Why Christ Must Reign
Paul's question, *Is Christ divided?* is one that professing Christians haven't taken seriously enough, and the harmful consequences are everywhere.
For humanity's salvation, it was considered essential that our Redeemer possess the powers of prophet, priest, and king all at once. While these offices are fundamentally distinct, they are necessarily and inseparably connected to one another. Some have completely denied such a union exists, and this denial has laid the foundation for major errors that have exerted a destructive influence on the Christian church. Others have criminally overlooked it, and the neglect it has suffered has produced vague and conflicting ideas about the great work of humanity's deliverance from sin and wrath through the mediation of the Son of God.
If we accept (as I think we must) that all of Christ's offices are necessary for the salvation of fallen humanity, then it follows that they are all essential to His identity as Savior. This means we cannot imagine Him existing for even a moment without any one of them, since that would mean He was, at least temporarily, not a Savior at all. This alarming conclusion should be enough by itself to warn Christians against thinking either that Christ received His different offices at different times, or that He operates according to one office at one moment and another office at another moment. From the very beginning, He must have possessed the powers of all His offices, and in every part of His work, all of them must have been active. For example, when He taught His disciples, He acted not only as a prophet but also as a priest and a king. The doctrine He taught fully revealed His priestly character, and the authority with which He delivered His instructions clearly demonstrated His royal power. Again, when He offered Himself as a spotless sacrifice to God in His priestly role, He gave the world a new revelation as a prophet: a fresh understanding of God's character and the principles of His moral government. At the same time, as a king, He triumphed gloriously over His enemies. In the same way, His royal achievements not only display His majesty and power but also proclaim the mercy of His grace and acknowledge the merit of His atoning sacrifice as the foundation on which they rest.
This doctrine of inseparable union doesn't in any way confuse the distinctions that exist between the various offices of our Mediator, any more than the union of persons in the Godhead denies the essential distinction between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, or than the union of natures in the person of the Son of God contradicts the inspired writers' practice of attributing some things to one nature and other things to the other nature. Without confusing the distinctions between them, we can therefore safely maintain the inseparable union of Christ's mediatorial offices: a union that was present in every pain He endured and in every act He performed or will ever perform on behalf of the elect. Believers should joyfully and gratefully recognize and acknowledge this union, since the absence of any one of these offices would disqualify Him from accomplishing the work of our redemption.
As we move forward to consider the kingly office of Christ, we need to remember that it stands in inseparable connection with His priestly office. He sits as a Priest on His throne. No enlightened subject of Zion's King will feel that there's any incongruity, in His case at least, between the miter and the crown, the altar and the throne, the censer and the scepter, the smoking incense and the shout of victory. "We have a great High Priest, that is passed into the heavens. This man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sin, for ever sat down on the right hand of God; from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool" (Heb 4:14; 10:12-13).
Christ's kingly office forms an important part of the Christian system, and as such it deserves thorough examination. We can judge its importance by how often Scripture speaks of Christ as a King. When the prophets announced the Messiah's coming to the ancient church, they used these words: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, thy King cometh unto thee." When the church is invited to see His excellence, this is how He appears: "Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold King Solomon, with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart." When God promises a gracious revelation of the Savior, He puts it this way: "Thine eyes shall see the King in his beauty." When the saints are called to rejoice in the Redeemer, the language is this: "Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King." When a believer records the effect of some extraordinary experience of God's presence in his soul, he says: "Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." And when the church celebrates her Lord's ascension, she borrows the language of an earthly monarch's triumphant entrance into his capital city and declares: "Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in." Given how frequently Scripture refers to this particular aspect of the Savior's character, an examination of Christ's mediatorial government holds special appeal for every true disciple of Jesus. Since the subject is both rich and inviting, it requires the patient, honest, and believing attention of all who want to become wise for salvation.
The sovereign authority of Christ can be understood in two ways: as *necessary* or as *official*. When we view Him as *God*, His authority is necessary, inherent, and underived. When we view Him as *Mediator*, His authority is official and delegated. We're now going to focus on the latter. Our present inquiry concerns the MEDIATORIAL DOMINION of the Son: not the authority that essentially belongs to Him as God, but the authority with which the Father has officially invested Him as the Messiah through an authoritative act. In short, it's the government that was *laid* on His shoulders, the power that was *given* to Him in heaven and on earth.
