Yours,
O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the
majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the
dominion, O LORD, and You exalt Yourself as head over all.
Insights: In order for us to understand what Jesus says
in the Kingdom Parables about this mysterious interim period we need to
understand a little about God and the two aspects of His kingdom. First, God is Triune in nature, meaning He is
One God consisting of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, but
They all are of the very same essence because They are just One God. Second, because of Jesus’ ascension into
heaven, the kingdom here on earth is marked by a King in absentia. He is still King and His will is still done,
but He is not physically present in our earthly way of thinking about it. Third, there are two aspects of God’s kingdom
that need to be understood. The first
aspect is what the rest of today’s Thoughts
by Scott is going to cover.
Tomorrow, we will discuss the second aspect of God’s kingdom. So, the first facet of God’s kingdom is known
as God’s universal kingdom. This attribute
of God’s kingdom is the easy one to understand.
It is in fact what today’s verse describes. God rules everything and everyone
forever. In other words, God is
sovereign, creator, sustainer, and the beginning and the end of all things. Let me attempt to illustrate one dynamic of
God’s universal kingdom. Psalm 139:8
states, “If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in
hell, behold, thou art there (KJV).”
One of God’s characteristics is He is omnipresent which means He is
everywhere all of the time. All places
exist because God first made them. Hell
was made by God, and therefore, God’s presence is in hell. This truth is what the psalmist is attempting
to communicate. There is no place to
hide from God, not even hell. You might
be saying to yourself, “But I thought hell was the place where sinners went and
were forever separated from God.” And
the reason you think that is because you have heard a preacher say those
words. When we say such a thing, what we
are poorly attempting to say is hell is the place where God withholds His
mercy, grace and love from those that chose to go there, but He is still
sovereignly ruling over hell because it is part of His creation and kingdom.
Questions:
- Do you recognize the Triune God has being King over
everything?
- How does God’s sovereignty make you feel about your life and the lives of those around you?
Prayer: Lord God, I am
grateful You control and reign over all.
Work in my life to transform my will into one of obedience and love in
order that You might be brought glory from my life. Amen.
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