December 3: The Messiah’s Kingdom is Forever
♫ Music:
The Messiah’s Kingdom is Forever
Scripture: Daniel 7:13-14
And behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.
Christ’s Reign of Peace
by Stephen Phillips
And he shall charm and soothe, and breath and bless,
The roaring of war shall cease upon the air,
Falling of tears and all the voices of sorrow,
And he shall take the terror from the grave.
And he shall still that old sob of the sea,
And heal the unhappy fancies of the wind,
And turn the moon from all that hopeless quest;
Trees without care shall blossom, and all the fields
Shall without labor unto harvest come.
CHRIST, THE ALL-POWERFUL
As we enter into the Advent season we likely have one thing on our mind: the coming of Jesus Christ as a baby, born to Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem. That is, we see Advent as a preparation for Christmas, the nativity of Jesus. And Advent is for this purpose but not only for this purpose. The thrust of Advent has always been both an anticipation of the first coming but also an anticipation of the second coming of God the Son, evidence of his status as King of the Universe. More properly, it is a meditation on the resurrected Son who now reigns as the All-Powerful One, the Almighty – Christ Pantocrator.
The last Sunday of the liturgical year, just before the start of Advent, is known as Christ the King Sunday. This day affords the Church an opportunity to meditate on the Kingship of Jesus Christ, orienting us to his majesty and glory as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And as the All-Powerful King of the Universe we come to realize that not only does he reign now as the one who conquered sin and death but that his reign shall be forever and forevermore for “his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away.” And from this place of power he will, in the words of the poet Stephen Phillips, charm and soothe; breathe and bless; remove terror from the grave; heal the groaning creation; and bring to fruition the great harvest.
It was customary in Byzantine churches, like the Chora monastery in Constantinople, to place an image of Christ Pantocrator above the entrance to the nave. This image shows Christ holding the Gospels in his left hand and offering a blessing with his right hand. As worshippers entered this space they were reminded that Jesus was the All-Powerful King who blesses all that is but that he is also the incarnate Son of God as revealed in the Gospels. Thus, Christ Pantocrator is a perfect image for Advent – Jesus as King and Jesus as Incarnate Son. So, as we enter into this Advent season let us meditate on the reality that our lives and the world in which we live are under the sovereign and powerful control of God the Son and that our lives during Advent must also be oriented toward the coming Incarnation – Jesus as both King and Infant; All-Powerful and powerless. So, during Advent, look not only ahead to the birth of Jesus but look up to the All-Powerful Jesus and make yourself ready.
Prayer
Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
(1979 Book of Common Prayer)
Greg Peters
Associate Professor of Torrey Honors Institute
Christ Pantocrator
Mosaic, 13th Century
Kariye Museum (Church of the Holy Savior in Chora) Istanbul, Turkey
About the Artist and Art:
The Church of the Holy Saviour in Chora, originally built in the 400s, is a medieval Byzantine Greek Orthodox church preserved today as a museum in Istanbul, Turkey. In the 16th century, during the Ottoman era, the church was converted into a mosque but became a museum in 1948. The interior of the building is covered with some of the oldest and finest surviving Byzantine mosaics and frescoes which were restored after the building was secularized and turned into a museum. The image of Christ Pantocrator is one of the first images of Christ developed in the Early Christian Church, and remains the central icon of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Traditionally a half-length image, Christ Pantocrator holds the New Testament in his left hand and makes the gesture of teaching or blessing with his right.
http://www.choramuseum.com/
About the Music:
“He Shall Reign Forever”
Lyrics:
In the bleak mid-winter
All creation groans,
For a world in darkness
Frozen like a stone,
Light is breaking,
in a stable
For a throne.
And He shall reign
Forever more, forever more.
And He shall reign,
Forever more, forever more.
Unto us a Child is born,
The King of kings and Lord of lords,
And He shall reign
Forever more, forever more.
If I were a wise man
I would travel far,
If I were a shepherd
I would do my part,
But poor as I am
I will give to Him my heart.
Here within a manger lies
The One who made the starry skies.
This baby born for sacrifice,
Christ, the Messiah!
Into our hopes, into our fears,
The Savior of the world appears.
The promise of eternal years,
Christ, the Messiah!
About the Composer and Performer:
Chris Tomlin (b. 1972) has written and recorded many popular Christian worship songs such as “How Great is Our God,” “Holy is the Lord,” and “Indescribable,” since the release of his first album in 1995. He has won the Dove Male Vocalist of the Year Award three years in a row and a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album in 2012. Tomlin leads worship at many Passion events, and is currently a worship leader at Passion City Church in Atlanta, Georgia. His album Burning Lights (2013) debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 list – only the fourth Christian album ever to do so.
www.christomlin.com
About the Poet:
Stephen Phillips (1864-1915) was a British poet and verse-dramatist, born at Somerton, near Oxford, England. He became an actor with a Shakespearian company and played leading roles in numerous tragedies. His earlier collections of poetry include Eremus (1894), Christ in Hades (1896) and Poems (1898) with which he gained considerable reputation.