As we begin to explore this fascinating and momentous subject, the first thing that demands our attention is the NECESSITY of Christ's kingly office. This takes precedence over all other points, because establishing it will prepare us for a more careful investigation of the other parts of the subject by impressing on our minds a higher sense of its importance. "For he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet" (1 Cor 15:25).
1. Christ's role as king is essential for fulfilling God's gracious purposes toward the elect. As God, He naturally possesses the right to rule over all things. If His kingdom included only the material and moral worlds in their general sense, there would be no room (and no need) for mediatorial rule, since His essential control as God would perfectly accomplish all the purposes of His government. But the Almighty governs something beyond the material and moral world in its general sense. Humanity broke the original moral constitution under which it was placed and consequently became subject to judicial displeasure and punishment. God determined to rescue a number of the human family from the terrible consequences of this state. For this rescue to happen honorably and successfully, it became necessary that the government of these people (and of others on their account) should be entrusted to the one chosen to be their Savior. Because of the very perfection of His nature, God could not, in His absolute character, deal with rebel sinners in any way that aimed at their salvation. In this character He must seek their punishment, for He is just: not only could He not secure or offer pardon and deliverance from the curse of the broken covenant, but He could not even grant it, nor could He actually deliver them or lead them to any of the blessings of salvation. This creates the necessity for another to be appointed, not only to purchase and offer redemption through His blood, but to apply it, to make it effective, to bestow the benefits of grace on the intended recipients of salvation.
2. In fact, to *complete the mediatory character itself*, this office was necessary. Jesus, chosen by God, is naturally a perfect Savior. But He couldn't be this without receiving royal dignity and power. The work given to Him assumes He has this authority. That work is SALVATION. And what does that mean? It's not just paying a ransom to satisfy the demands of divine moral government, as we often think. It's not just announcing that this satisfaction has been given and accepted, and offering redemption to the guilty on that basis. These are certainly important and essential parts of salvation, and we don't want to downplay either one. No, we can never appreciate or praise them enough. Still, they don't by themselves constitute salvation. If there were nothing more, not a single sinner could ever be saved. The ransom must be *applied* as well as *paid*. The offer must be not only *made* but *accepted*. And to secure this, the Mediator must have royal power.
Each office of Christ has its own specific area where it's essential and indispensable. Generally speaking, we can say that His role as priest is to purchase, as prophet to publish, and as king to apply. In the first, He obtains. In the second, He makes known. In the third, He gives effect. All three are equally essential: not one can be left out. The royal office could just as easily be thought to replace the priestly or prophetic offices as the priestly or prophetic could be thought to replace the royal. It would be absurd to talk about applying what hadn't been obtained, but equally absurd to talk about obtaining what couldn't be applied.
Let's explore what would happen if we removed government or dominion from Christ's mediatorial work. As priest, He atones for the sins of God's chosen people, secures their pardon, purchases their deliverance from condemnation, pays the ransom their sins demanded, and completely removes every legal obstacle to their salvation. As priest, He also represents their case to the Father, pleads the merits of His sacrifice, and expresses His will that they receive the purchased benefits of redemption; and the Father is pleased to hear and uphold the validity of His claims. As prophet, He reveals to humanity that all this has been accomplished, informing them plainly that the curse of the law has been removed, God reconciled, and heaven opened to receive them. Yet will any of this actually save them? All of this could be done, and yet not one sinner rescued from the pit, not one rebel restored to the Almighty's favor, not one child of Adam raised to glory. Without something more, the benefit from these interventions is lost; without another office, the functions of these two are neutralized. Without royal authority, the sacrifice (however meritorious) has no power; the intercession (however powerful) has no effect; the doctrine (however clear) has no saving influence; and the Son of God must watch the entire human race perish forever in their sins, as if His blood had never been shed on Calvary or carried within the veil. Given this reality, we can understand the significance of the Savior's answer to Pilate's question: "Are you a king then?" "You say that I am a king. *For this purpose I was born, and for this reason I came into the world.*"
This understanding of why the kingly office is essential to completing the other offices fits perfectly with Scripture's account of the Messiah's work. Once the purchase of redemption was complete, the ransom for sin paid, and the death at Jerusalem accomplished, what did He do next? Did He hand off all further involvement in human salvation? Did He abandon His mediatorial work and simply retreat into the Father's presence? No. Follow Him as He ascends to heaven: watch Him pressing forward into God's presence and presenting His petition, "Father, glorify your Son, that your Son also may glorify you." Before He even finishes asking, the answer comes. This is how the Father greets Him as He enters the heavenly places not made with hands: "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool." It's as if the Father said to Him: You have established your right to that rebel world. I'm handing its government over to you. Go through it and find your redeemed people. Gather them from the four winds of heaven. To accomplish this, establish ordinances, proclaim laws, issue commands, appoint servants, and bring everything that exists under the gracious and magnificent purposes of your appointment. And what happens? The priest's turban becomes a crown. The censer becomes a scepter. The Mediator moves from the altar to the throne. Heaven becomes both temple and palace at once, while its walls echo with the loud shout of welcome bursting spontaneously from the entire heavenly host to the newly crowned King.
