Time to bring the king back – Part 1

On this Easter Sunday, when Christians around the world mark the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, having made the ultimate sacrifice for the redemption of humanity, there can be no better illustrative story in the Bible than that concerning King David. After all, it is said of him that Christ is the Son of David, having come into the world through the lineage of that foremost king of Israel. David had been driven away from the throne because of his son, Absalom’s rebellion. Now that the usurper, rival and scheming interloper was dead, the people expected the anointed king back in Jerusalem. Thus, the nation of Israel planned and purposed to bring back King David.

As the children of Israel rejected David, the anointed king, Jesus Christ the King of kings is rejected by some people on earth because of usurpers, who have dethroned Him from many hearts. Therefore, as the Church awaits the coming of the Lord, we must urgently reach out to sinners with the saving gospel.

As believers, we have a divine mandate to evangelise to our friends, neighbours, communities and nations by presenting Christ to them as the King, Lord, Redeemer and Saviour.

“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” It displeases the Lord that many people, whom He died for are not saved. We must, therefore, take the good news of hope and life, the gospel, to them so that they will make Christ the King, Lord and Saviour of their lives. If they accept Christ as their only Saviour and make up their minds to serve Him unreservedly, He will reign in their lives without a rival, as the King of kings and Lord of lords.

The Israelites recollected what King David had done for them, by putting his life on the line, when he fought against Goliath and saved them from servitude of the Philistines. As believers, we should not forget what God has done for us, by sending Jesus Christ to die for our sins, and to reconcile us to the Almighty Father.

Through His sacrifice on the cross, Jesus Christ, our King, saved us from all our sins and the punishment that should have rightly followed our degenerated conduct and lifestyle. He cancelled the eternal penalty we ought to go through because of His love. “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

Christ has done more than David or any other king in the world could do. He freely forgave us the sins that brought us into condemnation. He washed and cleansed us from all spots and defilements and reconciled us unto the Father. He transformed, delivered, healed, redeemed and translated us into His Kingdom. We, who were strangers to Him, became His sons and daughters. We, who were enemies to God, became His friends. We, who were sinners before God, became saints. We, who had no hope in this world or in eternity, became citizens of heaven, and heirs of Christ. How grateful we ought to be today, and everyday that God Himself worked this out to our own benefit, so that those who come today and accept the sacrifice of Christ are translated from eternal death to eternal life.

Sadly, not everyone knows that Jesus Christ died for him or her. We must, therefore, tell them that only Christ qualifies to be our King because He made the greatest sacrifice and “gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Titus 2:14). Christ is the Redeemer and He will still be the Redeemer, until the end of the world. His once-for-all sacrifice is still efficacious because “whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord” today, “shall be saved.”

Further Reading (King James Version): 2 Samuel 19:9-12; Revelation 11:15; Matthew 21:4-9; 23:37-39; 2 Samuel 19:9; Romans 5:8-11; 2 Corinthians 5:14,15,18,19,21; Ephesians 5:25-25; Titus 2:14; Hebrews 9:12,14; 10:10,14,19-22; 12:3; 1 Peter 1:18,19; Colossians 1:13.