King or Pawn?

1) It's God who raises up people of power to accomplish His purposes in time and in eternity.

John 18- We see Jesus praying, then betrayed by one of his own, arrested by the guards of the Jewish religious leaders, and questioned by the priests Annas and Caiaphas. They are hoping to pin charges against Jesus to be able to wipe Him out from gaining more power. Jesus is caught between inside power...his own people, his own culture, his own religion. He answered them in a way that upset them enough to go to the Romans to have Him executed because they lacked the authority to do so.

Tiberius was the Roman Emperor at the time and probably didn't know much about Jesus. Pilate absolutely had the power to execute Jesus, but he didn't want to so he sent Him to Herod, who also did not want to participate, so he sent Him back to Pilate. (Luke 23:8-12) They were outside power that wanted nothing to do with anything, but the inside power was relentless, so Pilate eventually gave in and handed Jesus over for execution, but put a sign on the cross in the 3 main languages proclaiming Jesus was King of the Jews.

Jesus was railroaded by inside power, that was condoned and blessed by outside power. With that, Jesus breathed His last. There was a day when the Son of God was killed by the authorities of the day. So don't lose your mind over what is happening presently; it cannot get worse than that.

So was Jesus a King or a Pawn? It's pretty clear that everyone else is a pawn and Jesus is King. It was God's set purpose that was unfolding that day. God needed the inside power to railroad the Son of God, and He needed the outside power to crucify Him so that then He could be raised from the dead by the power of God on the third day to explode into life a Church that is triumphant in the world even to this day.

2000 years later, the only reason we know Tiberius, Annas, or Caiaphas is because they are a bit players in a story where Jesus is the main character. The Roman Empire ended in 476 AD. Herod died in 39 AD, Tiberius in 37 AD, and Pilate in 36 AD. If Jesus wasn't alive and talked about today, no one would know about them. They were pawns.

In Daniel 2, Nebuchadnezzar took captive the best and brightest out of Jerusalem and brought it to Babylon. He had a terrible dream and gathered wise men to interpret, but no one could. With Daniel's life on the line, he devotes a night to praying to God for help and asks his friends to join him. The next day he is able to tell the king what his dream was and what it meant. King Nebuchadnezzar did not realize his kingdom was on a fast track to nowhere and that the rock in the dream is the one rejected by man but represents the Savior of the world that will have an eternal Kingdom. (Matthew 21:42)

Isaiah 46:11 talks about a "bird of prey that will come out of the east". From 603 BC-539 BC, Babylon is in a tailspin, Cyrus conquers them from Persia, setting up the Persian Empire and Babylon becomes a footnote of history.

How does this play out today? God raises people of power for His purpose and plan. On either side of the political aisle, we think God can't use the opposite side. God uses ALL people to accomplish HIS plan and purpose. God holds history and moves the pieces.

2) You are never a pawn if you belong to a king.

Our time is in the hands of the King of Kings. In Daniel 3, the same three friends who prayed with Daniel are now faced with a decision. Nebuchadnezzar built a massive idol and demanded worship to it. They refused. You tend not to fall for the bird of prey when you have been up all night praying for a miracle for yourself or someone else and you see God do it. So, they were thrown into the fire, and there was clearly a fourth person in there with them. We believe that was Jesus. Jesus gets into the fire with you. He delivers us IN the furnace before He delivers us OUT of the furnace, showing His superior strength in our lives before He gets us out of the difficulty. He is enough.

Nebuchadnezzar was so impressed that He worshiped the One True God, but he would eventually go astray again. He spent 7 yrs out of his mind insane, and God in his mercy, restored him so that he would be a footnote in history. The King has the final say. People connected to the King never say, "This is unfair," "This is ridiculous," or "These people are ruining my life; they're railroading me; everybody's wrecking my plans." Nobody is wrecking God's plans if you're submitted to Him.

The three friends honored the King. We pray for those in authority over us. When you disagree, you disagree with honor and respect to the person God has raised up to power to accomplish His purpose and plan. If you do like the leader, make sure your honor doesn't cross over to worship. We don't worship anyone but the King. God is in charge. Pray for people in power that they know that God is controlling everything.

3) The future of our nation depends far more on the people of God than those in charge.

The Church has to refocus its heart on God. The Body of Christ should be the best example of truth, grace, and love. We will come for the broken, feed people, and stand in the gap for anyone in need. Neither political party can have enough programs to do this, it's the Church that steps up.

Prayer Points

1) Thank God that He runs History.

2) Ask God to forgive us for losing the plot and focus us on the King and the Kingdom.

3) God would open the eyes of our leaders to see Jesus fully for who He truly is.