SINCE the days of Adam, loyal children of the kingdom of God, surrounded by sin, with its darkness and gloom, have looked, longed, and hoped for the breaking of the long promised day when "the seed of the woman" shall have bruised "the serpent's head." That hope, radiant as the bow of promise, more glorious than the morning star, has strengthened their faith, and, anchored beyond the woes and storms of life, it has led them to grasp the holy splendors of eternity.
"This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours."
THE CORONATION OF THE GREAT KING
His Supreme Tragedy Precedes His Crowning — Satan for a Moment Triumphant — No Federated Power of Men Can Crown the Christ
Standing upon the threshold of this transcendent theme, which means the closing of earth's long, dreary conflict, and the coronation of earth's rightful King, language can not express the feelings, imagination can not picture the joyous anticipations of the church militant as she steps upon the shores of the land of promise and becomes the church triumphant. With what ecstasy of delight will the last waiting, watching remnant of the church militant burst into songs of unalloyed praise as it sees the passing of the last token which assures it of the immediate return of its long promised King!
"O for a thousand tongues to sing
My great Redeemer's praise,
The glories of my God and King,
The triumphs of His grace!"
THE CHARACTER OF THE KING
For ages the world has witnessed royalty ruling by might. Christ rules by love. Haughty kings have laughed to scorn weary pilgrims toiling mid winter's cold and summer's heat to restore the lost to a kingdom of love. During all of their conflicts, these pilgrims have "run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin." Heb. 12: 1-4.
EARTH'S SUPREME TRAGEDY
Christ's crucifixion was earth's supreme tragedy. "The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against His anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us." Ps. 2: 2, 3. "This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours." Mark 12: 7.
"Jerusalem was the chosen place where the name of the Lord rested. It was 'the city of the great King.' In her streets had been shed the blood of holy prophets. Martyrs had often fallen there, sacrifices to the fury of apostates and carnally mad men. There was the chosen spot for redemption's offering to be made. Her hills, which had witnessed the manifestations of God's power and glory, must witness the awful manifestation of God in humility and sorrow. No mere mortal ever manifested such humility. No mere man ever felt such sorrow and anguish.
ALL UNITED TO DESTROY HIM
"The people were, for once, in general union. Herod and Pilate became one in action. Pharisees and Sadducees dropped their old enmity to each other. The mad cry against Jesus arose from the vast multitude. Nothing could be heard but the shrill and fiendish cry, 'Away with Him! Crucify Him! Crucify Him!'
"It was the great hour of earth's insanity. That indescribable madness was honored as reason. Sentence was passed against Jesus. All faces were turned towards Calvary. Pretorian soldiers formed the escort guard. The procession which followed let no man attempt to describe! Jesus bore His cross. He fainted under the load. Behold the derision of the mad multitude! They take it, and compel an old Cyrenian to bear it to Calvary. They crucified Him there. They threw up the cross. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so Jesus was lifted up. Roman soldiers did the work. They stood as guards around the cross. Priests derided. Thieves railed. Jews mocked. Romans jeered. Disciples beheld afar off. Women wept. The heavens were shaded with nightly darkness. Earth quaked to her center. A cry of supplication and pity arose from the cross! Another cry, of agony! Jesus died."—"Jesus in His Offices," by A. G. Comings, pages 371, 372.
SATAN APPARENTLY TRIUMPHS
The confederacy of church and state, while pretending to adore, had crucified their Lord. Satan and his angels, at whose instigation all this untold agony was caused, held high carnival around the cross. They had apparently triumphed. The King was in their power. Christ having meekly said, "This is your hour, and the power of darkness," "like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened He not His mouth." Acts 8: 32. "When He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously." Crowned with thorns as king in mockery, He prayed for forgiveness for His persecutors.
Sad as was the sight from heaven, where loyal angels, weeping, beheld the shameless mockery of their King, God did not swerve from His purpose in that hour of earth's deepest gloom. God's kingdom is not like man's; it triumphs in crucifixion. In that hour of dense darkness, light was breaking o'er the hill of Calvary that was to cover the earth as waters cover the sea.
