A Closer Walk
"All hail the power of Jesus' name! Let angels prostrate fall. Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all. Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all!" The words for this hymn were penned by Edward Perronet, born 1726, died January 1792. He was a P. K., a preacher's kid. His father was an Anglican priest. Edward worked closely with John Wesley and his brother Charles for many years during the Christian revival which took place in England during the eighteenth century. He later parted ways with the Wesleys over theological differences. Just before he died he uttered these words, “Glory to God in the height of His divinity! Glory to God in the depth of His humanity! Glory to God in His all-sufficiency! Into His hands I commend my spirit.”
This hymn has been called the "National Anthem of Christianity." And why not? It very eloquently expresses our belief that while the Lord Jesus Christ laid aside His Godly privileges and humbled himself so as to come to earth as a man who was born to an earthly woman, He was at the same time and never stopped being the God of all creation. Theologians refer to this reality as the "Hypostatic Union." Jesus was 100% God. Jesus was 100% man. At the same time. In the same person. By the way, imposters beware. There has only been one of these, and only one, in the entire course of human history.
Back to the hymn. Opening line: "All hail the power of Jesus' name!" So who is to hail the power of Jesus' name? All. If you do word research on the biblical word “all” in the original Hebrew or the original Greek, you will discover that the meaning of that word is literally all. All encompassing. All included. No one left out. ALL hail the power of Jesus' name.
"Let angels prostrate fall." Let angels prostrate fall? What is prostrate? Flat on the floor, face and nose to the ground. To show homage due to some great king. An appropriate position for showing humility before some mighty person, or some person of great standing. When an Old Testament person had a personal encounter with an angel they often would kneel or prostrate themselves before the angel. But the writer of the hymn states that even angels should prostrate themselves before the Only Begotten Son of the Lord God Almighty. The King of kings. The Lord of lords.
"Bring forth the royal diadem..." A diadem is a type of crown; it resembles what we would call a headband. Made out of metal it sometimes had ribbons which streamed down the wearer's back. The crown, with or without the ribbons, was a decorative clothing item reserved only for royalty. If you have ever watched the Queen of England performing some of her royal duties you notice that she wears certain crowns for certain occasions. The diadem, being even more simple than a coronet, (also a type of metal crown) likely was an "all around" type of head wear. Not unwieldy, easy to put on and take off, it was perhaps the simplest of crowns.
"...and crown Him Lord of all." This particular diadem is used to crown the Lord Jesus Himself as what He truly is, "Lord of all." A simple statement with extraordinary implications. He is the Lord of all. All peoples. All things. All places. All events. All situations. And all circumstances. Lord of all!
“And they sang a new song, saying, 'Worthy are you to take the scroll and break its seals; for you were slaughtered, and you purchased people for God with your blood from every tribe, language, people, and nation. You have made them into a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign upon the earth,'” Revelation 5:9-10 NASB. Amen! And Amen!