How the American Dream can cause us to overlook the Kingdom of God.

Scripture: Psalms 2:1-12

How we choose to live our lives is our own. Regardless of what we choose, there are only two paths we can follow. 

1. Rebellion

2. Submission

In today’s culture, the latter is viewed as out of touch. Everyone wants to be on top, and the goal is to do things our way. To accomplish the most, you only find success when you carve out your path. This mentality is found in popular phrases like “make your own destiny.”

But God’s way is counterintuitive. His way is submission. In the final verse of our passage, God says, “Blessed are those who will take refuge in me.”

The term “submission” has been abused in churches and throughout history, yet it remains one of God’s principles. This is a concept that can be difficult to understand. Yet, for us to to bring our controlling and rebellious hearts to God we must want it badly enough.

With that in mind, before we review today’s text, we have to turn the spotlight on ourselves first.

Are we walking in rebellion or submission? 

“Why do the nations conspire and the people plot in vain The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, ‘Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.’” (Psalm 2:1-3)

We’re probably not alone in thinking that the world is getting noisier. No matter where you are, something is being shouted at you. It’s enough to destroy our sanity. 

Our natural inclination is much like the way of the world, defiance. But, as the noise increases, the misguided and misdirected are allowed more volume. Self-preservation and self-made is the name of the game in today’s world. People are doing what is right in their own eyes and their eyes only.  

This voice of defiance seeks freedom without God. This voice claims that it is up to something better and nobler than what God has ordained. However, the plan has already been laid out for us, and through rebellion, we overlook this. We will not find ourselves by defining our own reality and getting our way.

Too many people are searching for their freedom rather than searching for the master of freedom. It’s through the freedom to know submission that we can admit that this is not about my way. Instead, we realize that God has given us the gift of life so that we may know His way.

Unfortunately, the current status tells us to idolize the American dream and overlook the Kingdom of God. Yet to reverse that ideology, we find that submission is more than a blessing to our own lives, but a blessing to the whole world. 

“The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. He rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, ‘I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.’” (Psalms 2:4-6)

It’s easy to expend our emotional energy worrying or being angry about the things of the world. His vision is that we find peace in His plan. In verses, 4-6 we see that God has a voice more important than the voice of defiance and that’s the His voice. The voice of derision.

“I will proclaim the Lord’s decree: He said to me, ‘You are my son; today I have become your father. Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You will break them with a rod of iron; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.’” (Psalms 2:7-9)

Here we see the third voice, the voice of declaration. God has ordained the Messiah, and the earth is under His authority. Paul says in Philippians 3:21 that a day is coming that Jesus will bring everything under his control. 

“Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and celebrate his rule with trembling. Kiss his son, or he will be angry, and your way will lead to your destruction, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.” (Psalms 2:10-12)

The fourth and final voice is the voice of decision. Through our submission, we are to respect God and come under his authority. The word fear is used here to mean for us to be in awe of God. He has chosen for us to be in relation with Him. We are not abandoned, nor are we unprotected. 

This voice is also given to us through the Holy Spirit. When we submit and allow the Holy Spirit into our hearts, this is a voice of decision that tells us how to walk every day. It works to bring us peace and joy. 

The submitted life is a love offering of our egos and our affection to Christ. The most beautiful thing about submission is that it offers us the priceless treasure of the crucifixion of our will. Not the obliteration. When we talk about the crucifixion of our will, we’re talking bout the death of self-life. In such an upside-down world, we think that we will be fulfilled if we get our way. But the scripture teaches us the opposite. When we lay down our lives, we find resurrection.  

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About Christ Church Memphis
Christ Church Memphis is church in East Memphis, Tennessee. For more than 65 years, Christ Church has served the Memphis community. Every weekend, there are multiple worship opportunities including traditional, contemporary and blended services.