Threefold: King

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In the Old Testament, God ordained that three offices be established to instruct, to intercede for, and to protect His children. These are the roles of the prophet, priest, and king. In this series, we will look at how Jesus fulfills these three roles, and continues to do so to this day.

Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
-1 Corinthians 15:24-26

Welcome to the Christian Pilgrimage Podcast; I’m your host, Paul Lytle. As the Messiah, Jesus took upon Himself three Old Testament roles, and they are offices He holds even now. Francis Turretin tells us, “The threefold misery of men introduced by sin – ignorance, guilt, and tyranny and bondage – required this conjunction of a threefold office.” The final of the Threefold Office is “King.”

We are looking at how God established three offices in the Old Testament to protect, warn, and intercede for the people. The prophet spoke on God’s behalf, telling the people what God required and what they had to do. The priest sacrificed on behalf of the people, seeking forgiveness for sin.

We have priests and prophets before Moses, but it is with Moses that these two offices are fully established as we would come to understand them. Moses was the first great prophet, and under his guidance, Aaron became the first high priest.

But the office of the king was not brought about until much later. For centuries, God was the king over the Jewish people. He wrote their laws and established their justice. It wasn’t until the time of Samuel that another king was crowned, and the people sought one then out of a lack of faith.

The elders came to Samuel and said, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations” (1 Samuel 8:5). But Samuel wasn’t really very happy about this. He was God’s prophet, and God was their leader. But God told him, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them” (8:7-8).

I’m going about the discussion of this office a little differently than the other two for a purpose. I want us to see that when we say that Christ is King, it is a truth that has always been, and remains so today.

When Jesus ascended, He went to the right hand of the Father, and from there He rules as king. We mean a few different things when we speak of Jesus as king. In the first place, He is the head of the church. We see this too with our passage from 1 Samuel. Surely God here is sovereign over all things, and yet He has chosen a people for Himself, saved them from slavery to Egypt, and He is their King. In the same way, Jesus has saved a people for Himself in His death upon the Cross, freed them from slavery to sin, and He has a kingdom promised for those whom He has saved. This is the Church – the bride of Christ. Not everyone is part of this kingdom, but only those who have repented and have faith in Jesus. As Priest, He has interceded for those people who would believe upon Him, and it is those He has brought into His kingdom.

But it is not just over these few that Jesus ultimately rules. He is coming again, and this is what the Bible says about the Second Coming: “And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords” (Revelation 19:14-16). He is coming, and His coming will put all of earth and heaven under His rule forever, and He will literally rule for all eternity.

And yet His kingdom is not wholly future, but is present as well. It is not, my friends, as though all of the earth, save perhaps the Church, is under the complete control of evil and will remain that way until the Second Coming. No, for Jesus is king even now, and He rules from the right hand of the Father on this very day. He “who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him” (1 Peter 3:22).

We see this also in the passage from 1 Samuel, if we are paying attention. You see, the people wanted a human king of their own, but it did not happen by their word, but by the word of God. Yes, it was an evil thing they desired – to be rid of God as their king. But they did not succeed here, for God had to allow it before it could happen. God did not lose control; He merely allowed someone to sit on the throne.

We must understand that God is sovereign. He is in utter control of all things. Perhaps it does not seem like it, for God does not make this control so very clear as it will be in after the Second Coming. He has not come to sit upon a throne before us all, though it is truly a throne upon which He sits. In His sovereignty He has allowed others to stand in places of power. He has allowed events to take place. He has even allowed evil, but never outside of His control, but always exactly as He wishes it to be by His good will. He does these things for His glory. For His glory He has allowed men to go astray. He will reveal His glory in His mercy toward some and His wrath against others. And yet not a molecule has escaped His control. “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases” (Psalm 115:3).

The New Testament reveals that it is Jesus, seated at the right hand of the Father, who wields this power. It is He who is the head of the Church. It is He who will return in power and glory. It was through Him, even, that all of creation was made. And it is He who brings about the sovereign will of the Father.

Let us not tremble at this, unless, of course, we will not repent. This same God who will return in judgment also spoke to us, as a prophet, on how we may be saved. And more still, this same God, who saves a Church for Himself, has, as priest, made the sacrifice necessary for that Church to be saved. As king, He has rescued us from the bonds of sin and given us the freedom of His grace. He has paid it all, and He loses not one of whom the Father gives Him. If you will repent and believe on Him, you will find that He has paid your debt too.

We worship an incredible God. We worship a God who is a prophet – who speaks what we need to know for salvation and righteousness. We worship a God who is a priest – who takes our place in death and pays the punishment we deserve for our sin. And we worship a God who is a king – who has a real kingdom and real power, and is leading His children to an eternity of peace and communion with our Lord.