The Coronation Chair shown on this page, as it stands in its place against the wall in Westminster Abbey, though not known as the king's throne, does in reality stand for the throne of Great Britain, hence upon it all monarchs have been crowned since Edward I.
Of it we need not speak further here, its history is very well known, and is easily accessible to all; what we are especially concerned with is the greater, more real, and everlasting throne on which the Lord elevates all who follow Him, no matter how lowly their origin: "He raises up the poor out of the dust, and lifts up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory." (1 Samuel 2:8)
It has repeatedly been shown in these columns that God made man to be king. He crowned him with glory and honor, and put him over the works of His hand, putting everything under his feet, in subjection to him. Men have lost their kingship, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23)
But God's only begotten Son has come into man's place that He might bring many sons back to glory; and it is evident that in bring them to glory He restores the lost dominion, and places them upon the throne. The promise of Jesus is, "To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am sat down with my Father in His throne." (Revelation 3:21)
Now let us read how "the Man Christ Jesus," (1 Timothy 2:5) "the firstborn among many brethren, was elevated to His position" (Romans 8:29) "on the right hand of the Majesty on high," (Hebrews 1:3) "Angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto Him." (1 Peter 3:22)
We read the Scripture in full. It begins with the Apostle Paul's prayer for us: "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, maygive unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him; The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, Which He wrought in Christ, when He raised him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come; And has put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is His body, the fullness of Him that fills all in all." (Ephesians 1:17-23)
It was by the resurrection from the dead that Jesus was raised to the throne of God; but the resurrection is included in the death of the cross; for Paul, who preached Jesus and the resurrection, rigidly confined himself to "Christ and Him crucified"; (1 Corinthians 2:2) and Jesus laid down His life only to take it again. "Therefore does my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again." (John 10:17)
Therefore we are justified in saying that it was the cross that elevated Jesus to His high position. This is corroborated by the words which Jesus used in describing the manner of death that He should die: "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." (John 12:32)
Not merely did the cross elevate Jesus to the throne of God, but the cross was itself the throne. There were no accidents in Christ's life. All that "Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel" did to Him was no more than what God's hand in and counsel had "determined before to be done." (Acts 4:27-28)
And therefore the placing of a crown upon His head, and an inscription above it, calling Him king, exactly indicated the rank which He held on the cross. It was a cruel mockery that the crown was placed on the head of Jesus was made of thorns, but it indicated a truth which those who did it did not understand,--that the cross is the throne of God, and the thorny way is the way of glory.
If we recall the figures and descriptions of God's throne, we shall see the cross of Jesus fills all the conditions. Let us take a hasty glance at some of them. The thing for which the ancient tabernacle, and afterward the temple, were especially built, was the ark in which were the tables of the law. This ark symbolized God's throne, for God said to Moses: "There will I meet with you, and there I will commune with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give you in commandment unto the children of Israel." (Exodus 25:22)
God dwells between the cherubim. "Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, You that lead Joseph like a flock; You that dwell between the cherubims, shine forth." (Psalm 80:1)
Again, Mount Sinai, the place of the law, was God's sanctuary when He came down upon it with all His angels. "The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place." (Psalm 68:17)
From that mountain flowed forth, even while it was the embodiment of God's law, a stream of living water for the people. Even so it is with God's throne in heaven, (Revelation 20:1) which is a living throne. (Ezekiel chapter 1) This stream came from Christ, the Rock, the living Stone, (1 Corinthians 10:4) from whom the "pure river of water of life, clear as crystal" springs; for the Lamb slain is in the midst of the throne. "And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain." (Revelation 5:6)
We see that God's throne contains the living law on living stones, and sends forth a stream of life. All this we see in Christ and Him crucified. In His heart was God's law: "I delight to do your will, O my God: yea, your law is within my heart." (Psalm 40:8)
And from it flowed the blood and water which, uniting, formed one stream of life. "But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side, and forthwith came there out blood and water." (John 19:34) "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one." (1 John 5:7-8)
Jesus is still the crucified One. It is no mere figure of speech, therefore, when sinners are invited to "come to the cross." We are exhorted to "come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:16)
In obeying this, we do literally come to the cross of Jesus. From this we learn that the good old hymn so often sung,--
Nearer my God to Thee,
Nearer to Thee;
E'en though it be a cross
That raises me.
