God Is King
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IV. We are the King’s Children
And that brings us to our final point: We who have made peace with God through Jesus are the King’s children by adoption. We are princes and princesses of the Kingdom, we have unique privileges that the rest of the world does not. We also have weighty responsibilities that they do not.
How are we as His children to approach Him? In the ancient middle east, even at the time of the Roman Empire, even the king’s own family members had to prostrate themselves before him. After all, he was the viceroy of the gods. He was to be honored by all, including his own family. This was usually done by getting down on hands and knees and bowing before him, with the forehead touching the ground.
Well, you might say, a king is just human, how can I bow before him? I bow only to the living God! Well, that’s where the problem sets in. When we say that we assume that we’re something better than the king. We are not. You would not act disrespectfully to the American President. I can just see one of us going up to him.
“Yo, Dubya, whassup? Wanna hang out and have a couple drinks, and by the way I was wondering if you could put in a pardon for me.” Would you come into the presence of the President with your work clothes on, without first cleaning up? No.
That is but a tiny example of what it means to come into the presence of God. I must be honest that I don’t come into His presence in the way I should. I have found, though, that outward prostration is a powerful way of showing my reverence for Him. Did you know that the regular way for people to pray in Israel until the Exile was prostration? Again and again you find people bowing in the presence of the King of the earth. This is something that died out very slowly. As a matter of fact in Medieval times monks would often fully prostrate themselves before their Lord and Savior when worshiping him, lying face-down on the ground!
Now, I wonder very much what would happen if God Himself were to visibly walk into this room. How would we feel, what would we think? I doubt even one of us would remain on his or her feet or butt. We’d be cowering on the floor in fear and in awe. We so easily forget how to come before Him.
We may have the right to call Him “Daddy” — that’s what Abba means — but at the same time we have to remember that Daddy is still the King and demands respect. I remember that my human Dad, always demanded respect. I am allowed to call him Dad, but I still must treat him with respect. How much more so God!
We as God’s children have certain rights. We have the right to enter His presence whenever we choose. We have the right to have fellowship with Him. We have the right to ask Him to act on our behalf. We have the right to be cleansed by Him whenever we mess up. We have the right to be dependant on Him. We don’t have to be dependant on anyone else. We have the right to call Him Daddy. Can you imagine how wonderful that right is? It’s the one that touches my heart the most. I can call the King of the Universe Daddy. I can call God Daddy.
But with all of these rights we have amazing responsibility. In the ancient middle east the King’s family was the court of appeals for the people. If you wanted something done, you’d go and talk to a prince or the queen who would then take the request to the king. The princes and princesses were well known and respected and they were expected to behave in accord with their station. Unfortunately there were many who did not do that.
We on the other hand are “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that [we] may declare the praises of him who called [us] out of darkness into his wonderful light.” (I Peter 2:9) We are God’s representatives in the world. The commoners of this world will come to us, the Royals, to have us present their petitions before the King. They may not know it, but whenever someone comes to you and tells you about their problems you have the responsibility to pray for them. You are the King’s ambassadors — His own children.
We have the responsibility to love Him as He loved us — and that means that we are to obey Him. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ said again and again, “If you love me you will obey what I command.” (John 14:15) Doing His will is the center of our responsibilities. And His command is simple:
You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your strength. (Deuteronomy 6:5)
And you will love your neighbor as yourself. (Leviticus 19:18)
That is the central command — to love. And that is the one thing that makes our King different from any others. He may be Judge and just Ruler. He may be unapproachably seated in light, so high up that we cannot reach Him, but at the same time He is love and He is therefore accessible to all who will come to Him. The invitation to join His family is open to all and all you need to do is come and accept His offer to forgive you everything that you’ve done wrong.
To be so completely guilty, given over to despair, to look into your Judge’s face and see a Savior there.[5]
V. Conclusion
God is King! Let the nations tremble. He is King in the old sense of the word — He is the absolute King and when He decides something we have no right or reason to disagree and talk back to Him.
God is King, who rules the nations and Israel. Therefore we must come before Him with reverence and awe. We must bow before Him when we come and remember that we are coming into the presence of the most wonderful, most glorious, most powerful, most loving Being that exists — the One without whom nothing would exist. Keep that in mind as you pray and worship.
When you come into His presence rejoice and sing, praise Him in your own way, but also let him take away whatever might keep you from coming into His presence, and make you become real.
God is King! Let the Nations rejoice! He is ruler over all the earth! Let His family give praise! Amen!
Bible Translations
Unless otherwise noted, scripture quotations quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. Copyright © 1973, 1978,1984 by International Bible Society. Used by Permission of the International Bible Society.
“NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark office by International Bible Society.
Scripture quotations marked (NASB) are taken from the New American Standard Bible® Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977,1995 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by Permission.
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