Royal Status

My family have had the privilege of being born and bred in New Zealand for some generations now and those generations have enjoyed the privileges and blessings of the ongoing effects of the Protestant Reformation through the line of British heritage. This land of plenty has ridden on the back of our forefathers who fought for Protestant freedoms dating at least back to John Wycliffe in the 1300's when he protested against the oppression of Papal rule.

While Britain didn't always rule in Godly honour, some of the royals were adamant to urge the Protestant principles and God richly blessed those royal decisions, even though some were brought about by unholy means, such as the antics of King Henry VIII in disposing of five of his wives, there was some good came out of it. When Henry could not get a son to replace him, he would remove those women from his presence, often in very unscrupulous ways, to take on another in his effort to sire a son. Upon seeking approval from the pope to have a legitimate divorce from the five wives who were unable to produce a male heir, he was refused repeatedly, so he simply divorced the Catholic Church from England, made up his own rules and married whom he wanted. He eventually sired a son through Jane Seymour, who became Edward VI. He was born in 1537, took the throne of England in 1547, only to die in 1553 at the young age of 16.

Queen Elizabeth I, daughter of King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn was born in 1533 and took the throne of England in 1558 and ruled for 44 years. As she ruled England, she favoured the Protestant Reformation, which drew the ire of the Catholic Church so much so, that the Pope engaged King Philip II of Spain to build an Armada to overthrow England and take it back in to Catholic domain.

This story goes down in history as a major thrust forward for the Reformation. Under Queen Elizabeth's reign and rulership, she, along with wise counsellors in influential authority, worked to protect that fair land, and with the mighty miracles and protection of the God of heaven, that Armada was defeated and remnants of it sailed back to Lisbon in Spain shredded and disgraced.

That Protestant influence continued to survive in England. Two hundred years after the first voice of protest, Martin Luther was standing for those same Protestant principles in Germany in the 1500's, that the just shall live by faith in Jesus Christ, not being absolved by prelates and popes. Also William Tyndale was a young lad growing up, who in his adult years would translate the Bible into English, another milestone for the Reformation in Britain.

Some two hundred years later in the 1700's, both royalty and the church were still upholding the Protestant Reformation of which the Wesley's, among others, were very active. They changed much of England in their teachings and gave worth to the lower class, lifting them up in society, which brought about what we now know as the middle class of society.

New Zealand

Right about this same time, in 1769 Captain Cook was commissioned to the South Seas on an exploration trip and found and charted New Zealand. It was in the early 1800's that the first wave of settlers came into this land and settled it, living with the Maori already established here for some time. So the land prospered and grew, bringing with it no doubt the bad, but also the good. But what did come was the pioneering spirit and many supported and worked with each other to make the land what it became – a very prosperous and buoyant nation.

The British royals came and went, but never let the Protestant principles completely go. The Windsor family took over royalty in the United Kingdom in 1901 and has ruled ever since, still to this day. There have been five monarchs in that time. King George V, King Edward VIII, King George VI, Queen Elizabeth II, and now King Charles III.

New Zealand, a part of the British Commonwealth, acknowledged the sovereign position of Queen Elizabeth II. She held the longest monarch status in the British Empire and second longest in the world, to reign for 70 years, 214 days; only superseded by Louis XIV of France with a reign of 72 years.

The Queen was born in London, England, April 21, 1926, accepted into royal status from her birth, and became royal sovereign at the age of 26 on February 6, 1952, until her death on September 8, 2022. She ruled well, her role as queen has mixed reactions, some very favourable, some not so, but never-the-less, she was admired in her royal role by very many people.

The House of Windsor has now had five monarchs. Four have died, Charles is now living. All have been subject to natural birth to a father and mother, lived their lives just like everyone else in royalty before them and died. They have been bound to the world by time and space, just exactly the same as all the subjects under their sovereignty.

All those monarchs, high born and royal are subject to death like everyone else born into the human race. They did have a high calling and huge responsibility over the area of the world they claimed – that of the British Empire. Their role was to defend the faith – that of the Protestant Church of England, which makes them subject to the God of that faith – and to defend that faith for the people under their rule.

