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Post by Admin on Nov 9, 2023 13:59:37 GMT -5
tobyjsumpter.com/Toby Sumpter
@tjsumpter
For far too long the Christian Church has been passive and apathetic, watching freedom and justice slip away from our land, and many have pointed to verses like "turn the other cheek" to justify their passivity and apathy, as though Jesus is requiring His people to lose. But we can look at Scripture and history and see moments of great resistance: Abraham, Moses, Gideon, David, the Apostle Paul, Christian medieval knights defending Christians from Muslim marauders, the Huguenots fighting for religious liberty, and even the founders of America fighting for independence.
So how does our Lord’s teaching about enemies and justice apply to us? Whether we are thinking about the way pagans are seeking to destroy our Christian culture: think Drag Queens, an obese welfare state taxing us and regulating us into the ground, and cancel culture (including small town petty politics that try to suppress the gospel through zoning laws), or international conflict in the Middle East or Europe (should Ukraine turn the other cheek? Should Israel refuse to resist Hamas? Should the colonial Americans have submitted to British demands?), or interpersonal conflict you may have in your family (does Jesus require you to give in to the demands of your toddler in the candy aisle?), what does Jesus mean and how does this teaching apply to us and our world?
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Post by Admin on Nov 9, 2023 14:06:42 GMT -5
LEAVING VENGEANCE & LOVING JUSTICE
11/09/2023 · BY TOBY
Mt. 5:38-42
Introduction
For far too long the Christian Church has been passive and apathetic, watching freedom and justice slip away from our land, and many have pointed to verses like these to justify their passivity and apathy, as though Jesus is requiring His people to lose. But we can look at Scripture and history and see moments of great resistance: Abraham, Moses, Gideon, David, the Apostle Paul, Christian medieval knights defending Christians from Muslim marauders, the Huguenots fighting for religious liberty, and even the founders of America fighting for independence.
So how does our Lord’s teaching about enemies and justice apply to us? Whether we are thinking about the way pagans are seeking to destroy our Christian culture: think Drag Queens, an obese welfare state taxing us and regulating us into the ground, and cancel culture (including small town petty politics that try to suppress the gospel through zoning laws), or international conflict in the Middle East or Europe (should Ukraine turn the other cheek? Should Israel refuse to resist Hamas? Should the colonial Americans have submitted to British demands?), or interpersonal conflict you may have in your family (does Jesus require you to give in to the demands of your toddler in the candy aisle?), what does Jesus mean and how does this teaching apply to us and our world?
The short answer is that Jesus is forbidding all personal animosity and vengeance. He is not forbidding or setting aside basic principles of justice. He is not forbidding self-defense, just wars, just laws and enforcement, parents correcting their children, or church discipline. He is forbidding the fleshly response of returning evil for evil. Instead, He is requiring His people to resist and fight all evil with good. You must fight. You must resist evil. But you must resist evil with good; you must overcome evil with good.
The Text: “Ye have heard that it hath been said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth’: but I say unto you, that ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.”
Summary of the Text
Jesus quotes from the criminal law of Israel “eye for an eye” (Ex. 21:24, Lev. 24:20, Dt. 19:21), having just recently affirmed the ongoing validity of the law (Mt. 5:17-20), and He says that this criminal justice is not to be applied by individual persons as acts of vengeance. This good principle of justice may not be weaponized to simply “punch/strike back.” Rather, our personal disposition is to be patient and forbearing (Mt. 5:39). In a battle, it is sometimes necessary to allow the enemy to strike you in order to deliver the appropriate blow. This requires discipline, thoughtfulness, patience, and fortitude. This is what Jesus is requiring, not absolute passivity or apathy. When you are struck (with words, insults, injustice, or physical harm), you may not strike back in a blind rage. But Jesus is not forbidding self-defense, protection of your property, or seeking true justice.
