The (Conquering) King of Glory

Mankind’s prideful and many times violent attempts to conquer, to defeat, to vanquish, to rule over, even annihilate one another has been prevalent throughout human history. Wars and insurrections, crime and rioting, racial prejudice and governmental injustice are at the far extreme. However, similar efforts are seen in political races, marital conflicts, sibling rivalry and athletic competitions, where the goal is to win (conquer) at any cost (see 2020 presidential election).

This “troublesome” characteristic did not begin with man.  It began in eternity past where an angel named Lucifer (Isaiah 14:12-14), one whom we presently refer to as Satan and or the devil (Revelation 12:7-9), who led an insurrection against the eternal God and His purpose in creating him and the angels who joined him.  Angels were created for the express purpose of serving God and man (Psalm 103:20) (Hebrews 1:13-14).

Though easily defeated by God and cast from His gracious presence, Satan was subsequently used by God to test mankind, represented by Adam and Eve, regarding our allegiance to God as our sovereign King and to His purposes for our eternal joy and fulfilment in Him.

We know from Genesis 3, as well as from our present messed up world that Adam failed that test, joining the devil in his rejection of God’s purpose for and rule over his life, what the Bible refers to as sin.  Mankind is now subject to God’s just penalty for sin, namely death, being cut off from the glorious life with God for which man was created, corrupted in every aspect of our being (Romans 5:12).

Instead of imaging the righteous nature and character of God with which God created Adam and Eve, they and all who would proceed from them, namely mankind, would come into this world imaging the prideful, self-centered, rebellious, lust-driven nature of the one who would now be their/our spiritual father – the devil (John 8:42-44), bringing the whole world under his destructive influence (1 John 5:19). As such, we are all destined (apart from faith in the saving work of Jesus Christ) to join Satan in God’s final judgment on him and his fellow rebel angels (Matthew 25:41).

As we await that judgement, the world we live in, what the Bible refers to as this “present evil world,” is filled not only with strife and conflict among men, but with our unsuccessful, but never ending attempts to conquer the temporal consequences of sin which include the destructive forces of nature, social ills such as poverty, drug addiction and mental illness, as well as sickness, disease and physical death (see 2020 COVID 19 pandemic).

And even when we look to a god or even the God as a means of help, the Bible makes it clear that sin and its consequences are insurmountable by any human effort, means or merit (Matthew 19:25-26) (Romans 3:19-20).   If we are ever to be free from sin and its eternal consequences; if we are ever to be reconciled to God and restored to His righteous nature and character; if we are to ever image the beauty and excellence of God and enjoy the glorious life with Him for which we were created, it will come only as a gift of God (Romans 6:23).

Christmas is the celebration of God demonstrating the glory of His grace, mercy and loving-kindness, His infinite wisdom and power (Luke 2:14-18), whereby He sent His eternally beloved Son, Jesus Christ, into the world as a man, that through His sinless life, sacrificial death and miraculous resurrection, He accomplished everything necessary to rescue men from the Hell we deserve and qualify us for a Heaven we never could.

And He did so by conquering – overcoming all that has separated men and women from the glorious relationship with God for which we were created; namely sin and Satan, and most importantly by conquering the prideful, corrupted, rebellious hearts (Jeremiah 17:9) of all who would believe.

How he conquered, and how we receive the benefits of His victory, I will address in a future post.

Grace and Peace ×