Who Rules?

We throw the term “King” around a lot. People name their dogs “King.” (Cats just think they’re king; more often they’re stuck with the daintier royal moniker, “Princess.”) We’re quick to dub someone “King” of this or that. There’s the “King of Rock ’n’ Roll,” “the King of Pop,” “the King of Beers,” “King of the Hill,” “King of Queens,”… you get the idea. “King” can be a trivial expression. But there are still actual kings in the world.

In Europe and throughout the Middle East, we still find kings in the political sense. Monarchs ascending to the thrones of their countries, sometimes serving alongside presidents, prime ministers and more modern embodiments of national leadership. Depending upon the country or nation-state, these monarchs carry varying levels of actual power over the lives of their subjects. 

Regardless of whether or not you live in the realm of an earthly king, you are living under the rule of a king of one sort or another. Never mind if you believe you believe or not—you do. Furthermore, despite not consciously choosing a king, you have chosen a king of some kind to reign over your life. We all have. The only real variable is the kind of king. 

There are different kinds of kings. Some are more harsh than others. Some more unhealthy and even physically deadly. Many seem benign, not an immediate threat to life or limb. But generally, kings can be put into two major categories: True and counterfeit. Only One falls into the first classification, the rest are pretenders to the throne.

The one true King, the One who is ultimately healthy and not a threat to your life, the King who doesn’t fake being benign in order to spring an eternity of torture upon you, is Jesus Christ. The benefits of choosing Jesus as King, as opposed to any other king, are literally heavenly and last forever. So, why doesn’t everyone do it?

The reason everyone doesn’t choose King Jesus is that the other kings fight so vehemently to keep their power! Jesus doesn’t force the issue; His Lordship must be chosen. And kings don’t give up their thrones easily. Once they set up shop in someone’s life, they crave ruling over their various domains and will fight tooth and nail to maintain authority. Just like King Herod, who was threatened by the birth of the Messiah. He even feared that his own family might jeopardize his rule. Suspecting his own wife and two brothers-in-law of treason, he had them mercilessly killed. No fewer than nine marriages for this supposed religious leader were entered into to protect his political strength and satisfy his lustful lifestyle. Some king, right?

Herod is an historical, earthly, flesh and blood example of the principalities and powers that rule in the lives of people every day. They have a firm grip on individuals and will do what it takes to maintain it. Sometimes it makes “the slaughter of the innocents” of Matthew 2 pale in comparison as to the cruel lengths to which they’ll go in order to try to eliminate Christ’s influence in the lives of those they control! It’s not easy to say “no” to the counterfeit kings.

One of the most devious things about the counterfeit kings is their apparent appeal. On many levels they appear to offer more than King Jesus. Their gratification is immediate rather than off in some place called heaven. The lifestyle they offer, so much more fashionable; the boundaries, so broad; the thinking, so rational. Then life happens. The currency of the counterfeit kings doesn’t spend. At the bottom, the fakes aren’t there, but Jesus came as a King who “…heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds” (Psalm 147:3). When one truly reaches for the true King, He is there. He came to heal, to heal the kinds of wounds the counterfeits couldn’t begin to cure; the kinds they could only inflict. 

So, choose your king carefully. Today, your king may seem adequate, even quite satisfactory, maybe even excellent. But if your king is not King Jesus, defection, immediate desertion, is your only hope. The sooner the better. Apart from Christ, we are all citizens of a doomed kingdom. But Jesus waits, arms open wide, willing to welcome, ready to heal. That’s what our King does.        

“And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.” —Daniel 7:14