This includes when we are sued and taken to court and the judge allows our goods to plundered (Mt. 5:40). Notice that Jesus assumes we would argue our case in court, not simply give whatever has been unjustly demanded of us. But given the nature of man and the tendency of courts to be corrupted, Jesus says, we should be fully prepared to surrender not only our hats, but also our coats (Mt. 5:40). These are not tactics of apathy; they are tactics of ultimate victory. If you scream and rage and take matters into your own hands, you’ll end up in prison or dead. Sometimes, you have to retreat in order to regroup to fight another day. Likewise, under foreign occupation, you may be compelled and commandeered like slaves. This may be utterly unjust, but if you want to actually put up a fight and seek freedom, you need to be prepared to go the extra mile (Mt. 5:41). Our personal disposition is to be thoroughly and sacrificially generous to all (Mt. 5:42). True justice and freedom grow in the soil of goodness. Goodness is not apathetic. But goodness is kind, generous, and patient.
Principles of Justice
Jesus is not setting aside this central principle of justice that requires magistrates to repay evil equitably (“eye for eye”). We know this because elsewhere magistrates are still required to uphold justice (Rom. 13:4), God executes justice by “repaying” evil (Rom. 12:19), and Jesus Himself says in the judgment He will repay each person according to what he has done (Mt. 16:27, Rev. 22:12). “Eye for eye” is known as the lex talionis, the law of exact retribution or literally “the law of such a nature.” The lex talionis itself was meant to require careful calculation/deliberation and prohibit punishments driven by vengeance. When someone takes out your eye, your flesh wants to take off their head. Rage is blind. But this principle of justice requires due process, careful deliberation. Capital punishment is an example of “life for life,” but the Bible requires careful inquiry and 2-3 witnesses to establish every sin or crime. Likewise, restitution for lost, damaged, or stolen goods would be another example of “eye for eye” (Ex. 22:1-4). But again, that justice must be established by 2-3 witnesses, with judges carefully weighing the evidence, and the right of the accused to cross examine his accusers and provide witnesses of his own. This principle of justice in other words requires thoughtfulness and patience, not flying off the handle. Zacchaeus honored this principle of justice when he restored four-fold for his tax-thieving (Lk. 19:8). What Jesus prohibits here is using criminal justice as a justification for personal vengeance (Mt. 5:39). While not setting aside true justice, we must be willing to endure mistreatment, precisely because we believe in true justice. If you simply strike back (physically or verbally or emotionally), you’re part of the problem. You’re just joining the terrorists and mobs.
Leave Vengeance for the Cops
Paul makes the same point in Romans 12 where he says not to repay any man evil for evil (Rom. 12:17), pursue peace with all men (Rom. 12:18), leave vengeance for the Lord to repay (Rom. 12:19), and do personal good to enemies (Rom. 12:20), overcoming evil with good (Rom. 12:21). Immediately after that, it says that the civil magistrate is the power ordained by God to minister God’s vengeance and wrath on evildoers (Rom. 13:4). This means if you caught a thief breaking and entering, you could call the cops, give him a glass of water while you wait, and then press charges. And there need not be anything “unChristlike” about it.
Likewise, as we already noted Jesus does not forbid arguing our case before magistrates or require us to give up our cloaks simply because a private individual demanded we do so (Mt. 5:40), just as Paul defended himself and argued his case elsewhere (cf. Acts 25-26). Rather, Jesus forbids us from angrily refusing to be defrauded if the case goes against us (Mt. 5:40). He prohibits us from despairing that all hope is lost. He prohibits us from responding in a blind fury or rage. If the case goes against us, we need to be prepared to receive that graciously, but that need not preclude making another appeal, like Paul who appealed to Rome. But sometimes it really is better to be defrauded even before the case goes to court (1 Cor. 6:7). If the whole dispute would simply bring shame on the name of Christ, we should drop it like a hot rock. Christians quarrelling over money is almost always a recipe for shame.
