Christ the King

Christ the King is a Christological concept, which evokes royalty, domination or power (potestas) of Jesus Christ over all creation (the universe created by God). The term "king" to symbolize the power that comes from the Hebrew tradition.

Kingship was the most common form of government of the people of Israel in the Old Testament. The expression Christ-King (we also speak of munus regium) thus designates one of the functions or offices of Christ, alongside the office of the priesthood ("Christ-priest" or priestly munus) and prophecy (munus propheticum). The expression is thus found in several biblical passages.

We also distinguish the "reign of grace" (regnum gratiae), here below and which refers to the "militant church" (ecclesia militants), of the “reign of glory” (regnum gloriae), which refers to the “triumphant church” (ecclesia triumphans), which gathers those who are in paradise. Eusebius of Caesarea, III^e and IV^e centuries) is one of the first to have formalized this distinction between the three Christic offices: "The true Christ, the divine and heavenly Word, is the only high priest of the universe, the only king of all creation, the only chief of his Father's prophets", Ecclesiastical history, I, 3, 8.