Here Christ shows us the foundation of everything we do. We serve Him out of love. We serve Him because He knows best. We serve Him because it is good... because his plans are better than our plans. But first and foremost, before all these things, we serve Him because He is The King, and all authority in Heaven and on Earth has been given to Him.
Jesus is a King, and we are citizens of His Kingdom.
This idea of Kingship is a an odd concept for us in our times. We live in a society that was born out of a rejection to the dictatorship which the rule of one represents. Culturally we are uncomfortable with any authority over our lives which might supersede our own. But that is reality--Jesus is king--and as Christians we live our lives as if that is true.
What does this mean for us?
Well it means many things, some of which I will touch on in the future. For today I would like to talk about our desire to acknowledge Christ's authority to direct our destiny.
Just moments before His arrest and execution Jesus prayed to His father , "Father, not my will, but your will be done!"
This is how we are to relate to the authority of Christ, by realizing that His will supersedes our own, and when we are faced with a choice and what we want is in contradiction to what He wants, He has the authority.
Practically this means seeking out instruction from God, listening to God's voice--in the many ways in which He speaks--and actually doing those things that He tells us to do. When we make decisions our first question is not, "what do we want?" or even "what makes sense?" Our very first question is, "what does Jesus want for us?" And once we know, we serve His pleasure faithfully, because He is King.
I think choosing a church is a great example.
Many people will ask themselves "What am I looking for in a Church? I want it to have a strong teaching pastor, and a good children's ministry. It needs a youth group and it would be nice if it were within 30 min of my house..." and the list goes on. All of these are good and practical concerns...
none of them acknowledge the Authority of Christ.
Where does He want you to go to church?
Is it going to be the perfect place for you, perfectly comfortable? Or is it just going to be the place where He can use you, or mature you? Maybe it won't be your ideal, but if its His ideal then he wins, because He is king.
This concept of Christ's authority has boundless ramification, but it is enough to say that the reason Christ began His instructions to us with an affirmation of His own authority is because it is the foundation of all we do. We move in this work because He says move, we wait when He says wait, speak when He says speak.
That is part of the vision for the Vineyard Church BCS, to be be faithful servants to the authority and kingship of Jesus Christ.
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