Does King Jesus Reign in Your Life?

The other day I was listening to Kat Kerr talk about Jesus and she called him King Jesus. It took her several times of saying it before it really began to sink in.  Thinking of Jesus as King isn’t something that I’ve done in my lifetime.   Now I know that He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. But calling Him King Jesus, was not something that I had ever thought about doing.  In fact, I would say there are very few names I do call Him.  I stick with the common names. The ones I think most Western Protestant Christians use – Jesus, Christ, Lord, Savior or a combination of those names. I’m not saying that is bad.  Any time we call on Him it’s a good thing.   I’m just saying that when I began to let KING sink in, something began to stir in my spirit. Jesus is my King. There are many names for Jesus and every one of them tell us something a little different about His nature or His role or authority.  The Scriptures are full of names for him. For example – When I say Alpha and Omega, we know that’s Jesus – He is the first and the last.  All things begin with Him and all things will end with Him. He’s also called the Light of the World, Lamb of God, Lion of Juda, Root of David and many many more.  But I kept thinking about King Jesus. We prefer the more common, feel good, warm embracing names of Jesus – like Jesus, Savior, Lamb of God, Lord, even Friend.  King Jesus doesn’t promote warm and fuzzy feel-good emotions of a best friend. King Jesus commands respect. It reminds us that we are approaching the Holy. I’ve said before that it may be hard for us to approach Jesus as King because the idea of King is not something we experience in our lives.   It’s not a part of our governmental system.  We have a President. Although I respect the office of President, I certainly do not think of our presidents as sovereign. Our presidents must obey the Constitution and there are checks and balances to make sure that happens. The point of what I am saying isn’t about our governmental system.  It’s simply to draw a line of distinction between a king and a president. Jesus isn’t a president who has to operate within the boundaries of the Constitution. Jesus is King, sovereign, a ruler unto Himself. He has no limitations and what he pronounces, and orders is what must happen. To think of Jesus as King then, moves Him from friend to…well to King, one with power that the Friend doesn’t have.  Did I think He had power and authority in my life? Oh ABSOLUTELY – but I think it was more like the power and authority of a president, not a King. Jesus is our Friend, our Savior, but if you are like me, let it sink in that He is also King and He reigns in heaven, the government is on His shoulders (Isaiah 9:6-7) Think about this passage from Revelation 19:11-16.  Don’t just read through it – set with the passage, visualize what is being said and see your King as He is – no longer a lowly carpenter willing to sacrifice His life for us, but mighty King, sovereign ruler, who demands our respect and allegiance.  

I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh, he has this name written:

KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS