Christ the King
“That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow…and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” (Philippians 2:10-11)
We live in a nation that has forgotten God, a nation that has known better days. We are living in a time where war is raging in the Middle East, Eastern Europe and in parts of Africa. We have seen the political temperature in America steadily rise over recent years, culminating in the horrific assassination of Charlie Kirk, a 31 year old Christian, on a university campus before the eyes of the world. Assassinated, it appears, for passionately debating and discussing ideas and politics from a Christian perspective.
There is no end of discussion about how best to resolve the problems we face as a nation, about the causes of the wars, or how to stem the tide of political violence. These are but symptoms of the fundamental problem that faces us all.
A Declaration of War
When we think of war in history, we think of the clashing of swords, the firing of guns, bombings, terror attacks and, more recently, the incursion of drones into enemy territory. Yet warfare did not begin with a physical conflict. The original conflict is spiritual.
The first declaration of war occurred in the Garden of Eden with the breaking of a commandment. God gave Adam the command, “…of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17). When Adam ate of the fruit, which he was commanded not to eat (Genesis 3:6), man fell into sin. The devil’s war with God was joined by man.
It has been said, with the possible exception of John 3:16, that no verse in Scripture is more important than Genesis 3:15. It begins, “and I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed.” The great conflict was here pronounced between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. Since the fall of man into sin, history has been marked by sin, evil, pride and war. Sin is the cause of all wars and political violence, along with all the other ills of society. The world is opposed to Christ and under the dominion and control of the devil.
The conflict between the two seeds flows through Biblical history, where for instance Cain murdered his brother Abel (Genesis 4:8). It culminated in Jerusalem where the seed of the serpent, Herod and the Pharisees, sought to destroy Christ by crucifying and putting Him to death (Acts 2:23).
Christ’s Victory
Genesis 3:15 goes on to declare, “He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” This verse is the foundation of the Bible’s message of salvation and triumph. What appeared to be Christ’s defeat on the cross, was in reality His victory and Satan’s vanquishing. The Gospel was not something that God kept hidden until Christ’s humiliation (See Shorter Catechism Q27) – His being born into this world.
Theologians call Genesis 3:15 the protoevangelium, the first announcement of the Gospel. In other words, this was the promise of a saviour to come, and the means by which God would redeem His people from their sin. These words were written thousands of years before Christ’s coming and fulfilled by Christ’s death on the cross.
When Adam and Eve fell into sin by disobeying God’s command, God did not destroy them. Instead He promised a Saviour, the seed of the woman who would deliver a fatal blow to the serpent. He would bruise his head.
At the same time, the seed of the woman would be wounded, not fatally, but to His heel. Christ had to shed His blood in substitutionary action for the sin of His people. There is no other means of forgiveness for sin. God providing animal skins to cover Adam and Eve’s now sinful and shameful nakedness was a picture of this atonement. (Genesis 3:21) as “without shedding of blood, there is no remission” (Hebrews 9:22).
From the very beginning there was certainty about Christ’s victory over the devil. This was affirmed by Christ Himself at Caesarea Philippi when He said, “I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). We are in a war with the enemy, but we must remember that the decisive battle took place at Calvary and has been won.
Christ’s Mediatorial Kingship
The motto of the Reformed Presbyterian Church is, For Christ’s Crown and Covenant. The significance of the words, For Christ’s Crown, serve as a reminder that as believers Christ is our King. Moreover, as Mediator, all authority has been given to Him in heaven and earth (Matthew 28:18). Therefore, Christ is not only our King as believers, but He is King over every nation on the earth.
Consequently, Christ’s rule as King is universal and it is the duty of individuals to confess Christ, and the nations to kiss the son (Psalm 2:12) and obey Him. From 1743 the Reformed Presbyterian Church has stood for the doctrine of Christ’s mediatorial kingship – the crown rights of Christ. This is not some man made distinction. Rather, it is Biblical doctrine. Though it is rightly important to Reformed Presbyterians, for the most part it is barely recognised by the wider church.
In Scotland, despite our Reformed heritage, Christ is not recognised and obeyed as King by the majority of the Church. Nor by the government or by the man in the street. This was not always the case, for we once knew better days as a nation covenanted to God. As believers, it is our calling to testify to the duty of our nation to confess and serve Christ as King. If the nations are to kiss the son and obey Him, it stands to reason that we should take an active and prayerful interest in both home and foreign mission.
Confession of Christ
That raises the question: what about those who refuse to recognise Christ? In writing to the Church in Philippi, the Apostle Paul states, “therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11).
These words speak of Christ’s exaltation (See Shorter Catechism Q28) – God has highly exalted Him. Every created being will bow the knee and confess with their tongue that Christ is Lord. This includes ‘those under the earth,’ referring to Satan and his demonic forces. The question we ought to ask is not if we will bow the knee and confess Christ, for we will all certainly do so.
The question is when will we do so? Will we do so willingly in this life, so that we can sing the words of Psalm 34 from our own experience, “O taste and see that God is good, who trusts in Him is blessed?” Or – fearfully – when it is too late, bowing the knee and confessing Christ against our will on the Day of Judgement? Will our confession be in salvation or destruction? “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).
Our war against God is why nations decline, wars erupt around the world, and political violence stalks the earth. This war is why we witness the senseless murder of a man who spoke words of truth and common sense. The only answer to the sin around us and the sin of our own hearts is repentance and trust in Christ – Christ the King:
“…That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow…and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” (Philippians 2:10-11)