Year 4, Day 56: Exodus 7

Theological Commentary: Click Here 

Discipleship Focus: King

• King: This is the pinnacle of the Kingdom Triangle.  When we look towards God’s position in the universe, we acknowledge that He is king.  Authority comes from Him.  Power comes through His authority.  He is looking for representatives for His kingdom.

I have a feeling I’ll be able to write quite a few posts on this kingdom dynamic over the next few chapters.  You see, whereas the Covenant Triangle (Father, Identity, Obedience) is all about relationship and invitation, the Kingdom Triangle (King, Authority, Power) is all about calling and challenge.  And what we have brewing between Pharaoh and God is an old fashioned O.K. Corral style shootout between two beings who consider themselves eminently powerful.

Pharaoh sees himself as a god among powerful gods in Egypt.  He is king of the land and accustomed to it.  When God puts His power on display, Pharaoh considers it a challenge and hardens his heart.  Pharaoh is determined to not let God win.  Pharaoh has no desire to acknowledge God as king.  Therefore we have a power struggle and a conflict of authority.  I don’t mean to give out any spoilers, but God wins these kinds of conflicts every time.

On the other hand, Moses is in the process of figuring out his relationship with God.  As we’ve seen over the last few chapters, he’s learning to submit.  He’s also still wrestling a bit with God with respect to trying to figure out exactly what authority and power God as king has given to him.  But to Moses’ credit the one thing that he is not confused about is that God is indeed the King.  God is the one who is setting the marching orders.  God is the one with the plan.  God is the one who can see the outcome and get His people there.  All the power that Moses and Aaron put on display comes from the authority that God the king has placed in their life.  Contrary to Pharaoh, Moses and Aaron are content to let God be king even if they do struggle and become frustrated with God’s implementation from time to time.

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Year 4, Day 50: Exodus 1

Theological Commentary: Click Here 

Discipleship Focus: Authority, Power

• Authority: Our calling.  This comes from God as king.  Because He calls us as His representatives, He gives us authority to go and do His will.
• Power: This is the natural outcome when we truly get our authority from the king.  When our authority is from God, we are equipped with His power to accomplish His will.  We act on His behalf in a world that He desperately loves.

In Exodus 1:8 we find a king who did not know Joseph.  He did not know Joseph’s heritage.  He did not know Joseph’s God.  We have here a Pharaoh that is concerned only about his world, his nation, his reign, his success, and his reputation.  Here is a Pharaoh whose identity does not come from the Father.  Comparatively, neither does his authority come from the King.

If we examine the following verses, we see that this misplaced authority leads to abused power.  The Pharaoh attempts to afflict them with hard labor in order to drive them into submission and shorten their lifespan.  When that didn’t work, Pharaoh attempts to kill their male children so that they cannot reproduce and would then have to assimilate into the Egyptian culture.  However, that doesn’t work, either.

Pharaoh’s plans make sense from a worldly perspective.  Many ruthless leaders have attempted these techniques throughout all of history.  They don’t work, however, because God has a different plan.  Pharaoh comes up against God and rather than aligning himself with God he chooses to work against Him.  Because his authority is not coming from the King he abuses his power and his plans ultimately fail.

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Year 4, Day 39: Genesis 40

Theological Commentary: Click Here 

Discipleship Focus: King

• King: This is the pinnacle of the Kingdom Triangle.  When we look towards God’s position in the universe, we acknowledge that He is king.  Authority comes from Him.  Power comes through His authority.  He is looking for representatives for His kingdom.

Three years ago, when I was reading through Genesis for the first time in doing my blog, I was struck by verse 8.  Does not the interpretation of dreams belong to God?  Three years later, I am still struck by that same passage.

God gives us dreams.  He gives us His Word.  He speaks to us through the Holy Spirit.  He empowers us to act beyond our true human capacity as we reflect His will, grace, and love into this world.  He is the source of all things good.  If He is the source of all things good, why should we be surprised that the interpretation of dreams, the use of His gifts, the interpretation of His Word, and the application of His love should belong to Him?

God is the King.  He is in charge.  He is ruler over all.  Everything is under His authority.  All power comes out of His authority.  This is the message that I hear loud and clear through Joseph’s testimony today.  Everything belongs to Him; life is best lived when we recognize His authority and spend less time trying to assert our own authority.  He is king.  The best authority comes from Him.

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Year 4, Day 18: Genesis 19

Theological Commentary: Click Here 

Discipleship Focus: Identity, Authority

• Identity: Our true identity comes from God.  Only when our identity comes from God can we be obedient in ways that satisfy our person to our core.
• Authority: Our calling.  This comes from God as king.  Because He calls us as His representatives, He gives us authority to go and do His will.

