God who is King
(WARNING:
In this meditation today there are many Scriptural references. if
you wish to get the most from it, you may wish to simply copy it to
your computer and look the many references up when you have the time)
Psa
5:2 Listen
to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray
In
the second of these meditations we saw God enthroned (Psa 2:4). In
this psalm we see reference to God being King. Many nations of the
world do not have kings today and so perhaps we lose the sense of
what this means. In Old Testament times, the king was sovereign. The
king ruled and what the king said, happened! In the book of
Esther, King Xerxes, the Persian king, was probably a good example
of this. He ruled over a massive empire (Es 1:1) of 127 provinces
stretching from India
to Egypt.
So great was his authority that no one dared come into his presence
without being called by him otherwise they would be put to death (Es
4:11).
In
the book of Revelation we are given a picture of Jesus returning to
the earth as a conquering king (Rev 19:11
-15) and he is described as King
of Kings and Lord of Lords (v.16). Jesus is the King
of Kings the king above all other kings, yet he is but the Son who,
when he has finished his work, will hand back the kingdom he rules
over to his Father (1 Cor 15:25 ,28).
God Himself is THE King, THE Supreme Ruler.
Sometimes,
when we look at the awful things that are going on in the earth, we
might wonder about God's reign'. Yet the truth is that it is Jesus
who is now ascended back to heaven and is reigning at the right hand
of his Father (Acts 2:33-35, Eph 1:20-22) and, prophetic Psalm 110
tells us, is ruling in the midst of
his enemies (v.1,2). So yes, for this time God allows men freedom
of will to think, say and do what they please, but that doesn't stop
Him exercising His will in the midst of all they do, to bring about
the things He has decreed. He IS working out His purposes (Eph 1:9,10,
2:10), because He IS the King. The Bible
declares it long and loud!
When
Jesus came the first thing he declared was, Repent
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Mt 4:17). In other
words, put your lives right for God is about to manifest His presence
through me to exercise His rule as king! Now Mark's Gospel adds,
The kingdom
of God is near. Repent and believe the good news
(Mk 1:15 ). The coming of God's reign through His Son was good news.
Why was it good news?
Well
start with Jesus' declaration in the synagogue, reading Isa 61: He
has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of
sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year
of the Lord's favor." (Lk 4:18
,19), That was surely good news. See also
Jesus' words to John's followers: Jesus
replied, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The
blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured,
the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached
to the poor. (Mt 11:4,5). See Peter's message to the Gentiles:
You know what has happened throughout Judea,
beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached-- how God
anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how
he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power
of the devil, because God was with him. (Acts 10:37,38).
This is God ruling as a King.
Does
that leave us fearing God as the Supreme Ruler? It shouldn't do for
it shows us that everything He does is for the blessing of people.
He comes to restore them to Himself through the work of His Son, He
comes to bring goodness to their lives, He comes to pour out His love
on whoever will receive it. What should be our response to all this?
Surely it must be, Lord, come and be Lord over my life, come and rule
over my life. Amen.
Response?
Thank the Lord that He DOES rule whatever foolish men may
say. Thank Him that it is a reign of blessing and we are recipients
of that blessing. Rejoice in that today.