God's Only Anointed King

Following his Resurrection, Jesus began his reign from the Messianic Throne as prophesied by David – Psalm 2:6-9.

Only Jesus is the Messiah and King of Israel, only he is God’s Anointed. There will never be another, and all competing claimants to this designation are imposters and liars. This same Jesus reigns over the Earth today. His Kingdom is a present reality, and his reign will be consummated when he returns – (1 Corinthians 15:24-28, Revelation 1:4-6).

According to the Psalmist, the anointed “Son” will reign “on Mount Zion.” As attested in the New Testament, that king is Jesus. His reign began following his Resurrection and Ascension. Ever since he has been extending his sovereignty by sending his envoys to the “uttermost parts of the Earth” to announce his Good News and Kingdom to the nations.

[High Mountain - Photo by Matheus Bandoch on Unsplash]

Two Psalms are used by the New Testament to portray Christ, the One True Anointed One, as the ideal king who sits on David’s Throne:

• (Psalm 2:6-9) – “Yet I have installed my king, on Zion my holy mountain. Let me tell of a decree, Yahweh said to me: You are My son; I, this day, have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will give the nations as your inheritance, and as your possession, the ends of the Earth. You will rule them with a scepter of iron, as a potter’s vessel, you will dash them in pieces.”

• (Psalm 110:1) – “Yahweh said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.”

God promised that His Anointed King would reign on the Throne of David, a promise the New Testament applies to the present kingship of Jesus. The related passages place the start of his reign after his Resurrection and Ascension.

Both Psalms are prominent in the Letter to the Hebrews. When contrasting the “Son” with angels, the Letter asks:

• “To which of the angels said he ever: You are My Son. This day, I have begotten you?” – (Hebrews 1:3-6).

• Already, Christ has “achieved the purification of sin and therefore sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.”– (Hebrews 1:1-3).

As God’s Son and Anointed King, Jesus has inherited the name “more excellent than that of angels,” namely, “Son” – (Hebrews 1:3-6, 5:5).

On the Day of Pentecost, Peter preached to a crowd of Jewish pilgrims after the disciples had received the Spirit, and he concluded by declaring:

• “God had sworn with an oath that of the fruit of David’s loins, he would set one upon his Throne. Foreseeing this, he spoke of the resurrection of Christ, that neither was he left to Hades nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus did God raise up <…> Being, therefore, exalted by the right hand of God, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured forth this that you see and hear. For David ascended not into the heavens, but he says, The Lord said to my Lord, sit on my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. Let all Israel know assuredly that God has made him both Lord and Anointed One” – (Acts 2:30-36).

The exaltation of the Nazarene to the Messianic Throne occurred because of his Death and Resurrection. He, therefore, reigns as the Lord and “Messiah,” the Anointed Son of God. And the term ‘messiah’ means exactly that – “anointed one.”

Likewise, Paul declares that God promised to raise up a king from David’s seed. This was fulfilled in the “Savior, Jesus.” Though the Temple leaders conspired to destroy him, “God raised him from the dead,” just as it is “written in the second psalm, you are My Son, this day, I have begotten you.” God gave His Son “the holy and sure blessings of David.” Paul is explicit. The resurrection marked the start of the Messiah’s reign - (Acts 13:22-40, Romans 1:1-4).

ALL THINGS ARE IN SUBJECTION

In his Letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul reminds us how God “raised Jesus from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places <…> And put all things under his feet and gave him to be the head over all things to the church” – (Ephesians 1:20-22).

Likewise, Paul declares in his Letter to the Corinthians that Jesus was raised from the dead and seated on David’s Throne, for “he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. For God put all things in subjection under his feet” – (1 Corinthians 15:20-26).

Jesus endured the cross, then he “sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Having achieved the “purification of sins,” Christ now reigns, “angels and authorities and powers being made subject to him.” His reign has not been postponed! It began immediately after his Resurrection and Ascension – (1 Peter 3:22, Hebrews 1:3, 10:12-13, 12:2).

As for “Mount Zion,” the city of Jerusalem foreshadowed the Jerusalem that is “above.” It was one of the many “types and shadows” of the “coming good things.” Under the old covenant, the saints were seeking--:

• “The city which has the foundations, whose builder and maker is God <…> But they desired a better country, that is, a heavenly, wherefore God <…> has prepared for them a city”– (Hebrews 11:10-16).

• “Now, if Jesus was on earth, he would not be a priest at all, seeing there are those who offer the gifts according to the law, who serve that which is a copy and shadow of the heavenly things”- (Hebrews 8:5).

Rather than Mount Sinai in the wilderness, the Assembly of Christ is approaching “Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the Heavenly Jerusalem.” Everlasting life and the covenant promises of inheritance and land will be fulfilled in “the Holy City, New Jerusalem” – (Hebrews 12:22, 13:12-14, Revelation 21:1-8).

In the opening salutation of the Book of Revelation, Jesus is designated the “Ruler of the Kings of the Earth.” This royal position is based on his Death and Resurrection, and this is confirmed by his also being called “the Faithful Witness, the Firstborn of the Dead” – (Revelation 1:4-6).

Moreover, Jesus is the Davidic King who “shepherds the nations.” Revelation follows the text of the Greek Septuagint version of the Second Psalm by changing “rule” to “shepherd”:

• (Psalm 2:8-9) – “I will give the nations as your inheritance, and as your possession, the ends of the Earth. You will shepherd them with a scepter of iron…”

• (Revelation 12:5) – “She was delivered of a son, a male, who is to shepherd all the nations with a rod of iron…”

• (Revelation 7:17) – “For the Lamb that is in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will lead them to fountains of living waters.”

• (Revelation 1:18) – “I am the Living one. And I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.”

• (Revelation 3:21) – “He that overcomes, I will give to him to sit down with me in my throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father in his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.”

And so, Christ’s present reign is linked repeatedly in Revelation to his past Death and Resurrection, and he reigns as the sacrificial Lamb and the Shepherd of the Nations – (Revelation 1:4-6, 2:26-27, 3:21, 5:10).

Jesus is the messianic “Lion of the tribe of Judah,” but he fulfills that role as the Lamb who was slain. All creation declares him “worthy to receive power because you were slain, and by your blood, you purchased for God men of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation<…> To him who sits on the Throne and to the Lamb is the dominion forever and ever” – (Revelation 1:18, 3:7, 5:5-12, 12:5,22:16).

The New Testament tells a consistent story. Jesus is reigning, present tense, over the nations from the “right hand of God.” He is the Messiah and Anointed “Son” who rules from the greater “Mount Zion.”

Christ’s sovereignty over the Earth is not waiting for any future date or event for it to begin, nor is it limited to the ancient city of Jerusalem or the tiny territory of Canaan. Jesus of Nazareth, the One True Messiah, reigns already from the Throne of God.

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SEE ALSO:

• Lord and Messiah - (The New Testament applies messianic and royal promises from the Psalms to Christ’s present reign. He alone is, present tense, Lord and Messiah!)

• Jesus is King - (Christ’s reign from the Messianic Throne began following his Death, Resurrection, and Exaltation to God’s presence – Psalms 110:1)

• Whom will you serve? - (Disciples of Jesus and others who give their allegiance and devotion to the State are at risk of taking the Mark of the Beast)

• Le seul Roi Oint - (Après sa Résurrection, Jésus a commencé son règne à partir du Trône messianique tel que prophétisé par David-Psaume 2: 6-9)