Appendix 8. The King of Kings

When Jesus sat down on the throne, God did not want anyone disputing it. He wanted him to be the King of kings whom everyone acknowledges and bows to. What he made with that immeasurable, great love was the cross. People believe only that Jesus carried the cross for their sins, and that the God who loves me made his Son carry the cross in my place. At this very moment, look more deeply into the heart of God. Of course we know that he carried the cross because God said sin can be forgiven only by blood, but for the King of kings, the Almighty, was killing Jesus on a cross really the only way to forgive human sin? I hope you will think about whether God, who created the heavens and the earth with a single word, had to die so wretchedly on a cross only for the sake of human beings. Jesus prayed in agony until his sweat became drops of blood, and God watched in silence. That silence shows that God allowed it, because the cross alone was the way to make Satan, humankind and all things bow down. God allowed the suffering of the cross because the way to fulfill his covenant was the way for Jesus to be acknowledged in power as the King of kings.

By the power with which he gladly carried the cross, Jesus was acknowledged as the Son of God, the King of kings and the Judge, and sat down on the throne in glory. The suffering of the cross was, in the end, God’s blessing and God’s love. The cross was the purest form of the love that lifted the Son high and gave all glory to the Lord. The precious blood of that cross of suffering is in you now. Isn’t that astonishing? Shouldn’t we give thanks for such astonishing grace? Even if the world mocks the cross and Christ, you who have been saved must give thanks.