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When Have You Felt the Most Loved?

samuel kee —  September 16, 2012 — Leave a comment

“To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood” (Revelation 1:5).

Be real: how can someone show you the most love?  Romance?  Probably not.  Give you want you want?  Again, the wise person will beg to differ.  Make a big deal about you?  Tempting, but no.  The answer is found in the next part of this verse.  He loves us by freeing us.  Freeing us is the way that he shows his love for us.  But this generates another question: what kind of freedom does he give us?  Does he let us do whatever we want?  Is that the kind of freedom he gives?  Or does he give us more rights? Or leave us alone to live our own lives?  Again, the answer to this question is found in the next part of the verse.  He has freed us from our sins.  True freedom is not found in more rights or downtime, but in being unchained from your sins.  To be truly free is no longer to have sin as your master.  Sin’s power over you is broken.  It no longer rules you and restrains you and ridicules you.  But, this generates yet another question: How are we given this kind of freedom?  The answer is found in the next part of the verse: by his blood.  We are freed by blood.  Just as our own blood gives us the freedom of life, so does the blood of Another give us freedom of life.  Jesus’ blood gives us his life.  It also gives us access to places we would have never been able to enter.  It’s our all-access pass, giving us the right to enter into Heaven, into the very same room as God.  We are turned into kings and priests, as the verse goes on to say, by his blood, for it “made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father.”

So let me ask you, when have you felt the most loved?  Probably the moment you felt the most unlovable, when you deserved it the least.  During these moments, God loves you and has freed you from your sins by his blood.  Unlovable-ness is his stomping ground; that’s when and where he shows up.  Notice that “loves” is the present, ongoing tense, and “freed” is the past, completed tense.  It’s like finding a spring in the mountainside that has been formed thousands of years ago, but is still gushing with fresh water in the present for us to enjoy.

© Samuel Kee, 2012

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God’s Shopping List

samuel kee —  April 15, 2012 — Leave a comment

You purchased people for God from every tribe and language and people.

My dad rebuilds wrecked cars.  He buys cars from all over the country.  Typically, after purchasing a car, a flatbed truck delivers it to his home.  He gets it into the garage (there are a few different methods…my personal favorite is the “push method”—but that’s another story).  Once in the garage, he rebuilds that which was wrecked.  Though the car would enter the garage totaled, it would leave transformed.

In Revelation 5:9, we read, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you purchased people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.”  Jesus was slain for us and he used his blood to purchase us.  He bought us for God, paying the debt for our sins.  Notice that he purchased people from all over the world, too.  He did not just purchase Americans, but Africans and Europeans and Asians and Australians and Indians.  They are all his, by his blood.

What if, let’s say, once my dad purchased the wrecked cars, the truck drivers refused to bring them to my father?  What if they did not follow my dad’s orders to bring him what he purchased?  That would not be good.  My dad deserves the reward of his purchase.  On top of that, the totaled cars, if they could voice their opinion, need to be rebuilt.

In Acts 1:8, Jesus orders his followers, “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalemand in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”  The job of Jesus’ followers was to be flatbed truck drivers.  They were to bring the wrecked people to God.  That’s what the Father commanded them to do, after he made his purchase.  To be a witness is to tell the world about the God who was slain for the sins of the world.  It’s to transport totaled people to the Master Mechanic, so that he might fix them.

Our heavenly Father deserves the reward of his purchase.  He deserves to have people from every nation on earth surrounding him in glory.  He loved them enough to give his Son up to death for them.  No one has ever made a purchase like that before.  Nobody has ever loved you or me like that before, either.

God went shopping.  You were on his list.  He paid for your ticket home.

© Samuel Kee

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Seven Secrets, Part 7

samuel kee —  March 9, 2011 — Leave a comment

This is when we need to take our cue from creation.

God has invited us into his secret council chamber in order to show us that he is in control while our plight unfolds on earth.  God wants us to know that life is not spinning out of control; but at the center of all reality is a throne, where the Creator and Ruler sits, directing the dramatic outworking of his plans.  We have taken a sweeping tour around the throne and we have seen that God is at the helm, despite contradictory notions on earth. 