Tyranny, Slavery, and Freedom
Sometimes living in slavery and under tyranny is necessary (if you want to stay alive and out of prison), and sometimes rebellion and revolution is worse than slavery. In the gospel, Jesus asks who has to pay certain taxes sons or slaves, and the disciples answer accurately that it’s the slaves, but Jesus says it would be better at the moment to pay the tax not to cause offense (Mt. 17:24-27). In other words, if you can bear the tyranny, bide your time patiently. But elsewhere it says clearly that if we can get our freedom, we should try, but if we can’t, we should live as the Lord’s freemen as much as possible (1 Cor. 7:21-22). Seeking to serve our masters as Christ is not apathy, since we all have a Master in Heaven who judges justly (Eph. 6:5-9, 1 Pet. 2:18-23). Christ submitted to the greatest injustice in history, and God saw and vindicated Him in the resurrection. When Peter exhorts wives to seek to do their disobedient husbands good, he isn’t counseling apathy; he’s counseling subversive resistance. Try to win him over without a word by your godly and gracious conduct and beauty. That isn’t apathy; it’s overcoming evil with good. And sometimes you need to call the elders or the cops. Patiently doing good invites God’s vindication and blessing, sometimes it disarms and wins our enemies, but at the very least it puts us in a position to see most clearly what we can do next, what we can do now. The wrath of man does not work the righteousness of God (Js. 1:20). Faith in God works His righteousness. A log in your eye (a log of wrath, bitterness, and rage) is not a strong position to fight from. Jesus wants us to fight, but He wants us to fight clean, fight like He fights. And light is what drives back the darkness.
Applications
The central point is that personal grudges and angst are the origin of all evil tyranny. You can’t fight fire with fire. Returning evil for evil is not justice but flailing injustice. Returning evil for evil is joining the mob. Grudges and feuds drive every revolutionary mob, and those mobs always end up destroying themselves. All wrath, bitterness, and resentment must be banished from our hearts and words, while cultivating a godly hatred of all evil (Ps. 139:21-22). This perfect hatred also loves enemies and truly wants their good. If your hatred does not include love, it’s fleshly angst. God hates evil and loves to save sinners. We must learn to love and hate like God loves and hates. But this requires patience, grace, and wisdom.
Nothing here forbids Christians from exercising biblical justice in their assigned offices or appealing to authorities for redress. Call the cops, file the report, talk to your boss, talk to your teacher/parents, make the appeal, confront evil. Nothing here forbids Christians from practicing self-defense or just war or seeking the preservation and restoration of freedom and property through courts or laws. In fact, what Jesus says assumes the legitimacy of all those things. We are to overcome evil with good. Good what? Good families, good marriages, good hospitality, good business, good art, good churches, good neighborhoods, and good laws and civil governments. The point is that you cannot achieve a truly just and prosperous society with rage and bitterness in your heart. Start with God’s goodness in your heart.
Faithful parents need to practice this all day long: “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted” (Gal. 6:1). We are required to try to restore those who are overtaken in faults. But we are required to do so in a spirit of meekness, a spirit of self-control, considering ourselves, lest we fall into some evil. So, your options are not flying off the handle or passive apathy. No, parental obedience requires calm, measured, cheerful firmness. And so we must be in every area of life, not taking various insults and wrongs against us personally. If you take what your children do/say personally, you will not see clearly or understand what they really need.
All earthly, human justice is at best an approximation of heavenly/divine justice (an approximation we are required to long for and work for): we are about to pray together: “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” But if you demand perfect justice in this world now/immediately, you will be constantly disappointed and angry (and thereby become part of the problem). Everyone will let you down, and despite your longing for justice, you will be letting other down and doing harm to them.
This is why the Cross of Jesus Christ is central to all of this: the Cross of Jesus is the only fully perfect display of justice in the history of the world. In it the justice of God was/is displayed from faith to faith (Rom. 1:17). This means it is received by faith and lived out by faith.
