He Must Reign
After these things I
heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying,
"Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; because His
judgments are true and righteous; for He has judged the great harlot who was
corrupting the earth with her immorality, and He has avenged the blood of His
bond-servants on her." And a second time they said, "Hallelujah! Her
smoke rises up forever and ever." And the twenty-four elders and the four
living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne saying,
"Amen. Hallelujah!" And a voice came from the throne, saying,
"Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the
small and the great." Then I heard something like the voice of a great
multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals
of thunder, saying, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty,
reigns. Marriage of the Lamb “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to
Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself
ready." It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and
clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he *said to
me, "Write, 'Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of
the Lamb.'" And he *said to me, "These are true words of God."
Then I fell at his feet to worship him. But he *said to me, "Do not do
that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony
of Jesus; worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of
prophecy." (Revelation
19:1-10)
“Hallelujah, the Lord God
omnipotent reigneth.” This is the central message of the Book of Revelation.
The book was written to the people of God who were in a time of sin, suffering
and sorrow such as the Church has never experienced. “Truth was on the
scaffold, wrong was on the throne.”
The book opens with a
wonderful picture of the Risen Triumphant Christ. He is holding the Universal
Church in His hand. He is clad in the garments of royalty. He moves inflexibly
through history on feet of burnished bronze. He speaks to every age with a
voice like the sound of many waters. The sword of truth issues from His mouth.
He identifies Himself as the Risen One: “I died, behold I am alive for
evermore, I have the keys of death and Hades.” From the very beginning of the
book, we are made aware that the ultimate outcome of the world’s history is
never in doubt for the Lord Christ omnipotent reigns.
In chapter 4 before all
history unfolds we are transported to heaven and are shown a throne. The one
sitting upon the throne is the creator of all things, the all powerful Lord of
the universe. His kingdom is from everlasting to everlasting.
In chapter 5 we behold, “a
Lamb standing as though it had been slain.” The book of the world’s history is
even in the hands of God. Only the Lamb is found worthy to open the book and
unfold that history. All history is in the hand of Him who was crucified for
our sin and raised for our justification.
In the chapters that follow
we behold the Church militant upon the field of history. She is engaged in an
increasing battle against forces of evil, under the leadership of Satan. Three
horseman, war, famine, pestilence, ride grimly through its pages. We behold a
fourth rider on a white horse going forth “conquering and to conquer.” He rides
against not with war, pestilence, and famine. Christ is continually “going
forth” in history conquering and to conquer all the forces of evil arrayed
against Him.
“Jesus shall reign where’re the sun
does His successive journey run;
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
Till moons shall wax and wane no more.”
At the end Christ the Lamb is
seen standing on Mount Zion with the redeemed of the ages safely gathered into
Heaven. Satan and his forces of evil have been destroyed. We hear the heavenly
host saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and
of His Christ, and He shall reign for ever and ever.” Revelation 11:15)
You will note that the Book
of Revelation and the words of our text present Christ as reigning now not
merely in some age to come. They speak not of a Christ who someday will be King
but who is now King. The reign of Christ is not some dream for tomorrow but a
reality in the here and now. Jesus is Lord of history.
I am aware that there are
events in the world, and experiences in our own personal lives that seem to
give a lie to this central teaching of our Reformed Faith. The atheist would
say, “If there is a God He neither knows nor controls the events of time.” The
deist would say, “God knows what is happening but has no control over the
events of history.” But the Theist, whom we profess to be, affirm that “God
both knows what is happening and is in control of the events of history.” We
believe that God is not only transcendent, standing above the vents of time,
but is also immanent, concerned about and involved in the events of time. You may
well ask, “How does Christ Reign? How does He control the events of my life?”
I would answer: 1) Free to disobey but not free to
escape.
2) God limits the power of evil.
3) God is not defeated by evil.
His is a continuing reign.
“For He must reign until He has put all enemies under His feet.” (1 Corinthians
15:25) “Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end….the
zeal of the Lord of host will perform this.”
A roman general was riding
through the streets of Rome and when he saw a Christian making a coffin, he
stopped and tauntingly asked him, “What is you Nazarene carpenter doing now?”
without a moments hesitation, he replied, “He is making a coffin for the Roman
Empire.” In the period between His Ascension and His return to this earth Jesus
is engaged in putting down all rule and authority and power raised against the
Kingdom of God.
The really decisive battle
between the forces of good and evil was fought at the cross and the tomb. What
remains are “pockets of resistance.” The words of Jesus, “I saw Satan fall as
lightning from heaven,” take on real meaning in the lights that radiate from
the open tomb.
The empty tomb was the
worlds D-Day. The successful landing of the Allied forces on the beaches of
Normandy signaled to a war weary world that the final outcome was no longer in
doubt. Many battles and skirmishes still remained to be fought. Some would be
won and some would be lost but the final victory was assured. Even Hitler and
his generals knew this. The hand writing foretelling the ultimate defeat of the
Axis Powers was inscribed upon the wall. It is so with the “war” between the
Kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. The decisive battle was won on that
first Easter when “up from the grave He arose with a mighty triumph o’er His
foes.”
Christ Reigns! History is in
the outstretched hand of the crucified and risen Lord. Is there a more
thrilling message than this:
The strife is o’er, the battle done,
The victory of life is won;
The song of triumph has begun. Alleluia!
This is a message of
comfort. My times are in God’s hands.
This is a message of
challenge. Since Jesus is Lord. Then we who follow in His train must crown Him
King of our lives.
This is a message of
commission. “The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy,” said John. “The
purpose of all preaching,” says John, “and of all that I have shown you is to
tell you about Jesus.” We have a story to tell, a song to be sung, a message to
tell and a Savior to show to the nations. The King has commissioned us, “Ye
shall be witnesses unto me.”
We do not know the future.
We do not know how many battles remain to be fought, how many rivers to span,
how many mountains to cross, nor how many hot and dusty deserts to pass through
but this we know: “The Lord God omnipotent reigneth.”
From victory unto victory His army shall He lead,
Till every foe is vanquished and Christ is Lord indeed.
Dr. Robert W
Kirkpatrick
