"CHRIST THE KING!" by David Layman

November 26, 2000

Psalm 132:11-18

John 18:33-37

Revelation 1:4-8

19 days after the election, we're still not sure who our next president

will be. The first election of all didn't take place in a voting booth,

but in the Garden of Eden. God created human beings, and gave them a

choice: to eat of the forbidden fruit, or to eat from the tree of life,

and live forever. In the first election, both Adam and Eve ignored the

instruction of God, and fell for the wiles of the serpent. The Devil

won the first election! The Devil won again when Cain killed his

brother Abel. In fact, the Devil kept winning election after election,

but God didn't quit!

Following all the bad decisions humankind had made, God decided to hold

his own election. God called apart Abraham and Sarah to form a new

people. Through this new people, God desired to bless all the peoples

of the world. God delivered His people from slavery in Egypt with the

help of Moses and Joshua, and brought them into the promised land. When

the people got settled, God was to be their king and ruler. There was

to be a theocracy, based on the rule of God. Last week we considered

how God blessed Hannah with a son, Samuel, who at an early age was

dedicated to God's service. The people came to Samuel and said "We want

you to anoint a king for us, so we can be like the other nations."

Samuel tried to warn the people that a king would bring high taxes, send

their sons off to war, take some of the best land, etc. etc. But the

people said "We want a king." So God, knowing that the people who would

really WANT to be king were the last ones God would want, had his

prophet Samuel pray for guidance, and then anoint a king himself. No

millions of dollars spent on advertising, no need for campaign finance

reform, no messy recounts, no court battles. Samuel anointed Saul, who

became a pretty insecure and unstable ruler. Samuel did better the next

time, when he anointed David as king.

As great a king as David was, he and his family were guilty of:

adultery, murder, rape , murder, a revolt. THE NATIONAL ENQUIRER would

have had a field day with David's family!

Don't ever think that the Bible is the story of good people that we

should be more like! Instead, we find within its pages the amazing

patience and grace of God. The last words on David's lips as he

approached death were to remember the "EVERLASTING COVENANT" God had

made with the house of David (that is, his descendants.) It is amazing

that God would make an everlasting covenant with the house of David, for

as the history of ancient Israel attests, great kings over the 1000

years in between David and Jesus, were about as frequent, as great

presidents are in the United States! There were far more Warren G.

Hardings in ancient Israel than there were Davids!

2,000 years ago the king that was ruling the Holy Land, Herod, was a

ruthless and cruel man. But God caused to have born in Bethlehem, the

city of David, a descendent of David, a messiah, or "anointed one":

Jesus. Jesus is THE ETERNAL KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS! God

went outside the political process, but kept and fulfilled His covenant

in Jesus. Kings were anointed in those days; that is what the word

"messiah" or "Christ" in English literally means: God's anointed one;

God's king! Jesus was anointed not by a human figure, but by God "with

the Holy Spirit and with power." (Acts 10:38) Jesus healed, taught

eternal truth, and was then arrested and brought before the Roman

governor, Pontius Pilate.

Pilate asked Jesus "ARE YOU THE KING OF THE JEWS?" Jesus answered "MY

KINGDOM IS NOT FROM THIS WORLD." (John 18:33, 36). Jesus came into the

world to testify to eternal truth, not to make sure that the trains run

on time. Yet the religious, governing authorities and the average

person began to see that they could not do everything they pleased if

Jesus was allowed authority over their lives. So He was sent to the

cross.

Jesus is a different kind of king. God sent him into the world to

forgive our sin. As strong as Jesse Ventura is in a wrestling ring,

Jesse can't save us from our sins. As rich as Ross Perot is, he can't

buy our salvation. Again and again, we turn to human leaders to save

us: from taxes, from a down turn in the economy, from an enemy

without. We turn to political leaders to make our streets safe, to

"save Social Security", to restore character and dignity to our national

leadership. Invariably, we become disappointed with those we place our

hopes in. We need Christ the King far more than we need another

president. Way back in Samuel's day, the people needed to acknowledge

God as their king far more than they needed an earthly king! Some

things never change!

Pilate asked Jesus "Are you the King?" If Jesus is NOT our King,

Christmas really doesn't matter much. If Jesus is NOT our king,

Christmas is just an excuse for a shopping spree, a break from school, a

pleasant time to get the family together. Advent begins this Wednesday

night, when we begin 4 special worship services to celebrate the Advent

or Coming of Christ our King. Our scripture from Revelation 1 points

out that Jesus not only came once, as a baby born in Bethlehem. He will

come again to judge the quick and the dead! In Revelation 1:7 we read

"LOOK! HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS; EVERY EYE WILL SEE HIM, EVEN THOSE

WHO PIERCED HIM." "I AM THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA," SAYS THE LORD GOD,

WHO IS AND WHO WAS AND WHO IS TO COME."

The first Advent of Christ was at Bethlehem. Jesus came the first time

to teach and show us the way, the truth and the life. The second Advent

or coming of Christ will be with power, "WITH THE CLOUDS", to judge us.

The world has been granted a 2,000 year reprieve, a second chance. Jesus

came in the non intimidating form of a baby born in a manger. He wore

common garb and preached and taught in the fields, marketplace, Temple.

His teachings were recorded, easily available to us. Living in this

land, we have no reasonable excuse to deny knowledge of what God desires

of us. "Love God with all your heart, soul and mind, and your neighbor

as yourself." "God so loved the world, that He gave his only Son, so

that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal

life." What else do we really need to know, and to live by? Everything

we REALLY need to know about God we can learn by kindergarten. The

challenge is, to do it!

When we walk into a voting booth, we have to make a decision: Are we

going to vote for candidate A, B, or C? Make sure you look on both

sides of the ballots. Don't leave any hanging chad! Punch your

ballot. And live with your decision! Is Jesus the King of the cosmos?

Or is He not? Remember that a king has more authority than a

president. We can replace a president every four years. Kings are for

life. Are we preparing to celebrate a secular holiday, or a Holy Day?

Do we believe that our King not only came to a manger in Bethlehem, but

that our King is even now sitting at the right hand of God, and will

come again on the clouds, with authority and power, to judge the quick

and the dead?

It's time for us to make our decision...and to live accordingly!

--

Rev. David Layman

First Presbyterian Church

Richmond, Indiana