This counsel was sent from the eternal throne to earth's haughty kings who in that hour of crisis turned persecutors of their greatest benefactor: "He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure. Yet have I set My King upon My holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto Me, Thou art My Son; this day have I begotten Thee. Ask of Me, and I shall give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish from the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him." Ps. 2: 4-12.459
NO FEDERATED POWER OF MAN REQUIRED
The time had now come for the coronation foretold when the crown was removed from Israel's last king under the old covenant kingdom. "Thus saith the Lord God; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it; and it shall be no more, until He come whose right it is; and I will give it Him." Eze. 21: 26, 27.
It will require no federation of churches and kingdoms to crown that worthy King. He who sits in the heavens, who could bring kingship out of crucifixion, will with His own loving hand place the crown of glory upon that thorn-crowned head; and kingdoms and federations which have sought to crown Him before the time, shall be dashed to pieces like worthless pottery fitted to destruction. Dan. 2: 34.
THE MANNER OF HIS KINGDOM
Just before the transfiguration, Jesus promised His disciples, "There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in His kingdom." Matt. 16: 28. "And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them: and His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment was white as the light. And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with Him." Matt. 17: 1-3. "And His raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them." Mark 9: 3.
This transfiguration scene illustrates the manner of Christ's kingdom. It is not a kingdom adapted to this sin-cursed earth. It is a kingdom of heavenly glory. It is because Christ had announced that His kingdom shall be one in which He will be robed in garments of light and glory such as no earthly fuller can provide, that Satan will appear as an angel of light in the great federation movement when churches and nations shall unite to enthrone Him a political king. But when Christ's kingdom is established, the righteous dead represented by Moses, and the living righteous translated without dying, represented by Elijah, will be there, with faces radiant with celestial glory as the sun, and garments of Edenic light for their clothing, as in the kingdom originally given to Adam.
That this transfiguration scene was a "vision" of the kingdom of glory, designed to show the power, glory, and heavenly character of the kingdom of Christ, is plainly stated in Matt. 17: 8, 9: "And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only. And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead." Peter confirms this view, saying: "For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye-witnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to Him from the excellent glory, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with Him in the holy mount." 2 Peter 1: 16-18. The glorious majesty of such a kingdom is not established by federated earthly councils, but by the almighty power of the King eternal.
THE TERRITORY OF CHRIST'S KINGDOM
Christ is the second Adam. He came to seek and to save that which was lost in the fall of the first Adam. In the fall, the original dominion of the earth was lost. It is to be restored to Christ. It is His "purchased possession." "And Thou, O Tower of the flock, the Stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto Thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem." Micah 4: 8. "For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed [Christ—Gal. 3: 29], through the law, but through the righteousness of faith." Rom. 4: 13. Yes, the original kingdom will be restored with all its original purity, power, and glory, to Him whose it is by right, and He will be crowned its King.
THE CORONATION SCENE
It was a scene of exceptional grandeur and glory when his majesty King George V and her majesty Queen Mary were crowned in London, in June, 1911. It will be an infinitely more glorious scene when Christ is crowned King of kings and Lord of lords, and comes in the glory of His Father and all the holy angels to redeem His people.
DOES NOT TAKE PLACE ON EARTH
The coronation does not take place upon earth. It takes place before the throne of God in the heavenly kingdom. "I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head like the pure wool: His throne was like the fiery flame, and His wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him: thousand thousands ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him: the Judgment was set, and the books were opened."
"I saw in the night visions, and, behold, One like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought Him near before Him. And there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve Him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." Dan. 7: 9, 10, 13, 14.
The investigative Judgment has decided whether the invited guests are robed in the wedding garments provided by the King. Matt. 22: 11-14. The wedding garment is the righteousness of Christ provided for His people. When the last invitation has been thrice extended, the inspection work of judgment closes, and, observed by all the loyal subjects of the heavenly kingdom, God the Father places upon the head of His dear Son a diadem so rare and magnificent that earthly wealth and glory give no basis for comparison.
On earth He bowed beneath a cross with the dignity of a king. In heaven He bows to receive a crown with the humility of a servant. "A scepter of righteousness" marks Him evermore as "King of righteousness."
