October 2022
Did you, along with more than 4 billion others around the world, watch Queen Elizabeth’s funeral? I did. I was enthralled by the pomp, reverence, and majestic yet bittersweet beauty of it all. Queen Elizabeth’s seventy-year reign (70 years and 214 days to be exact) endured ups and downs, scandals and victories, tears, and cheers. Through it all, Queen Elizabeth demonstrated unflappable calmness, love, and genuine care for her people. She served them well.
Queen Elizabeth II embodied all that I consider royal and worthy of a queen. But there was a problem. Queen Elizabeth II came into this world as an infant and lived a sinner’s life, just like you and me, and on September 8, 2022, Queen Elizabeth’s reign ended. Although she was queen, she was human.
Let’s look at our king, King Jesus, and get a proper perspective.
He was born of a woman just like you and me, yet He is fully man AND fully God. His Father is God – the one and only God – the creator and perfector of the world. Jesus is one with God. Jesus did not come to earth as the heir apparent, but as the triune God in the flesh. “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have supremacy.” Colossians 1:15-18.
Take that in for a minute. Jesus came off his heavenly throne to live in this broken world and to die the death we all deserve. His throne is not man-made, it is the heavenly throne - the throne of the Almighty. Jesus came to earth to die the death of a sinner, although he was without sin.
Did you get that? Jesus came to earth to die. His purpose was to live a perfect life and to die on the cross. For us. Jesus did this for you and me. He took our sins to the cross and paid the death penalty for us. He did what we can’t do; He redeemed us and reconciled us with God. “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight without blemish and free from accusation” Colossians 1:21-22.
And then, instead of the story being over, three days later, Jesus rose from the dead. He conquered death. Let me rephrase that. Death could not and did not stop Jesus’ reign.
Jesus will reign forever, and He gives us eternal life with Him.
Okay so, most of you know this. But do you really believe it? Do you LIVE like you believe it? Does your life demonstrate that Jesus is your Lord and Savior? Do you really, truly trust that God holds EVERYTHING, and that Christ’s death reconciled you with God?
Or do you think of God as simply “the man upstairs,” reducing Him to your image instead of the Sovereign God, the One and Only, the Alpha and Omega? Are you trying to work out your salvation each day by doing more and more? Are your problems, struggles, and suffering bigger than God? Do you, deep down inside, worry and fret that maybe God has or will fall asleep at the wheel?
Tom did a lesson in 2002 entitled, “Ground Rules for Dealing with God” as part of his “Reflections from the Top of the Heap” series from the book of Ecclesiastes. Tom talks about having a proper perspective of God. Here’s the link https://www.prioritylivingaz.org/young-tom-audio-archives/2022/9/11/ground-rules-for-dealing-with-god from the Young Tom section at https://www.prioritylivingaz.org/young-tom-audio-archives
The bottom line is that kings and queens will come and go. Prime ministers, presidents, and COEs all have term limits. We do too. Each one of us will pass away.
But God. He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. His reign will never end, “’As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.’” Romans 14:11
Let’s show the world that we are His children. There IS hope. God IS faithful. There IS purpose. There IS a better way. Jesus tells us, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6.
Let’s give God all the glory today and every day, knowing one day we will be with Him in heaven worshipping the one true God with trillions of others from yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
For all of eternity.