Each monarch has been recognised by their subjects, treated as royalty by their subjects and received an honourable funeral by their subjects.

Queen Elizabeth II was privileged to a royal funeral and while lying in state for public viewing, guards were positioned all around that casket, 24 hours a day. After that ceremony, she was to be buried in Windsor Castle's King George VI Memorial Chapel in the Royal Vault.

Insignificant Royalty

Personally, I am not an ardent follower of royalty. I very much respect it for the privileges I have had to live in, in our homeland of New Zealand. While we have lived under the rule and protection of the British Commonwealth, which has 'defended the faith', we have lived very good lives, so much so, that many other nationalities have wanted to come and enjoy the freedoms our forefathers pioneered and built.

But when I heard of the state funeral, I thought back over the queen's life. She did enjoy royal status from her birth to her death, she lived in palaces and had rural retreats to enjoy and at her death, she had a state funeral, recognised and honoured by millions.

While mulling those thoughts over in my mind, as I heard it on the news, I thought of another of royal status. The man Christ Jesus actually held royal office over all the British Houses of royalty. Even dating back to 750AD being the House of Mercia, right through to the present House of Windsor, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ has held royal status.

In fact, this same Jesus was present at the very beginning of our world. He is above the British royals, He is above royals of any nation, whether confined to one island, country, a continent, or on a worldwide scale, He is above them all. He is above the natural birth and death process of any earthly royal, or any of their subjects. He has been forever, He is without beginning, without end. He is even above being bound to time and space. He is omnipotent, He is omniscient, He is omnipresent, He is God who holds royal status in and over all the universe. Always has, always will.

So we now come to the time of the year when the world recognises this royal figure, Jesus Christ, when He took on humanity, when He came to earth as a babe. This King did not come to be born and grow up to 'defend the faith in God.' He came to re-establish the image of God and to re-establish His own law in the hearts of humanity.

He is the Creator of all the royals of this world, in fact the Creator of every one who draws breath, or who has ever drawn breath in this world. He is One who chose to descend from His high royal status, to take on fallen, degraded humanity, to lift all of humanity up to His royal status.

Royal Mission

His mission was to write the law of heaven into every heart of every believer. “If ye fulfil the royal law according to the Scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well.” —James 2:8. That law is not only royal, but “Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.” –—Romans 7:12

So one would only presume that when this amazing royal baby was born, there would be tremendous preparation for His coming! It would seem only natural that all the royals, the governments and statesmen of every nation would be preparing all the authorities in their realm to get ready for such an occasion.

Upon even a quick check up of Queen Elizabeth II, there is ample information of her royal birth. She was born at 2.40am on 21 April 1926 at 17 Bruton Street in Mayfair, London and there is plenty of information about her death on 8 September, 2022 and royal burial.

But when I look for the royal birth of Jesus, it is a very different story. He comes into the world – not as a royal subject in an elite palace of notoriety, but in a humble stable, fitted out for the care and feeding of animals – a rather insignificant entrance into the world for such a person.

Not long after, the present king Herod, controlled by the devil, was out to put Him to death. From his earliest days, even in His family, he was not treated like royalty. He wa s a carpenter's son, humble and insignificant. As He started in His ministry, He was accused of blasphemy, being of the devil, classed as a criminal, to be put to death!

His death and burial was significantly different to the latest royal death and  funeral. Our queen wasn't accused of being a criminal or blasphemy or allowing the rabble to p ut her to death by inhumane methods. She had a very dignified funeral with 24 hour  watch of protection on her casket. Leaders of the Commonwealth countries attended her funeral, even leaders of other nations admired her for her life work and extended their condolences in various ways.

Jesus had a very different ending to His life. It was a fabricated and fraudulent  court case trumped up against Him, treated with disdain, no royal respect for this Monarch. He was then consigned to the most ignominious means of death using the cruelest method of torture resulting in His death. It was even outside the recognised area for people of respect in society, He was hung with criminals and those not fit for dwelling within civil society.