3. The kingly dignity of the Mediator is necessary as a reward for his obedience to the point of death. No service has ever been so deserving, whether we look at the sacrifice made or the goal pursued. To understand the sacrifice involved in this service, we must remember that the Son of God left his heavenly Father's presence, the realm of uncreated light, and all the joys of celestial fellowship. He veiled the essential glory of his perfections and took on the likeness of sinful flesh. He lived among people on earth and there submitted to poverty, shame, and pain. He endured persecution from both men and demons, and suffered the most terrible and mysterious agony that came from his Father's hidden face. And the goal pursued was nothing less than this: that people might be saved from eternal destruction, made ready for heaven, restored to the company of angels and one another, and brought back into God's favor. When or where has there ever been service to compare with Christ's? Who else has ever rescued people from such deep misery? Who else has ever raised them to such dignified happiness? Who else has ever made such self-denying sacrifices to accomplish a loving mission? Here is merit so transcendent and overwhelming that it defies description and makes comparison impossible.
Should such service not be rewarded? Every principle of moral justice says it should. Didn't Christ have to suffer these things and then enter into his glory? (Luke 24:26). This is not only a truth from Scripture but also a principle of right moral feeling. And with this, the terms of the eternal covenant, inspired prophecies, the testimony of the Mediator himself, and the declarations of his apostles all perfectly agree.
But what will this earned reward actually look like? It can't be just the satisfaction of his own conscience and his heavenly Father's approval. Those things are significant, certainly, but they're not sufficient. They're internal, and while they're perfectly appropriate for the Savior himself to appreciate, they don't adequately express to others the value of what he accomplished. The mediatorial reward must be something substantial, visible, and outwardly glorifying: something that catches the attention and draws the praise of both men and angels. Royal authority, absolute and unlimited, fits these requirements perfectly. If people who have been faithful over a few things are to be rewarded by being made "rulers over many things," then surely the one who "as a Son, has been faithful, like Moses, over all his house" deserves to be made "ruler over all." As part of his humiliation, he allowed himself to be placed under rulers, to stand at their bar, to be judged by their laws, to be declared worthy of death by their unjust verdict. In return for what he has accomplished, it's fitting that he should be given sovereign rule over the princes of this world, and in his turn, demand their obedience to his authority, punish them for their proud and stubborn rebellion, and subordinate all their plans and actions to the gracious purposes of his reign.
4. This dominion is equally necessary *to counteract the opposition that enemies mount against the work of human salvation.* "For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet." It seems strange that a work of such grace and kindness as human salvation should provoke hostility, but it's no less true for being strange. Salvation faces many enemies: enemies to its internal work in the heart, and enemies to its outward administration in the world. Against those internal operations in the heart that salvation requires, a host of adversaries rises up. The law, functioning as a covenant of works, kills the soul's peace by demanding punishment for the guilty violator. Indwelling corruptions wage constant warfare against the Spirit's quickening, sanctifying, and comforting work. "I find then a law that when I would do good, evil is present with me." Satan and his agents, numerous, cunning, and powerful, attack through their temptations, accusations, and persecutions. "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." The world, with its attractions and terrors, its smiles and frowns, tries to undermine the principles of stability. "Because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you." Death, by threatening to execute the curse of the broken covenant, awakens slavish fears, robs us of peace, and maintains us in degrading and distracting bondage. He must be a king in order to threaten to hold the body in corruption, and then to engulf both soul and body in final ruin forever: "to deliver them who, through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage." Against the outward administration of Christ's work in the world, too, a whole host of enemies stands forth. Willful ignorance, shameless unbelief, hardened profanity, open idolatry, Islamic delusion, Jewish stubbornness, antichristian domination, and civil misrule form a combined phalanx of frightening breadth and depth: an unholy alliance of conflicting materials, yet breathing only one spirit of determined hostility to Christ's reign in the world, and resolved to prevent the progress, and if possible, to accomplish the extermination of His kingdom, by every means in their power.
