The Coming King
He ‘shall come’ .
That was the promise all along. He shall come. The One to stamp on the serpents head (Genesis 3:15), the one to whom the sceptre belongs (Genesis 49:10), the one who will establish His throne in love (Isaiah 16:5). He shall come! This King.
Because He has always been coming. From before all time began Jesus was on His way journeying to find us, woo us, search us out in grace (2 Timothy 1:9).
Our word ‘Advent’, formed from the Latin root ‘adventus’, means ‘coming’, ‘arrival’, or ‘appearance’. Advent is season of waiting, a time of anticipation towards an arrival. But it’s not simply the arrival of Christmas day we anticipate throughout Advent. Advent is the season where we anticipate the arrival of a baby who makes Christmas day make sense, a baby born king.
The Magi understood this enough to drag themselves through deserts to find Him ‘Where is He who has been born King’ they declared it. Born King. And we declare it too, warm breath puffed out into the fogging night air, singing…
‘Jesus Lord, at Thy birth
Jesus Lord, at Thy birth…’
This baby was not born ‘to be’ King, but born King. He was King. He is King. He was Lord at His birth and He is Lord now. The one to whom the sceptre belongs. The one Who ‘shall come’.
The Magi declared it two millennia ago ‘where is He who is born King’ and this yearning world searches here and now ‘Where is a leader who can make sense of this mess’ and we each quietly search in the silent night, ‘where is hope in this darkening world?’.
Is He coming? Shall He come?
I remember as a child when royalty visited Australia, and we, as primary school students lined the roadsides eagerly waving flags and stretching up to see them, as they blurred by in a line of glistening cars on their way to important places where impressive people anticipated their arrival. They had come. But not for us.
Israel, they knew a King was going to come, they expected His arrival. They longed for His appearance. They had been waiting, searching, yearning for this King for centuries. Their prophets foretold it, their stories foreshadowed it; this powerful King, this Messiah, the saviour of their people. He was going to come. This King. This King to whom this sceptre belongs.
We humans, we so often misunderstand. We speak Scripture into the air laced with our own ambitions, hopes and assumptions, but we so often fail to see and hear and understand what God means by these very same words; the large, long, wide and deep story He has filled them with, and the promises He plans to fulfil and fully fill through them.
Israel had waited, for centuries, scanning the horizon for this King. Where is He? Is He coming? Shall He come? And He came just as Scripture foretold; He arrived in precisely the place Scripture foretold He would (Micah 5: 2); In the era the Scripture prophesied He would (Daniel 7); Into the family line that Scripture declared that He would (Jeremiah 33:14-15).
Angels declared Him King (Luke 1:32-33), foreigners declared Him King (Matthew 2:2), even a bloodthirsty Roman Governor declared Him King (John 18:37-38).
But His own people looked right past Him.
Like we do.
In all our Christmas rush, in all our anxious existence, in every small moment of our lives when we live as though there is no throne of love in Heaven and no grace on earth. As though He did not come for us.
Every Christmas We carol the truth…
‘Hark! The herald angels sing
“Glory to the new-born king”’
“Joy to the world, the Lord is come
Let Earth receive her King”
…and we warm our throats with hot chocolate or mulled wine, eat our mince pies and Christmas cake, and then walk out into the world as though we are alone. King-less. Abandoned. As though there is no throne of love in Heaven, and no grace on earth. As though He did not come for us.
How empty carols clang, when all they are is words.
This child born King, the one to whom the sceptre belongs, came just as Genesis foretold. As King. Not as we understand the word King, as we scan the horizons of history then and now, searching through slim pickings for a leader with integrity and righteousness. But to reveal and establish God’s plan for His Kingdom on earth, as it is in Heaven. To reveal His heart as King.
‘In love a throne will be established;
in faithfulness a man will sit on it –
one from the house of David –
one who in judging seeks justice
and speeds the cause of righteousness.’
Isaiah 16:5
As we begin this season of Advent, let’s be clear on Who we’re waiting for.
We’re not simply anticipating the arrival of Christmas day, a holiday, and a feast with family. We are awaiting the coming of this King. We are celebrating this baby born King. This humble servant King who took His first breath in manger straw and His last breath upon a cross, to establish His throne in love. For us.
We the ones who still forget and go about our lives as though there is no King on earth, and no throne of love in Heaven. As though He did not come for us.
“Joy to the world, the Lord is come
Let Earth receive her King”
“The Lord is come” Advent whispers boldly into the darkening night, “He shall come. anticipate His arrival, search for His appearance all around you every day. Today. Here, now. He shall come. The Lord is come”
The Lord is come.
Let us receive our King.
I hear one thought resounding fir those who have ears to hear, let me receive My King.
Amen!
Thanks Liz, for taking the time to prepare and share your reflections with us. They are beautifully presented, thoughtful and meaningful. Such a lovely gift!
It’s great to be journeying with you through Advent.
Thank you for the encouragement Ann.
My dear Sister Liz, God’s light is clearly shining in and through you and onto us … who, by His grace, have ears. I give Him thanks, praise and all the glory. And thank you too for your willingness to be His vessel (and thereby a precious gift to us).
Nuff love and blessings to you and the clan.