We have arrived at the seventh spectacular secret of heaven: you are the echo.  Here are our verses:

Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”[1]

Plunged into trials on earth, we appeal to authority.  “Who is responsible for this?”  “Why didn’t he stop this?”  “What is she going to do about this?”  We long to know who has the power to end our suffering.  Thus we appeal to rulers and presidents, kings and cabinets.  In John’s day, the writer of Revelation, Domitian was emperor of Rome.  And Domitian did not take care of the early followers of Jesus; in contrast, his rule added to their misery, as did the rule of other Roman emperors.

That is why emphasis is placed squarely on the eternal rule of God in this passage.  Twice, we are told that the one who sits on the throne “lives for ever and ever.”  Long after the emperors of Rome disappear, God will still be on the throne, in power.  Despite appearances, God is the one in charge and ruling over all the lesser rulers of earth, whose temporary reigns will vanish, along with our trials. 

While we struggle to believe this, since all we see are the evil human rulers, the created order, filled with eyes, does not fail to see who is really in power.  The four living creatures, who represent all of the animals and nature that God has created, never cease to see who is in control.  They never stop giving “glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever.”  They know the real power source and the real Lord: it’s not Caesar, but our Savior God.  All of their eyes (see the sixth spectacular secret) are deadlocked on him.

Then the twenty-four elders take their cue from nature, for “whenever the living creatures give glory, etc., the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever.”  The elders, as we saw in the third spectacular secret, represent all of God’s people from all times.  Whenever nature worships the one on the throne, God’s people respond by doing the same. 

In other words, we are the echo.  Praise booms from the creatures and mighty exaltation resounds from God’s people.  The praise volleys back and forth like the revolving celebration in the Roman Colosseum.

My wife and I had season tickets to Ohio State football when she was in graduate school.  I’ll never forget the spectacular cheering.  When something good would happen down on the field, the crowd would explode with excitement.  One of the most memorable cheers always began with one side of the stadium yelling out, “O-H…”  Then in a monstrous echo, the other side of the stadium would shout back, “I-O!”  Again and again, the cheer would reverberate: “O-H…” then from the other side, “I-O!”  The celebration would sweep you off your feet and you would get lost in the laughter.

God does something spectacular, after all, he is the mighty Creator, whose works never cease to thrill and amaze.  Then the living creatures in bated anticipation scream out, “O-H…”  Tripping over their tongues with excitement, God’s people roar in reply, “I-O!” 

We are the echo.  God’s plan is playing out in amazing ways down on the field.  Most of the time we cannot see it, for many reasons.  We tend to be blind to God’s rule, only seeing the rule of lesser, sinful kings and rulers.  This is when we need to take our cue from creation.  Creation is not blind to God, since their many eyes detect the blueprint of his motions.  This means that creation will always declare God’s praise.  Creation begins worship every morning, whether we realize it or not.  Creation is always exalting in God, because it knows who the real King is and who the false rulers are. 

When our eyes fail and when we lose our grip, we must take our cue from creation.  We must be the echo, allowing God’s handiwork to lead us on a pathway to him.  God’s glory is like a pulse: his praise is the heartbeat of the world.

Finally, we must see that God didn’t have to create, but he wanted to.  It says that “by your will they were created.”  Nobody forced God to create this world, he wanted to do it.  This means that God wanted us to exist; and “want” points to love.  God did not need us for anything, which points to the fact that God wanted us.  Where there’s want, there’s love.

In response to God’s magnificent purpose, rule, and love, the twenty-four elders, who represent all of God’s people, give a sacred offering of their own will.  God’s people take the crowns off of their heads and throw them at his feet.  They didn’t have to do this, but they wanted to do this.  And where there’s want, there’s love.

God’s people recognize that their victory is God.  They are the echo of joy, not the source of joy.  Only the source of joy, life, and power deserves to have the crown.  The kingdom of “me” is swallowed up by the kingdom of “Thee.”

[1] Revelation 4:9-11.

© 2011 by Samuel Kee

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Seven Secrets, Part 6

samuel kee —  March 7, 2011 — Leave a comment

God wants to draw our attention away from our daily struggles.

As we have explored the scene around the throne of God, we have discovered five spectacular secrets of heaven so far.  The sixth secret is found in the next few verses of Revelation 4:

In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back.  The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle.  Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings.  Day and night they never stop saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.”[1]

The sixth secret is this: the celebration never ends for us. 

