Meeting Christians today, listening to Sunday's sermon and
exalting Jesus as king through the song of praise. I'm not saying that it's wrong.
But what does the New Testament say about worshiping Jesus as king?
When
the people saw the sign He had done, they said, "This is truly the Prophet who is to
come into the world!" Jesus understood that they were going to come and make him
king by force, and he withdrew back up the mountain, all alone. (John 6:14-15)
The people saw the signs that Jesus did and thought that if we only make
Jesus king, all our problems with sickness and poverty will be solved. But Jesus
was not interested in becoming an earthly king.
Jesus answered: "My
kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would
have fought that I should not be handed over to the Jews. But now my kingdom is not
of this world." Pilate said: "So you are a king?" Jesus answered: "You
yourself say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I have come into
the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth
listens to my voice." Pilate said to him: "What is truth?" (John 18:36-38)
Jesus is not interested in being an earthly king, and one may therefore
wonder why Christians exalt Jesus as a king in their hymns of praise? It must be
because (John 3:16).
For God so loved the world that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life.
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn
the world, but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:17)
Christians wait for Jesus' return and believe that God will set him up as an earthly
king to judge the living and the dead. But that will never happen, but Jesus will
return to save the world.
Praise to Jesus as king is especially widespread
among charismatic Christians who believe in miracles, wonders, and signs. They
believe that if they just sing praises a lot, God will answer their prayers. But
what did Jesus say about it?
There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus,
a ruler of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said, "Rabbi, we know that you
are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is
with him." Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born from
above, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man
be born when he is old? Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born?"
Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the
Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is
flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said
to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its
sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with
everyone who is born of the Spirit." (John 3:1-8)
It is by receiving
God's good ideas and thinking God's good thoughts, speaking God's good words, and
doing God's good works that one is born of the Spirit who comes from God. Both Jesus
and Paul said that the Spirit of God and thus the Kingdom of God is within man:
Believe you not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words
that I speak to you I do not speak on my own authority. The Father dwells in me, and
the works are his works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me.
And if you do not believe, believe for the sake of the works. Truly, truly, I say to
you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do. And greater works than
these shall he do, because I go to the Father. (John 14:10-12)
Know
ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
(1 Corinthians 3:16)
When Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom
of God should come, he answered, "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
neither shall they say, Lo here! or, Lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is
within you, and among you." (Luke 17:20-21)
And be not conformed to
this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove
what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:2)
So it is through the renewal of the mind and not by again singing the praises of old
favorites that one does the will of God.
But the hour is coming, and now
is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. For the
Father seeks such to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must
worship in spirit and truth. (John 4:23-24)
Again, the Father wants
people to worship him in spirit and truth about what he wants to change from the
material kingdom to the kingdom of God. This is not done by singing the praises of
Jesus as king.
"Be still and know that I am God, exalted among the nations,
exalted in the earth." (Psalm 46:10)
But the Lord is in his holy temple.
Be silent before him, all the earth! (Habakkuk 2:20)
Every human being
consists of three parts: The Spirit that comes from God. The Flesh that
comes from the Earth and The Soul that can either experience the created -
matter or the creator - God. To experience God, when there are no beings around us on
whom we can lavish unconditional love, it is enough to be in stillness and silence
and do nothing. Listening to God - an important event.
Then he said to
everyone: "If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his
cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but
whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What does it profit a man if he
gains the whole world and loses his life or is himself lost? (Luke 9:23-25)
What does it mean to follow Jesus? Does it mean worshiping Jesus as king? Or
do you need to say no to your own life and instead live for the expansion of God's
kingdom in the world? By living a godly life, as Jesus did 2000 years ago?
What would happen to the world if ALL people would say no to their lives and instead
live according to God's will? By receiving God's good ideas, thinking God's good
thoughts and speaking God's good words and carrying out God's good works?
"Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
(Matthew 11:29-30)
What does it mean to learn from Jesus? Should one
worship Jesus as a king, or live and believe as Jesus did, while he proclaimed the
message of the Kingdom of God as a preacher and physician for 3 years on earth?
TheKingdom of God is a kingdom of love and faith:
Jesus answered,
"The first is this: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is one (not three).
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul,
and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall
love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these."
(Mark 12:29-31)
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is
from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love
does not know God, because God is love. (1 John 4:7-8)
And we have
come to know and have believed the love that God has for us. God is love. Whoever
abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. (1 John 4:16)
But Jesus called them to him and said, "Let the little children come to me,
and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. "Amen I
say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will
never enter it." (Luke 18:16-17)
For in him we live and move and
have our being; as even some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'
(Acts 17:28)
Our simple task is to KNOW that the Spirit of God is
everywhere present and that is why God can heal from a distance, except by the
laying on of hands.
~ Hermes Atar Trismegistus, follower of Jesus.
back to linkpage
suggestion
read and sign my guestbook
