UNDERSTANDING THE KINGDOM - SESSION 2: THE KING ON THE THRONE

"And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS." (Revelation 19:16-KJV)

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:6-KJV)

Dear Citizen of Heaven and child of the King,

Last week, we opened the door. We confessed that most of us have read the Bible through democratic eyes and, in so doing, we have missed the weight of the Kingdom message that Jesus actually came preaching.

That confession was only the beginning! This session is the encounter! This is so exciting! Understand that before we can talk about Kingdom citizenship, Kingdom culture, or Kingdom assignment, it is necessary that we first meet the King.

Here is the truth that changes everything and helps us in renewing our minds and developing a kingdom of God worldview: We cannot live under a King we have not rightly seen. Here is what I mean by that: many of us have met Jesus as Savior, and glory to God for that and totally necessary! We have sung about Him as Friend, and truly there is no friend like Him. We have approached Him as Healer, Provider, and Comforter, and all of that is true and most precious. Yet, Jesus is more than that, much more!

He is more than the personal helper we call when life unravels.

He is the King! Selah (pause and calmly think of that)

He is not running for office. He is not waiting to be voted in, and surely no one can vote Him out. He is not asking permission. He sits on a throne that was established before time began, and He rules a Kingdom that will never end. (Daniel 7:14, Luke 1:33)

In this session, we are going to do something brave: we are going to lay down our small images of Jesus and let Him reveal Himself in His full majesty. Are you with me? We are going to stop bringing Him down to our level and let Him lift us up to His. Shout glory!! I am convinced that once we truly see the KING, we will never go back to playing church!

Now, let's meet Jesus THE KING!

The Forgotten Majesty of Jesus

Somewhere along the way we, and when I say 'we' I mean the Western Church, have traded the Lion for a lamb-only Jesus.

We have embraced His tenderness but have forgotten His thunder. We have celebrated His mercy yet, minimized His majesty. We have sang of His love but have stopped trembling at His holiness. We have made Him approachable, which He is, but have stopped seeing Him as awesome, which He also is.

The Bible refuses this imbalance.

The same Jesus who held children on His knee also overturned tables in the temple. The same Jesus who washed His disciples' feet also rebuked storms with a word. The same Jesus who wept at Lazarus' tomb also stood in Revelation with eyes like flames of fire and a voice like the sound of many waters. (Revelation 1:14-15)

He is the Lamb who was slain — and the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. (Revelation 5:5-6)

We don't get to pick one.

Who Jesus Is According to Scripture

• King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Revelation 19:16)

• The Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End (Revelation 22:13)

• Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince

of Peace (Isaiah 9:6)

• The Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5)

• The Word that became flesh (John 1:14)

• The Image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15)

• The One by whom all things were created (Colossians 1:16)

• The One in whom all things hold together (Colossians 1:17)

• The Head of the Church (Ephesians 1:22)

• The Judge of the living and the dead (2 Timothy 4:1)

• The One whose government shall have no end (Isaiah 9:7)

Jesus is not a self-help guru. He is not a religious teacher. He is not a moral example.

Jesus is King!

The Difference Between a President and a King

When we attempt to grasp what it means that Jesus is King, it may help us to understand the difference between earthly leaders and a sovereign monarch.

A president is elected. As an elected official, the president serves a term. He answers to the people, and his power is limited by a constitution. Just as he was voted in, he can be voted out. The authority of the president is essentially borrowed.

A king, on the other hand, is born to rule. A king reigns for life. The people answer to him. The word of a king is law. He cannot be voted out and his authority is inherent.

Now get this down in your spirit:

Jesus is not a president. Jesus is King.

Jesus was not elected. He was begotten. (John 3:16) Jesus does not serve a term. He reigns forever. (Luke 1:33) He does not answer to us. We answer to Him. (Romans 14:11-12) His Word is not a suggestion. It is law. (Isaiah 55:11)

Consider that the prayer Jesus taught us begins not with "Our Friend" but with "Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:9-10)

The first posture of prayer in the Kingdom is not that of request, but it is the posture of reverence.

