The Passion: The King of Glory at the Everlasting Gates

Study The Word

Psalm 24:7–10
Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.

After Jesus ascended from the sight of His disciples, after the cloud of witnesses — the saints of old — received Him, what happened next? The psalmist gives us the detail! Now He was in the heavens. Now He was approaching the everlasting gates. The saints of old were behind Him — Abraham behind Him, David behind Him, all the prophets behind Him. Glory to God! Because they could not enter into heaven without Him. Jesus Christ was the one who had to lead that procession. Because of His sacrifice, because that sacrifice was accepted, because He had made atonement for everybody — those under the old covenant and everyone who would come after — now they could legally enter into heaven.

And then Jesus says, “Lift up your heads, O ye gates! And be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in!” Now pay attention to that phrase — everlasting doors. These are not the gates of hell. These are not any earthly gates. The only gates that are everlasting can only be the gates of heaven! There can be no other everlasting doors except they are the doors of heaven! So this is what happened when Jesus arrived at the very gates of heaven with His procession of redeemed saints behind Him. Hey! He calls Himself the King of glory!

עוֹלָם  ʼolam  everlasting  –  eternal, perpetual, everlasting, without end, belonging to the age to come

And the angels at the gates — they are on the other side and they respond: “Who is the King of glory?” Why do they ask? Because they have not seen Him like this before! Before, while He was in heaven, He was the Word. He was in the bosom of the Father. Remember what Jesus prayed in John 17: “Return me unto Your glory which I had before the foundation of the world.” That was His estate as the Word of God. But now He is coming back — the Word of God with human flesh! They do not know Him like this yet. So they ask, “Who is this King of glory?”

And the answer comes: “The Lord strong and mighty! The Lord mighty in battle!” Oh, glory to God! He is mighty in battle! He spoiled principalities and powers. He made a public spectacle of Satan. He whipped the devil! He destroyed him that had the power of death. All the courts of hell got a whipping and were made captives. Satan and all his forces are now the Lord’s prisoners! He is the Lord strong and mighty, mighty in battle!

כָּבוֹד  kabod  glory  –  glory, honor, splendor, abundance, weight, the manifested presence and majesty of God

And then the gates open! There is a procession into the everlasting doors! Jesus is leading the way! And Psalm 110:1 picks up the scene inside: “The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” He enters, He sits on the throne, at the right hand of God — the seat of authority. And Psalm 47 erupts in celebration: “God is gone up with a shout! The Lord with the sound of a trumpet!” That Hebrew word for “gone up” is alah, which means ascended. God has ascended with a shout! The Lord ascended in triumph! In victory over the grave, over death, over hell, over Satan! Sing praises to God! Sing praises unto our King! For God is the King of all the earth! He reigns! He sits upon the throne of His holiness! He is greatly exalted! And He calls Himself the King of glory — which means you are glory. He is the Father of glory and your Father. He is the King of glory and your King. That makes you glory! Hallelujah!

Pray The Word
Heavenly Father, I thank You for the glorious scene at the everlasting gates of heaven when Jesus, the King of glory, entered in triumph. I thank You that He is the Lord strong and mighty, mighty in battle, and that He is now seated at Your right hand. I thank You that He is my King and I am glory because He is the King of glory, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Speak The Word
Jesus Christ is the King of glory! He is the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle! He ascended in triumph and entered through the everlasting doors of heaven. He sits at the right hand of God, and all His enemies are His footstool. He is the King of glory and He is my King — I am glory! God is my Father, the Father of glory, and I walk in the fullness of this glorious identity, in the name of Jesus Christ!