God has said it, that settles it

In 2 Corinthians 1:20, the apostle Paul makes a startling claim. For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. No matter how you look at this statement, it truly is a bold claim to make. Paul, the apostle of Christ, made this claim, however, from a place of understanding, without a shadow of doubt, who God truly is.

Have you ever read the book of Esther in the old testament? If you have, you will know about the rule that any decree made by the king of Persia, or made in his name, was set in stone. That decree cannot be changed. The reality of this powerful rule became true for Esther and Mordechai in their fight against the evil decree that the Haman made in the name of King Xerxes. Haman decreed that on a specific day all Jews in the Kingdom would be annihilated.

As the story goes, Esther and Mordechai manage to open the King's eyes to the evil that Haman was attempting to perpetuate. Even with the King acknowledging that the plot to kill all the Jews in his Kingdom was undoubtedly evil, he himself could not change the decree, because it was set in his name. The only way around this evil decree was to make a new decree. The new decree that was made in the King's name said that all the Jews were allowed to defend themselves. Everyone sighed a sigh of relief because the Jews were rescued.

As believers, we acknowledge that the God we serve is King over everything, the whole world, the whole universe, everything. There is no one greater than Him. But do we understand what that means? In our modern world we have a very limited understanding of the power of a king. We know that kings and queens exist. We all know the royal families of the United Kingdom or Denmark, and we know there are many more that are maybe not so well known. Most of us see the royal families through the eyes of the paparazzi. How they dress and where they go for holiday is what interests us. Most of the monarchs around the world don't wield a great amount of power. We don't live in an era of kingly decrees, but of democracy and people power.

Unfortunately, we tend to place God's kingship in that same category that we place our earthly monarchs. Most of us struggle to understand the power that God wields as King of kings and Lord of lords. That is a sad place to be as a believer, because it influences how we read and understand the Bible, which is the Word of God.

In Isaiah 55 God talks about His Word accomplishing that which it set out to do. The tone that God is using here is that of a King that says: "if I have said it, that settles it." That is why the apostle Paul could write with confidence that every promise, no matter how many, is YES and AMEN (so be it). We can then also say that every prophecy that is written will come to pass.

What a wonderful hope that knowledge brings? Do you believe that child of the King? Do you understand that the day you accepted Jesus as Lord and Saviour, this King of heaven and earth became not just your King, because He has always been your King, whether you acknowledged Him or not, but now He has become your Father. The apostle Paul writes in Romans 8:17. Now, if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus tells a parable about the prodigal son. When the lost son came home, his father ran to meet him. He clothed him with a new robe, he placed new shoes on his feet and put his ring on his finger. In this wonderful story of redemption, the father represents God the Father and the prodigal son represents each one of us that returns to our Father. What was fascinating for me as I pondered this story, was the ring that is placed on his finger. In the old days, a ruler or king would wear a signet ring. The signet ring represents the authority of the king.

We learned about the power of this authority in the story of Esther. First, Haman used the signet ring of the King to give authority to his decree. Without the seal of the king's ring, the decree meant nothing. Then, later, Mordechai and Esther used the king's ring to seal their decree, which was needed to counteract Haman's evil decree.

In the story of the prodigal son, the father gave this lost child his authority to act in His name. When we become children of God, He gives us His authority. Jesus said in Matthew 18:18 “Truly, I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." And in John 16:23, "Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name."

This means as children of the King of kings and Lord of lords we have His authority. That is why James can argue that the prayer of the righteous has great power. The reason is, we are not praying in our own name or in our own power, but with the authority of our Heavenly Father.

The only question that I can leave with you, and it is the same question I asked myself....do you believe it?