God’s Word to the World (5)

Serve the LORD with fear,
And rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son… Psalm 2.11, 12

Called to proclaim
The Apostle Peter explained that those who believe in Jesus have been constituted as a new nation (1 Pet. 2.9, 10). We have been translated by God into the Kingdom of His Son, the Kingdom of life and light and glory and beauty and goodness and justice and love. Christians have emerged from the storm-tossed shell of their battered lives and cruel world, into the bright new dawn of a day they never imagined they could know.

We definitely aren’t in Kansas anymore, Toto.

Those who have experienced this Kingdom, and who live in the very presence of its King, “under the heavens,” know that nothing in this world “under the sun,” as Solomon would say, can compare with the intimate communion, sweet fellowship, and transforming power of Jesus Christ. Peter says that those who inhabit this new realm are called to proclaim the excellencies of God and His King to the whole world. We want everyone to know the joy and hope and glory we live in, and to escape the fears, guilt, and folly of their rebellious, raging, and vain lives.

We are the joy of the Lord to our world, each of us within our own spheres of influence.

Our message begins by declaring the existence of a new reality, a new realm of being – the Kingdom of God – and a King Who is so powerful, absolute, and unchanging in His rule that nothing and no one can stand against His will. We challenge the rebels of this age at their most receptive point – the point of fear – and we call on them to fear Him Who can destroy in wrath any who think they can oppose Him and His will.

But, in the same breath, and with just as much passion, we must proclaim the great promise of entering into the intimate fellowship, companionship, safety, and love of this self-same Sovereign.

Kiss the Son!
How strange it seems that God calls sinners, not to grovel before His King, but to throw their arms around Him and kiss Him with trembling and rejoicing! I can tell you, I remember the first time I ever kissed Susie. Trembling and rejoicing gets at it pretty well, and, frankly, still does. Rebellious sinners, raging insanely against the sovereign God and His anointed King, men up to their eyeballs in self-love and all its corrosive effects, horrible people, and people who outwardly look fine but inwardly are snakes poised to strike – people like you and me – God calls us all to step up to the throne and launch ourselves into the loving lap of our only Savior and Lord.

God’s Word to the world is that they must fear His King. But, at the very same time, His call to them is to see in Jesus such beauty, compassion, mercy, wonder, and loveliness – such kindness, tenderness, meekness, and friendliness – that they need have no fear of holding out their hands to Him and approaching Him in an embrace of love. He stands ready to receive as many as will believe in Him, and to draw them into Himself, into His love, into the new birth and new life of love and glory, joy and rejoicing, which is the experience and hope of all who truly know the Lord.

The desire to love and be loved is the second receptor and chord of the human heart that our proclamation must seek to strum. Everyone wants to be loved, to know they are accepted and will be embraced and cared for. And everyone wants to give himself for such love as much as he wants to be loved. So when we announce to vainly raging sinners that, in spite of how foolish and sinful they are, King Jesus loves them so much that He has taken their sins on Himself and submitted to God’s judgment on their behalf, we begin to strum that love receptor in their souls, so that they can be drawn to Him with trembling and rejoicing.

A calling to love
The Kingdom of God is a realm where love obtains, after the example and in the living power of the very King of Love, Who is Shepherd of all the flocks He has purchased with His blood. Kissing the Son is the great, ongoing privilege of all who truly know Him. Imagine if you will, because this is what the psalmist intends us to do, putting your face next to the face of Jesus. Smell the sweet myrrh and cassia of His robes (Ps. 45.8). Feel the smoothness of His glorious white hair, and let the warm glow of His flashing eyes penetrate your soul (Rev. 1.14). Put your cheek against His, and your lips upon His jaw. Kiss the Son, and feel the joy that He feels in receiving you, the strength of His arms as He holds you, the merging and meshing of your being with His as you commune in utmost intimacy with the Ruler of all creation.

Now imagine living this way every moment of every day of your life, for this is the calling and promise to all who truly know King Jesus, who dwell in His Kingdom of love and who say with the Apostle, “For me to live is Christ!” (Phil. 1.21) For all who believe, our lives have been hidden with Christ in God. We are united with Him, participate in Him, conduct our daily lives in Him, and proclaim Him and His joyous Kingdom to our world.

What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul! What wondrous love is this! God’s Word to the world is a message of love, and once we’ve begun to know that love truly, we will be eager to proclaim it passionately to the lost people in our world.

For reflection
1.  How can God command us both to fear and love Him? How do these two affections work together to help us know a proper and fruitful relationship with God?

2.  Reflect on the exercise recommended in this lesson (“Imagine if you will…”). Is this the way you experience your relationship with King Jesus? Explain.

3.  “Now imagine living this way every moment of every day of your life, for this is the calling and promise to all who truly know King Jesus, who dwell in His Kingdom of love and who say with the Apostle, ‘For me to live is Christ! (Phil. 1.21)” How could you begin to see this statement be more true of your life each day?

Next steps – Conversation: Read again the last section of this article, beneath the heading A calling to love.How do you respond to this way of thinking about your relationship with Jesus? Share this article with a friend, and get together to talk about it.

T. M. Moore

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.