1Acts 15:14–16; Isa 55:4–5; Gen 49:10; Ps 110:3; ²Eph 4:11–12; 1 Cor 12:28; ³Isa 33:22; ⁴Mt 18:17–18; 1 Cor 5:4–5; ⁵Acts 5:31; ⁶Rev 22:12; 2:10; ⁷Rev 3:19; ⁸Isa 63:9; ⁹1 Cor 15:25; Ps 110:1–2; ¹⁰Rom 14:10–11; ¹Rom 8:28; ¹²2 Th 1:8–9; Ps 2:8–9

The Lord Jesus Christ is not only the Great Prophet and the Great High Priest, He is also the King of kings.

A king is the ruler of a kingdom. Christ is such a king. His kingship was early prophesied in the OT, when Jacob blessed Judah by saying:

Shiloh refers to the one to whom tribute belongs, i.e. an ultimate king. This prophesy was made a little more specific by Nathan the prophet in his delivery of God’s promise to David:

Although this prophecy appears to refer directly to Solomon (cf. 1 Chr 28:6), it actually refers to him only as a type of Christ, for the New Testament tells us it refers to Christ (Heb 1:5b).

Under the ministry of the writing prophets the prophecy of the coming king became more and more distinct. For example, Jeremiah calls Him "a righteous Branch" and "The LORD Our Righteousness" (Jer 23:5-6; cf. Acts 13:23). Isaiah is even more specific. He not only calls Him the Branch and Root of Jesse (Isa 11:1ff, 10; cf. Rom 15:12); but makes it clear that He is God, and to dwell amongst men, He would be born of a virgin (cf. Isa 9:6-7; 7:14).

All these prophecies were fulfilled in the incarnation and the resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ unto the right hand of the throne of God. Although there is a future universal manifestation of His kingship, Christ has already begun His kingly rule. He is already sitting on the throne. His kingly rule does not await a future Millennium as Dispensationalists claim. The kingly rule that Dispensationalists have in mind would end in a kind of failure, with massive rebellion after the so-called Millennium. But our Catechism teaches us that Christ is ruling today, and He executes His office in three realms: (1) The Visible Church; (2) The Invisible Church; and (3) The World.

It is particularly for the sake of the Invisible Church or His elect that Christ is exercising or will exercise His rule over the other two realms (cf. Eph 3:10-11). But it is important to understand how He executes His kingship in all three realms.

In the realm of the Visible Church, Christ executes His kingship in: (1) "in calling out of the world a people to Himself" to constitute His Visible Church; (2) in "giving them officers," namely elders and deacons to rule over them; and (3) in giving them "laws, and censures, by which He visibly governs them," that is to say in establishing church government and discipline.

In the realm of the Invisible Church, Christ executes His kingship: (1) in bestowing saving grace upon His elect" by His Spirit working in their heart and lives that they may cheerfully yield Him the obedience He requires; (2) by "rewarding their obedience" now by His providence and at the Judgement Day by an eternal blessing; (3) by "correcting them for their sins" by providential discipline and the voice of conscience; and (4) by "preserving and supporting them under all their temptations and sufferings," so that they will never be overwhelmed by trials or their own corruptions.

Finally, in the realm of the world, Christ exercises His kingship: (1) by "restraining and overcoming all [the] enemies [of his elect]," so that nothing can separate them from His love; (2) by "powerfully ordering all things for His own glory, and [His elect’s] good"; and (3) by "taking vengeance on the rest, who know not God, and obey not the gospel." This vengeance will partly be carried out by Christ’s providential power today, but the day of His wrath will be the Last Day when Christ will finally put down all who oppose His Church and Him, including Satan and the World (1 Cor 15:25; Ps 110).