When I look at Lot in Genesis 19 I see a crisis of identity.  Whatever is at the top of Lot’s Covenant Triangle, it doesn’t seem like it is God.  God tells Lot to run away, but Lot can’t bring himself to leave without being dragged away.  God tells Lot to flee to the hills, but Lot can’t bear to think about not being a part of civilization.  Lot ends up in the hills, and he chooses drunkenness and infidelity with his own daughters rather than being a responsible man.  Here is a man whose identity is rooted in the world rather than being rooted in the Father.

However, when we look at Abraham we see a man whose identity is from the Father and whose authority comes from the King.  Whereas Lot is always on the brink of corruption and has to flee without looking back, God permits Abraham to look upon the valley of Sodom and live.  Abraham has authority in his life to not be corrupted by the sinfulness of Sodom.  That kind of authority over human sinfulness can only come from the Father.

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Year 4, Day 16: Genesis 17

Theological Commentary: Click Here 

Discipleship Focus: King

• King: This is the pinnacle of the Kingdom Triangle.  When we look towards God’s position in the universe, we acknowledge that He is king.  Authority comes from Him.  Power comes through His authority.  He is looking for representatives for His kingdom.

As I read through Abraham’s story in this chapter, I couldn’t help think about the kingship of God in two dimensions.  First, I thought about it with respect to yesterday’s reading.  In that story Abraham and Sarah and Hagar were caught up in sin and avoiding God’s perspective.  Certainly this was a dark spot on Abraham’s relationship with God.  But what happens?  In this chapter God demonstrates that he is King.  He can work in spite of Abraham’s sinfulness.  His power to bring about His will is greater than Abraham’s sinfulness.

This leads me into God’s greatness.  In this chapter He truly displays His kingship.  He knows the world needs a savior.  He knows that savior has to come from Him.  So how does He begin this journey to go from Abraham to Jesus Christ?  He starts with an old man and a barren woman.  Out of the impossible God brings about a baby.  Abraham couldn’t believe it.  We wouldn’t believe it either.  Yet this story serves to demonstrate that God is king of this universe.  He has full power and authority over this world.

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Year 4, Day 12: Genesis 13

Theological Commentary: Click Here 

Discipleship Focus: Authority, Power

• Authority: Our calling.  This comes from God as king.  Because He calls us as His representatives, He gives us authority to go and do His will.
• Power: This is the natural outcome when we truly get our authority from the king.  When our authority is from God, we are equipped with His power to accomplish His will.  We act on His behalf in a world that He desperately loves.

In Genesis 13 we get an incredible portrait of why it is that God chooses him to be the father of His people in faithfulness.  Abraham and his nephew return to the Promised Land after prospering in Egypt.  But they have to choose to separate because their combined wealth is too much for the land to sustain.

When it comes to separating, Abraham allows Lot to pick.  Abraham tells Lot, “You pick the direction and I’ll go to the place you don’t pick.”  He could easily have used his age, wisdom, and human authority to pick the better location.  But he doesn’t.  He allows Lot to pick.

Why is this important?  It is important because Abraham knows that with God on his side he will succeed wherever he goes.  If Lot wants the better land, it’s okay because God can prosper him whenever.  Abraham understands his place in God’s kingdom.  His authority comes from God, so he has the power to succeed regardless of the land he ends up in.  In other words, Abraham understands that his authority and power is not wrapped up in geography, land, or wealth.  His authority and power come from his relationship with God.  What a powerful testimony!

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Year 3, Day 365: Revelation 22

Theological Commentary: Click Here 

Discipleship Focus: Father, King

• Father: This is the pinnacle of the Covenant Triangle.  God is the Father.  He is the creator.  He is love.  Our relationship with the Father is rooted in His love for us.  we get our identity through Him.
• King: This is the pinnacle of the Kingdom Triangle.  When we look towards God’s position in the universe, we acknowledge that He is king.  Authority comes from Him.  Power comes through His authority.  He is looking for representatives for His kingdom.

Again in this chapter we get a sense of God’s identity-given nature of being our Father.  In the end, He will be the source of all healing.  We will see His face and His name will be upon our foreheads.  He gives us identity.  This is perhaps the most fundamental claim of the whole of the Bible.  We are made complete through God.  He gives us our identity.

As you might expect in the last chapter of our Bible, we also get a sense of the kingly nature of God.  The same section that speaks to God being the source of our identity also speaks of our ruling through Him.  Because He is the Father, our identity comes through Him and we can obey.  However, it doesn’t stop there.  Because God is the King, He seeks representatives.  He seeks people to embody Him to this world.  Through His kingship we have both authority and power to rule under Him.  As this passage says, those in Him will rule forever.