The four living creatures represent all of creation.  I know they seem weird, but these fantastic beings stand for all that God has made.  God is the Creator, something we are always in danger of trivializing.  As Creator, God has powerful rights over us, for without God, nothing would be.  All that he has created is contingent and not-necessary.  God is the only “necessary” being: he could live without us, but we could not live without him.  Every smile and every tear, every meal and every hunger pain, every embrace and every battle, can be traced back to God.  Without God there would be nothing. 

And God’s creation is creative!  Just look at the four living creatures around the throne.  Their strangeness allows us to see afresh just how creative God is.  The same creative strangeness can be seen all around us, in the “normal” things we take for granted: sunflowers, clouds, squirrels, and grasshoppers.  These four living creatures around the throne join all the other living creatures, as they are all wonderful creations of God. 

Around the throne of God, the celebration never ends.  All of creation sees and celebrates the wonder of Creator God.  Notice that the four creatures are covered with eyes.  These eyes tell us that they never miss anything that God does.  Has God created a walrus?  They did not miss that and they celebrate in response.  Did God create a newborn baby?  They did not miss that either and they celebrate in response.  Did God create a ladybug?  They did not miss that, either, and they celebrate in response.

That is why the celebration never ends, because God’s amazing creative powers never end.  And the four beings never stop noticing how awesome God is.  They always have a reason to party.

The presence of the party is our source of joy.  We laugh until we cry as we re-discover God every day.  His beauty never comes to an end; you never stop being astonished by God.  Day and night, the astonishment never ends, nor do the joyful, sacred cries of “holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.”  Just when you think that God has hit you with all that he has, you realize that more is coming.  He never comes to an end.  God never stops impacting you with his majesty and overwhelming you with his glory.  God never gets old and creation never gets bored.

The events around the throne were meant to cause a scene.  We are allowed to peak into the council chamber of God and witness the strange extravagance for a simple reason: to draw our attention away from present suffering.  The apostle John wrote Revelation to early Christians who faced rejection and persecution daily.  He wrote to men, women, and children whose lives were anything but extravagant.  Their faith in Jesus was costing them their jobs, homes, and even their lives.

Thus God wants to draw our attention away from our daily struggles.  By allowing us to see the wild worship of creation and to hear their eternal song, we realize that trials only last for a night.  Dawn brings celebration.  The emotion around the throne is meant to spill all over us, giving us hope for tomorrow. 

The scene was also meant for another kind of person, the kind of person whose attention was stolen by the riches of the world.  The world has its own form of extravagance, which seeks to steal our hearts.  We are tempted to focus on riches that are temporary, rather than eternal.  So the everlasting celebration around the throne serves as a corrective for those who struggle with compromise.  God wants us to know that long after moth and rust destroy the present riches of this world, his party will still be going on, in full force. 

The sixth spectacular secret of heaven is that the party never ends; therefore, fix your eyes on Jesus.

[1] Revelation 4:6b-8.

© 2011 by Samuel Kee

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Seven Secrets, Part 5

samuel kee —  March 4, 2011 — Leave a comment

God does not want us to drown in our trials, but walk on them.

So far we’ve discovered four spectacular secrets of heaven from Revelation chapter 4.  In order to understand the fifth secret, we must remember the role of seas within Scripture.  The Bible has plenty of stories about seas, most of which portray the sea as evil, at worst, and a threat, at best.  The sea is dark, mysterious, and lethal.  The sea rages around God’s people as they struggle to survive.  We are trapped by the sea, lost at sea, and even under the sea (remember Jonah!). 

There are two “great” sea stories in the Bible (along with many other less significant ones).  The first is the ultimate story of redemption, found in the book of Exodus.  God miraculously brings his people out of slavery in Egypt, only to lead them between a rock and a hard place—or should I say: a sea and the Egyptian army!  As the Egyptian army chases them down in the desert, the Hebrews realize that they have no place to go, for the sea blocks their path.  Then suddenly, God tells Moses not to weep and to raise his staff over the sea (Exodus 14:16).  Amazingly, the sea divides in two, allowing the Hebrews to cross safely to the other side.  When the Egyptians try to do the same, they are swallowed by the returning waters.

The second great sea story is found in the gospels.  In these New Testament passages, take John 6 for instance, Jesus walks across the raging sea.  The passage in John is placed within the context of the Exodus story, nonetheless.  Just before Jesus walks on water, he gives miraculous bread to a great crowd of people, much in the same way that Moses gave manna in the wilderness after he crossed the sea.  In this second great sea story, we’re to see a link to the first, as Jesus becomes the better Moses, both able to walk on water and provide eternal bread.