NATURAL TRUTH

In an earthly kingdom:

• The king is not one option among many, the is the supreme authority.

• His word is not debated, rather, it is obeyed.

• His presence is not casual, but it is reverenced.

• His decisions shape every citizen's life, whether they realize it or not.

• His name carries weight in every corner of the kingdom.

• To live in the kingdom and ignore the king is foolishness.

It stands to reason that a citizen who does not know the king cannot rightly represent him. Likewise, a citizen who does not honor the king cannot be trusted with his authority.

SPIRITUAL REALITY

In the Kingdom of God:

• Jesus is not one Lord among many. He is the supreme Sovereign of all

creation.

• His Word is not a suggestion; it is the law of the Kingdom.

• His presence is not casual, it is holy.

• His decisions shape every believer's life, whether we acknowledge it or not.

• His name carries authority in Heaven, on earth, and under the earth

(Philippians 2:9-11)

To call ourselves Christians and ignore the Kingship of Jesus is the great deception of our generation.

To know the King is to be transformed by the King. To honor the King is to be entrusted with His authority.

PERSONAL APPLICATION

I encourage you to slowly read these passages in the coming week. Take your time. Don't rush. Sit with them and thoroughly consider them.

1. DAILY READING

• Day 1: Revelation 1:9-18 (John's vision of the King)

• Day 2: Revelation 5:1-14 (The Lion and the Lamb)

• Day 3: Isaiah 9:6-7 and Isaiah 6:1-8 (The throne)

• Day 4: Daniel 7:9-14 (The Ancient of Days and the Son of Man)

• Day 5: Colossians 1:15-20 (The supremacy of Christ)

• Day 6: Philippians 2:5-11 (The exalted Name)

• Day 7: Hebrews 1:1-14 (The Son enthroned)

2. DAILY DECLARATION

I encourage you to speak this aloud each morning:

"Jesus Christ is my King. He sits on the throne of my life. His Word is

my law. His will is my direction. His name is my authority. I bow my

heart, my mouth, my hands, my feet, my future. He reigns. I obey.

He rules. I follow. He is King, and I am His."

3. DAILY OBSERVATION

   In the coming week(s), I challenge you to notice every time you treat Jesus like a vending machine, an advisor, or an emergency contact rather than a reigning King. No condemnation — just honesty. Journal what you see.

DECLARATION #2

Speak this aloud daily. Let it carry weight. Let it shape your posture before God and before the world.

Jesus Christ is King.

He is not my advisor; He is my Sovereign.

He is not my option; He is my Lord.

He is not my mascot; He is my Master.

He sits on a throne that cannot be shaken.

He rules a Kingdom that cannot be voted out.

He speaks a Word that cannot return void.

Every knee will bow.

Every tongue will confess.

Every kingdom will fall before His.

And I, His servant, His citizen, His ambassador,

bow my heart before Him today.

Reign in me, King Jesus.

Reign over me, King Jesus.

Reign through me, King Jesus.

You are King. I am Yours. Amen.

CLOSING SCRIPTURE

"Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

— Philippians 2:9-11 (KJV)

PREPARING FOR SESSION 3

In our next session, we will turn from the throne to the territory.

Every king has a domain, a realm over which his rule extends, his laws govern, and his authority is unquestioned. Jesus is no different. He is not a King without a Kingdom. He is not a Ruler without a realm. He has a domain and it is far greater than most believers have ever come to realize.

In session 3, we will explore "The Domain of the King" - the scope, the reach, and the reality of Christ's rulership. We will examine:

✔️ What a domain actually is in Kingdom terms

✔️ Where the King's authority extends (hint: farther than you think)

✔️ How Heaven's domain intersects with earth

✔️ Why understanding the King's territory changes how we pray, how we live, and ultimately, how we walk

When we truly grasp the domain of the King, we will stop shrinking Him into a religious figure and begin to see Him as the Sovereign whose rule fills all things.

Come ready to expand your view of the King's reach.

"The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein." — Psalm 24:1