We are complete in God’s identity for us.  We can rule through His empowerment.  But it all starts with Him.  That is how it should be.

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Year 3, Day 364: Revelation 21

Theological Commentary: Click Here 

Discipleship Focus: Father, King

• Father: God is the Father.  He is the creator.  He is love.  Our relationship with the Father is rooted in His love for us.
• King: This is the pinnacle of the Kingdom Triangle.  When we look towards God’s position in the universe, we acknowledge that He is king.  Authority comes from Him.  Power comes through His authority.  He is looking for representatives for His kingdom.

In this chapter, we hear that God is the alpha and the omega.  Another way of thinking about alpha and omega is beginning and end.  A different way of thinking of this is source and goal.  God is the source of life and the goal of life.

This brings us to the concept of Father.  God is the creator.  He is the source.  Specifically, He is the source of our identity.  Out of our identity comes our obedience.  Because God is the alpha, we can know who we are and what He desires for us to do.  We only have to respond.

We can do this same thinking with the idea of omega.  God is our goal.  He is the king.  Because He is the king, He grants us authority.  He gives us the power to accomplish His goal.

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Year 3, Day 363: Revelation 20

Theological Commentary: Click Here 

Discipleship Focus: King

• King: This is the pinnacle of the Kingdom Triangle.  When we look towards God’s position in the universe, we acknowledge that He is king.  Authority comes from Him.  Power comes through His authority.  He is looking for representatives for His kingdom.

As we draw closer to the close of Revelation 20, our focus is drawn more and more upon God.  After all, He is the Alpha and the Omega.  He is the King.  He was here before creation came into existence and he will remain when creation has passed away.  He alone is King.  He alone is worthy of being the judge.

It would be one thing if God sat on His throne in omnipotence and meted out judgment after judgment – even if they all were righteous.  But that is not what God does.  As King, God hands out authority.  Notice here in this passage that God gives to some the authority and power to judge.  Furthermore, all those truly in Him have been given authority and power to reject the beast and not worship his ways.  God is not a malevolent dictator.  God is a loving King who seeks people to represent Him in a world that needs to meet Him.

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Year 3, Day 362: Revelation 19

Theological Commentary: Click Here 

Discipleship Focus: Power

• Power: This is the natural outcome when we truly get our authority from the king.  When our authority is from God, we are equipped with His power to accomplish His will.  We act on His behalf in a world that He desperately loves.

In this chapter, we get a clear picture of the Kingdom Triangle.  God is the King.  God gives authority to Christ to be victorious in this world.  Out of this authority, Christ goes forth as the conquering rider on the white horse.

He does indeed subdue the earth.  He strikes down the nations with the sword that comes out of His mouth.  He will rule them with an iron scepter.  This is the power Christ has when His authority comes from the very will of God!

However, let’s look at this power as compared to when Christ came the first time.  The first time, Christ came to conquer sin and death.  He was nailed to a cross, alone.  The power He had was in the resurrection over death.  Yet in this story Christ has come to conquer the world, not sin and death.  Here He comes with an army of followers.  Here he comes with power over humanity.  I think what is important is that we see Christ using His power according to the will and desire of God, the King.  Power comes in many forms.  What is important is that it is used according to the authority bestowed upon us by God.

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Year 3, Day 351: Revelation 6

Theological Commentary: Click Here 

Discipleship Focus: Power

• Power: This is the natural outcome when we truly get our authority from the king.  When our authority is from God, we are equipped with His power to accomplish His will.  We act on His behalf in a world that He desperately loves.

You might expect me to talk about power with respect to the four hoursemen.  And I can certainly do so.  The horsemen are God’s representatives.  The receive authority to come and interact with the world at God’s request.  They are empowered in the world by God because their authority comes from Him.

However, I’m actually going to talk about power from the perspective of the martyrs at the foot of the altar.  They’re martyrs.  They were slain because they believed in God.  If anyone had circumstance to lash out against their enemies, these people did!

However, notice that they don’t.  They know their place.  It is not in their authority or their power to seek vengeance.  “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.  These martyrs know their authority and their power, and seeking vengeance is not a part of what God has given to them.  Instead, they turn to God and wait for His will to be done.  I applaud these martyrs because in knowing their power, they also know what is not in their power.  Part of being God’s representative is knowing what areas in which you are not given power because you are not given authority.

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Year 3, Day 349: Revelation 3

Theological Commentary: Click Here 

Discipleship Focus: Power

• Power: This is the natural outcome when we truly get our authority from the king.  When our authority is from God, we are equipped with His power to accomplish His will.  We act on His behalf in a world that He desperately loves.

