Grace and peace to you from God our Father (Col 1:2). Amen.
It must have been a good question because I still remember it. This is not one from a year or two ago, but from a decade or two ago. It was on the last page of an American history exam my junior year of college. It was an essay. This was it: Name the five best presidents of the US and why. That is genius because the beauty of that is as long as I came up with five and gave a decent enough reason, I would get full credit. (I am guessing that I did. I don’t recall that. Let’s just assume that I got an “A.”)
I wonder if we could do that with Israel’s kings—name the top five and why. We could probably think of David. And there is Saul before him and Solomon after him. Whether or not they were decent might be up for debate. And then when the country split in two, there were many in the north and the south—some good, and many not so good.
Even if we can’t do that exercise, we know the best King of all—Jesus. Jesus is our supreme King because of his royal rescue and because of his royal rule. We read from …
Colossians 1:13-20
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus, who is the King of kings,
A rating scale of some sort is not unfamiliar to us. If you go to the hospital, there is a chart. The doctor or nurse ask you to describe your pain from 1-10. Before you add an app on your phone, you can check how many stars others have given it. Then you can make your decision to download or not.
There are not many that use the word “supreme.” I am not even sure what would be the opposite. Maybe worst or lowest. But we get the point. Supreme is the highest. The best. And that is Jesus.
Jesus Is Our Supreme King
1. Because of his royal rescue (13,14,19,20)
2. Because of his royal rule (15-18)
1. Because of his royal rescue (13,14,19,20)
The most that we might be able to do is to be a bit romantic about kings since that form of government is not a reality for us. It is only theory. We can imagine them with their mighty stallion, leading the troops into battle to protect the people by crushing the enemy. If they failed, they would not be king for very long. Jesus’ victory is decisive and definite. Jesus is our supreme king because of his royal rescue.
The apostle Paul makes clear why we can give our King supreme status. “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves” (Col 1:13). He dragged us away from danger—dominated by darkness. That is a picture in the Bible of ignorance and death. And he transferred us to the ruling of light. That carries the connotation of wisdom and life. Consider how completely opposite that is of normal experience in history book. When a country conquered another, it made free people slaves. They went to a place that was foreign to them. The freedom that they once enjoyed was gone. But not God. He removed us from slavery to supply us with freedom. He did it through the King, Jesus, his beloved Son (Mt 3:17; 17:5; Eph 1:6).
Jesus, as King, is the One then “in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Col 1:14). Those two things are critical and comforting.
Redemption. That always carries the idea of a price to be paid to free—like a prisoner of war or a hostage in combat. Jesus did that. True God—Paul comments that “God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him” (Col 1:20)—became true man. He always did what was right. He was without sin, obeying the law for us. And he gives that to us. Jeremiah referred to him as the King who would come from David’s line, “The LORD Our Righteousness” (Je 23:6). What we could not do for ourselves he delivers to us. We are right with God.
Forgiveness of sins. The guilt that was ours is now gone. God cancels our debt. He sends our sins away. Forever. They are so far away that they can’t condemn us or concern us.
Redemption and forgiveness—we have that right now because of the King.
That comes to us through Christ’s cross. That is how God “reconciled” us (Col 1:20). The he restored the relationship that was badly broken. Where there was once opposition and distance there is now friendship and closeness. Paul mentions it in this manner: “making peace through his blood, shed on the cross” (Col 1:20). Everything is in order between us and God because of what Jesus accomplished on that instrument of Roman torture. He suffered our eternal punishment and pain, pouring out his holy, precious blood (1 Pe 1:18,19).
The cross may not be the first place that we think of a king. Many on Good Friday missed it. That was not defeat, but victory. What was ridicule for them with that sign above Jesus’ head is respect for us: “THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS” (Lk 23:38). And for us too, the Chosen One (Lk 23:35). Like the repentant thief, Jesus holds out paradise, heaven, to those who hold on to him in faith (Lk 23:43). He didn’t save himself because he saved us. Jesus is our supreme King because of his royal rescue. We can do what the psalmist encouraged: “Sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him” (Ps 98:1). That salvation is for us.
2. Because of his royal rule (15-18)
It is overly simplistic since the closest we come to kings is looking across the Atlantic to say that kings rule. We may even envision an elaborate throne. But that is what kings do. Jesus is our supreme king because of his royal rule.
Jesus is uniquely and absolutely qualified to be the King. Paul brings that out in a number of ways.
“The Son is the image of the invisible God” (Col 1:15). Jesus is not just like God. He is God (He 1:3). Exactly. “God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God” (Nicene Creed). What we contend about the Father we can claim about the Son. And Jesus makes the unseen God seen (Jn 14:9). The Father’s love is evident in sending his Son. Jesus reveals that to us (Jn 1:18).
“The Son is … the firstborn over all creation” (Col 1:15). That suggests first in time since Jesus is eternal—no beginning or end (Jn 8:58), but also first in rank. Jesus is above every last thing. No one is above him because he is over all. That is because “in him all things were created” (Col 1:16). Jesus was present and active in creation (Jn 1:1-3).
And then the creator King is also the controller King. “In him all things hold together” (Col 1:17). He keeps things in the proper place. Instead of chaos and confusion there is cohesion and continuity (Acts 17:28). He is the supreme King of the universe.
What is true of the globe is the case for the Church. It is so in a special way. King Jesus is “the head of the body, the church” (Col 1:18). The comparison is clear. We can do nothing without what sits on our shoulders. (That is where our brains are.) It directs where we go and determines what we do. That is our Savior. We depend on him for everything as he operates in our best interest. In him we live and move and grow. After all, “he is the beginning” (Col 1:18; Re 21:6)—the One from who all things originate.
There is one more title that Paul brings up. He is “the firstborn from among the dead” (Col 1:18). Jesus hung on the cross, but he headed out of the grave three days later. His resurrection guarantees ours. Because he lives we live (Jn 14:19). Jesus is supreme even over death as the Son of God (1 Co 15:20; Ro 1:4).
That is the kind of King that we need—One who created all, One who cares for all, One who conquers all. And we have that King. Jesus is our supreme King because of his royal rule above all and over all. We can do what the psalmist urged us: “Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth” (Ps 98:4). That praise is from us.
Your pain might not be high or your stars may not be many, but you understand how to rate things. Even presidents or kings. But we don’t have to come up with any list of five because we have the King. Jesus. He is our supreme King because of his royal rescue and royal rule. He set us free and keeps us safe. There is no one better because he is the best. Amen.
Grace be with you (Col 4:18). Amen.
November 20, 2016
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