Return to Rich's Home Page of Reformed TheologyThis passage refers to that blessed day that is yet to come when all opposition to Christ has been eliminated from the earth, when Babylon is cast into the sea of God’s wrath. It refers to that day when "the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ," when the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea, and "nations shall learn war no more." But the doctrine taught in our text is a blessed truth in all ages, "the Lord God omnipotent reigneth!" Forever, before the worlds were made and forever after the worlds are dissolved, at all times and in all places, from the beginning to the end, "the Lord God omnipotent reigneth!" All God’s saints, in all ages rejoice to sing with unison this great hallelujah chorus - "Alleluia, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth!"
CHRIST OUR OMNIPOTENT, REIGNING GOD
Lesson #34
Revelation 19:6
"The Lord God omnipotent,", is referring to the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior. Many of the heathen religions of the world teach that God reigns. The Jews firmly hold to the truth that God reigns. But the doctrine of the Bible, the doctrine of the gospel, the doctrine of this text is that the Lord God omnipotent, the triune Godhead, exercises his sovereign dominion and government over all the universe in the Person of his Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior. "The Father loveth the Son, and hath committed all things into his hands" (John 3:35). Our Lord Jesus assured his disciples, "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth" (Matt. 28:18). Jesus Christ has taken unto himself, by divine right and by merit of his obedience as the sinner’s Substitute, all power, authority, and dominion. He has the right to reign as sovereign, absolute Lord over all things because he is God. And as a man he earned the right to reign over all things by his obedience unto death. Christ’s universal dominion is the effect and reward of his accomplished redemption. The sovereign dominion of the Lord Jesus Christ is a matter of joyful, heartfelt praise among the redeemed.
WHO IS THIS GREAT KING? I have already told you that this King is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the incarnate God-Man, the Mediator between God and men. He is the very same Man who died as the sinner’s Substitute. The One whom the Jews crucified. He is the "Faithful and True Witness." He is the Lamb of God. "His name is called the Word of God." He is "King of kings and Lord of lords." This great King is our Savior. But let it never be forgotten that this Man is "The Lord God omnipotent!" His name is El-Shaddai, God Almighty. He is the Lord Jehovah with whom is everlasting strength (Isa. 26:4). He is the God with whom all things are possible and nothing is impossible (Matt. 19:26; Lk. 1:37; Psa. 139:14-17).
Jesus Christ is, Himself, the eternal God. He is not a God, or one like unto God, or a creature of God. He is God manifest in the flesh (I Tim. 3:16; Col. 2:9; Rom. 9:5; I Tim. 6:14-16). We are trinitarians. We worship one God in the trinity of his sacred persons (I John 5:7). We worship, trust, and love the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. But we recognize that we have no knowledge of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit except as they are revealed in the Person and work of Christ, our divine Mediator (John 1:18; Heb. 1:1-3). All that the Father says or reveals he says and reveals by the Son. All that the Father possesses or gives is in Christ the Son. All that the Father does, he does through the Son. All that the Father receives from his creatures, he receives through the Son. As for the Holy Spirit, he is the Spirit of Christ, leads men to Christ, speaks only of Christ, and magnifies none but Christ. The holy, triune God has put all things in the hands of Jesus Christ, the Mediator, that he might have all honor, pre-eminence and glory (Matt. 11:27; John 5:19-24; 14:6-9; Col. 1:17-18). This great God is the One who lived, died, arose, intercedes, and reigns in heaven as our Savior. Our Savior is and must be both God and man in one glorious, indivisible Person. Were he not man, his work could not be imputed to man. Were he not God, his work could not be worthy of and satisfy God. God came into this world as a man to save men (Matt. 1:21-23). God lived as a man in perfect righteousness to establish righteousness for men (Isa. 42:4). God died upon the cross as a Man, under the wrath of God to satisfy the justice of God and put away the sins of men (Acts 20;28; Heb. 9:24). God arose from the tomb in the body of a man, ascended back to heaven, and reigns upon the throne of glory, for the salvation of men (Heb. 10:5-14). Our great King is God. And our great God is a Man! His name is Immanuel. He is one of us, bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh (I John 1:1-3).
Our God, Jesus Christ, is omnipotent! He has all power. Therefore, he is able to do whatever he is pleased to do in all things. And he always does exactly that which pleases him (Psa. 115:3; 135:6; Isa. 46:9-11). Omnipotence is essential to divinity. A weak, helpless, frustrated, defeated God is an absurdity. If there is anything God cannot do, which is consistent with his nature, if there is any power greater than his power, any will greater than his will, any desire of his Being that he does not satisfy, any purpose that he does not accomplish, then God is dead! There is no God! The universe is in chaos! And man is without hope! A god who is not omnipotent is no God at all. Only a fool would worship, trust, and serve a weak god. We worship the sovereign, eternal, unchangeable, omnipotent God of glory, Jesus Christ! You can trust an omnipotent God, for "none can stay his hand, or say unto him, what doest thou?" (Dan. 4:35). He created the world out of nothing, by his omnipotent Word (Gen. 1:1; Isa. 45:12; John 1:1-3; Heb. 11:3). He upholds, sustains, and rules the world, by his omnipotent power (Col. 1:16-17; Heb. 1:3). He saves sinners by his omnipotent grace (Psa. 65:4; 110:3; I Pet. 1:5). This is our great King, Jesus Christ, "the Lord God omnipotent." We rejoice in him. He is God. He is man. He is the omnipotent God-Man, in whom we safely trust.
