Jesus is King Over All Kings

We are being flooded with negative and depressing news these days. The economy is busted. Politicians are crooked. Laws are being made that oppose Biblical morality. Political correctness has made those who stand up for truth the enemy. Homosexuality is being embraced as good while traditional marriage is portrayed as evil. It is easy to become discouraged and like the old prophet we may be tempted to retreat into our caves of self pity declaring, "I, even I only, am left and they seek my life, to take it away" (1 Kings 19:10). But before you become totally overwhelmed with discouragement, God reminds us as he did Elijah, "I have 7,000 who have not bowed their knee to Baal" (19:18). You are not alone, there are still many true disciples of Christ left in the world who will stand for what is good and right.

For far too long we have avoided the book of Revelation. Filled with foreign and strange images, many resign the final book of the Bible to a shelf labeled "books I can't understand." This final book of the Bible was placed within Scripture by God for a reason. It is a book that can be understood if we don't get lost in the details. The message of Revelation is not found in the brush stokes but instead in the large picture it presents. It is time for Christians everywhere to dust off this heavenly vision and study it with fresh eyes.

For the purpose of this article, I simply want to point out that God inspired John to write this book when Christians were being persecuted (Rev. 1:9). It was written to give us a boost of confidence that even in days of persecution the future has already been written. God ultimately wins the battle, and the victory that is sealed within the future events of time is already recorded. No matter what we face, we should have confidence in our minds and joy in our hearts that the battle is won. We must simply remain on the winning side until death (Rev. 2:10).

John has a vision of Jesus Christ seated on his throne. John calls Jesus, "the ruler of the kings on earth" (Rev. 1:5). Christians at the time of this writing were being imprisoned, persecuted, and even selectively killed by Emperor Domitian. But John wants his readers to know, Jesus is king over all kings, even the Emperor. May Christians today be reminded of this truth.