8/16/2026 Midtown Church – Elk Grove Campus
God Is King
Dr. Efrem Smith
Biblical Background
A king is a sovereign ruler with the highest authority over a kingdom, called to govern, protect, judge, and lead. Throughout Scripture, God is revealed as the ultimate King whose reign is eternal, righteous, and universal.
1. God Is Creator, Not Conqueror
Earthly kings conquer places and people. God created places, spaces, and people.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
- Genesis 1:1 (NIV)
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it…”
- Genesis 1:27–28 (NIV)
2. God Is Liberator, Not Oppressor
Earthly kings enslave and exploit. God empowers and saves.
The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them…”
- Exodus 3:7–8 (NIV)
3. God Is Provider, Not a Perverter of Possession
The God who created everything provides stewardship, not slavery.
He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves.
- 1 Samuel 8:17 (NIV)
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
- Genesis 1:28 (NIV)
Final Thought: Why Do We Reject God as King?
Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.
- John 19:19 (NIV)
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
- 1 Peter 2:9 (NIV)