A Seat for Royalty

People are fascinated with royalty. Pictures of William and Kate make front pages all over the world. The camera operators in the Olympics always made a point to show them sitting in the stands watching their countrymen competing for medals. It was these closeups of a cheering Prince and his bride that got me to thinking about how many little girls longs to be princesses, and little boys long to be valiant knights; or at least, how we long to be able to get good tickets to see gymnastics at the Olympics or to see Michael Phelps win his next medal. How amazing would it be to just walk into a venue and all the doors would open right up for you, not because of what you have done, but because of who you are by birth. I bet they never pay for a meal when they eat at the finest restaurants. They probably never have to wait for hours for a repairman to come. They meet all the most famous people. Imagine having tea with JK Rowling, I bet they can do that with just a phone call. Such is the life of royalty.

It looks different from my life in so many ways but there is an element of royalty that is very real in the lives of followers of Jesus. It is our family, and the inheritance we have in Jesus. I was reading about Isaac and God's blessing to him. It was curious to me because God told Isaac he would bless him because of the obedience of Abraham. Isaac's blessing was because of Dad, not his own righteousness, but the faithfulness of his father. It makes me think that we as parents have a responsibility to be faithful to God, and thus our own children will receive a blessing. That is a blog in itself, but not the one I want to write at the moment. At the moment I want to write about the blessing we receive because of the obedience of Jesus Christ, and the birthright that we inherit not because of our own actions, but because of the act of sacrifice Jesus made for us on the cross.

On most days, I don't feel very special. I am very susceptible to fear of rejection. I feel like I am just getting by and not really living an abundant life. I forget who I really am and the miracle of the cross that makes me who I am. The truth is that I am a daughter of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. I am one called out of darkness and into wonderful light. I am a chosen, beloved child of God. I am more than royalty and the crowns that I wear are more valuable than a diamond studded tiara. I am God's child, chosen before the foundation of the world.

Ephesians 1:3-12

 3-6How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He's the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.

 7-10Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we're a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth.

 11-12It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.

Long before God laid out the foundations of the earth, he was thinking about me, about you dear sister, God had you in his mind. His decision to redeem you was cemented in His head. His thoughts of you dressed in white brought him joy. Our royal robes are the righteousness of Jesus. Our royal title is daughter and son of the King of all Kings. In this world our heavenly credentials may not get us entrance into the finest restaurants or even football tickets, but in the real world we have entrance into heaven itself. We won't be standing outside the gates longing to enter in, we can boldly enter the most holy place (Hebrews 10:19). We can join that crowd of saints before the throne enjoying God and seeing God in His glory. To see God seated high on His throne with angels and rainbows and precious gems and a mulititude singing “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, Thanksgiving and honor and power and might, Be to our God forever and ever! Amen” (Rev. 7:12). That spot on the heavenly floor is the best seat in town. I wouldn't want to miss that show for anything. I will walk in there, or float or fly, somehow I will get there, and it won't be that I gained entrance because of what I accomplished. My ticket in will not have come from years of training, it will be from a moment of agony and pain experienced by someone other than myself. It will be because of Jesus.

Beloved of God, take a moment today to just thank God for who He has made you, who He is making you to be, and for the ultimate joy of being in His presence for today, tomorrow, and all of the tomorrows to come. We are dearly loved. It doesn't matter if in the moment I feel the love or not, I am loved. It is true. The love of God does not change like shifting shadows. We are His. Rejoice dear saint, rejoice.