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| CAC President, Pastor Samuel O. Oladele |
And they sacrificed sacrifices unto the Lord, and offered burnt offering unto the Lord, on the morrow after that day, even a thousand bullocks, a thousand rams and a thousand lambs, with their drink offerings, and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel. And did eat and drink before the Lord on that day with great gladness. And they made Solomon, the son of David king the second time…1 Chronicles 29: 21-22
David, the sweet Psalmist, had ruled Israel successfully as king for forty consecutive years. When he became old was about to die, one of his sons, the fourth son who was named Adonijah, declared himself king without the consent of his father. That Coup detat was orchestrated by Joab, the General who led Israel’s army and one of David’s closest confidant. However, Beersheba, the mother of Solomon got wind of the unauthorized coronation of Adonija hand went in to remind David the king of his promise earlier to make Solomon king.
She said to him:
“My lord, you swore by the Lord your God to your maidservant,….that Solomon your son shall reign after you and he shall sit on your throne.’ So now, look! Adonijah has become king; and you do not know about it...”1 Kings 1:17-18
As she was speaking with David, Nathan the prophet came in to corroborate her claim and all of a sudden David sprang to life and said such was not going to happen - Adonijah would not be king. Hence, he gave an order that the crown be brought along with all necessary instruments of the authority of the king and Solomon was anointed and crowned king over Israel for the very first time. 1 Kings 1:28-40.
After the passage of time, the people of Israel considered it necessary to anoint Solomon a second time.
So they ate and drank before the Lord with great gladness on that day. And they made Solomon the son of David king the second time, and anointed him before the Lord to be the leader, and Zadok to be priest.1 Chronicles 29:22
One may begin to wonder why this was so; why would a king be coronated twice?
The answer to this question is not far-fetched. You would recall that the first time when Solomon was crowned, it was done in a hurry to checkmate the rebellion of Adonijah as supported by Joab and Abiathar, among others and avert an impending crisis. It was not prepared for.
However, now that the crisis is over and Solomon was firmly established as king, it was considered necessary that he be crowned properly - not in a hurry anymore, not instinctively any more but planned.
As we commemorate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ today, many of us know Him as the historical Jesus who came to this world of ours some two thousand years ago. There are people all over the world who celebrate Christ without knowing Him. Some of those who claim to know Him simply came to Him under questionable circumstances – troubles, distress, sickness, needs etc. They made Jesus king hurriedly like was done to Solomon in order to stop the rebellious Adonijah.
The Adonijah that had become the king over some people could be sickness, poverty, stagnation, failure and all sorts of disappointments. The Adonijah troubling some people may have defied known solution, and because they do not like this kind of Adonijah to rule over them, they came to Jesus and they say: “Yes, Jesus, you are the king. We crown you the king of our lives”. But that is not enough. Some people recognized Jesus as king only because their parents are Christians. However, God has no grandchildren. It is only those who receive Him that become sons of God. John 1:12.
Today we see all sort of people around the world saying, “Jesus is the king”, “We love him”, “We’ve crowned Him as king”, but the question which needs to be answered is, “What was it that led you to crown Jesus as king? What was the door through which you came to Christ? Was it not to avert a crisis?
The Church is flooded today by many people who hurriedly crowned Jesus. Not for any other reason than to avert a crisis. In the book of Hosea God says, ‘they turn but not unto me….’ Hosea 7:16a.It is possible to turn to the Church, to tenets and culture or whatever, but not to Christ.
I listened to a preacher a few days ago on the television, and I observe that we preach alot of motivational messages these days: How to make it in life, how to start a business today and become a millionaire tomorrow. Preachers give us many keys today. Some seven keys that would take you up there; another twenty-one keys that would open the vaults of the Central Bank and things like that. These are what we use to attract people to the Church and they exclaim that ‘Jesus is King! ‘but we need more than that. If the Israelites could sit down when their crisis was over and they made Solomon their king for the second time then it is necessary for everyone who had accepted Jesus as king hurriedly to now sit down and decide to have Him crowned a second time. We need to emphasize the fact that He is not just a provider, healer, way maker but the Saviour of man.
The angel of the Lord who appeared to Joseph to him that his wife Mary was going to deliver a son who shall be called Jesus because he shall save his people from their sins. Reference: Matthew 1:21.
Jesus came to save us from our sins, to remove sins from our lives, literature; institutions, and communities etc. Therefore, everyone must answer the salient question: when I made Jesus king the first time, what led me to that decision? It may have been that you wanted to avert a crisis; get healed of your diseases, grow your business, pass an examination, get a child, win a contract or breakthrough etc.
If you hurriedly crowned Jesus king then because of your Adonijah, it is necessary now to plan and be deliberate in making Him your king.
The people of Israel crowned Solomon king a second time and rejoiced exceedingly.
Then Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king instead of David his father, and prospered; and all Israel obeyed him. All the leaders and the mighty men, and also all the sons of King David, submitted themselves to King Solomon. So the Lord exalted Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel, and bestowed on him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel. 1 Chronicles 29:23-25.
Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:9-11
The time has come for you to say: “Lord I want to crown you king the second time and He will accept you”.
Make Jesus Christ your King properly, honourably, and wholeheartedly not just because of things but for the salvation of your soul. You shall be glad that you did. Revelation 3:20.