HOW DID HE COME TO BE SUCH A KING? Without question, the Lord Jesus Christ has always been the King of the universe. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. He is King by divine right, because he is God. He is King by divine decree, because he was ordained by God to be a Mediator King from old eternity in the covenant of grace. And he is King over all things, by right as the Creator and Owner of all things. But this text speaks specifically of Christ in his Mediatorial character as the King, Ruler, and sovereign Monarch of all the universe. As our Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ earned the right of sovereign dominion over all things by his obedience to God as a Man (Psa. 2:6-8; Isa. 53:9-12; Dan. 7:13-14; John 17:2; Acts 2:29-36; 5:31; Rom. 14:9; Phil. 2:9-11). Our Lord’s government of the universe in the nature of man is the reward of his obedience unto death as our Substitute. He lived to establish righteousness for us. He died to satisfy justice for us. He arose from the dead to demonstrate the accomplishment of redemption by his one great sacrifice for sin. He reigns in heaven over all flesh to apply the benefits of his obedience to God’s elect, by the effectual grace of his Spirit. He will come again to gather his redeemed ones to himself in resurrection glory. And in the end, Christ the Mediator shall present all his people before the throne of God in perfect salvation (I Cor. 15:24; Jude 24-25). Then the purpose of God in the covenant of grace will be complete.
What is the extent of our Lord’s dominion? "The Lord God omnipotent reigneth!" The Lord Jesus Christ reigns as sovereign King today! The text does not say, "The Lord God omnipotent shall begin to reign." It says, "He reigneth!" The fall of Babylon is not the beginning of his reign, but the consummation of his reign. We are not waiting for some future age when Christ will become a King. Christ is King today. He reigns as King today over all things.
The Lord Jesus reigns in heaven with undisputed sway. He is seated now at the right hand of the majesty on high. There, in heaven’s glory, Immanuel reigns as King (Heb. 1:3; 10:12-13). All the holy angels, seraphim and cherubim, bow before his august throne with delight, sing his praise and rush to do his will (Isa. 6:1-7). All the redeemed of the Lord, those spirits of just men made perfect, delight to honor, adore, worship, and serve Christ as their rightful King. In the splendors of the celestial worlds, one spot transcends all others in beauty, glory, and praise. And that spot is the throne of grace upon which Christ sits as King. But do not imagine, as so many do, that our Lord’s dominion is limited to the world above.
The Lord Jesus Christ reigns today as sovereign monarch over all the earth (Isa. 40:12-31; 45:5-12; Dan. 4:35-37). There is absolutely nothing and no one in the world which is not under the absolute rule of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is King everywhere and over all things. Our Savior is the King! Our God is in charge! (Rom. 11:36). He rules over all the physical world (Nah. 1:3; Ex. 9:26; Matt. 5:45; Gen. 41:32; Amos 4:7; Acts 14:17), all the animal world (Gen. 31:9; Psa. 104:21; Dan. 6:22; Matt. 6:26; 10:29), every nation in the world (I Chron. 16:31; Psa. 33:10; 47:7; Dan. 2:21; 4:17; Amos 3:6), and all men in this world (Ex. 11:7; Psa. 37:23; Prov. 16:9; 21:1). Even the evil deeds of evil men are under our Lord’s dominion (Psa. 76:10; Ex. 14:17; II Sam. 16:10-11; John 19:11; Acts 2:23; 4:27-28).
Even the kingdom of darkness and hell itself is under the total dominion of our Lord Jesus Christ. He holds the keys of death and of hell. He reigns in the regions of the damned, over the demons of hell and over the prince of darkness. Satan is his devil. The demons obey his voice! From the bottomless pit to the highest heaven, Jesus Christ reigns as King. "The Lord God omnipotent reigneth!"
Particularly, Christ is King in Zion. He is the sovereign over everything. But he is King in Zion. He reigns in his church and in the hearts of his own people by right, but he also reigns with the full consent of his subjects (Matt. 23:8-10). Every believer is a voluntary bondslave to Christ as his King. "He reigns in the hearts of his people. There he writes his precepts, impresses his image, and erects his throne; ruling them, not merely by an outward law, but by an inward secret influence, breathing his own life and Spirit into them; so that their obedience becomes, as it were, natural, pleasurable, and its own reward. By the discoveries he affords them of his love, he wins their affections, captivates their wills, and enlightens their understandings. They derive from him the ‘spirit of power, of love, and of a sound mind,’ and run with alacrity in the way of his commandments" (John Newton).
The object of Christ in his sovereign, universal rule of all things is the eternal good of his elect (Rom. 8:28). "The Lord God omnipotent reigneth," so that he may accomplish his eternal purpose of grace toward his chosen, redeemed people (John 17:2). Let him do what he deems good, for what he does is good, always good, only good and eternally good for his elect. How we ought to trust him (Pro. 3:4-6). He loves us. He lived for us. He died for us. He reigns for us. You can trust a King whose throne is erected and dedicated for your good.