CHRIST'S RULERSHIP

Jesus received his position as King of Yahweh's Kingdom when he returned from his mission on earth (1 Peter 3:22). This was a major promotion for Christ, as this gave him a higher ranking than any of the angels as shown at Hebrews 1:3-4:

3 He is the radiance of His glory, the exact expression of His nature, and He sustains all things by His powerful word. After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. 4 So He became higher in rank than the angels, just as the name He inherited is superior to theirs. (Holman Christian Standard Bible)

Christ is to retain his kingly position until he has defeated all of God's enemies:
Psalm 110:1-2:
 1 Yahweh declared to my Lord 'Take your seat at my right hand till I have made your enemies your footstool. 2 Yahweh will stretch out the scepter of your power; from Zion you will rule your foes all around you. (New Jerusalem Bible)

Hebrews 10:12-13
12 But Christ offered himself as a sacrifice that is good forever. Now he is sitting at God's right side,13 and he will stay there until his enemies are put under his power. Contemporary English Version

Yahweh instructed Christ to subdue all other authorities and powers, including death itself. After he defeats the last enemy - death - Christ will hand the Kingdom back to Yahweh (1 Corinthians 15:24-28). During this time of Christ's rulership, Yahweh has subjected everything - except for Himself - under Christ's rulership (1 Corinthians 15: 27). After Christ defeats all of Yah's enemies, then Christ will step down from the throne and give the rulership back to Him (1 Corinthians 15:28).

Since death continues to occur right now, we know it has not yet been defeated. Although we don't know the exact timing of events, we do know the basic events that lead up to this defeat:
According to scripture, Satan is to be bound and imprisoned for a thousand years (Revelation 20:1-3). During this thousand years, all the faithful who previously died will be resurrected. These resurrected ones will rule with Christ during this millenium time period (20:4,6). However, this is not yet the end of all death, for others will be resurrected some time after the thousand years have ended (20:5). Before this second resurrection occurs though, Satan will be released from his prison for a short time to give one last testing to mankind (20:7-9). At the end of his time period, Satan and his associates will be destroyed forever (20:10). It is after this is finished when the time of judgement occurs (20:12). According to the passage, death and Hades relinquish their dead for them to be judged, everyone being judged according to their deeds (20:13). Those who are judged unworthy will be permanently destroyed in the same way that Satan, death and Hades are destroyed (20:10,14-15). When this is accomplished, then New Jerusalem will come to earth, and death will no longer exist (21:1-4). This would mean that all who are living will always continue living. Since the last enemy, death, will have been defeated at this point, God returns to the Throne and rules on the earth forever (21:3-4).

Since Christ is currently sitting as King in God's Kingdom, does this mean that he is now Almighty God? Not really. Remember, scripture tells us the only thing not subjected under Christ is Yahweh Himself. It also tells us that Christ will subject himself to Yahweh when his time of rulership ends (1 Corinthians 15:27). In other words, Yahweh is the only one with the right to absolute authority. Since Christ remains in subjection to someone - i.e. God -- that automatically disqualifies him from being the Almighty God. Scripture tells us that there is only one God: The Father, and only one Lord: The Christ (1 Corinthians 8:6), showing a specific distinction between the two. This specific distinction is evident throughout the New Testament as shown in scriptures such as Matthew 23:9-10, Ephesians 6:23, and Philippians 1:2 . Other scriptures support the fact that Yahweh holds absolute authority over all things (1 Corinthians 11:3, Ephesians 4:6). Christ himself also referred to the Father as his God (Matthew 27:46, John 20:17), and mentioned his own obedience to Yahweh's commandments (John 12:49-50, 14:31), indicating recognition of his own submission to the Father. Notice, the Father has never referred to anyone as His God, further indicating His absolute position. These facts, however, don't weaken Christ's dominion over us as our king.

Since Christ is our King, yet Yahweh holds absolute authority, what does this mean when it comes to the matter of prayer and praise? Christ himself promoted prayer to the Father at Matthew 6:9-13. On other occasions, after Christ's resurrection and heavenly coronation, Christians continued to offer prayer and praise to the Father (Romans 15:5-6, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, Ephesians 3:14 ). In fact, scripture shows us that we are to approach the Father, though we are to do so through Christ, who mediates for us (Ephesians 2:18, 5:20, Philippians 4:19, Colossians 3:17). In other words, our prayers are to be directed to the Father, but they must go through our Mediator, Christ, in order to get there. Christ himself told us these things while he walked the earth (John 14:6, John 15:16, John 16:23). Never did Christ teach that we are to direct our prayers to himself (Matthew 6:6-8, Matthew 7:7-11).

Therefore, although Christ is our heavenly King at this time, we are not to view him as if he were Almighty God, because he does not have that level of authority. However, this does not absolve us from giving Christ his due honor as our King. Scripture tells us what our responsibilities are regarding our heavenly King:

1 -- We are to commemorate Christ's inauguration of the New Covenant in remembrance of his sacrifice (Luke 22:19-20).
2 -- We are to actively show our faith in him (John 3:16, 6:40) without shame (Mark 8:38).
3 -- We are to accept him as mediator between ourselves and Yahweh (1 Timothy 2:5).
4 -- We are to acknowledge him as head of the Christian congregation (Ephesians 1:22, 5:23-24, Colossians 1:18).
5 -- We are to do all that Christ commanded us (Matthew 28:18-20).

Christ's commandments include:

a) Loving God completely and to love all people (Matthew 22:36-40)
b) Making Christian disciples, along with
c) Baptizing believers, along with
d) Teaching them Christ's teachings (Matthew 28:19-20).
e) Commemorating the Last Supper (Luke 22:19-20)
f) Having love amongst ourselves as disciples (John 13:34)

Interestingly enough, if we do that which Christ commanded of us, then we are considered to be his friends (John 15:14-15).

So, putting it all together, we can see scripture tells us Christ is currently ruling as King of God's Kingdom. Although he is not Almighty God, he still is to be shown the proper respect and honour due him as God's chosen King. This includes obedience to the commandments Christ gave. In doing so, we can be counted as a part of Christ's circle of friends. We can think of no better position to be in than to be counted as friends of God's chosen King. Praise Yahweh for such a grand provision!