Now, let’s go to our passage in Revelation 4:6 and read about the fifth spectacular secret of heaven:

Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.

Before the throne of God we find another “sea.”  However, this sea is not raging or threatening.  It is placid and calm.  It does not scare anyone; in fact, it’s stiff—scared stiff.  The fifth secret is that before the throne of God, evil is scared stiff.

The storms in life are not that threatening when the throne of God is in view.  In fact, you can walk on them, like Moses and Jesus.  God brings us into his secret council chamber of heaven so that he can show us that we’re going to make it across whatever sea we are facing.  God wants us to know that we walk in the shoes of Moses and Jesus and all others who have conquered the scary sea. 

Just as God led the Hebrews out of slavery in Egypt, God will lead us out of slavery to sin.  Just as Jesus walked on water, so will we trample over sin and death.  We need to understand this so that we’re not overwhelmed and so we do not begin to sink beneath the water. 

God does not want us to drown in our trials, but walk on them.  There is no need to be afraid of the water, for God is able to turn the ugliest trial into something beautiful—like crystal.          

© 2011 by Samuel Kee

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Seven Secrets, Part 4

samuel kee —  March 3, 2011 — Leave a comment

God's people will continue to blaze.

Honestly, I do not like writing about the fourth spectacular secret of heaven.  I feel like I ought to apologize first.  But at the same time, life will not make sense if we do not discover this next secret.  We must understand it, wrestle with it, and ultimately embrace it—whether we like it or not.  The next verse says,

From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder.  Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing.  These are the seven spirits of God.[1]

Lighting.  Earthquakes.  Thunder.  These are the things that terrify us.  We never want them to land in our life, to shake our world.  Yet, whether we like it or not, they’re there, as raw statements of God’s power. 

This manifestation of power is seen again and again as we trace the occurrences of lightning, earthquakes, and thunder throughout the rest of the book of Revelation.  Each of these strikes again and again as the book unfolds: 

I watched as he opened the sixth seal.  There was a great earthquake.[2]

Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.[3]

At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.[4]

Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a great hailstorm.[5]

Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake.  No earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake.[6]

As the great book of Revelation progresses, we witness the lighting, thunder, and earthquakes again and again, pummeling the earth and its inhabitants.  It’s absolutely devastating. 

Then we realize, as we retrace the course of these phenomena, that they all begin at the throne.  The throne of God is the fount of the lightning, earthquakes, and thunder, starting in our verse, Revelation 4:5. 

The fourth spectacular secret of heaven is that our trials on earth begin in heaven, at the throne.

As I said, I feel like I have to apologize before I write about this.  We don’t like to think about God having a hand in our trials.  But we must.

These trials are God’s judgment on the earth and its wickedness.  In order for God to be good, he has to uphold his standard of goodness.  He must fight for it.  In the same way, as an analogy, I would never put up with outsiders who victimize my family or home.  To be a good man, I must fight for my family and make sure that those who do wicked things to it are dealt with.  To neglect judgment is a form of unrighteousness, or lack of goodness.  Evil cannot persist if God is serious about making this world good and restoring it fully. 

He must judge; he must send the lightning, thunder, and earthquakes.  He must deal with evil, lest he hand evil the victory.

God is merciful, as we saw in the second spectacular secret of heaven.  God’s knee jerk reaction is never lighting, but always forbearance and mercy.  When the world deserved thunder, God first sent his Son.  When the world should have been leveled by God’s judgment, God leveled his Son on the cross, allowing us to escape through the dust.  God first judged his Son, way before he will send the thunder.  We now live in God’s era of grace and patience before the judgments come crashing on our shore.  Still, as we speak, they are kindling beneath the throne.

The throne is the source of our trials.  Yet we must take to heart the next part of the verse, “Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing.  These are the seven spirits of God.”  In the face of these trials, the lamps blaze.

God wants us to know that the storms of life that he sends to us will not blow us apart.  God’s people will continue to blaze through the gale-force winds, since his Spirit is alive in us.  As trials land in our lives, God will sustain us.  Just picture a candle keeping its fire in the face of a hurricane.  Though it doesn’t seem possible, that is the beautiful power of God’s Spirit, alive in his people.  Nothing can keep us from blazing. 

God has you in his hand; he knows just how much you can take.  He is in control over every trial and will not let his church be extinguished. 

