,5). There is no doubt that Isaiah prophesied of the Messiah, since the New Testament specifically states this:“These things said Isaiah, when he saw His glory, and spake of Him” (John 12:41) John tells it is Jesus that Isaiah saw on the throne with glory. Meaning he saw Messiah in heaven, the king, the lord of Hosts. Jeremiah too wrote about this King: “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth” (Jeremiah 23:5). If we return to Psalm 2, we can learn a little more about the authority granted to the King who is to sit on David's throne: “I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill. I will proclaim the decree of the LORD: He said to me, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You will rule them with an iron sceptre; you will dash them to pieces like pottery." Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him” (Psalm 2:6-12). For those who say God is love this verse among many others shows he is also judge. All the nations are his inheritance, not other kings. “Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel” (Isa. 44:6 also Ps.98:6). So we have the Scripture stating the King of Israel is the Holy one, the Lord, the King of Glory, the judge and lawgiver. All of these terms are also applied to Jesus in the New Testament .Psalm 47:7-8 makes it clear, “For God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with understanding. God reigns over the nations; God sits on His holy throne.” This is what Isaiah saw. The Son is the king just as the famous prophecy states, Isa 9:6-7 “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” As Zech. 9:9: explains “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; he is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.” This was fulfilled by Jesus in Matthew 21:5. The people’s response was the correct one; they said John 12:13: "Hosanna!'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!' The King of Israel!” Luke 19:38-40: "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!' Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"Jeremiah tells us (10:10): “But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King.” The Lord is both God and king. What is said of him in the Old Testament is said of Jesus in the New Testament. God the Father has granted all judgment upon earth to His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. This is very fitting since Jesus suffered and learned what it was like to be human as He lived among us on this earth. He is Lord, King, Judge yet He is also our intercessor! Ps 29:2-3 “Give unto the LORD the glory due to His name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness. The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders; the LORD is over many waters.” Acts 7:2 And he said, "Brethren and fathers, listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran” Paul later explains in 1 Cor. 2:8 Jesus is this same glory “which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” James, Jesus’ brother 2:1 “My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. Jesus told the disciples on the mount They will see the kingdom before they die. His Shekinah glory that was him within the body was seen this is directly tied to the death and resurrection of Jesus Luke 9:27-31 But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God. And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering. And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias: Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. Matt 17:2 And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.” Mark 9:3 And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them.” During the time Jesus revealed himself a cloud (glory) of the Father came over him Mark 9:7; Matt 17:5 a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.” This is the same glory seen in the Old Testament. It is “the glory which I (The Son) had with thee before the world was” (John 17:5) This is why he is called the Lord and king of glory. We see our future glorified bodies by his example and moses and Elijah appearing in the glory. Jesus ‘transformation proves who he is, the ancient glory of God described by the Old Testament writers. Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:”There will be a day we will all be changed. Some in our bodies, some who have left them in death, that is the hope of glory Paul describes this change in1 Cor. 15:40-47 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.” Then in v.47 he sums it up by stating “The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.” We cannot get a more clear statement of where the Son is from and who He is. 1 Cor. 15:47 The second man from heaven ho (NT:3543) deuteros (NT:1196) anthroopos (NT:438) ex (NT:1517) ouranou (NT:3725). Christ had a human psuchikon (NT:5525) body, of course, but Paul makes the contrast between the first man in his natural body and the Second Man in his risen body. Paul saw Jesus after his resurrection and he appeared to him "from heaven." He will come again from heaven. (from Robertson's Word Pictures in the New Testament) Rev.1 John who was one of the witnesses of the transfiguration describes Jesus who has ascended to heaven in his vision. Rev 1:12-18 Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, "Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last."I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.” Notice the same countenance described at the transfiguration except this time John falls as dead at his feet because so much more accompanied his appearance. Jesus raises him to his feet as he tells him He is the first and the last. His eyes will be what we all pass through when we are judged for our works: rewards. 1 Cor. 3:13-14 each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward.” In the meantime we wait… speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing “which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords” (1 Tim. 6:15). As Christ Jesus returns, “These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful” (Rev. 17:14). The King who is the lamb will return as a lion and set matters straight by destroying all His enemies (Heb.1:3). “And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelations 19:16) Matthew 25 tells us “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. "Then the King will say to those on his right, `Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world” Matt 25:31-34 As He reigns from Jerusalem, “And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles” (Zech. 14:16). Jesus Christ is indeed God, Lord and King. As the Psalmist wrote Ps. 74:12: “For God is my King from of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.” If God is king and Jesus is called the king of kings then He is God, just as the Bible teaches. Can you say with Nathanael, who answered Jesus , “Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel” proclaiming his person and his rightful position (John 1:49)? |
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