Hail to the Lord’s Anointed

“Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was [designated] to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 1.1-4).

For the apostle Paul a central facet of the gospel proclamation was the fact that through Jesus’ resurrection he was designated to be the Son of God (cf. Psalm 2.7), the world’s true Lord. For some of us we have trouble seeing what is so good about this news. Is this just the scary part of the gospel and then the good part is that we can have our sins forgiven? I don’t believe so. I think that the declaration of Jesus’ lordship and his substitutionary atonement are equally ‘gospel’! The gospel of Jesus’ lordship is good news because of the sort of king that Jesus is. He is the king that brings salvation. He is the king that rules justly. He is the king that bore the wrath of the father. Jesus’ lordship is terrifying if you reject him but when we see the kind of kingdom that Jesus’ brings it ought to make us want to ‘sell everything just to buy this treasure’. Read through Mark 5 and rejoice in the kind of King that we have as Christians. Here are some lyrics by The Welcome Wagon that can help us find great joy in the gospel of God’s Son:

Hail to the Lord’s Anointed

“Hail to the Lord’s Anointed, Great David’s greater Son!
Hail, in the time appointed, His reign on Earth begun!
He comes to break oppression, to set the captive free,
To take away transgression, and rule in equity.

He comes with succour speedy, to those who suffer wrong;
To help the poor and needy, and bid the weak be strong;
To give them songs for sighing, their darkness turn to light,
Whose souls, condemned and dying, were precious in His sight

He shall come down like showers upon the fruitful earth;
Love, joy, and hope like flowers, spring in His path to birth;
Before Him on the mountains shall peace the herald go;
And righteousness, in fountains, from hill to valley flow.

To Him shall prayer unceasing and daily vows ascend;
His kingdom still increasing, a kingdom without end;
The tide of time shall never His covenant remove;
His name shall stand forever, His name to us is Love”