A Tale of Two Kings

Welcome to FACETS of Faith where we’ve been exploring what it looks like to walk in awareness of the royal treatment God has for His precious daughters.  We thought it would bless you to have a man’s perspective on how a royal daughter of the King should be treated. If this is not your present reality, we pray you listen to God’s voice, allow Him to treat you as the righteous, regal daughter you are as God leads and guides your steps.  For our male audience, we pray God engages your heart as well, so you enjoy the fruit of your efforts and God brings forth a bountiful harvest in your life.  Without further ado, please join me in welcoming Pastor Ted. I pray the truths God placed on his heart minister to yours.

Once upon a time, in fact the beginning of time, there was a beautiful garden. In the garden were two people, a king and queen. The queen was the most beautiful woman on the planet; actually, the only one. She lived in the perfect environment without any problems. Can you imagine? It was paradise.  No, really, it was bliss created by God’s vision come to life, a home prepared for His precious creation.

Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.” Then God said, “Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food. And I have given every green plant as food for all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, and the small animals that scurry along the ground—everything that has life.” And that is what happened. Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day. Genesis 1:26-31 NLT

Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame. Genesis 2:25 NLT

This is a beautiful fairytale and one we all would like to live in whether we are a man, a woman, single, or married. What would you say if I told you this is not a fairytale? This is real life and how God wants it to be.

God created us and put us in this perfect world without problems. We walked around naked with no shame. But something happened. The bible tells us a serpent came into the perfect place and deceived the king and queen.

The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the LORD God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.'” “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.” The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.  Genesis 3:1-7 NLT

Their kingdom would never be the same again.

When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the LORD God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the LORD God among the trees. Then the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?” He replied, “I heard You walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.” “Who told you that you were naked?” the LORD God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?” The man replied, “It was the woman You gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.” Then the LORD God asked the woman, “What have you done?” “The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.” Genesis 3:8-13 NLT

There are three things to take notice of here about how the king (Adam) treated the queen (Eve).

1. The king did not properly protect his queen from evil.

God gave the king dominion over the kingdom (garden of Eden), and he was supposed to protect his queen. The serpent was able to walk right into the garden and slither his way to the queen. Adam had her hanging out under the forbidden tree when she could have been lounging under any other tree in the garden. God had given a clear edict. “Don’t eat it. Don’t touch it, or you will die.” They were in a tempting situation, and the serpent managed to sneak past the superior king. This king was not prepared in the good times for when an enemy would come in; his guard was down. He failed to protect his queen by allowing her to be in a vulnerable position.

2. The king hid his queen from God because of his shame.

When God came to walk with them in the garden, the king and queen were hiding from him. The king was ashamed, so he influenced his wife to hide from God with him. While he was trying to deal with his own problems, he caused her walk with God to cease. He had done this horrible thing and his strong leadership led his queen to hide from God. Instead of being the spiritual leader of the household, he contributed to his wife’s spiritual stumbling.

3. The king taught his queen to blame others.

When God asked, “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”,  the king’s response was to blame his queen. And he even blamed God saying, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit and I ate it”.

The king was afraid and full of shame. He did not take responsibility for his own actions. Instead, he shifted blame to his queen. Because of his example and influence, she did the same when she responded to God when He asked, “What have you done?”

Eve replied, “The serpent deceived me that’s why I ate”.

The king pointed his finger at his queen, and she pointed her finger at the serpent. They both admitted to eating the forbidden fruit, but blamed others for the reason why.  Neither took responsibility for their actions.

The treatment from this king (Adam) is not “royal treatment” by any means. This story doesn’t end with this king. There is another King and kingdom we read about in scripture. This King is called the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. His name is King Jesus. Let us look at the “royal treatment” He gives His bride.

1. Jesus cast out evil from His kingdom, so you can be free from evil.

When the 72 disciples returned, they joyfully reported to Him, “Lord, even the demons obey us when we use Your name!” “Yes,” He told them, “I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning! Luke 10:17-18 NLT

When evil showed up in the kingdom of heaven, it was cast out in a blink of an eye under the reign of King Jesus. When Peter tried to rebuke Jesus in Matthew 16:22-23, Jesus said, “Get behind me Satan”.

Jesus didn’t allow any evil to persuade Him. He gave this same authority to His bride.

Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” Luke 10:19-20 NKJV

2. Jesus resisted sin and became sin, so nothing can separate you from His love.

In the book of Hebrews chapter 4:15, it tells us Jesus was tempted in every way but did not sin. In 2 Corinthians 5:21 we read that Jesus never sinned and became the offering for our sin. And in Romans 8:38-39, we learn in Christ nothing can separate us from the love of God. You see King Jesus never let sin influence Him, so you can walk with God─blameless, righteous, His.

3. Jesus made you blameless, so you can be with Him for eternity.

King Jesus presents you holy and blameless before God.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. Ephesians 5:25-27 NIV

When we look to men to get what only Jesus can give, we find ourselves unprotected, hiding from God, and thrown under the bus in blame. When we look to King Jesus, we get the “royal treatment” and we live happily ever after.

Let Jesus be the King of your heart. His leadership brings love, hope, and freedom.

I will finish with a call to all the men. In Ephesians 5:25-27 it is noticeably clear how we are to lead women. We can lead them in the right direction or lead them in the wrong direction.

I hear men all the time say things like, “If she would have…” or “If she didn’t do…”.

Listen men. We are called to lead. When we do the wrong thing and make excuses because of her behavior, we are leading her astray. If the woman entrusted to our care has a weakness, wash her with the water of the Word. When she makes a mistake, wash her with the water of the Word. If she is having a bad day, wash her with the water of the Word. If she is having a good day, wash her with the water of the Word. Men I challenge you to follow the example of Jesus. Live a selfless life, and continually wash her with the water of the Word. Your life will be better because of it and hers will be too.

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