“…that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing, which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords…”. 1 Timothy 6:14-15
Lead Me To Calvary is one of my favorite gospel hymns. The thrust of the song is complete submission to Christ as King and the willingness to direct all glory to Him. Sadly, I have found it much easier to sing this song than to apply it. The truth is, despite my sincere desire to submit to my King always, I fail more often than I care to discuss. Of some consolation is the fact that I am in the company of some of the most faithful servants of Christ, one of the most prominent being the apostle Paul.
In this vein, the apostle lamented his inner conflict between the will to do his king’s bidding and the reality of his failures to do so in Romans 7:13-23. So painful was the conflict, he raised the question, “Oh wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24). If a man of Paul’s stature in the New Testament struggled with temptation, I would be a fool to think I could ever be exempted (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:12).
The good news is Paul’s story did not end at verse 24. In Romans 7:25, Paul answered his question with the comforting statement, “I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” The answer to our sin problem was, is, and forever will be Jesus! The power of His once for all sacrifice is that His blood can bridge the gap between the perfection we wish we could achieve and our many failures. In view of this truth, the book of Hebrews details, in no uncertain terms, the reasons Jesus should be crowned king of our lives.
In Hebrews 1, the author sets forth the reality that Jesus is superior to the prophets of old as well as the angels. This would undoubtedly strike a chord with the Jewish Christians to whom he wrote as they were very familiar with the significant role the prophets and the angels played in God’s dealings with His people throughout the Old Covenant. Jesus’ supremacy is established based on His being 1) the eternal creator and sustainer of the cosmos (Hebrews 1:2-3, 10-12), 2) the most complete revelation of the nature of God (Heb. 1:3), and 3) the anointed One seated at the right hand of God ruling in righteousness (Hebrews 1:4, 8-9). The thrust of the chapter is that He is the preeminent One and thus worthy of our allegiance.
The concept of complete, willful submission to another is difficult for most people. It is especially difficult for Westerners like us because of how we are governed. In our American way of things, we have some degree of influence over how we are governed. This is not the case in the kingdom of Christ. His kingdom is a pure monarchy. He is the King, and those who choose to become His subjects are just that, His subjects. He never forces His will on us in this life, but if we reject His rule, He will ultimately have to reject us in eternity (cf. Hebrews 5:9; 10:26-31).
The beauty of His reign, however, should remove any perception of submission being burdensome. After all, He gave Himself in a most torturous fashion to redeem us from our sins (Hebrews 2:14; 9:27-28; 10:5-10). Unlike so many monarchies in history, the reign of the Christ is one of mercy and kindness towards His subjects. Indeed, everything He has done and still does is for our benefit (Hebrews 12:2-3, 7-11). With such a benevolent King, it should be our pleasure to serve Him. The big question for us is, are we living like those who crown Him king of our lives?