I love the above art. It shows the angel looking intently at the Christ child.  It is as if He is exalted even as a baby as the angel below Him looks up.  If we exalt Christ, we elevate Him to a high rank or position in our lives–our heart, mind and spirit.

Are you allowing Christ the King to reign there right now…just a week before Christmas?

Or do you sense other stuff vying for that place of position in your life right now?

I am overwhelmed at the thought of all of the things to do and the things I COULD do right now and in this next week.  Yet the only thing I want to be overwhelmed by is His coming in the flesh.

Today marks the final seven days leading up to Christmas.  The final week before Christmas is the week in the devotional, Beyond the Nativity, which points us to the Importance and Rewards of the Son of God coming in the flesh.

The incarnation was important and rewarding in that the following resulted from it:

Through it, Christ’s death happened and the resurrection was confirmed…

By our belief in it, we receive the mark of the Spirit…

Because of it, we receive a rich inheritance…

and Christ is exalted by the Father.

Lastly, the incarnation allows us to see fully Christ as King…   

Through the incarnation, we are able to see clearly, the Son of God, as our King. The incarnation shows us our King in the flesh and allows us to hear others proclaim it and Himself proclaim it. For me, seeing the scriptures that declare Christ as King spanning the Old Testament through the New Testament renews a sense of joy and awe in me.  It’s the very place I want to be at as I approach Christmas.

Have you ever looked at Jesus’ life prophesied, lived, ended and resurrected in light of His Kingship?

For your own meditation, I’ve recorded some of the scriptures I found to shed light on His Kingship. There are so many more verses I could include here but, together, this small collection out of the many tell the story of Jesus…Beyond the Nativity. While there are a lot of scriptures here, I encourage you to read them all in one sitting for a deeper sense of continuity amongst the passages.

After reading through these, I have a sense that I need to allow scripture to speak for itself here. So I end this devotional with scripture alone. I pray that you will be blessed as you meditate on God’s Holy and Living Word.

Daniel 4:3

³ How great are his signs,
how mighty his wonders!
His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and his dominion endures from generation to generation.

Isaiah 9:6-7

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷ Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Luke 1:31-33

³¹ And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, ³³ and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

Matthew 2:2-6
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, ² saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” ³ When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; ⁴ and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. ⁵ They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:

⁶ “‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

Zechariah 9:9

⁹ Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Hebrews 1:1-2

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, ² but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

John 1: 49-51

⁴⁹ Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” ⁵⁰ Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” ⁵¹ And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

Matthew 13:44

⁴⁴ “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Luke 8:1
Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him,

Luke 23:2
And they began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.”

Matthew 21:1-5

Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, ² saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. ³ If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” ⁴ This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,

⁵ “Say to the daughter of Zion,
‘Behold, your king is coming to you,
humble, and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”

Luke 19:36-40

³⁶ And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. ³⁷ As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, ³⁸ saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” ³⁹ And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” ⁴⁰ He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”

John 18:33-37
So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” 34. Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” 35. Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” 36. Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.”37. Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world – to bear witness to the truth…”

Matthew 27:29
and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”

John 19:14, 19-22
Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He [Pilate] said to the Jews, “Behold your King!”¹⁹ Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” ²⁰ Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. ²¹ So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” ²² Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”

Hebrews 12:1-2

12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Revelation 19

¹¹ Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. ¹² His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. ¹³ He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. ¹⁴ And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. ¹⁵ From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. ¹⁶ On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

Revelation 17:14

¹⁴ 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.”

Revelation 11:15

¹⁵ Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”

To do now: Meditate on the above passages. What is God’s Word doing in your heart today as you see the thread of Christ’s kingship throughout the bible? Do you find comfort and joy in it? Journal your thoughts or write a prayer about how God is working in your heart. Praise the King! Listen to  Hark the Herald Angels Sing.

This devotion along with the other four for this week and the devotions from the previous three weeks can downloaded in book form for free below:

 Artwork: Tiepolo, Giovanni Battista, Nativity, 1732

Linking up this week with: