To fully appreciate why Jesus is the king of kings, a person must receive the whole truth regarding salvation. Why? Because a sinful person rejects anyone from being king over them in principle. Good kings who give a sinner all they want will be liked, but the rebellion principle abides in the heart still.
To receive Jesus means we begin to reject sinful beliefs and motivations to see Jesus as He is and love Him for it.
A good starting place to see Jesus as God's Word reveals Him is the prophet, Malachi. Please remember that a fact can remain in our mind for an entire lifetime and change nothing in our soul, but divine truth, when accompanied by God-given faith, transforms our mind and soul. Saving faith is the trust in God that results in humble emptying of self that puts an end to self-effort and begins the spirit-filled life. For this reason, Christian lessons should never be just a mental exercise but a revelation of God, as He is, in the person of Jesus Christ. Such a revelation always confronts sin in the soul, and it demands transformation.
The prophet Malachi did not mince words. He got in Israel's face, so to speak, and confronted them with the sins, if not atoned for, that would send them to eternal destruction. The evil that Malachi revealed first is rejecting God as God. Either God is true to the names that reveal Him as the transcendent being of the universe, or He is not God. What do I mean?
Many of God's names are compound, joining Yehovah, from Exodus 3:15 with a character attribute. Therefore, Yevoah Shalom is the LORD our Peace or I AM THAT I AM your peace. The LORD as it is in Hebrew according to the rendering of Exodus 3, is I AM that I AM. How do we comprehend that God is eternal and that He has always been? We can't. The same is true of God being everywhere, present, all-knowing, and all-powerful. We must believe what God has said knowing that He is the only reasonable explanation for the universe.
Therefore, Malachi begins by saying, "The oracle (utterance) of the word of the LORD ..."I have loved you," says the LORD. but you say, "How have You loved us?" Sinful Israel questioned what God said. They doubted that God is God and cannot lie. Unbelief is the sin of all sins. It begets pride and all manner of sins. Therefore, what does God say in return?
"Was not Esau Jacob's brother?" And let us be clear who is saying this because God adds, "...declares the LORD (Yehowah) I AM." He continues, "Yet I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau..." (Malachi 1:1-3) Paul comments on this statement of Malachi by citing Moses and writes, "What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he said to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. So then it is not of him that wills, nor of him that runs, but of God that has mercy." (Romans 9:14-16)
What is Paul saying, which is in accord with Malachi? Men make choices to be sure, but God's sovereignty overrules men's choices because He is God. God is the author of salvation and not men. There is no choice that any man can make but that God is sovereign over it. Saved men will serve God freely and lovingly out of a motivation of holiness for eternity because God has willed it to be so. He is the source of all righteousness in men and angels. If you can't live with that, you need to check your understanding of what it means to be God.
Let us finish where we began. What I have just taught is in the reform tradition of evangelical theology. It is possible to believe this teaching in your head and remain unchanged in your heart. I have known numerous people that have not treated me in a Christian manner but were reformed. So then, why be reformed?
First, we need to trust God to apply His word to our hearts so that we read it for the right reasons. Second, any teaching that makes a man seem greater than God is false. Third, Scripture's straightforward rendering declares, "...it is not of him that wills ...but of God that has mercy." It just doesn't get clearer that God is Supreme.
My dear readers, God's sovereignty is never to be merely an intellectual exercise. "If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10:9, 10). Our head and mouth alone never meet the requirements of our heart that God sets. The heart resigned to call Jesus Lord, Master, and King will not retreat at hearing God is sovereign over men's choices.
Fellowship is walking in His steps TOGETHER.
If you feel you need more fellowship or Christian Counseling, email me directly at crossboundu@gmail.com, and one of my associates or I will contact you.
To attend a Zoom Bible study with yours truly follow the link below on Monday night at 7 PM.
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