God as King-Advent 5, 2021

When was God ever acknowledged as king? Better question is when was God not the rightful King? First, let’s acknowledge that He was never one like what He described earthly kings as doing in yesterday’s look at what brought about the Interlude’s royal vacancy. What did God’s kingship look like?

From the time of man’s creation, God has been a benevolent king sharing, delegating His rightful rulership over His creation with Adam and Eve, the pinnacle of His creative endeavors.

The Garden in Eden wasn’t just a paradise of plants and animals. It was, in a sense, both the location of the head of government and a temple.

Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there He put the man He had formed. The LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground– trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil…The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. (Genesis 2:8-9,15)

Unlike man’s kingdom which is all about power, God’s kingdom is all about love.

In God’s kingdom, there was freedom and responsibility. In God’s world, we had an ongoing communication and provision. When God was king, He gave everything as blessing and took nothing. Work (as stewardship and ruling) was a pleasure as plants yielded their fruit with no struggle against the elements whatsoever. God treated us as beloved children, not slaves. From such a king we would never need relief.

Questions for further study:

When God offered us love and provision, freedom in Him and with Him, we desired independence from Him. In what ways do we still desire independence from God?

According to a recent survey, 60% of millennials think that socialism is good because everyone is taken care of by the government. Will this look more like God as benevolent king or the kind that treated people as slaves like what God said human kings would do (1 Samuel 8)?

Why would we want a Messianic King? How would He be different than earthly kings? Will heaven under the kingship of God look more like Eden?

Do you yearn for such a king? How does an Interlude influence our yearnings?

As we continue our look at the Interlude between God as King and a return to God as King, seeing all the pollution of kingship by man in between, ask yourself if you’re ready for God as King.

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Advent 2021 began Sunday, November 28th and continues to Friday, December 24th as we explore the multi-faceted Interlude between the promise of a Deliverer and the birth of our Messiah and King. By signing up on the sidebar of my Home Page you can receive these daily “Interlude” devotionals. Or they will be reposted on SeminaryGal’s Facebook page as well.

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Last year’s Advent Devotional Series Divine Intervention began on November 29, 2020 and explored God’s activity on behalf of a hurting world and nations in tumult– Intervention for you and for me when our status as sinners required nothing short of a miracle.
God’s Christmas list explored what might be on God’s Christmas list, learning what He wants from us. It began December 1, 2019.
Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times. Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence. His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology. They began November 29, 2015.
Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols. You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives. They began November 30, 2014.
The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John. It began December 1, 2013.
The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story. It began December 1, 2012.