Our world is fast becoming a madhouse, and the inmates are trying to run the asylum. It is a strange time when the patients are writing the prescriptions, the students are threatening to run the schools, the children to manage the homes, and church members—not the Holy Spirit—to direct the churches.
~Vance Havner
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
~ Jesus, King of The Universe, in Mathew 28
Oh beloved, it is true. We have a King. And it is this King who has saved us both from our sins and then has had the astounding grace to even save us from ourselves. So, while we are free (read totally free), we are no longer free moral agents. We are, in fact, disciples in communion with the One who is really in charge.
This One has given us some astounding commands.
Fear not (read: ever).
Love everyone.
Die, that you might truly Live.
Abide only in Him.
Present yourselves as a living sacrifice, absolutely and completely (for this is the only reasonable act in light of His sacrifice for us).
Go. Make others see Me in you. Do this so much so, that many believe, then come and do the same thing for others.
Hope. Know beyond belief that My Spirit is both willing and able to do all things in and through your lives.
Rejoice. Stay so close to me that there is no contamination of the flow of strength from Myself to you.
And it does seem to this fool of a writer, that we are not listening. We hedge and dodge the commands of our King. And we do it believing that somehow He will simply overlook the disobedience like some dad who gives in to his kids with a gentle smile and shrug of the shoulders.
But somehow, we know this is simply not true. We know that any dad willing to let his child disobey is really a dad who simply hates his children and cares not a bit for their destiny. And in this, we know that our Dad is Love. He is going to do whatever it takes to move us into a right relationship with Himself.
And still, we think we can keep doing our own thing. We hold a part of our lives to ourselves with the idea that we know how to handle the desires inherent in our bodies and minds. We talk ourselves into somehow believing that we know better than Him. We, like some toddler trying to do sculpture, keep trying – and keep making a mess out of our lives.
And then we see that we really are people under Authority.
He will take our stuff.
He will put us in time out.
He will weaken our bodies.
He will chastise us with circumstance.
He will scourge us with loving discipline.
And He will do those things because He both Loves us right now – and knows the end of the path He Himself has set us on. He knows of His Kingdom forthcoming wherein those who yield fully to the correction of His Spirit in our lives are going to reign and bring about actual righteousness which will survive and thrive forever.
The importance of truth like this is so heavy that we almost miss it… The glory and honor and power and ease and pleasure we seek in this life (and find only in fleeting glimpses) will be made truly manifest in that place. The Kingdom is going to be a tangible and altogether real place that makes the nicest places on earth now, look like the shanty towns of a megapolis. Jesus is going to show us a world that actually works. And abundant peace and prosperity are only the mere beginnings of this place.
Said simply: We are in training to be the servant-kings of His Kingdom, and G_d always does all things exceedingly, abundantly well.
And further, He knows that the death paid as wages for sin, is a death we cannot even begin to imagine. And, while we as believers will never see this, we gain the opportunity to help others never see it, when our lives are conduits of Him – rather than pipelines to our own pleasures.
Can we see it? We say we believe in Him, but we often miss the implications of believing in G_d. He is G_d and we are not. He gets to define the terms of the deal. We do not. So, the question is, hopefully, blindingly obvious for each of us tonight.
Will we allow G_d to be who He is in our lives? Or, will we not?