[1] Revelation 4:5.

[2] Revelation 6:12.

[3] Revelation 8:5

[4] Revelation 11:13.

[5] Revelation 11:19.

[6] Revelation 16:18.

© 2011 by Samuel Kee

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Seven Secrets, Part 2

samuel kee —  March 1, 2011 — Leave a comment

God is inviting you to go to him.

There are seven spectacular secrets of heaven found in Revelation 4.  In the last post, I shared with you the first one: Someone is on the throne.  Now let’s go to the next verse and discover the second spectacular secret.

And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian.  A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne.[1]

The second secret is that mercy surrounds the throne.  As the doorway of heaven is opened and we are allowed to enter into the secret council chamber of God, not only do we see that someone is at the helm, but also we see a rainbow encircling the power center.  A rainbow surrounds the throne.

In the first book of the Bible, we learn that the rainbow represents mercy.  In Genesis 9:14-15, God said to Noah, “Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind.  Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.”  The rainbow is God’s sign to us that he will not destroy us.

The rainbow is God’s sign of mercy, that it is okay to approach him.  You will not be destroyed when you approach God. 

A lot of people that I meet think that God is out to get them; they think that he is very judgmental and full of wrath.  To a lot of people, God is like a giant bug zapper: when we bugs get to close…ZAP!  So the thought of going directly to the throne of God is paralyzing, as we are terrified of him. 

But it is safe to approach the throne of God; we will not get zapped, for mercy surrounds the throne.  This spectacular secret is a deluge of hope for people who think that God hates them and is bent on making their lives miserable. 

God is mercy toward you.  God does not want to keep you away, but draw you to himself.  He puts the rainbow around his throne as a sign to you that it’s okay to go to him.  In fact, God is inviting you to go to him.  The rainbow is his “Welcome” sign, hung in his window so that every weary traveler may come home to him. 

Even the dirtiest and most worn traveler is invited home; for no matter how far you’ve run from God and no matter how you’ve spent your years, God wants you to come back to him.  His throne will not consume you since his is a “throne of grace,” as we learn in Hebrews 4:16.

The rainbow around the throne takes away all of our excuses and all of our fears, it is God’s standing invitation to come to him.  God is mercy to you.

[1] Revelation 4:3.

© 2011 by Samuel Kee

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Seven Spectacular Secrets of Heaven Part 1

samuel kee —  February 28, 2011 — Leave a comment

Someone steers it all and guides it all.

The book of Revelation reveals some amazing things to us—I guess that’s why it’s called “Revelation.”  I’d like to spend the next seven posts exploring one chapter from this captivating book called Revelation.  As we examine Revelation 4, we’ll discover seven spectacular secrets of Heaven. 

But first I have to tell you why this is so important.  We are like boats that have drifted away from our home; we are lost, scared, and storm-tossed.  We are nauseous from all the rocking and uncertainty.  We don’t know what’s real anymore and we definitely have trouble realizing our purpose.  Revelation 4 is like an anchor.  Revelation 4 is like homecoming for ships that are weary from battle.                                     

We need to know what heaven holds for us.  We need to know what is real and what is fake, especially if we want to live, thrive, and fulfill our purpose.  Some of us have been stuffing our mouths with nothing but artificial living, year after year, decade after decade.  We know that something is not quite right, yet we are not aware of any other way to live.

That’s why we need to know the seven spectacular secrets of heaven.  Heaven holds a treasure for us, while it roots us in reality.  Just in case we feel like we’re “flying upside down,” to quote Dallas Willard, heaven stands us on our feet.  Heaven invites us into the secret council room of God, where we get to witness the inner workings of the cosmos.  And by knowing the inner workings, we are better able to handle the external manifestations.

Here’s the invitation:

After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven.  And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”[1]

We are personally invited to witness that which humans should not be able to experience: the very council chamber of God.  We see what he sees and experience what he experiences.  Our hope is that by understanding these secrets of the council room, we will be able to cope with and even thrive under, the decisions that are made there.

Here’s the first spectacular secret: There is a throne at the center of it all.  After our invitation, the next verse says:

At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it.

A throne is at the center of all reality—never forget that.  Reality is governed by an ultimate power.  The throne is the command center, much like the helm of a ship.  The throne is the helm of the ship, where the one sitting on the throne guides and directs it all.  At the DNA of the universe and of all reality is a throne, and it’s not vacant. 

