The King of Kings and His Kingdom

The King Of Kings and His Kingdom Luke 1. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a Son, and you are to call Him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The LORD God will give Him the throne of His father David, 33 and He will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; His kingdom will never end. There is an old hymn which is entitled "More About Jesus Would I Know" This Advent has had me focusing on Him more than ever before. I am taking in the whole nativity but my eyes and heart have been fixed on the Baby in the manger more than before. He is the Hope of world. He is the Light of the world He is the Savior of the world. He is the Bread that comes down from Heaven and gives life to the world. We are going to talk about Him again this morning. Today from Luke's Gospel... Luke tells us that he carefully investigated all these things. He interviewed people, may have even gone to locals and locales and walked around. He was a doctor. He was used to observing people. He saw things others did not see. He had an ear for things. Two doctors in my family are like that. It is amazing how they view us... they see things we do not. We have the Word God breathed through him and that he wrote as he was moved by the Holy Spirit. We are told in this account: 1. Jesus was Born Of Mary. -v.31 The first part of this verse was a usual happening for married women but Mary was a virgin. Yet we see here the natural with the supernatural. This is often how God works. We must avoid extremes. A missionary I admire wrote, "Work like everything depended upon you. Pray like everything depends upon God." Jesus came into the human race the way all of us came in, born of a woman. This is how the Word became flesh. He experienced the whole of the human predicament. He became one of us. We became followers of His. The Parable of the Birds. The Angel Gabriel told her this. Angels are real and at work today. My granddaughter, Maddie. Pastor Jerry this past week, "Do you believe in angels?" So the Holy Spirit moved on Mary and she became with child through that action. A miracle! The Virgin Conception and Birth. Isaiah foretold it over 700 years before. Isaiah 7.14 Behold the virgin will be with child and you are to give Him the Name Immanuel, which means, God with us. Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph. When he was told in a dream how Mary became pregnant he took her home as his wife but had no union with her until after Jesus was born. So Jesus came into a family. He knew what it was to have a father on earth who was not his biological father. He knew what it was to be born and grow up in a family. He embraced our living. 2. Jesus is The Son of God. -v.32 He was and is the Son of God forever. He became Mary's Son. That is an important distinction. He is God. John 1.1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 1.14 The Word became flesh and lived for a while (tabernacled) among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only Son, Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. The Angel, Gabriel told Mary in v.31c she was to give Him the name Jesus. He will Great. God is great. He will be called the Son of the Most High. Demons trembled. Mark 1.24 "What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are--the Holy One of God!" Matthew 8.29 "What do you want with us, Son of God?" they shouted. "Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?" Acts 19.15 One day the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?" The Centurion At The Cross Mark 15.39 And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, "Surely this man was the Son of God!" Peter in Caesarea Philippi Matthew 16.16 16Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Mary's Son was the Son of God before He became her Son. 3. Jesus is David's Son. -v.33 God's promise to David I will build you a house. II Samuel 2.11 "‘The LORD declares to you that the LORD Himself will establish a house for you: 12When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. 13He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. 15But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before meb ; your throne will be established forever. A Kingdom that endures forever... Psalm 145.13 Your Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom, and Your dominion endures throughout all generations. the LORD is faithful to all His Promises and loving toward all He has made. I Corinthians 4.20 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. The King of Kings and His Kingdom When Jesus taught us to pray to our Father in heaven, "Your Kingdom come..." He did so knowing that we would be here 2,000 years later. His kingdom is expanding today. He wants us to be part of it in more ways than we can imagine. It is tied into His Birth. As seekers of His Kingdom we invite Him to be part of our work, our family, our neighborhoods, our world, our lives and even "our" church, which is His. Acts 1.3b He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. I would love to have been a part of these Bible Studies. No wonder John wrote that the world would not have room for the books that would have to be written. We only know what we are told here. It was about the Holy Spirit empowering the disciples to spread the Word around the world. Do I see signs of God's Kingdom breaking through in the world all around me? Or am I too focused on the darkness? Do I need to look at things differently? God help us! God's promise through the Prophets Bethlehem Micah 5.2 Of the increase of His government... forever Isaiah 9.7 4. The fulfillment of God's Promise to David Isaiah 9.7b He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. God's promises are greater than we can imagine. More than we could ask for. Descendants of Jacob- Children of Abraham by faith The family keeps multiplying. I think that is one of the reasons we rejoice when a person receives Christ. The promise resounds back 2,000 years to John's Gospel (As many as believed He gave right to become children of God) , 3,000 to David (building a house-family)and 4,000 to Abraham (all the people's on earth will be blessed through you and your descendants) God's family makes up God's Kingdom but His Kingdom rules over all or overrules. So as those shoeboxes go out to children in nations where there is oppression and famine and disease... third world countries... His Kingdom is ruling in those boxes of love... As you go out and let your light shine... His Kingdom is ruling in this present darkness. As we share the King of Kings, as we seek His Kingdom He brings more people in and redeems their lives from the pit. Christmas is about Jesus, God's Son, Mary's Son, Son of David King of Kings and LORD of lords Jesus, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace Jesus, Beautiful Savior, Glorious LORD, Emmanuel, Blessed Redeemer, Living Word.