it's good to be king

The Word for today:
Romans 5:1-11

mark this:
The sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to be king over all, but all who will take God's gift of forgiveness and acquittal are kings of life because of this one man, Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:17)

What if someone--someone with the universally-recognized authority to do so--were to hold a coronation and proclaim you king?

Well, someone has! I think the Living Bible says it best:
The sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to be king over all, but all who will take God's gift of forgiveness and acquittal are kings of life because of this one man, Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:17)

The question now becomes, "What are you going to do about it?"

Because if you're not going to act like a king, then what's the good of being a king?

The problem is that most of us were more pauper than prince, more mutt than thoroughbred, so the king thing doesn't come naturally….

Not to worry. God knows that royalty isn't on our resumes, so the king thing has been supernaturally bred into us when he gave us the power to become sons of God:
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the power to become children of God--children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. (John 1:12-13)

We've been given the authority and the power and the title. So let's do what we are. And let's not aim to be second-rate kings. Instead, let's emulate the King of kings himself! (1)

But don't rush, because kings never do! Just Stand in the Rain every day and you'll begin to pick up his kingly ways.

And don't wait for heaven to start being the king you are, because the kingdom of heaven is all the way from here to there! You will get better and better at this king thing as time goes on, like King David did. At first, you will even stumble and fall sometimes, like King David did.

But you'll get up, like King David did, because as a man after God's own heart--like King David was (2)--you'll get up when you fall, like King Jesus did as he wore his kingly crown all the way to the cross.

***

Like earthly Kings, King Jesus had many other royal titles. One of them is "The Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Root of David's Tree." (Revelation 5:5/MSG)

What that means (this will turn your mind topsy-turvy) is that King David descended from King Jesus in GST (God-Standard Time).

And--get this--according to Romans chapter 11, you (because of your faith in Jesus) have been grafted into that same family tree, so now you inherit the crown and all the characteristics of the lineage!

Which means you aren't just "King (Your Name Here)" but you are "King (Your Name Here), the Lion-Hearted!"

Now that is a title fit for a king. So go and follow your lion's heart wherever it takes you--all the way from here to there!

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(1) Revelation 17:14; (2) 1 Samuel 13:14 and Acts 13:22