Today is considered "Christ the King" Sunday. It is the last Sunday after Pentecost and the Sunday before Advent.
I have often wondered if the American aversion to kings affects our feelings towards our heavenly King and His rule. For thousands of years people have lived under the rule of earthly kings and queens, and fear of the king must have been an understood and essential part of people's upbringing. The United States was formed as something of an anti-kingdom with a division and balance of power built into the Constitution of this experiment we call democracy. With the subsequent demise or decline of royal rule in other nations, more people than just Americans may live their entire lives with little or no concept of what it is like to be ruled by a king, and many will also harbor negative attitudes towards the very notion of kingly rule.
How then can we relate to Christ the King?
Look for a moment at how we currently relate to or respect the authority of our earthly governors. While some may worship our elected leaders, most of us respect their authority while at the same time deny their absolute rule over every aspect of our lives. We live in a state of both rebellion from and acceptance of earthly powers. As long as the external power does what we desire, then we will go along with it.
With Jesus as King, we are talking about a power that is far greater than that of any earthly king, queen, president, or prime minister. We have to give up our desires and yield to an awesome God's will, and that is something that is almost unimaginable to us. In fact, we will try to create something more familiar, a god who will agree with us as though He were an elected official.
No, it is not He, but we who are the elected ones. We are to bow to His desires. We are the ones who must change.
It is Christ's Kingdom to which we the un-submitting and rebellious have been graciously invited. Our acceptance of His rule demands an unlearning of much of our upbringing, our history, and our personal desire for autonomy.
Only then will we be truly free, living in a perfect freedom: a freedom to follow His commands and statutes out of love for Him, our God the King.
I have often wondered if the American aversion to kings affects our feelings towards our heavenly King and His rule. For thousands of years people have lived under the rule of earthly kings and queens, and fear of the king must have been an understood and essential part of people's upbringing. The United States was formed as something of an anti-kingdom with a division and balance of power built into the Constitution of this experiment we call democracy. With the subsequent demise or decline of royal rule in other nations, more people than just Americans may live their entire lives with little or no concept of what it is like to be ruled by a king, and many will also harbor negative attitudes towards the very notion of kingly rule.
How then can we relate to Christ the King?
Look for a moment at how we currently relate to or respect the authority of our earthly governors. While some may worship our elected leaders, most of us respect their authority while at the same time deny their absolute rule over every aspect of our lives. We live in a state of both rebellion from and acceptance of earthly powers. As long as the external power does what we desire, then we will go along with it.
With Jesus as King, we are talking about a power that is far greater than that of any earthly king, queen, president, or prime minister. We have to give up our desires and yield to an awesome God's will, and that is something that is almost unimaginable to us. In fact, we will try to create something more familiar, a god who will agree with us as though He were an elected official.
No, it is not He, but we who are the elected ones. We are to bow to His desires. We are the ones who must change.
It is Christ's Kingdom to which we the un-submitting and rebellious have been graciously invited. Our acceptance of His rule demands an unlearning of much of our upbringing, our history, and our personal desire for autonomy.
Only then will we be truly free, living in a perfect freedom: a freedom to follow His commands and statutes out of love for Him, our God the King.
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