We are royals!We always knew what Bob was going to say. In every talk he gave, every time he read the Scriptures, and in every prayer he led, he always started with, "Isn't it great to be a child of the King?” And all of us would say, "Amen!" or "That’s right!” And we would feel better about ourselves and about the day ahead. Repetition has its place. If you don't think so, look at Psalm 136 in which the sentence, "His love endures forever,” occurs 26 times. Bob repeated his question so often that it soaked through my thick, heard-it-all-before skull and took its permanent residence in my subconscious. Now, whenever someone says, "Isn't it It is great to be a member of a royal family, and not just any royal family, but the royalty that rules the Universe itself. Talk about family pride! Talk about legacy! "All things are yours, whether... the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's" (1 Cor. 3:21-23). Being royals imposes on us certain responsibilities as we represent our Father, the King. But the duties of living as princes and princesses who must uphold the family reputation are worth the privileges of belonging to Him now and reigning with Him later. Having Him as our King is good; knowing Him as our Father is awesome! |
| —Steve Singleton DeeperStudy.com |
Want to go deeper?That last clause of 1 Cor. 3:22-23--"all things are yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's" is an unusual contruction. If we take the string of genitives as possessives, the regular meaning of the genitive case, then the NASB rendering is a good one: "all things belong to you, and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God." That's what it says, but what does it mean? Here's the context: the Corinthians are dividing themselves into little rival groups, each with its own rallying cry, "I belong to Paul," "I to Apollos," "I to Cephas," and "I to Christ." In an infantile, petty competition, they were trying to get an edge on their fellow Christians and in the process dismember the body of Christ (see 1:13). Paul's response is, you don't belong to them, they belong to you, along with everything else. This is only true, however, because you belong to Christ, who has all power and authority. Only in him do you possess all things--you do because he does. Yet even He is not the ultimate: He belongs to God.
Tony Evans. Who is This King of Glory? Experiencing the Fullness of Christ's Work in Our Lives (2002) Everyone knows about Jesus Christ, has heard His name, maybe even prayed to Him in an hour of dire emergency. But few really know Him as "very God of very God" and, at the same time, Friend, Provider, Master, Savior. He is Deity. He is humanity. God in the flesh, who for a moment in history chose to live on the earth He created. In this practical, Biblically-based volume, Tony Evans examines Jesus, "the greatest of all subjects," from three different perspectives: His uniqueness, His authority, and our appropriate response to Him. In Who Is This King of Glory, you will see Christ in all His glory, in all His majesty, and all of His holiness; yet you'll find Him an approachable Friend, loving Savior, and a forgiving Lord. Recommended for online reading: Horace Noel. "Sanctification," p. 49 in his Who Are the Children of God? An inquiry in the the doctrine of Holy Scripture (1874). |
great...” I automatically respond, "...to be a child of the King?" Often I say this out loud, and my accompanying smile sometimes bewilders whoever hears me. That smile is inevitable once the thought surfaces.