A King Shall Reign!

Isaiah 32:1 --- See, a king will reign in righteousness and rulers will rule with justice.

Isaiah 52:7 --- How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!"

We have all seen things go wrong. When we were little kids we would say, “That’s not fair!” As we grew up we saw many things that seemed wrong; evil happening and sometimes nothing being done about it. How many times have we heard of some political or judicial decision that seemed oh so wrong? Too often.

Or how many times have we felt slighted, or cheated, or wronged personally? Too often, yes?

So to hear that there is a King that will reign in righteousness sounds pretty exciting. A King! This King will reign in righteousness, doing what is right, and ruling with justice! There is coming a time when all things will be right.

But what does that mean for us right now? Is this just a little glimmer of a distance hope? Far away in the sweet by-and-by?

No. This has important meaning for us right now! A King will reign in righteousness.

We first of all have to define who is this King and what is righteousness. Then we can see what it means for each of us.

First this King. Not just any King. This scripture introduces this King as someone new—an unheard of someone. One who will reign in righteousness. That is, no one else does. This is something entirely new!

Who is this? This is Jesus. Elsewhere in Isaiah we read that “to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. 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.” (Isa 9:6, 7)

Jesus is King. His government is ever increasing. He upholds His kingdom with justice and righteousness. He was born a King when He came to earth on that first Christmas. He was raised up as a King on that first Easter morning. And we see in the last book of the Bible that He is still a King and will ever more be a King. “I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True…. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.”

That’s like no King that we have on earth. This King is God Himself!

Second is Righteousness. What is righteousness? It can be described as doing what is right. Righteousness is one of the chief attributes of God. It implies integrity, equity, justice, straightness—measuring up to God’s standard.

We see that this King is God Himself, so we shouldn’t be surprised that this King would reign in righteousness. Of course God will do it correctly!

Third, what does this mean for us? It means that we are to live in righteousness. We must walk in righteousness. We must practice righteousness. If the King is holy and perfectly righteous in all that He does, there must be not even a trace of unholiness or unrighteousness in all of His kingdom.

Well, there’s a problem, isn’t there? I’m not perfect. None of us are perfect. Yet God’s standard is “Be ye perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” (Matt 5:48)

This is a big problem! He is a perfect King, reigning in perfect righteousness and promising perfect justice. Oh, don’t you see? That means that each person who did something wrong will have to be punished!

And what is the punishment for breaking this King’s commands? Remember that this King is God. This King is then infinite. So a punishment for breaking His commands is BIG and will last a long time! It is Hell. Hell is serious punishment. We must remember that sin is serious. We can’t lightly brush it aside.

Why? Because a King will reign in righteousness. That means that no sin will go unpunished. He will deal with every single sin and rebellion against His laws.

Okay. That sounds scary! And it is. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

But Isaiah writes that it is good news to hear that this King reigns! It is almost as if Isaiah starts singing a song because he is so happy that this King reigns! How can that be? If sins are to be punished and is all have sinned, then how can any human ever be happy and joyful knowing that this King reigns?

It is because of this King. This Jesus came to earth to take our punishment and to suffer our Hell in our place! We deserve God’s wrath, but Jesus endured it so that all who believe on Him might not perish but have everlasting life!

And what’s more, He lived a perfect life so that I can be clothed in His righteousness. I can then stand in God’s presence and not be condemned.

So finally, He is my King! If He is King then there is a Kingdom. If He is King, then there are rules. We then live new lives, walking more and more in righteousness because He made us new and different. We are not saved because we start doing good things. That will never work! We couldn’t ever do enough good to even begin to undo that sins that we have already done. No, Jesus is King and that means that I love His laws and I love His ways.

This also means that I can trust Him. He will reign in righteousness. I can trust Him. I must do what I know is right. How do I know what is right? I read the Bible. In the Bible I see this King. I see His righteousness. I see His beauty. I see that He is trustworthy. I see His commands and then I love to do what He wants me to do. He is King. I am not king! He makes the rules—I follow His rules. I can trust Him to make all things right in the end, because He will reign in righteousness. I needn’t worry about the future because my King holds today as well as the future in His hands.

But this can only be the trust and security of those who have trusted in this Jesus. If you haven’t trusted in Jesus, He still is King. But He will be King over you in an entirely different way. We read in Revelation that “out of His mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. And He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.” (Rev 19:15).

This is not the sweet, baby Jesus that we see in Christmas cards. No, this is a King reigning in righteousness, making sure that there is no more rebellion; making sure that all sin is dealt with and punished; making sure that every knee bows and proclaims that He is Lord of Lords and King of Kings. He is King alone. There is no room in His universe for another. He reigns now and He will continue to reign. And He reigns in righteousness. Of the increase of His government there shall be no end. You know what that means? It means that He wins. Anyone who tries to fight Him will lose!

But for those who do trust Him and call Him their Lord and King, this is great comfort. This is great news of good tidings. It is news of peace because you are not at war with Him anymore. It is joyous news because it is your salvation.

Oh great and glorious Love of God! He is King! He reigns in righteousness! And He has made a way that we can come to Him and approach His throne as His own people. Let us ‘Sing the Wondrous Love of Jesus’!