Reflections on the Coronation
I wasn’t expecting much from the Coronation, but I thought it would be interesting to watch it. I certainly didn’t expect to be moved almost to tears, or to be encouraged in my relationship with God, but I found that both things happened.
I was moved by the beautiful music and the Christian ceremony, by the ancient words and by the symbolism. I loved the simplicity of having a little kid welcome the king, and the many reminders that God is the king of kings, and the Holy Spirit is the one who enables the proper exercise of kingship.
But I also found the picture of crowning illuminating.
We have been studying Ephesians in our small group, and I found that the Coronation illuminated several things from the first two chapters (that’s how far we have got so far).
Destined to be King
One of the words that appears in Ephesians 1 is predestined. We are told that we were predestined to be adopted as God’s children (Ephesians 1:5) and to be conformed to the image of his Son (Romans 8:29). Someone in our group commented that Charles was predestined to be king from the moment of his birth. Because of who his mother was, he was born heir to the throne. Becoming king was his destiny. But it wasn’t an unavoidable destiny. He had to choose to say yes. His great-uncle was also destined to be king, but he abdicated, as other things seemed more important. Charles destiny was not inevitable. But it was only possible because of his birth. It wouldn’t matter how much I said yes to becoming monarch, that’s not an option for me, because it’s not my destiny. Being predestined to be king meant that he could choose to be king, or choose not to be king. He also had a choice of what sort of king to be, and what sort of life to live.
Because we are predestined to be children of God, we have the capacity to choose to become his children. But I don’t believe it means that we have no choice whether to accept the offer of not. God seems to value free will too highly for that.
His Kingship is Unearned
Charles did absolutely nothing to earn his place as king. He didn’t have to sit an exam or obtain a qualification. He didn’t have to prove that he is the best man for the job, or win an election. His kingship is an unearned favour.
I don’t think I have ever seen grace so clearly. The whole world stopped to watch Charles being crowned. To watch an old man, without any apparent outstanding features except a significant family line, being honoured and adorned with invaluable jewels, being blessed by the leaders of all major faith groups, being anointed by oil representing the Holy Spirit, and being cheered by crowds, who waited for hours or days in the rain just to see him. It is hard to imagine a better image of being blessed for who you are, not what you do.
We are saved by grace through faith, not by what we do
In the same way, we are saved by grace, not by what we do (Eph 2:8-9), and we are given unbelievable honours by God.
When we accept God’s invitation to become his sons and daughters, God does so much more than just save us from our sins. We are told that we are seated with Christ in the heavenly places (Eph 2:6), and that Christ is seated at God’s right hand (Eph 1:20). We are told if we endure, we will reign with Christ (2 Tim 2:12) and that we will reign in life (Rom 5:17). We are told to anticipate a weight of glory beyond all comparison (2 Cor 4:17), and that we are being transformed from one degree of glory to another (2 Cor 3:18). We are promised a crown of righteousness (2 Tim 4:8) and of glory (1Peter 5:4). And all this, not because of any righteousness or goodness of our own, but because we accept the offer of becoming God’s children, repenting for our sins and being made righteous through Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection.
All this should make us not proud, but humble. We are glorified so that we are better able to glorify God.
So, to sum up, my take from the coronation was that we were born with an incredible destiny, to be God’s kids and to reign with Christ in glory. But that destiny is not something we earn by good deeds or because of something special about us. It is God’s incredible goodness to us – he saves us by his grace.
Let me know what you think in the comments!

Hi, I'm Chris!
I'm an Australian Christian author, blogger and speaker who has published one book - Diamonds from the King - which is a book of stories from my life of ways that God has worked to bring precious diamonds from suffering, disappointment and confusion.
I'm a mum, granny and wife and I love spending time with my grown kids and my four and counting grandkids, but my greatest passion is to get to know God better, and to share his wonder with the world.
This is such an inspired thought Chris. I had not thought of it that way but the idea of the King receiving grace just for who he is and not what he’s done is very powerful. The natural is a shadow of the supernatural
Thanks Andrew. Glad it was helpful.