King.
In
the ancient world, to be king – or pharaoh, or emperor – was understood to be
raised up by one of the gods; perhaps even to be a living god or son of a god.
Christianity modified this view, to consider rulers as taking up and being
removed from office at least by divine permission. It did so under the
world-changing belief that Jesus was king of the nations, which is not only to
proclaim him king over all peoples everywhere, but to proclaim him so by
appointment of – and a sharing in identity with – the God over all gods, of
every realm. So fully did the early church identify Jesus with God that they
considered creation to have been brought into being by him.
In
this world view, everything points
beyond its current state to an awaited fulfilment – or realignment – achieved
through the person of Jesus.
For
this we still wait. And for this, we are being refashioned, as from clay, to be
those who are shaped not for what is but for what is to come.
O
Rex Gentium
O
King of the nations, and their desire,
the
cornerstone making both one:
Come
and save the human race,
which
you fashioned from clay.
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