Is Jesus Your King?

One of the greatest stumbling blocks in the lives of the American Christian is found in the concept of Kings and Kingdoms. America was founded on rebellion, particularly rebellion against the king. Yet, to call ourselves Christians, demands that we relinquish our prideful desire to be independent and to humble ourselves in submission to a king, that king being Jesus.

We had a guest preacher come to our church yesterday and preach on Psalm 2. Take a moment and read that Psalm.

Psalm 2:1-12
 Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing?  The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying,  "Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!"  He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them.  Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury, saying,  "But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain."  "I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.  'Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession.  'You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.'"  Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; Take warning, O judges of the earth.  Worship the LORD with reverence And rejoice with trembling.  Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!

You might want to read that through several times because it runs quite contrary to the typical description we often hear preachers use in describing Jesus. And there is no question that what we are reading here in this psalm is a pre-incarnation picture of Jesus.

As we heard yesterday in our sermon, Jesus is not your “buddy”, He is your King. That Jesus loves you is a wonderful truth, and in His work on the cross we have been adopted into God’s family. But we have far too often made Jesus out to just be someone we can treat like we do our best friend. Yes, we have been adopted into His family and we can have an intimate relationship with Him now, but we can never lose sight of who He is and Psalm 2 is a stark reminder of the dangers of not humbling ourselves in reverent submission to His Kingship.

Look at a few quick points we hear from the psalmist.

Verses 1-3 tell us that the world’s leaders plot against God and call on us to break away from God and His Word. We are certainly seeing that today. Just look at America and its rejection of God’s moral law. And the people are more eager that ever in our history to change laws that give approval to things that God and His Word call sin.

But listen to what God’s Word in this Psalm says about those who plot against Him.

Psalm 2:4
He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them.

As they think they are breaking free from God’s sovereignty and power, God is laughing at them.

The day is coming when the world leaders and those who follow them, are going to hear from God.

Psalm 2:5
 Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury…

Jesus came the first time with salvation, not to judge the world, but to warn us that we must repent and follow Him. But the second time He comes, and oh yes, He is coming, He will come to judge. He will be coming with wrath.

Psalm 2:7-9
 "I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.  'Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession.  'You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.'"

God has given His Son, Jesus, the nations. And to those who have sought to be free of God’s fetters and cords, Jesus will break them with a rod of iron and shatter them like earthenware.

That ought to change how we see Jesus and how we preach to the lost. There is a judgment coming to those who refuse to bow before the King.

What do we do? What do we say to them?

Psalm 2:10-12
 Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; Take warning, O judges of the earth.  Worship the LORD with reverence And rejoice with trembling.  Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!

We must warn them of the imminent danger of the return of Christ. We must “Worship the LORD with reverence And rejoice with trembling.  Do homage to the Son.”

As far those who are willing to place themselves under a King, the sovereign King of Kings? How blessed are we, for we have our refuge in Him.

This is serious business. There are only two choices in this life. Have Satan be your king and follow him. Or let Christ be your King and submit yourself to His Kingdom.

Be careful what you choose.

The bad news: His wrath may soon be kindled.

The good news: How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!

I pray you take refuge in the King.