None Other.
“And the scribe said to Him, 'You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that He is one, and there is no other besides Him'” (Mark 12:32).
All of history is His story - and we're living through it. Every day, every moment, counts for eternity and counts for Him. Our lives either abound unto Christ, or rail against Him; there remains no middle ground concerning Him with whom we have to do. Indeed, “What we do in life, echoes in eternity.”
And yet, do not some moments feel weightier than most? As though we are, the lot of us, standing upon a great threshold that, once crossed, ushers us into a new day, for good or for ill. If for good, praise the Lord. And if for ill? Praise the Lord all the same, since “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good” (Romans 8:28). Whether in the best of times or the worst of times, the Lord is God and God He will stay. When the flow of history seems uncertain and fearful, remember this: it is His story, and He is the One who determines the end from the beginning.
Indeed, no matter who is President, Jesus is King: “On His robe and on His thigh He has a name written: King of kings and Lord of lords” (Revelation 19:16). The Lord reigns from on high, and all things are under His rule - angels, demons, men, birds, beasts, creeping things, the seen and the unseen are all His, whether they realize it or not. Every. Knee. Will. Bow.
Even if the tides of history begin to turn for, in our estimation, the very worst of outcomes, there remains no need to fear or tremble: “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” (Psalm 46:10). The Lord forms both light and darkness for His glorious purposes, and He will be magnified in them both.
Should the kings of this earth and the very nations themselves rage and revile, what is it to Him, the Almighty?: “He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision” (Psalm 2:4). Rulers come and go, but the Lord remains forever; He is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore.
And what of the kings of this earth, and the power they wield? What of it?: “The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it wherever He will” (Proverbs 21:1). They are as clay in the hands of the Master Potter: “Our God is in the heavens; He does all that He pleases” (Psalm 115:3).
And should things “go our way”, we would do well to remember what He has said of Himself: “I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God” (Isaiah 45:5). He alone is our Rock, our steadfast hope, our Savior - salvation belongs to the Lord and none other.
Like us, the prophet Isaiah lived in a time of political turmoil and unrest. Indeed, there was no earthly king to be found in all of Israel, for he was dead: “In the year that King Uzziah died...” (Isaiah 6:1). Uzziah's death marked the end to a time of relative peace and prosperity in the land of Israel. In the midst of darkness and uncertainty, God Himself lifted Isaiah's head upwards where he “saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of His robe filled the temple” (Isaiah 6:1). In Isaiah's vision, the holy angels themselves could not bear to even look at Him, the once and future King:
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!' And the foundations of the threshold shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: 'Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” (Isaiah 6:3-5).
Isaiah saw the King. Uzziah was dead; but the Lord of the universe, the thrice-holy King of kings and Lord of lords, was there, just as He always had been.
Indeed, no matter who is President, Jesus is King and always will be - there is none other.
Photo by Paul Bulai, Unsplash