The just live by faith, both because we are justified by faith from all of our own sins and that gives us great peace and patience. Jesus was struck in our place for all our wrathful vengeance. God’s perfect justice crushed Jesus instead of us. Faith in that justice of God in Christ is what allows us to work hard for true justice in this world now while resting in God’s perfect timing to work it all out.
Photo by GR Stocks on Unsplash
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Post by Admin on Nov 9, 2023 14:21:43 GMT -5
ACT LIKE MEN
10/23/2023 · BY TOBY
“Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.” (1 Cor. 16:13)
Here, Paul exhorts the whole church to act like men, explaining that he means: be watchful and alert, steadfast in the faith, and strong. It is the glory of men to be strong, to stand firm, and to be watchful – little boys naturally love pretending to be soldiers and guards. But here the whole church is called to emulate that glory. How does that work?
Elsewhere, the Bible says that it is an abomination for men to dress like women or for women dress like men, specifically wearing the gear or weapons of men (Dt. 22:5). Women are not to act like or be treated like men in law enforcement, military combat, or other martial arts. Related, the law forbade Israel from boiling a baby goat in its own mother’s milk: what God created to give life should not become an instrument for taking life. Except for emergency situations like Jael and Sisera, women should not be death-dealers, since they are life-givers. This is a woman’s glory. The Bible also says that it is shameful for a woman to have her head shaved like a man, and it is conversely shameful for a man to have long hair like a woman – even nature teaches that her longer hair is given for a glory and a covering (1 Cor. 11:14-15).
Nevertheless, God exhorts the whole church to be watchful, steadfast, and strong: to act like men. God requires churches to have this masculine tone. When men take responsibility for their families and the needs around them, when sin and difficulties are addressed thoughtfully and with courage, when men are alert and physically, intellectually, and spiritually fit and strong, the whole church is greatly blessed and follows that lead.
We live in a land given over to sexual confusion calculated to destroy the glory of male and female, because those distinct glories reflect the glory of the Maker whose image we bear. Crossdressing, transsexuality, homosexuality, and every form of gender bending in fashion and in the church is meant to blunt the potency of the glory of being made male and female. So, in this moment, act like men: be strong and firm and alert as men and women.
Photo by Olga Guryanova on Unsplash
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Post by Admin on Nov 9, 2023 14:23:50 GMT -5
tobyjsumpter.com/what-our-land-needs-the-glory-of-sacrificial-strength/
Introduction
The glory of men is their strength. God made men to be strong in order to provide, protect, build, discover, explore, and lead in taking dominion of this world. But never forget that it is a bleeding, sacrificial strength to be spent gladly on the altar of our King, trusting Him to raise us up.
The Glory of Men
“The glory of young men is their strength, but the splendor of old men is their gray hair” (Prov. 20:29). And just in case somebody wants to object that strength is clearly only the glory of young men, say under the age of 30, I would simply point out that 40 is the new 30, and gray hair is the result of all that strength being spent. But the same thing is clear in Paul’s charge to the Corinthian church: “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong” (1 Cor. 16:13). When we say that something is your glory, we mean it makes you shine. We mean that it highlights what you are for, what you were made for. Men were created to shine through the use of their physical, emotional, and spiritual strength.
This glory is evidenced in the creation of the first man. And the New Testament repeatedly points back to this fact: that man was made first (1 Cor. 11:8, 1 Tim. 2:13). And why was man made first? Man was made first in order to be cut first, in order to bleed first, in order to lay his life down first. And so he did, and God put him into a deep sleep, cut him open, broke out one of his ribs, and closed the wound back up. And from that bloody rib, God formed the first woman and brought her to the man (Gen. 2:22). Before sin entered the world, before there was any curse, any death, God showed Adam that the way to glory was through obedient suffering and sacrifice. There was no glory-bride apart from Adam’s pierced side. And many centuries later, when Jesus came as the new Adam, He was crucified for His bride, and the Christian Church was formed from His bloody side: “For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones” (Eph. 5:30).
