“Father or King?”
Pastor David Moore
Old Testament reading: Isaiah 64:1-12 (NIV)
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you! As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make your name known to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you! For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you. Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways. But when we continued to sin against them, you were angry. How then can we be saved? All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and have given us over to our sins.
Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. Do not be angry beyond measure, Lord; do not remember our sins forever. Oh, look on us, we pray, for we are all your people. Your sacred cities have become a wasteland; even Zion is a wasteland, Jerusalem a desolation. Our holy and glorious temple, where our ancestors praised you, has been burned with fire, and all that we treasured lies in ruins. After all this, Lord, will you hold yourself back? Will you keep silent and punish us beyond measure?
God is many things to us; friend, leader, King, lawgiver, teacher, shaper, Father. I think the two biggest, most important and inclusive categories are ‘King’ and ‘Father.’ ~D. Moore
New Testament reading: Ephesians 1:3-14 (NIV)
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will—to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.
In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of His glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession-to the praise of His glory.
It is difficult to relate to God as a Father and a King at the same time. We relate to God as a Father, love characterizing our interactions, the freedom that God’s love allows us to live in. Or we focus on God as our King, stiving to obey the laws that He has laid down. And the reason God is loving and holy at the same time, is that God is both Father and King at the same time. ~D. Moore
Perhaps the biggest thing as a Christian is to see, understand, and live with God as our Father. Our Father, who has our best in mind always. He has given us every spiritual blessing, who desires that we be complete and fulfilled, content in His love and presence. ~D. Moore
Psalm 103:2 Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things He does for me.
If we think of God only as the King, only as the Lawgiver, and Law enforcer, His demands for obedience will seem oppressive and make us think we will never be good enough. ~D. Moore
So, who is God for you? Which direction do you lean? Are you always basking in the wonder of God’s love, while avoiding the thought of your sin, your disobediences? ~D. Moore
Or are you crushed by your own sin and that you aren’t good enough to be God’s child? ~D. Moore
Colossians 1:15-20 (The Supremacy of the Son of God) The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through 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 the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross.
So, Jesus is the King and God who has a plan to bring all things back together under the Lordship of Christ. If we are not under the authority of the King, life falls apart. ~D. Moore
If we are willing to die to our own self; die to the idea that we know what is best for us, this will bring us under Christ, which will lead to life. ~D. Moore
God wants us to be all that He created us to be. Under God’s authority all of our different aspects of our lives come together. The bigger plan, beyond just our lives, is that the whole world will be brought under the authority of Christ. ~D. Moore
When we become followers of Jesus, we start to learn the plan God has for us and the world. ~D. Moore
People have to come to the place where they realize they have everything they have ever wanted, and it isn’t enough. ~D. Moore
Until people are willing to die to self in order to live for Christ, under Christ, they will always struggle with the same issues. ~D. Moore
John 12:24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.
Jesus wants to be King of your whole life – your finances, marriage, business, health, and even your future. ~D. Moore
As Christians we have been given spiritual gifts, royal gifts from the King to use in His Kingdom. ~D. Moore
God being our King means:
1. It is our responsibility to obey God.
2. We submit to His will even if it is painful and takes effort.
This week: Remember that God is our Father, who loves us, and is working out His plan in the world, and somehow, this event is going to play a part in the world, even if we don’t see how or why right now. Whatever you are going to think right now, we are to trust our Father.
God bless you in your daily walk.