--Sarah F. Adams, Hymn: Nearer, My God, to Thee, 1841.
--expresses the truth, but not the whole truth. It seems to imply that one may get near to God in some other way than by the cross, and that the cross is the way of last resort, whereas it is the only way. "In Christ Jesus you who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ." (Ephesians 2:13)
It is by the blood of Jesus that we have boldness to enter into the holiest, into the secret dwelling place of the Most High. "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus," (Hebrews 10:19)
So we may amend the hymn, and sing with glad submission:
Nearer my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee;
Although it is the cross
That raises me.
Thank God, the cross does place us upon the throne of God, by the side of Jesus Christ; for: "You has He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; ... and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, has quickened us together with Christ, (by grace are you saved), And has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:1,3-6)
God says of His anointed, "His enemies will I clothe with shame; but upon himself shall His crown flourish." (Psalm 132:18)
Contrary to all human calculation, the "root out of a dry ground" (Isaiah 53:2) blossoms and buds, and fills the face of the world with fruit; (Isaiah 27:6) the crown of thorns blossoms as the rose. Every drop of blood drawn by its sharpness is a fadeless flower, and the dry, unsightly instrument of torture becomes "a crown of glory that fades not away." (1 Peter 5:4)
From all this it appears that the child of God is always on the throne, and can always give thanks to God, who "always causes us to triumph in Christ." (2 Corinthians 2:14)
Nothing, not even a defeat at the hands of our enemy, can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Though sin cover us with shame, we may know that all sin and shame are on the cross, and that the cross is the throne, and so out of defeat we win in victory.
At these two extremities of His life, both of which were times of absolute helplessness,--when he was wrapped in swaddling clothes in the manger, and when He hung on the cross,--Jesus Christ rightly received the homage due a king; for he was the King. Both the manger-cradle of weakness and the cross of shame, are the throne for the conqueror. The victor over sin is king.
The King a Servant
The King of kings is "the great Shepherd of the sheep." (Hebrews 13:20)
It is written of the prophet concerning Bethlehem: "Out of you shall come forth a Governor, which shall be Shepherd to my people Israel." (Micah 5:2)
The king is the one who feeds the people and his authority is in proportion to the power to serve. It is not usually so in this world, but so it ought to be. Jesus said:
"The princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant; Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:25-28)
In proof of this, Jesus, in immediate connection with His being lifted up upon the cross, "Knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God;" (John 13:3) and that He was Master and Lord, washed the feet of His disciples. (John 13) Not only so, but He tells us that when He reigns supreme in the kingdom of glory, and all His faithful followers have been gathered to Him, "He shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them." (Luke 12:37)
The King of kings serves as waiter! There we have proof that the greatest king on earth is the one who does most for his fellow-creatures. And now just one glance into the future. We read of the New Jerusalem that the throne of God and the Lamb shall be in it; and His servants shall serve Him. (Revelation 22:3) Of the innumerable company which have come out of great tribulation and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, we are told, "Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in his temple." (Revelation 7:15)
A comparison with the parables in the 25th of Matthew and the 19th of Luke shows that they have entered into the joy of their Lord,--the joy of giving,--and are made rulers over many things, each one having authority according to his ability to serve. God takes His faithful servants and associates them with himself in the government of the universe, making them ministers of His life; and this shows what is of right our privilege and occupation here, for Christ said, "He that believes on me, as the Scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." (John 7:38)
And this, again, shows that believers,--all who are loosed from their sins by the blood of Jesus Christ,--are even now kings and priests unto God. "And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, And has made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; toHim be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen." (Revelation 1:5-6)
This article is included because it was referred to by another article: Psalm 21: The King and the Crown.--Present Truth, July 3, 1902