Sacrificial Strength
So, putting these things together, we insist that the glory of man is his strength, but it is particularly the glory of using his strength sacrificially. It is not his glory merely to look strong, to feel strong, but to actually work, to labor, to bleed, to suffer, to struggle, to fight, to endure many hardships in obedience to his Lord.
One modern evangelical heresy is to deny the goodness of male strength. This heresy says that men must effectively castrate themselves. They must destroy their strength, deny their strength, and directly embrace weakness. While this primarily attracts beta males who can’t stand the thought of actually working or fighting or breaking a sweat (or someone not liking them), there’s also a surface level plausibility to the claims, since some Bible verses do speak of how God uses weakness.
The incarnation certainly was a comparative weakness for God to become a mere human being, and Paul says that he came and preached in weakness and God uses the weak things of this world to confound the strong (1 Cor. 1:27). But we are Christians and this means that we must interpret all of Scripture together and not camp out on our favorite verses. The same Paul who says that God confounds the mighty things of this world with His weakness is the one who urged the Corinthians to act like men and be strong. In fact, he does it in the very same letter. So which is it, Paul?
And of course, the answer is yes and both. But we must be mature in our thinking, not childish, not simplistic. The glory of men is their strength, and they are to use all of the strength they have been given to do good, to stand firm in the faith, and to bleed and die in obedience to the King for the good of their people. But when men have done all that they can, exerting all of their strength gloriously, it is still a plain fact that it is not strong enough to eradicate sin and death from this world, nor is it enough on its own to complete the Great Commission and Dominion Mandate. The strength of man is still comparatively weak. It is comparatively weak to God on the one hand and to evil on the other.
But there are at least two kinds of human strength and two kinds of human weakness. There is human strength that is submitted to God and His purposes (think of Samson, David, Jesus), and there is human strength that is autonomous and rebellious (think of Babel, Absalom, Herod). Likewise, that human strength which is submitted to God and His purposes knows that it is hardly anything compared to God’s power and certainly not strong enough to overcome all evil. It is weak in that it needs God’s blessing, God’s power. And meanwhile, that human strength that is full of hubris and pride is actually very brittle and weak both because it lacks God’s blessing and because it is full of folly and blindness.
So godly men embrace the glory of strength, pressing their bodies, minds, and hearts to their limits in obedience to the King, looking to Him for His blessing, understanding full well that their strength alone cannot accomplish what must be accomplished. A wife must be well-loved, children must be well-cared for, taught, and disciplined, a household must be provided for and protected, neighbors must be served, schools must be established, churches must be planted and maintained, cities must be built and guarded, nations must be loved and sustained, and the whole world must be baptized and discipled. And in and through it all, God must be worshiped and obeyed, the beauty of His world must be adored and celebrated in songs and stories and poetry, creation must be explored and the treasures of the King must be discovered, new glories must be invented, and joy and laughter and feasting must fill it all.
But who is sufficient for these things? Christ is. Christ in us is the hope of glory. Christ in us is the certainty that despite all our glorious strength, we are certainly all like little boys standing on our tiptoes trying to peer over a a great windowsill into the glory of God. But God is pleased to call that boyish straining, “strength,” and by His grace it is our glory.
But the particular glory is not merely in the strength itself. The particular glory is in the strength spent, in the strength given away, in the strength poured out, bleeding, sacrificed for the King, for the good of others gladly. The plan is to go down fighting. The plan is to go down bleeding. The plan is to be cut first, to bleed first, to limp first, and to leave it all on the field. Of course all Christians are called to this sacrificial love, but men are called to lead in it, to set the example.
