Judge, Lawgiver and King

Hi friends,

Little did I know when I started creating this page earlier this week, that it would be so timely in the light of the events that have unfolded. I feel compelled to write what I am sharing today in the hope that it will challenge all of us, much like the prophet Isaiah challenged the people of Israel in his day. In Isaiah 33:22, the prophet declares, "For the LORD is our judge; the LORD is our lawgiver; the LORD is our king; he will save us." Let's look at these three roles/titles and think about how we should live in the light of this truth today.

Firstly, the Lord is our judge. It is important to remember that the Lord is the one who judges individual lives as well as governments and systems. This should be both sobering and comforting. We should live with the awareness that the Lord is the judge of ALL - not just the people or party we don't like or agree with. He alone knows the heart and motivations. He knows the difference between truth and falsehood. Where we are flawed in our discernment and deficient in our knowledge, he is perfect. So when he judges, he judges rightly. We also need to recognise that as Judge, he has put in place human institutions to carry out justice on the earth, and part of recognising God as the ultimate Judge means respecting the authorities he has instituted on earth (Romans 13:1-7; 1 Peter 2:14), whether we like them or voted for them or not. Much like the prophets, we must speak out against injustice, but we must be careful about allowing our preferences to filter what we do and do not see and say.

Secondly, the Lord is our lawgiver. This follows on naturally from the Lord as Judge because he can perfectly judge according to his perfect law. When I was creating this page, one of the last things I did was add the heart stickers, and their placement was aesthetic rather than anything related to the scripture. But when I took these photos, I noticed the place of the heart next to 'the Lord is our lawgiver' and was reminded of the most important law that God has given us: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, and love your neighbor as you love yourself. (Matthew 22:37-40; Mark 12:30-31; Luke 10:27-28). This made me wonder whether we have forsaken this law - the royal law of love (James 2:8) - because of other laws that we have become worried or obsessed about. What if we lived each day in the knowledge that as our Judge and Lawgiver, the Lord says that the most important law is to love God and love our neighbor. How would that change the way we interact with others, particularly those we disagree with? How would that change the way we evaluate the fruit on display in our leaders? How would that change our approach to voting, and to either victory or defeat?

Finally, the Lord is our King. This is true no matter who is in government, and it no more or less true depending on who is president, prime minister, senator, minister, or earthly king. Our hope should not be in our earthly, human, fallen leaders but in the Lord who is our King. He is the King of the universe, and invites us to be a part of his kingdom which is not a political realm or a country. Our King showed that the way to use power is not to grab or grip onto it, not to demand or seize it, but to lay it down in service of others, humbling himself even to the point of death on a cross. Yes, this is our King: King Jesus. When we follow him and pledge allegiance to him as Lord and King, we take our eyes off earthly kingdoms, we refuse to put our hope in political leaders or policies, and we choose not to participate in the party politics of a broken, human system. Yes, we can vote, prayerfully discerning which party or person we believe according to Scripture will be faithful in carrying out justice, and leading by example, but we can't put our hope in the outcome. Jesus is the King above all kings, the Lord above all lords, the name above all names, and he will not be co-opted into a political party. He stands ABOVE.

Let's live like this is true.

I used some patterned paper in the margin, and created a background with acrylic paints to blend together with the paper. I used a number of stamp sets on this page: The Lord's Battle, His Name, Skinny Lowercase Alpha, All of Me Alpha, Texture Tiles 5, and Faith Wordfetti. 

Lord, please forgive us for when we have placed our hope in human leaders or systems instead of in you. Please forgive us for allowing the frenzy of politics to inhibit our love of our neighbor. Please forgive us when our submission to and prayer for our leaders has been conditioned by our preference. Please help us to live faithfully under your lordship as Judge, Lawgiver and King.

Amen.

Be blessed...

x Amy x