God the King

We have many different names we like to call God, don't we? I like that we have so many
different names, because it helps reveal the many different facets of the kind of
relationship that God wants with us. One name that I want to focus on today is "Lord" or
"King." We call God "Lord" all the time, but do we really carry with us an understanding
of what this means to call God "Lord"? We can investigate this by looking way back in
the Old Testament to understand the relationship between God and the ancient Israelites.

God's relationship with the Israelites cannot be properly understood outside the context of
the Covenant. The nation of Israel was defined by their relationship with God inside the
covenant. God made a covenant, or promise, with Israel at Mount Sinai. This was
basically Israel's new, fresh start as a nation after coming out of 400 years of slavery in
Egypt. The terms of this covenant are written out in the Torah, the first five books of the
Bible. This was a formal agreement, like a contract. In fact, the entire book of
Deuteronomy is structured similar to other ancient Near Eastern treaties found during that
time period between a king and his subjects. These contracts governed the "rules" that the
two parties would live by in this agreement. I think it's great that God speaks to Israel in a
language and style that they are familiar with--such as the social structures of cultures
around them.

The terms of this covenant are set by God--He is the one in charge. He names off all of
His conditions for the covenant, and that is what we find in the book of Leviticus. All
these "rules" about how the Israelites should live are part of the terms of the covenant that
God set. All this to establish that God was the King in the relationship between Himself
and Israel. This was a big part of what defined Israel's religion. Israel was a theocracy, a
nation governed completely by God.

I find it helpful to picture what other kings in the ancient world were like, and how
people acted around them. We've all seen movies and read books with this element in it.
When people see the king passing by, they immediately move out of the way and bow
down to him. When the king requests something, he gets it immediately, without
question. The words of the king become law. Servants would immediately fall down and
hunch over if the king needed a footstool. All of this wasn't done just for kicks and
giggles. It was because of a genuine reverence and great respect for the king. People
would literally worship this man who sat on a throne. All of this for a man who was born
into this position of authority.

Let's compare this to the King of kings and Lord of lords, our God who's very presence is
too great for any man to view and live. This Lord of Hosts, who commands all the
heavenly bodies as His army. This King who conquers lands and nations for the sake of
His people. This King who's name is too sacred to utter, so much so that the
pronunciation of this Name is now lost. This King who is so holy that the very ground
where He is present is made holy (we are in a holy place right now because He is
present--isn't that cool?). This King uses the entire earth as His footstool! In the book of
Revelation, dozens of kings--these powerful men who are constantly waited on hand and
foot--lay their crowns before the King of kings and bow down prostrate to worship Him
day and night.

It's in this context, understanding God as the King, that all of Jesus talk about the
Kingdom of God makes more sense. Jesus talked about the Kingdom of God more than
any other subject during His ministry.

But it's so amazing that this King we serve is no typical king. He is so powerful and
mighty, and all the things that come with being a king multiplied by thousands. But at the
same time, somehow, he is still so personal, and so intimate. This is a King who loves His
people as a Father.
Yet we reject Him. In 1 Samuel chapter 8, Israel requests a king to rule them. You can
almost hear the hurt in God's voice when he tells Samuel, "...they have rejected me as
their King." What have we made our king in place of God? What rules our lives?
Scripture makes it clear that anything that rules our lives apart from God is sin.

God, this King who has conquered nations, wants to conquer your life and mine. He
wants to be the only ruler, and the supreme ruler, Lord over everything in our lives. This
King, who led Joshua and Israel to conquer Jericho, is on a mission to conquer you.
Perhaps at this point in your life, He is circling you, quietly closing in. Perhaps He is
knocking down walls, the barriers that separate you from Him, right now. Has he
conquered you yet? Is He King over every part of your life? Does every part of you exist
to serve Him? I'll be honest with you, I'm not there yet. I haven't turned everything over
to Him yet. But I'm getting there. I know that my life is headed in the direction of the
King, slowly but surely being completely and utterly conquered. I hope yours is too.

The paradox of this is, to be completely conquered by God brings complete freedom in
Him. We are free from all the things of this world that vie for our attention and only seek
to enslave us. 2 Corinthians says, "Christ's love controls us." If we allow ourselves to be
completely conquered and controlled by this King, we receive life, and life to the fullest.