Conclusion
The reason why we balk at this, the reason why we are tempted to stop short of actual sacrifice is because we are afraid of what will happen after that. What happens when you go down? What happens when it’s all spent? What happens when you’re rejected, when you’re fired, when you face the darkness? We’re afraid of losing. And so men frequently despair. We frequently stay in the gym where it seems safe, or in the garage where it feels safe, or out hunting where it feels relatively safe, or in the office where it seems safe, but that is not what our strength is for and that is not where our glory shines. Our glory shines in obedient sacrifice. We are called to listen to our King, to obey His orders, and spend our strength sacrificially for Him, laying our lives down for our families, for our neighbors, for our communities, for our nations. But we can be assured that it really is glory, not in that tragic-Greek sense, of merely dying well (although there is that), but even more gloriously, in the promise of resurrection.
Adam was made first in order to bleed first, in order to die first, but when He obeyed and submitted to that sacrifice it was not only glorious in that moment, but the greatest glory was in the bride he was presented with on the other side. Likewise, the glory of Christ is not merely the glory of the Cross, though that certainly is a great glory, but never forget that the cross is empty and so is the tomb forever. Christ died and Christ rose again, and He did so for the joy that was set before Him, for the glory of His Bride presented to Him without spot or wrinkle, His crown.
There is no glory apart from sacrifice. That is what your strength is for. That is what you were made for. You were made for the glory of sacrifice, and when that sacrifice is obedient to the King, you can be sure that you are following your King into the very same grave He once went down into, and He is there waiting for you, to lead you out into a glory that will never fade.
This is what our land needs, what our churches need, what our families need. We need men who do not count their lives dear themselves, men willing to spend the strength gladly for the good of their people, for the glory of the King.
Photo by Shivendu Shukla on Unsplash
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Post by Admin on Nov 9, 2023 14:26:40 GMT -5
NEVER RUNS OUT
10/24/2023 · BY TOBY
In 1 Cor. 10, it says that God gave Israel spiritual food in the wilderness just like He gives Christians spiritual food. And in John 6, Jesus says that the manna was a type of the true spiritual food which is Jesus Himself, come down from heaven. Putting this together, we ought to see this table as the fulfillment of the manna in the wilderness, but it too points us directly to Christ who is our true spiritual food. As we eat and drink here at this table in faith, looking to Christ to feed us, the Spirit ministers the body and blood of Jesus to us.
And the thing to notice is that there is no scarcity in Jesus. There is only abundance. So much sin and sorrow come from thinking of this world and this life as one of scarcity. The world tries to spin this as exciting: you only live once, and there is of course some sense in which that is true. But for fallen sinners, that frequently feels like you’re on a bus looking down at the road flying past. And the older you get, the faster it seems to go. Just when you realize you’re done changing diapers, you look up one day and there’s a young man asking to court your daughter. And then someone hands you your first grandchild, and then you start wondering why everyone has started talking so quietly but their music is so loud terrible. And it can be tempting to despair or to grasp or grab. It might feel like so many really important things are flying past you, and maybe you’re still waiting for some of them or maybe you have lost some of them very dear to you: marriage, meaningful friendship, children, family, community, fulfilling work or a job.
But God, knowing our frame, set this table in our midst, and He says to you: At my right hand are pleasures forevermore. God sets a feast in our midst, and He says, this feast is my life given for you, the fullness of joy, the abundance of life, and it never runs out. The trick, in other words, is to not look down at the ground (your life) seemingly flying by you, but instead, look up. And see Jesus Christ, and in Him, see every good thing never running out. Yes, some things fly by, but there will always be more, 30, 60, and 100 fold: further up and further in. So look up and come and welcome to Jesus Christ.
Photo by Rumman Amin on Unsplash
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Post by Admin on Mar 16, 2024 16:11:37 GMT -5
There are many, many more Christians in this country than atheists, commies, and LGBT activists. Why are there so many more of us but they are chasing us? The Bible says that when God’s people fall into sin, He will not bless them:
“How could one have chased a thousand, and two have put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had given them up?” (Dt. 32:30) This is what happened at the Battle of Ai right after the Battle of Jericho.
Satan is the Accuser, and he keeps his subjects in bondage through fear of accusation and punishment (Heb. 2). But for those who are in Christ, there is no condemnation because the handwriting of ordinances and accusations has been nailed to the cross, disarming Satan and his powers (Col. 2).
