“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end,” Isaiah 9:6-7a (ESV)
I love living in a powerful country like America. I recently came across a website that ranks all the world’s air powers, and the top five spots are as follows:
1. U.S. Air Force
2. U.S. Navy
3. Russian Air Force
4. U.S. Army Aviation
5. U.S. Marine Corps
That’s right, four of the top five slots belong to the United States of America. In fact, the same site estimates that the U.S. military combined has about enough air power to challenge almost the entire rest of the world. We’re the world’s dominant superpower and we have been for some time. In World War II, the Axis Powers challenged our military might and our forces pummeled theirs into submission. Afterward, Europe and Japan begged us for financial aid, and we rebuilt their economies while making the U.S. dollar the world’s reserve currency. Then the Soviet Union challenged our economic strength, and we outspent them until they crumbled into ruin. Anyone with the hubris to set themselves against the United States of America can expect only defeat and disgrace.
And yet, this level of influence is nothing new in the world. Daniel 2 talks about empires like this, kingdoms that were each a juggernaut in their own era, ruling not only their own people but also able to call other nations to account. God grants Nebuchadnezzar a dream of a statue representing the succession of four such empires: the Babylonians, the Medo-Persians, the Greeks, and the Romans. These were the greatest powers the ancient world would know. But in that same dream, a rock comes and smashes the statue. This rock represents Jesus, and when He arrives, He establishes a new kind of kingdom—one where leaders expect to serve instead of be served, where those who are poor, broken, and hurting are blessed, and those who are rich, powerful, and haughty are called to account. Any nation that does not bend to this King’s influence will ultimately be broken under the unstoppable weight of His reign.
I was born in America. But I was born again into this new kingdom, one that completely eclipses the power of the United States. The more I become a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven, the more I become a foreigner in America, and the more I find America’s customs strange and barbaric. Don’t get me wrong, as an ambassador for the Kingdom of Heaven, I’d ask for no other posting. But I still miss home. I want to see the fulfillment of a kingdom started 2,000 years ago, a kingdom with no fault or flaw and which will never end. And so I work in its service until I am called to return or until I see it fully manifest in this world.
Prayer: Lord, have mercy on our nation. Bring us to repentance; align our hearts once again with Your truth and Your will. May we walk more faithfully in allegiance to You, the King Above All Kings, and no longer war against Your plans and purposes.
~ Cameron Miller, writer
~ Photo: New York Empire State Building by Walkerssk, Pixabay