As I was reading about the church of Philadelphia, I thought about power.  The introduction is about Christ.  He opens doors that nobody can shut.  He shuts doors that nobody can open.  This gives us a great commentary about the omnipotence of God.  His power is unquestionable.  This also gives us a great model.  As Christ got all of His authority from God, we see that Christ’s power is likewise unable to be countered.

So now we turn to Philadelphia.  Here is a small church.  They seem to be relatively weak.  Yet, they are working near the presence of Satan and they are able to stay true to their faith!  That is power!  They are able to resist the Devil and the influences of the world!  Furthermore, Jesus tells this church that they not only have the power to hang onto the crown that was given to them but to also conquer and in conquering to become a pillar in the temple of God!  Imagine seeming so small and insignificant yet having God turn to you and call you one of His pillars.  What an incredible testimony about the power that comes from God in contrast to the power we can see and evaluate here in this world.

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Year 3, Day 347: Revelation 1

Theological Commentary: Click Here 

Discipleship Focus:

• Identity: Who we are.  This is defined by God.  It comes from God.  It comes to us through God’s love for us.
• Authority: Our calling.  This comes from God as king.  Because He calls us as His representatives, He gives us authority to go and do His will.

This passage speaks of Christ and His awareness of His identity.  He is the faithful witness.  He is the first-born out of the dead.  He freed us from sin.  He made us priests to serve God.  Jesus knew who He was because His identity came from the Father.  Each of these attributes of Jesus are true not because Jesus desired them to be true but rather because God the Father desired Christ to be each of these things.  Jesus’ identity originated with the Father.

This passage also screams authority.  The King sends out His Messiah.  Jesus comes clothed like a king with a sash around his chest.  His eyes were like flames.  His voice is like a lion.  From his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword full of power.  Here we see the conquering Messiah.  He knows His calling.  God has equipped Him and given Him authority.  Here we see Jesus coming in power to accomplish God’s will.

Revelation 1 gives us a balanced perspective.  Jesus knows His identity comes from God and is obedient to it.  He knows His authority comes from the King and He goes forth in power.

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Year 3, Day 342: Daniel 8

Theological Commentary: Click Here 

Discipleship Focus: King

• King: This is the pinnacle of the Kingdom Triangle.  When we look towards God’s position in the universe, we acknowledge that He is king.  Authority comes from Him.  Power comes through His authority.

When we look at these visions in Daniel 8, we see rams and goats warring against each other.  When the goat wins, we see horns within the goat war with each other.  We see one of the horns practice deception.  We see the powerful rise up and believe they can even take on God.  We see humanity at its ugliest when we see human beings chasing after power and control.

In the midst of that perspective, we remember God is king.  Human beings can wage war against each other all they want.  We can do despicable things to one another.  We can muster our power against God.  But God will win.  He is omnipotent.  He is all-powerful.  In the end, nothing can stand in the face of His absolute will.

That is the God to whom we look when we are looking for authority in this world.

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Year 3, Day 339: Daniel 5

Theological Commentary: Click Here 

Discipleship Focus: Authority/Power

• Authority: Our calling.  This comes from God as king.  Because He calls us as His representatives, He gives us authority to go and do His will.
• Power: This is the natural outcome when we truly get our authority from the king.  When our authority is from God, we are equipped with His power to accomplish His will.  We act on His behalf in a world that He desperately loves.

We know that our true authority can only come from God.  The King of Creation – God Himself – looks for people to represent Him to the world.  He’s not looking for people to give an hour of their life each week and come to give money to support the local religious institution.  Rather, God is looking for people to represent Him to a world that desperately needs Him!  To those people who look to Him and covenant with Him, He gives authority to be His representative.

Once we understand our authority to be His representative, then it is up to us to go forth in His power.  He wants us to go forth into the world and put His power on display.  He wants us to change people’s lives through His power.  He wants us to challenge people out of their sin.  He wants us to be His mouthpiece as He calls the world back to Him.

We see this loud and clear through Daniel in this chapter.  God places a horrible prophecy before the Babylonian king Belshazzar.  Who in their right mind goes before the king and tells the king that he has sinned, he hasn’t repented, and his kingdom will be torn from him?  Talk about your stereotypical “don’t kill the messenger” mission!  But this is exactly what Daniel does.  He does it because he has an understanding of his role under the King.

God is in charge.  Out of God’s kingship, God gave Daniel authority over Belshazzar to proclaim His message.  Out of that authority, Daniel embraced the power to do what God wanted him to do.  I cannot imagine how terrifying it must have been for Daniel to declare that message.  But I give him credit for understanding his role in God’s kingdom.

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