Crowned With ...

Crowns are the privilege of monarchs and princes.

This week Queen Elizabeth II attended the State Opening of Parliament to read out her Government's plans for legislation in the coming year. Many present were dressed in dramatic robes of various kinds or in the sometimes very strange uniforms of British pageantry. But amongst them all, there could be no doubt who was the monarch.

The Queen wore the Imperial State Crown - an extravagance of jewels with over 3,000 individual gems set in gold and silver with a purple cap and ermine trim.

Our Glorious King 
As Christians we know Jesus is our glorious King:

But we see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honour. Heb 2:9

One day everyone will recognise His sovereignty and bow the knee. We are simply His subjects.

Or is this really true?

We Have Crowns
Ordinary subjects don't have crowns. But when we examine Scripture we discover that God's people do have crowns.

Here are just three examples:

Psalm 103:4 - He crowns you with love and compassion. The diamonds, sapphires and pearls of the Imperial State Crown have nothing on these brilliant jewels. God has set His love and compassion on us and they beautify us more gloriously than any rare gem.

Psalm 149:4 - The Lord takes delight in his people; He crowns the humble with victory. Gold and silver won't buy your freedom from any sin but God gives us victory over temptation if we are humble enough to accept His help.

Proverbs 10:6 - Blessings crown the head of the righteous. We are righteous in Christ and so experience all the blessings God has for us. As Paul put it, we have been blessed in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ (Eph 1:3).

Love, compassion, victory and blessings - all things which should make us stand out as spiritual royalty and give us confidence in our Father, the King.

Why not take some time to meditate on these jewels and praise God for them.

Contemplating God's Glory

And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. 2 Cor 3:18

Glory is self-replicating.

It is impossible to encounter the glory of God without being changed.

Perhaps that is why we often shrink from prayer.

Our God is a consuming fire (Heb 12:29) and fire is comforting and warming just so long as we maintain a safe distance. So much of the time, when we come to God in prayer, we remain superficial, as though we are conducting some kind of business transaction.

Maybe we offer a few words of praise, admit some minor fault, say a polite "thank you" for answered prayer and bring some more problems which need solving. The whole exercise is quite pleasant, But we have not allowed The Lord's fiery gaze to burn into our soul.

And yet, if there is going to be any genuine transformation we need to take time to develop a deep intimacy with God.

One of my favourite quotes on prayer is from Andrew Murray:

Take time in the inner chamber to bow down and worship; and wait on Him until He unveils Himself.

But Paul tells us that we too need to unveil our faces.

It is as dangerous as playing with fire but that is when we begin to become Christ-like and to reflect the glory of God to the world.