But when true Christians have unconfessed sin, they give the Devil a foothold in their life: “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil” (Eph. 4:26). We have let the sun go down on our bitterness, our adultery, our lies, our envy, and the devil has taken many opportunities in our families and in our land.
So the American church is enslaved by fear because it has unconfessed sin. We know that if we stand up and speak clearly into the mic, our internet browser history will be on CNN the next night and every last scrap of dirt that can be dug up on us plus tons of slander and lies — call it the Brett Kavanaugh treatment. And millions of Christian men would rather not. Guilty men can be steered. Guilty men can be manipulated. Guilty men are afraid of that shitstorm.
But if men would confess their sins and come into the light, they would have nothing to fear. And when Satan brings the charges, they will have already been dealt with. Sure, CNN might be able to add a little more shame, but there will be no guilt, no fear of punishment because there is no condemnation in Christ.
So this is the problem, and this is the solution. We cannot have the blessing of God because we refuse to confess our sins and walk in the light. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we will have the kind of fellowship and unity that stops the madness because the blood of Christ cleanses us from all our sin (1 Jn. 1:7).
The Father is looking down the road for His prodigal sons. Will American come home to the Father?
prodigalamerica.com
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Post by Admin on Mar 31, 2024 21:29:46 GMT -5
Christ is King means that Jesus of Nazareth is the Lord of Heaven and earth. It means He is Lord of every nation, every church, every family, every individual. It means every nation, church, family, and individual has a standing obligation to obey Him in all things.
And this means submission to all lawful authority under Christ. While using Christ’s name in vain to taunt Jewish people would be one way to misuse and abuse His Lordship, the far more pervasive way His name is taken in vain is by the many who say “Lord, Lord” but do not actually obey Him. But enough about corrupt Republicans who make a show of Christianity but cannot bring themselves to virtue signal beyond a 1980s liberalism.
Christ is King means the governments of this world must obey Him. It means the families and churches of this world must obey Him. It means that civil governments that take more than 10% in taxes are thieves and robbers, not to mention blasphemers because what human power has the audacity to claim more than God Himself? Christ is King means civil governments may not legislate immorality or prosecute righteousness, as defined by the Bible. And don’t tell me we can’t all agree on what the Bible says. Sure, but I’d rather debate that than debate the whims of power-drunk humanists. And despite legitimate differences of interpretation, the most important stuff is very clear.
Christ is King means that churches must proclaim the whole word of God and not what they wish it said — from Genesis to Revelation and worship in the beauty of holiness. We are to worship with fear and joy, a solemn, dignified praise, because our God is a consuming fire, not your boyfriend, not your therapist, and certainly not your cosmic late night host. Christ is King means you must be in submission and under the authority of particular elders and pastors who know your name.
Christ is King means that husbands must love and lead their wives like Christ loves the church. Wives must submit to their own husbands as to Christ. The marriage bed is holy and undefiled, but God will judge fornicators and adulterers. Children are the inheritance of the Lord, the fruit of the womb is His reward — they are not annoyances or mere accessories. They are arrows in the hands of mighty men. They are reinforcements if we raise them in the fear and admonition of the Lord and stop sending them to the socialist training camps (public schools). They are reinforcements if we will walk in the light with them, confessing our sins to one another and forgiving one another.
Christ is King means He is Lord and to be obeyed because He is worthy. He is the Lamb that was slain for our sins, and He rose from the dead as the Lion of the tribe of Judah. He has conquered sin and death and Satan, and He sits at God’s right hand reigning until every enemy is put beneath His feet. This cuts in every direction. This smashes all the idols. It’s no mere “conservative” talking point. Christ confronts us all. “Every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess” means conservative rage and resentment and envy and lies will be put down as well as liberal rage and resentment and envy and lies and everything in between. #ChristisKing because Christ is risen from the dead.
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