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Christ the King

"They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful." 
- Rev 17: 14 ESV
Sometime in the third century during the martyrdom, the early apostles instituted a festival named 'Christ The King' to reaffirm that no matter what their lot may be from any earthly king, Christ their King will console them. This festival was cancelled by the Roman emperor whose mission was to crush Christianity anyway.
However, in 1925, Pope Pius XI re-instituted the festival. He connected the increasingly denial of Christ as king to the rise of secularism, and so sought to reestablish the supremacy of Christ over the cosmos. In his words,
"The faithful, moreover, by meditating upon these truths, will gain much strength and courage, enabling them to form their lives after the true Christian ideal. If to Christ our Lord is given all power in heaven and on earth; if all men, purchased by his precious blood, are by a new right subjected to his dominion; if this power embraces all men, it must be clear that not one of our faculties is exempt from his empire. He must reign in our minds, which should assent with perfect submission and firm belief to revealed truths and to the doctrines of Christ. He must reign in our wills, which should obey the laws and precepts of God. He must reign in our hearts, which should spurn natural desires and love God above all things, and cleave to him alone. He must reign in our bodies and in our members, which should serve as instruments for the interior sanctification of our souls, or to use the words of the Apostle Paul, as instruments of justice unto God." (Quas Primas)
By the way, today this festival marks the end of the Christian calendar. And, Yes: the Christian year ends this week; and a new Year will start next Sunday. grin emoticon
As we proclaim Christ as the King of kings, may we spend some moments to answer these pertinent questions: Is Christ reigning in my life? Does His domain include ALL OF my life, or are there parts still kept away from Him? Suppose I have even acknowledged Him as my King, to what extent have I been a good citizen of His kingdom? To what extent have I been obedient to His commands?
A lot of things have become kings in our lives, and so we must answer when they call. Secularism has gotten the better of us today and we're happily gravitating away from the pull of God. We have become educated and have gotten 'answers' to several of our questions - answers that clearly tell us we don't need to bring God into the gist to understand it. We have eaten of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, and our eyes have been opened to 'see' life as it is. Our thinking abilities have been honed over the years, so we are now able to cleverly justify whatever we do. Hmmmm.
I don't know how many such kings have established territories in your life, but I have bad news for you: their days are numbered. They will make war with Christ, the Lamb that was slain, but the Lamb will conquer them. Their defeat is already established before the foundation of the world; so you gain nothing by doling out portions of your life to them.
Come to the Saviour; make no delay. Hand over all of your life to Him let Him become the King and Lord of it all.

Chosen AND Faithful

"...and those with the Lamb are called Chosen and Faithful." Chosen AND Faithful. Today, we make so much noise about being a Chosen Generation; but it makes no sense to Heaven unless Faithfulness is also attached to it. We need always to remind ourselves about the old Israelites:
"all... were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea. And all were baptized to Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank of the spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.
But with many of them God was not well pleased, for they were scattered in the wilderness." (1Cor 10:1-5)
Are you a chosen generation? Praise the Lord! But make sure you're faithful to Him. The crown only belongs to those who are faithful unto the end; who fight together with the Lamb till they overcome all His foes. I remind you once again that whatever have taken the place of The Lamb in your life will not be able to conquer Him, for He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
If e no be Jesus, e no fit be like Jesus!
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