But His heavenly Father would only allow the humiliation to go so far. It was those in the common walk of life that took upon themselves the task of showing some compassion to His wounded and mangled body, to lay Him in a tomb of respect. The enemy of souls, originally made a very beautiful being, but became the enemy of this Royal Monarch in particular, that was the instigator of snuffing out the life and ministry of Jesus and he worked most effectively through the governors of the land and administrators of the church. His royalty was stifled, but He came anyway and fulfilled His royal role despite having everything against Him. The devil could corrupt it, stifle it, undermine it, even destroy the human body of the King Himself, but He could not stop the divine mission.

His Purpose

Jesus came in human form to secure all avenues of salvation for mankind, who were stolen from their Creator, their Royal Monarch – and more than that He achieved everything He came to salvage. He did it with calm and deference, willingly giving obedience to His Father – Head of heavenly Royalty. No matter what the devil could throw at Him, He continued His mission with Royal dignity and determined purpose and came off more than conqueror.

Even though He was not recognised at His birth for who He was, even though He was not recognised at His death for who He was, His royalty stood firm through all the attempts to disgrace Him.

Just look at His majesty even before this world was created. “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? And again, when he bringeth in the first-begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.     And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.” — Hebrews 1:1-8

During the time of King Jehoshaphat, Our Lord was seated in His rightful royal position. Micaiah the prophet told Jehoshaphat, “Hear thou therefore the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left.” — II Chronicles 18:18

That is high royalty and demands our allegiance and reverence. After His death, His royalty didn't diminish at all. Jesus told John of His royal position, even at the end of this world, “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.” — Revelation 3:21  

Three times our Lord and Saviour is titled with royal status. When writing to Timothy, Paul shares the Saviour he knows and has personally experienced. “That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: Which in his times he shall show, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.”  — I Timothy 6:14-16

In Revelation 17, the chapter of the Bible that identifies the final destructive power in this world, this power tries to make war with One whom they can't conquer. “These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.” — Revelation 17:14  

In Revelation 19, it starts off with the four Alleluias. Jesus has conquered and it continues to describe Jesus the mighty warrior and champion of the war. In the middle of the chapter, it describes His victory and who He now is as a result of that victory. This is royalty unparalleled!

“And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”  —Revelation 19:11-16

When Jesus comes back, all the royals that have ever lived, British or any other, their reign pales into insignificance compared to the royalty of our Lord and Saviour.

He comes with His own glory, He comes with His Father's glory, He comes to reign over all the universe, whereas all the other royals that have ever lived, come up from the grave just exactly the same as everyone else.

But what is amazing about all this, is that those – even of the common rank of life – even the lowly ones – who have loved their God, given their all for Him and for others, will gain royal status. “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God.” —I Peter 2:9

Mercy and Justice

“As the bow in the cloud is formed by the union of the sunlight and the shower, so the rainbow encircling the throne represents the combined power of mercy and justice. It is not justice alone that is to be maintained; for this would eclipse the glory of the rainbow of promise above the throne; men could see only the penalty of the law. Were there no justice, no penalty, there would be no stability to the government of God. It is the mingling of judgment and mercy that makes salvation complete...

“Mercy invites us to enter through the gates into the city of God, and justice is satisfied to accord to every obedient soul full privileges as a member of the royal family, a child of the heavenly King. If we were defective in character, we could not pass the gates that mercy has opened to the obedient; for justice stands at the entrance, and demands holiness in all who would see God.” — Maranatha, p.326

Consider these words carefully in closing: “The change from earth to heaven will not change men’s character; the happiness of the redeemed in heaven results from the character formed in this life after the image of Christ. The saints in heaven will first have been saints on earth... God will never forget His people in their struggle against evil. Let Jesus be our theme. — Ibid, p. 326.

It is our sincere prayer that every one of you who reads this editorial, will live up to all the light given, to one day very soon hear the words of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” — Matthew 25:34