Have you ever played King
of the Hill—especially you who once were boys? Those who live in northern
climates play it on snowbanks, while others may play on mounds of dirt at
excavation sites. The object of the game is to be first to get to the top of
the hill, and then to keep from being dragged down by others who want to be
“King of the Hill.”
Doesn’t that sound like
fun—being at the top? But wait a minute. Is being at the top a safe place to
be? Do the other players respect the one who is at the top? “Wherefore let him
who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12).
When we play a game, which
do we prefer—to win, to lose, or does it not make any difference whether we win
or lose? Why is it that most of us prefer to win? be “King of the Hill? be #1
in our class or department or on our team? Is it not the pride of our heart? “I
say … to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly
than he ought to think” (Rom. 12:3).
Do people like you better,
do you get more respect, if you win the tennis match or the Scrabble game?
Sometimes the losers say you cheated, or were just lucky and got all the good
breaks. They let you know that it certainly was not your superior skill or
intelligence that beat them. Or, turning it around, do you always have high
respect for those who just defeated you or your team? Do you “rejoice with
those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep” (Rom. 12:15)?
The King of the Hill game
has been around for a long time. It is described a couple of times in the
Bible:“How are you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!… For
you have said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne
above the stars of God…. I will be like the most High” (Isa. 14:12-14). “God
knows that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and you
shall be as God, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree
was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be
desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave
also unto her husband with her; and he did eat” (Gen. 3:5,6).
God is the highest of all,
#1, the Creator, all-powerful, all-knowing. Is God respected and liked by all
His created beings because He is #1? No! Both Satan and Eve wanted the place
that God Himself occupied.
Have you ever played
King of the Hill with God, like Satan and Eve? The following verses may help
you to answer this question:“Every man did that which was right in his own
eyes” (Judg. 21:25). “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every
one to his own way” (Isa. 53:6). “But his citizens hated Him, and sent a
message after Him, saying, We will not have this Man to reign over us” (Luke
19:14,27). “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23).
In a sense, we throw God off His throne whenever we sin and do our will
in opposition or without regard to His perfect will. We were all at one
time the enemies of God (Rom. 5:10; Col. 1:21).
People say, “I have never
hurt anyone.” But you hurt God every time you challenge His authority. Have you
sought to do all things to glorify God throughout your lifetime? Or have you
ever turned to your own way? done your own thing? said “No!” to your parents
when you were a child? whined “Why can’t I?” or just did what you wanted to do
anyway when you were a teenager? Sadly, if we are truly honest with ourselves,
we all will have to confess that we have pushed God off His throne and sat on
it ourselves—many times!
Now here is the situation:
God, the true King of the Hill, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe (Gen.
1; Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:3), the Creator of mankind (Gen. 1:26,27), found Himself
disrespected, despised (Mal. 1:2,6), and reproached (Psa. 69:9) by man whom He
created. What should He do? God decided to do something so awesome, so
stupendous, so amazing, so wonderful, that people would want to respect
Him, obey Him, serve Him, worship Him. What did He do? Did He send a ball of
fire to kill a third of people of the world? No. In fact, the Bible says that
God will do just that during the Great Tribulation, and even then, “the
rest of the [people] who were not killed by these plagues yet repented not”
(Rev. 9:18-20).
What did God do? He sent
His Son. And His Son humbled Himself, allowed wicked men to take Him, mock
taunt, beat, strip, falsely accuse Him, and nail Him to the cross. Notice that
not once did He say to His enemies, “You can’t get away with this! I’m King of
the Hill!” (see 1 Pet. 2:23). Rather he prayed for them, “Father, forgive them,
for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).
Yes, Christ was—and is—the
King of the Hill. But He willingly, voluntarily, came down from His throne in
heaven—for your sake and mine! “I am counted with those who go down into the
pit; I am as a man who has no strength…. Thou hast laid Me in the lowest pit,
in darkness, in the deeps” (Psa. 88:4,6). “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you
through His poverty might be rich” (2 Cor. 8:9). “Let this mind be in you,
which was also in Christ Jesus:Who, being in the form of God, thought it not
robbery to be equal with God:but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon
Him the form of a Servant, and was made in the likeness of men … and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Phil. 2:5-8). “We see Jesus
who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death” (Heb.
2:9).
What is so special about
God’s Son going to the cross?
1. He was the co-eternal,
co-equal Son of God (John 1:1; 10:30).
2. He had the power to
escape—but didn’t (Matt. 26:53).
3. His sufferings were so
great and terrible (Psa. 22; 40; 69; 88; Isa. 52:13-53:12; Matt. 26:57-27:50).
4. His sufferings and death
were for our sins (1 Cor. 15:3; Eph. 5:2; 1 Pet. 2:24).
How does this affect you?
Does it make you weep “with joy and sorrow mingling”? Or do you shrug your
shoulders and say, “Duh, whatever.”
When we realize that we are
sinners, rebels, enemies of God, deserving eternal separation from Him in the
lake of fire—and when we learn that the Lord Jesus Christ bore God’s holy anger
and punishment for our sins—doesn’t this give us a great deal of respect for
Him? Don’t we want to honor Him, please, obey, serve, and worship Him? We
surely do! Every morning when we awaken, and every night before going to bed,
and in between as well, we should remember that all our blessings and hopes and
assurance of eternal life are a result of the sufferings, death, and
resurrection of Christ.
Whom do you want to be
like? Do you want to be like Satan who wanted to be King of the Hill, to exalt
his “throne above the stars of God” and “be like the Most High”? Or do you want
to be like Christ who “made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the
form of a servant … in the likeness of men … obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross”?
What happened to Satan when
he wanted to be King of the Hill? God said, “You shall be brought down to hell,
to the sides of the pit” (Isa. 14:15; Rev. 20:10). What were the consequences
of Eve wanting to be King of the Hill? “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and
your conception; in sorrow you shall bring forth children…. Cursed is the
ground for your sake…. Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to
you…. In the sweat of your face shall you eat bread” (Gen. 3:16-18).
On the other hand, what
happened to Christ when He humbled Himself? “God also has highly exalted Him,
and given Him a name that is above every name” (Phil. 2:9). “Exalt” means to
lift up very high. “Highly” is added to that.
What will happen to those
who follow Satan? “Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast
into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:15). What will happen to those who follow
Christ? They “shall not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). “The
Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout … and the dead in Christ
shall rise first; then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together
with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be
with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:15-17).
Finally, for those who
desire to be the King of the Hill:“The day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon
every one who is proud and lofty, and upon every one who is lifted up; and he
shall be brought low…. And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the
haughtiness of men shall be made low:and the LORD alone shall be exalted in
that day” (Isa. 2:12,17; also 40:4; Ezek. 17:24).
For those who humble
themselves and allow God to remain on His throne—to be King of the Hill:
“Though the LORD be high, yet has He respect unto the lowly” (Psa. 138:6).
“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt
you in due time” (1 Pet. 5:6).