“’You will not surely die, ‘ the serpent said to the
woman. ‘For God knows that when you eat
of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and
evil.”—Genesis 3:4-5.
So begins
the Fall from successful living. “You
will be like God.” We’ve been trying to
be like God ever since. Pride is the
exultation of self. Humility is the
exultation of God. The Kingdom
of Man requires man to be
king. The Kingdom
of God requires God to be
King. When you determine what is right
and what is wrong independent of the Scriptures, you have exalted
yourself. You are god. And way too often, we bow down and worship.
We who live
in a democracy have a lot to learn about a kingdom. First it has a king. He is not elected because we want him to be
king. If we don’t want him to be king,
he still is king. He makes the rules
regardless of our opinion on the matter. He does not rule by opinion polls. The
best non-democratic example we have is the parent-child relationship.
Because of original sin, we as
people are born with ourselves enthroned in our lives. It doesn’t take long for new parents to
realize who the king in the household is. This little precious tyrant determines when
you sleep, when you eat, where you go, how long you stay, etc. The process of growing up begins as the
tyrant is overthrown and submission to loving authority is put into place in
that little person’s life. So you also have been born into the Kingdom
of God and if you’re going to
mature the tyrant; the man-king, must be overthrown. You must learn not to play in the streets of
sin, nor stick your wet, sticky fingers in the light sockets of immorality.
But it goes much deeper than just the external acts of
obedience. Your whole inner man must be brought into submission to the
King. You must choose to align yourself
internally with the King. You much
choose obedience from the heart.
As you contemplate yielding such
incredible amount of authority over to an uncontrollable God, remember Psalms
45:10-11: “Listen, O daughter, consider
and give ear: Forget your people and
your father’s house. The king is
enthralled by your beauty.” This King
loved you enough to die for you when you were in rebellion against His
rule. You can trust Him.
"So you also have been born into the Kingdom of God and if you’re going to mature the tyrant; the man-king, must be overthrown. You must learn not to play in the streets of sin, nor stick your wet, sticky fingers in the light sockets of immorality." LOVED these lines! How true they are! Without submission to the one true God, we ARE tyrants and self-appointed kings. Bummer.
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