ROYALTY

Royalty

Have you ever been treated like royalty? I have! Years ago, when going through an extremely rough patch, a Christian couple invited me to spend a long weekend with them in their home in Tasmania. While there I commented that they were treating me like royalty. ‘That’s because you are!’ came the instant reply. Another Christian couple treated my wife and I to a very expensive evening meal in a fancy restaurant in a five-star hotel’s penthouse. The view of the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge at night was spectacular. And so was the service. We were treated like royalty by the couple and by all who waited on our table.

The Bible says we are to esteem others better than ourselves. It’s not just royalty that we’re to treat as royalty. It’s everyone. But do we? Do we treat those with different political views as royalty? Those of different religions, including the religions of secularism and atheism? Those who follow the opposing team at sports? You’re getting the picture. We don’t always consider others better than ourselves.

How was the King of kings treated? Did His disciples treat Him like royalty? Did they wash His feet for Him? Let Him sleep when He was tired? Cook breakfast on a beach for Him? Carry His cross for Him? Lay down their lives for Him? Jesus did all this and whole lot more for them. As their representative He kept God’s Law perfectly for them. As their substitute He paid the price of their sin for them. ‘For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord’ Romans 6:23. So, who’s treating who like royalty? His disciples or Jesus?

How do you treat the One who is worthy of being treated like royalty? Do you honour Him with your time, with your money, with your politics, with your religion, with your worldview? Does your family, does your church, and does your state honour Him? What happens when the queen visits your country? Do they put out the red carpet and give her the royal treatment? Well, what about Jesus? The Bible calls Him, ‘KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS’ Revelation 19:16b. How is He is treated by your family, by your church, and by your state? Red carpets? Is He esteemed better than others?

Some people have a poster hanging in their home with these or similar words, ‘Christ is the head of this house. The chosen guest at every meal. The silent listener to every conversation.’ How does the following sound to you ‘Christ is the head of this restaurant’? ‘Christ is the head of this pub’? This football team? This political party? This supermarket? This airline? This earth? This universe? You can see that the world still has a very long way to go to honour Christ the way God does. ‘In your relationships with one another, have the same mind-set as Christ Jesus: Who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross. Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the Father.’ Philippians 2:5-11.