King Forevermore (God the Uncreated One)

All kings aren’t created equal.  In the history of our world kings have come and gone with each generation.  People and society have flourished under the good reign of noble kings, while the reign of others has brought paramount destruction and oppression onto those who live under their rule.  While the story of the Bible recounts the rule of many kings of the ancient world, there is one King who stands alone, above them all, King Jesus.

Jesus’ life as a king was unlike any other.  To begin with, unlike any other king, Jesus existed eternally as God. John writes about this in the opening of his gospel account when he says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” (John 1:1-2). Jesus is truly the only King who is uncreated, who has eternally existed.  He never had to climb some political ladder or be born into a royal family to become King, he has always been King from eternity past.  And it is this “uncreated one” who spoke the world into existence.  He is the one who hung the stars like chandeliers and numbers every grain of sand on the shore, he is the Creator from whom all life flows. (John 1:3)

Maybe this is also why it is so unfathomable when Jesus steps into human flesh to be forsaken and crucified. He is not just any man, he is the son of the most High God, displaying an eye-opening amount of humility and suffering in the form of a servant (Phil. 2:1-9).  Can you imagine being the eternal King of the universe and stepping into the world that you yourself created, only to be treated as a treasonable traitor. The answer is probably no. Is it even possible for you and I to fathom the depths of Christ’s humility?  Can we possibly get our minds around the sacrifice that he was making?  Will we ever be able to fully grasp what it was like for the King to be despised as he was?  

As we grapple with understanding Christ’s mind-bending humility and sacrifice we begin to see that He was redefining what it means to be a good King right in front of our very eyes.  His humility is so hard for us to grasp because it is so pure and goes so much further than ours.  His sacrifice is so radical because the world has never seen sacrifice in the way that he displayed it. This kind of revelation demands something from us, it demands a response of worship.  To look upon Jesus and begin to see him as the Uncreated One, who stepped into his creation revealing the fullness of what it looks like to be true Servant King, ought to elicit worship in the deepest recesses of our heart.  To bend our knee, to bow our lives in allegiance to the one true King is the right and holy response to who He is.  One of the ways we know this is true is because this is what the heavens look like.  All attention is on the Lamb who was slain for the sins of the world.  There is only one throne and one King reigning forevermore, and it is Jesus, the servant, who poured himself out on our behalf.  

As we consider who he is, and all that he has done, let us also respond accordingly in worship.  Let us offer our lives as a living sacrifice in response to His great mercy (Rom. 12:1-2).  Let’s worship the King who reigns forevermore.