Why would my King relinquish His Throne in Glory?

Inspirational Quotes

He Came

Two thousand years ago He relinquished His throne of sovereignty.  He didn’t just walk away from it, nor did He relinquish it to another.  He knew that He would return, but in obedience to Father God, He resigned all His majestic realms.

As co-equal in the Triune Godhead, He had been the instrument of the creation of the universe.  It was through Him that all creation came to be, that time came to be measured, and shape and light replaced nothingness.  Through Him the Milky Way was splashed into being and through Him a tiny acorn learned how to become a mighty oak, and a lowly caterpillar would learn to become a beautiful butterfly.  Through Him a nurturing sun was precisely set in place to give the exact warmth and light needed for His creation – earth, and by Him man was given breath.  He created the oceans and then filled them with such an intricate community of fish and fauna so as to evermore sustain each other.  He was Himself Awesome and Mighty God, the omnipotent King to whom the cherubim and seraphim bowed low and knew as LORD of Lords.

He was continuously and perpetually serenaded in holy worship and praise by an innumerable host of angels.  From His heavenly throne He ruled in glory and majesty.  He was all powerful, magnificent, and wonderful.  He was Divine.

Before there was such a thing as time, He shared a throne with Father God and as the apostle John would proclaim, “He 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)   There has never been a ‘before’ Him, and there will never be an ‘after’ Him.

He would refer to Himself as Alpha and Omega, Son of Man, Son of God, The Way, The Truth, and The Life.  He would call Himself the Bread of Life.  We would give Him names like Messiah, The Christ, Jesus, Savior and Redeemer, The Word, Lamb of God, and so many more.  Father God would say of Him for all to hear, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

He would do something no other king or ruler had ever done.  God would abdicate His Holy Throne on High to assume life as a common man, just as those He had created.  He would knowingly and willingly surrender His sovereign majesty for the sake of all mankind.  He would exchange sovereignty for humility and thus allow mankind to exercise their hate and pride upon Him.

The Prince of Peace would be suckled by a teen aged mother who was barely beyond puberty herself.  Mary, probably fearful and yet surely curious, would change God’s diaper; teach Him how to feed Himself, to stand on wobbly legs, and all the many things we teach our own children.  Mighty God would suffer skinned knees, a runny nose, and puberty.  He would know hunger and thirst, perhaps toothaches.  Joseph would attempt to teach God carpentry and perhaps begin teaching Him Holy scripture.  At some point we envision that Joseph would find himself the student, now taught by the God-child.

He was as human as you and I, complete with physical, emotional, and relational problems, much as we endure.  He was tempted just as you and I.  Satan tried his best to seduce our Lord.  That he didn’t succeed is testimony to His sinlessness.  He gave us the example – the model to mold ourselves to.

He would not choose to avail Himself to comfort, luxury, or prosperity, though certainly He could have.  He would seldom know serenity or ease.  Who could comprehend the magnanimity of His sacrifice; no one could appreciate the depth of the love both He and the Father exhibited in this grand gesture of grace and mercy. The One God gave the Gift – The Gift gave His everything.

The first to come to worship Him at His ‘grand nursery’ were men who were considered the dregs of society in their day – sheep herders – smelly, dirty, uneducated, unwanted shepherds.  His best friends in His short life would be anything but the ‘in crowd’.  He came for those that were sick – sick in their spirit – sick in their beliefs.  Sick like you and me.

In Hebrew society of that day the most accomplished men became priests, scribes, or servants of the temple.  Merchants, politicians, and even skillful craftsmen were secondary trade choices; choices determined due to their inability to excel at learning the entirety of scripture.  Only those who had proven themselves in learning all of scripture were allowed to enter a study with a rabbi and thus to continue on, perhaps becoming a rabbi themselves.  The men chosen by our Lord Jesus were not among these intellectual or educated elite.  Their lot was relegated to fishing and tax collecting, and farming.

My point  - my theme, if you will allow – is the unbelievability, the incredibility of this whole story of a King who PURPOSELY and INTENTIONALLY gave up a throne in Heaven and became a man, knowing His destiny, knowing before He ever determined to make this move, that it would end in an earthly disaster.  It was not a disaster from a Heavenly perspective.  It was planned victory; victory over sin, death, and disparity.  It was His mission.  His sacrifice was Heaven’s victory; His obedience was mankind’s redemption.  He knew the role and He accepted it.

Why would my King relinquish His Throne in Glory?  Who is man that this Mighty God would sacrifice His Life for?  Man is sinful, man is prideful, man is deceitful.  I lie, I lust, I covet, I worship idols that are not God. Who am I that this Holy King, my King, would die for me?  Who am I?  Who are you?

Rick Warren opened his well known book, Purpose Driven Life with the quote, “Its not about you.” Well my friends, this time it is about us.  Its all about you and me. It is not about anything we’ve done.  Nothing we have become, or accomplished, or accumulated is relevant.  It’s that our God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, all as one, just simply loves us.  He knows our shortcomings, our sinful nature, the temptations we’ve succumbed to, all the transgressions, everything.  He knows our secrets, our attitudes, our intolerance of others that He loves, our judging of those He loves.  And knowing all that – He still loves us so much that He came. (Romans 5:8)

He came for you and me.  If we would only believe in Who He is, profess it to our neighbor,and turn away from all those things with which we weren’t particularly happy with anyway.  Three simple acts to gain a relationship with a God who intentionally died for us.  No one murdered God.  He gave up His life purposely.  He took the bullet that was meant for me; it had my name on it.  And He took one for you too.

As we engage this celebration of the Birth of Christ season, these days of Christmas, let’s all reflect on the fact that His birth was equally a divine act and an earthly event.  Our Lord Jesus is the only 200% person – 100% man and 100% God – and by His choice, by His obedience, and His sacrifice – He saved us all from ourselves.

He came.

Live well, do good work, and keep in touch.