OF KINGS AND KINGDOMS

1 Judges 21:24 – In those days Israel had no king…
Psalms 24:7-10 – Who is the King of Glory? The Lord God Almighty
Zachariah 9:9 – Rejoice, your King comes!
John 19:33 – Are you a King?
John 19:14-15 – Behold your King. We have no King!
Isaiah 2:2-4 – The Mountain of the Lord

As we look back through the history of Israel we are reminded in the Book of Judges of the evil and chaos that comes with no king. When every man does what he sees fit, when there is no authority or rule, the result is always the same: always chaos!

Kingdoms need kings. This is true for all ages and for all kingdoms, not just for political ones. The family is a kingdom, and a very important one, since it’s the foundation upon which all political kingdoms are built. Without families there are no nations.

When Christ came, He established His kingdom, and we call Him the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, because that is precisely what He is. There is no kingdom or king that is not subject to Him. He is master of all His creation, which is everything in the universe. He is also the King of Peace. As it says in Isaiah 2: when His mountain is established, there will be peace. There is no war within the walls of His Kingdom. There is no torment, or destruction, or evil in His Kingdom.

Nations that kneel to the Kingship of Christ prosper in peace; while those that do not are suffer through every sort of calamity including war.

This is the reason that Israel has never had peace, and will never have peace, because they have rejected the King. And the US and Europe, as they drift away from Christ, will also drift into all sorts of torments. Why? Because of rebellion against the King of Peace.

And, just as this is true with a nation, a home without a king will end in chaos and evil. Only a home where Christ is King will see and feel peace. The simplest way to tell if Christ is the King of a house is to see if there is peace among the members of this household. God doesn’t promise money, or health, but he promises peace and such that transcends understanding.

But the idea of kingship is foreign and opposed to us nowadays. As Americans we love democracy and individualism, and hate the idea of a king. We have never as a nation had, or will ever have one. Our first war was against the rule of a king. We are our own kings, controlling even those who rule over us (or so we think). When asked, we will quickly acknowledge that Christ is King, but we somehow see Him a far off king. He’s over there, somewhere in heaven, as we point to the sky. We don’t like the notion that He is actually ruler over us, or that we must subject all to Him.

As men we call ourselves the kings of our castle, but the fact is that we are not. We are stewards, caring for and watching over for the rightful King. We didn’t earn our home, or our wife, or our kids, gifts, talents, or money. The King of our home entrusted it to us to care for and manage wisely until He returns and calls us to give an account.

As we realize this, the first thing we must do is look at where we are sitting. Quite possibly we are sitting in the King’s seat, thinking it was meant for us.

I address this to the men because, although it falls on everyone to bend their knee to our King and Savior, the role of steward falls on the men of the house, as men represent Christ while our brides represent the Church and our children are the Faithful. Christ is King over the Church, and so we are the stewards of the King over our family.

Our children's greatest confessions to us are for being disobedient, and our most frequent discipline toward them has to do with obedience. We would do well to subject ourselves in the same way to our Father, our King.
To illustrate: my son doesn’t choose his punishment. He chooses his actions, and I choose the punishment. Sometimes he gets mad at me because he feels the punishment is unfair. He wants a different punishment, but he doesn’t understand the severity of what he does or the long term consequences of his behavior, which accounts for a large part of the reasoning behind the punishment we choose for him.
Likewise we sometimes feel that the struggles in life are the result of some unfair treatment by God, or worse, that they are out of his control and he either doesn’t know what’s going on, or can’t do anything about it.
If this were true, God wouldn’t be God, much less a King. In our frustrations we turn the Lord God Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth, into the equivalent of those foolish and impotent Greek or Roman gods. But He is not a stone god who cannot see what is happening, or do anything about it. He is All Knowing, so we know He is aware of what’s going on, All Loving, which means He wants nothing but the best for us, and All Powerful, which means He has the means to provide us with what we need. This is a true King. This is the King of Glory, the Lord God Almighty.

It is us who think ourselves capable to pass judgment on the circumstances God places us in. We seem to think we can discern when something is fair or not, or even when something is bad or not. We call suffering bad, although the Bible is clear that suffering produces wisdom, and we all want wisdom. We call poverty bad, although Christ clearly stated that those who are poor even down to their spirit are blessed. We think the fence that we encounter is unfair because it keeps us caged in, but fail to see all the evil that same fence is keeping out.
It is good for God to be King. It is good to have an Almighty King, Even better to have one who places mercy above justice, and love over sins. Behold your King.

Our communion is a remembrance not of a good man, or a prophet, or a sage or a saint. We take the bread and the wine to remember our King. As we do so, we must be true. This is why it is so good to bend our knee as we take it. It represents the blood of our King, the ransom paid for our freedom, and the body of our Lord, the food that sustains us.

Is he King? Yes, he is King. The true question is: are we subjects or rebels.

Philippians 4:7 is a great reflection of what His kingship will look like and produce in our life: A peace that transcends all worldly understanding.

Submitted by Marco A. Andrino

LIVING WITH THE ENEMY

The most important function of the church is to train and equip the saints with the armour of God, Christians, who as His stewards exercise dominion of His creation and disciple the nations.
All spaces or spheres of government that we neglect are rapidly usurped by Satan and his hosts. Our deplorable attitude has allowed previously christian societies to become immersed in moral, spiritual and material misery.
How can this situation be changed? By changing our attitude and exercising dominion of ourselves, our families, our churches, our civil governments and by rebuking sin. It is our obligation to proclaim the truth where sin prevails. We must infiltrate the enemy's forces and change the perspective of unbelievers. We can no longer live and act like chameleons, mimicking and accepting evil or sin, afraid of being discovered as Christians. It is God's decision to have the Church as well as each one of us where we are, even if it is in front of Satan's Throne. Where sin reigns is where God is most needed.
We must remember that Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life. He is our ticket to salvation and Paradise.

CONVIVIENDO CON EL ENEMIGO

La función mas importante de la iglesia es indoctrinar, preparar y equipar a sus santos, es decir a los cristianos, con todo el armamento de Dios y estos, como sus mayordomos, ejercer dominio de su creación y dicipular a las naciones.
Todo espacio o esfera de gobierno que negligentemente desatendemos es rapidamente usurpado por las huestes de Satanás. Nuestra deplorable actitud ha permitido que sociedades anteriormente cristianas ahora viven inmersas en pecado y miseria moral, espiritual y material.
¿Como podermos cambiar esa situación? Cambiando de actitud y prepararnos para ejercer dominio de nosotros mismos, nuestras familias, nuestras iglesias y nuestro gobierno civil, sin contemporizar con el pecado. Nuestra obligación es proclamar la verdad donde abunda el pecado. Cada uno debe infiltrar su contorno y con inteligencia y discernimiento cambiar la perspectiva de los que no conocen a Dios. Ya no podemos continuar actuando como camaleones, imitando, aceptando y contemporizando con el enemigo por temor a que descubren que somos cristianos. Por decisión de Dios la iglesia y cada uno de nosotros estamos donde El quiere que estemos aunque sea frente al Trono de Satanás. Donde abunda el pecado es donde más se necesita a Dios. Recordemos que Jesucristo es El Camino, La Verdad y La Vida. El es el boleto para nuestra salvación y el paraíso.