Dancing with the King - Keeping in step with the Master
My sister, Heather and I are very close in age to each other and therefore were best friends while growing up together. One of the many imaginary games, that we used to play as children, was King and Queen. In those younger years, we would take a purple towel for a robe; make a golden crown and scepter out of paper; and find a suitable regal throne to sit on. Then we'd make decrees, sip pretend wine and act like we thought rulers should act. Our biggest problem was finding subjects to rule over and to serve us – that's where our younger siblings, Bobby and Linda came in. What did they know? As far as they were concerned, at ages three and four, Heather and I really were the Queen and King!
The fact is though, that we were simply playing – she and I were not actually royalty.
Or were we?
As I've read and studied the Word of God over the last forty years, I've learned that Heather and I stumbled onto a great truth. Although our attitudes were a bit pompous and we had to grow into our crowns, we really were born into royalty.
Jesus' intention for all of us, who are believers, is that we would reign in life partnership with him.
The apostle John wrote to the churches in his Revelation of the Kingdom: And he has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father – to him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever! Amen . His friend Peter, wrote to the persecuted church, that although they were living in the heart of the valley of the shadow of death, they were, … a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God … Both John and Peter were echoing the Apostle Paul's allusion to our position as co-rulers with Jesus. For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ .
The Kingdom of God, and our place beside the King on his throne, are the overriding themes of the entire Bible. Both, the Old and New Testaments, give emphases to the invisible Kingdom.
The Story of Cinderella
Beautiful Cinderella was born with promise written all over her. She was gorgeous, sweet and smart. Surely she would be well–schooled, fulfilled in marriage and with children, and live happily ever after. (Remember all these stories begin with hope and promise.)
But then, early in the fairy-tale, tragedy number one struck. Cinderella's lovely young mother became fatally ill (loss and hopelessness). Because her father had to travel for long periods of time, he worked through his grief as quickly as possible, and then married the first willing woman he met – she was a seemingly gracious widow who had two daughters of her own. I imagine it would've appeared to Cinderella's father that if he married his new bride, she would make an okay mother for his daughter, and the two girls could be helpful older step-sisters. It may be, he might've believed, that they could nurture young Cinderella through her own grief over the loss of her mom.
Things are not always as they appear to be.
A casual observer could have thought that Cinderella's story was taking an upward turn, when her father remarried, but it was not so. The beautiful blonde little girl's new step-mom was not all that she made out to be. While dad was home, she was sweet and submissive, but over the weeks that he was working out of town, both step-mom and step-sisters turned into the devil and her demons. Unfortunately, their jealous venom focused on Cinderella, the girl who'd previously has so much promise …
The fairy-tale is true
A fairy-tale? Perhaps, but the reason that it rings like a clear bell in our souls, is because of Cinderella and the prince runs almost movement for movement, parallel to the story of the Prince of Peace and his bride, which is found in the Bible.
Remember the child, Cinderella, who was born with such promise – she was the picture of Adam and Eve. They were created by God with destiny in their genes.
Then the story turned one hundred and eighty degrees on the heels of a bad decision; and Adam and Eve became slaves of a tyrannical despot. All hope was shattered on the day they came into covenant with the devil, who from that day forward ruled their household.
Throughout the Bible narrative, we catch glimpses of light. Hope breaks through the darkness from season to season; but almost as quickly as it rises, it sinks again. Promise and then disappointment keep the Bible reader on the edge of his seat.
Will the young couple and their family ever move into their intended destiny?
Then one day, thousands of years after Adam's and Eve's fall into darkness, the prince rides into the scene. He surprises everybody when he arrives as a newborn baby, but he quickly grows into the crown which has been prepared for him.