Life is not random or chaotic or purposeless or meaningless or out of control; life is directed, controlled, overseen, governed, created, ordered, fixed, and healed.  Someone steers it all and guides it all, whether the rise of the sun or the setting of a life.  It all falls under the jurisdiction of the throne, where the King of kings sits.

Your life is being steered right now, in other words.  By peeling back the false reality that we’re used to staring at, and getting a glimpse into the council chamber of God, we are able to see that all is well: Someone is at the helm.

Finally, and may this give you even more courage, a human is at the helm.  We learn this later in Revelation (in 5:6 we see that the Lamb, who is Jesus, is on the throne) and also in Hebrews 12:2, among other places.  Jesus is the human who is on the throne.  Jesus is both fully divine AND fully human.  Because he overcame death, he is given the right to sit at the helm of the ship, the command center of the universe.

Why is this so encouraging?  Because a human, someone who has walked in our shoes, is in charge; and he has extravagant compassion for his friends in need.  Someone who is just like us—except without sin—is in control.  There is no one better to steer the ship as it makes the arduous journey from this life to the next than Jesus, for having lived in both, he knows the way.  He has made your journey before; and now he comes back to you in order to make the journey a second time, but with you.  Only the God-Man has what it takes to steer us into everlasting life. 

The first spectacular secret of heaven is that a throne is at the center of it all, from which Jesus guides us home. 

You are going to make it.

[1] Revelation 4:1

© 2011 by Samuel Kee

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The Little King

samuel kee —  February 10, 2011 — 2 Comments

What is waiting for you at the end of your life?

Right before we walked into a restaurant, my four year-old son announced quite confidently, “I am king of this place!”  He continued with his speech, “Yes, I am king…and my servants are all here!”  He motioned toward the inside of the restaurant.  I gave him a puzzled look, but he knew exactly what he wanted to say.

When we stepped inside of the door, a hostess approached us and said, “How can I help you today?”

Fully vindicated, my son looked at me with a smile and said, “You see!”

We all had a good laugh at what the little king had said, though we’re not quite sure what prompted him to be so bold.  Oh, to be a child again and to have the ability to imagine that you’re a king, even of just a restaurant!

It seems like the older we get, the less likely any reign becomes.  Problems pile, reigning over us instead of the reverse.  We feel more like servants than kings, as so many other things fight for control of our lives.  We master little, lose a lot, and seldom feel any victories. 

And if we’re honest, we can’t say for sure if life will end positively or negatively for us.  Will we die having achieved all we desire or will we die holding onto the coat tails of someone else’s dream?

There’s a spectacular passage of Scripture that gives me tremendous courage.  It’s at the end of the Bible in Revelation 4, where the throne of God is described.  The throne of God is encircled by a rainbow, energized by lightning bolts, and landscaped by a sea of glass.  Then we’re told that “surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders” (4).

It’s not too hard to come up with the meaning of “twenty-four.”  Just take the number of Tribes in ancient Israel, which is twelve, and add it to the number of New Testament apostles, which also is twelve, and you get twenty-four.  There are twelve elders who represent all of God’s people from Israel and there are twelve elders who represent all of God’s people from the New Testament era.  This means that all of God’s people from all times are represented by the “twenty-four” before the throne of God. 

It means that you are there, before the throne, if you’re a follower of Jesus Christ, along with Father Abraham, King David, and John the Baptist, for instance.  The twenty-four elders surrounding the throne of God show us that all of God’s people are present with “Our Father, who art in Heaven.”

If you’re able to see that, then let me point out one more crucial piece of information about our presence with God: the elders are sitting on thrones.  Around the “big” throne are twenty-four “little” thrones.  All of God’s people from all time are sitting on thrones.

What is waiting for you at the end of your life?  A throne!  A throne is a symbol of victory, among other things.  This means that our lives are not headed to loss, but victory.  Our lives will not end negatively, but positively, as we rule and reign alongside of God himself. 

If this is true, and I believe it is, then we have every reason to believe that life’s problems are the battles we face en route to our kingship.  Our daily battles are the things that lift us higher to our throne, as we learn how to reign in the here and now.  Before we make it to our throne, God gives us opportunities to exercise reign over subjects within our lives. 

We are little kings, not little failures.  God has a throne, not a prison, waiting for each of his followers.

© 2011 by Samuel Kee

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