The King’s Father
Matthew 6:9-15
November 14, 2021
King George VI ruled as king of England for about 15 years in the first half of the 20th century before he died in 1952 from coronary thrombosis. He was immensely popular, as was his wife, Queen Elizabeth. Yet as popular as she was, when George (“Bertie”) died, she took a back seat while her daughter, also Elizabeth, became the ruling monarch, taking the title Queen of England. And the woman who had been Queen became simply “the Queen Mother.”
The Queen’s mother seemed to be quite a nice lady (she died at age 100 in 2002) — but when her husband was king and later when her daughter was queen, she had no official power. I’m sure she had ability to persuade both her husband and daughter at times, and it would have been fun to be able to say, “I met the queen’s mother.” But while she carried many different titles (e.g., Commandant-in-Chief of the Army and Air Force Women’s Services, President of the British Red Cross Society, and Commandant-in-Chief of the Nursing Division of the St John Ambulance Brigade, among many others), she had no “queenly” power.
In the passage we want to examine this morning, King Jesus introduces us to His Father; but please do not that His Father’s position in His monarchy is anything at all like the British monarchy. They are not alike; the Father of King Jesus is not a powerless figurehead.
As we come to this passage, it will be helpful to think about the regency of Jesus and how He relates to His Father. We saw last week that Matthew makes that case that Jesus is King — the anointed Messiah that will fulfill the promise made to David (2 Sam. 7:16; Mt. 1:1; 4:17; 19:28; 28:18).
We also need to acknowledge that the OT regularly talks about the Kingdom of God — there are more than 3000 references to king, kingdom, reign, and throne (Ex. 19:6; Ps. 22:28; 45:6; 145:11-13) — and the great sin of Israel is that she rejected God as her king (1 Sam. 8:7). The OT references to the Kingship of God overwhelmingly are about the Father’s Kingship. So how can Father and Son both be King? There is such a thing as a co-regency, but it is even slightly different than that.
The OT pictures God as the eternal King of a universal kingdom, which He gives evidence of as far back as Genesis 1 — His sovereign creation demonstrates His rulership and right and ability to rule. So MacArthur says, “From before the beginning until after the end, from the beginning to the end, both in and beyond time and space, God appears as the ultimate King. God is central to and the core of all things eternal and temporal.” [Biblical Doctrine, 44.]
While the first person of the Trinity serves as universal King, He also establishes a mediatorial (mediated) kingdom on earth on which men will rule. The first “ruler” was Adam and he quickly went astray from God’s kingdom principles, as did every other subsequent ruler. When a formal kingdom was established for Israel (and then Judah), the rulers again repeatedly failed. But there is a coming King who will reign in that mediatorial Kingdom who will not fail — the Messiah Jesus (who was promised in 2 Sam. 7:16). He came in His first advent offering and presenting His Kingdom (Mt. 4:17); it was rejected (12:24), but He will be installed as King of that Kingdom one day (soon?! Mt. 25:31).
And that Millennial reign of Jesus will transition into God’s eternal Kingdom (Rev. 21-22) where Father and Son will jointly sit on the throne ruling their people (Rev. 22:1, 3 — one throne, two co-eternal regents).
So as we look at our Savior, we must have in mind that He is authoritative King and Sovereign. And He has a Father that has the same nature and qualities as Him, with the same authority; He is not only the King’s Father, but He is also the eternal King of the eternal Kingdom.
The goal this morning is to introduce you to the King’s Father. And I want to take you to a passage that is exceedingly familiar to you (even most unbelievers know this passage) so that you will see the King’s Father in a new manner. In Matthew 6, Jesus introduces us to His Father this way:
Our King’s Father is both transcendent and personal.
King Jesus reveals six characteristics of His Father, the eternal King:
- Our King’s Father is Our Father (v. 9a)
- Our King’s Father is Our Holy One (v. 9b)
- Our King’s Father is Our Sovereign (v. 10)
- Our King’s Father is Our Provider (v. 11)
- Our King’s Father is Our Forgiver (v. 12, 14-15)
- Our King’s Father is Our Protector (v. 13)
These characteristics not only reveal to us what the eternal King of Heaven is like, but these qualities also demonstrate the work of God on our behalf — what the King’s Father does for His subjects.
Download the rest of this sermon on Matthew 6:9-15.
The audio will be posted on the GBC website by tomorrow.
Words of Grace 