GodReflection: God Enters the World as King

In the Beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word Was God. – John 1:1

I hear the hurt in the voice of God.

Beginning with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, God set out to build a nation. He sought only love and loyalty in return. He received only rejection. His desire was to be their benevolent king.

God’s dream ended for thousands of years into the future. . .

When they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.”

They rejected the true and living God—the Eternal King.

The people’s project didn’t go well. Their kings led to enslavement and destruction.

God’s love is such that He could not bear to let His children remain in the mud hole of their disastrous kingdom experiment.

And so the prophecies began.

Isaiah looks forward to a just and righteous king:

Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

God hadn’t given up on His children. He speaks again through the prophet Daniel.

The God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.

Zechariah adds, “The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name.”

Every faithful Jew lived in expectation of God’s king.

The wise men of the East knew the star would lead to the King—even if they found him in a manger.

Once again, I encounter the mystery. Jesus who was God, who was in the beginning with God, comes to earth as King.

As King, He demands my love and allegiance.  Unlike all kings who have gone before, His interest is in my good and in doing the will of the Father.

Unlike all kings who have gone before, King Jesus inaugural parade finds the king riding a lowly donkey rather than a white stallion. This king honored the Father and served His creation.

He is the king who is our firstborn from the dead. This king showed us God’s love. He is the king who loves me and has freed me from my sins by his blood.

I confess with Nathanael, “Teacher, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”

His thigh tattoo reads, KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

The King awaits God’s call. The call to announce the time is come.

At the time when God’s voice sounds, Jesus will descend to assemble His subjects for an eternity of life in the court of the loving King.

Until then, I await His advent.

Stay tuned.

Dr. Gary J. Sorrells – Reflecting upon God’s final advent to planet earth.

Gary@GodReflection.org