Can these enemies go unopposed? Will the Messiah's kingdom fall prey to their vicious hatred, allowing his great archenemy's kingdom to rise on its ruins? Absolutely not. Every believer prays for their decisive defeat. The Savior's own honor requires their final destruction, and God's word promises that this will be the ultimate outcome of the struggle. Who else will accomplish this but the Messiah himself? "My sword," he says, "will be bathed in heaven: look, it will come down on Idumea, and on the people of my curse, to judgment. The Lord's sword is filled with blood; it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams; for the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea" (Isa 34:5-6). "Who is this that comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? This one who is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength? I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Why are you red in your apparel, and your garments like him who treads in the wine vat? I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in my anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood will be sprinkled on my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. For the day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my redeemed has come" (Isa 63:1-4).
To accomplish this work, Jesus must possess royal power and authority. In this capacity, he confronts his enemies. He rides forth conquering and to conquer not merely on the *white* horse, but on the *red*, the *black*, and the *pale*, carrying back from the battlefield the palm of victory. Nothing about this conflicts with his general character as Mediator. The roles of savior to his people and conqueror of their enemies are not incompatible features. The prosperity of God's people is intimately connected with the destruction of their enemies. These things necessarily go hand in hand. At the flood, the preservation of the true seed and the destruction of those who had corrupted their ways were inseparably joined. The rescue of the Israelites from Egypt was connected with the overthrow of the Egyptians, and when the Jews were restored from Babylon, their Chaldean oppressors were plundered.
5. The kingly office is equally necessary *to meet the desperate needs of Christ's own people.* By nature, they are all rebels and enemies of Christ, both in their thinking and in their wicked actions. Their hearts seethe with every kind of hostility. The carnal mind is hostile to God, and by nature everyone is carnal, enslaved to sin. Given this reality, it's impossible for them to embrace reconciliation on their own, accept mercy without resistance, or genuinely welcome the terms of salvation with any warmth or respect. No, they treat these offers with contempt and reject them with scorn. They must be reconciled. They must be *made* willing. Their proud thoughts must be *brought* down. And how can this happen except through the Savior's rod of omnipotent strength sent out from Zion? Only through the irresistible scepter of His grace, wielded with authority for exactly this purpose. Only through the sharp arrows of conviction that pierce the hearts of the King's enemies when propelled by Him whose right hand accomplishes terrible things, and who, in royal majesty, rides forward victoriously because of truth, gentleness, and righteousness! All people are naturally guilty and need pardon, but dispensing forgiveness is a royal prerogative. Christ could never have exercised it without being a king. They are naturally unruly and need to be governed, nor can they create or enforce laws for themselves. The Lord is their lawgiver, and to proclaim laws and enact statutes belongs to someone invested with royal authority. Furthermore, they are weak and defenseless. Exposed to the combined opposition of the enemies I mentioned earlier, they have no ability in themselves to resist either the cunning or the power of these foes. So that He may not only restrain and conquer all their enemies, but also rule and defend them, Christ must hold the office of a king.
The varied necessity for the Mediator's royal office is clear. When we review the several points that establish it, our conviction grows stronger about how important this feature of our Redeemer's character truly is. Without Christ's kingly work, God's gracious purposes couldn't be carried out. The mediatorial character itself would be incomplete. The work of salvation would go unrewarded. The enemies of truth and holiness would ultimately triumph, and the needs of God's children would remain forever unmet. Such things cannot happen, and they will not. "The Lord is our king, and he will save us" (Isa 33:22). The exalted Redeemer is both "a Prince and a Saviour" (Acts 5:31).
