Why We Miss What “Jesus is King” Really Means: In 15 Slides

It is easy to miss what “Jesus is King” really means here in the West. And we miss why the ancient church grew so explosively (for Christ the King Sunday—and just to be clear, Jesus is a very different kind of King).

Here are 15 slides (with brief captions [they explain the slide below]) on what “Jesus is King” really means (hint: isn’t not about his divinity).

1) In the West, we usually think in two realms, God’s and ours.

2) For the West, God’s realm is “beyond” and ours is “everyday”.

3) For the West, God’s realm is “invisible” and ours is “visible”.

4) But for ancient pagans, and the majority of the world today, there are three realms (not just two), the middle realm is that of the gods, lords, ancestors, spirits, and other beings.

5) The “transcendent deity” is on the third level, above the gods and the humans.

6) While the “transcendent deity” is beyond our reality, the gods and humans are part of everyday life (even if they are invisible, like the transcendent deity). The gods of everyday life might help us, and might harass us (you just never know…).

7) Trouble is, the gods and the transcendent deity don’t really love you, or me, or anything beyond themselves. Bummer. 🙁

8) BUT, Christian’s proclaimed that the transcendent deity (the eternal Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) actually KNOW and LOVE humanity.

9) AND, this God cuts through the “gods” and comes down to the human level out of love, to save us.

10) AND, this God offers us direct access to him (without the “gods” as middlemen needing bribes and assurances).

11) Declaring that “Jesus is King” means all the other “gods” are pushed aside as useless for everyday life.

12) That “Jesus is King” means Jesus has conquered all the “gods” in the middle realm as an act of love to humanity in the lower realm.

13) This means that “Jesus is King” is all about our everyday life, our everyday reality. It isn’t a claim about Jesus being “beyond” or “transcending” our everyday life.