Hi all,
We are citizens of a kingdom, not a parliament or republic
In a kingdom there is a king and the king’s family who are royalty, and then there are the common citizens.
We have a King named Jesus. He rules a kingdom, the kingdom of His Father, and as such they have family: us. According to Ephesians 1: 1-8, we have both been adopted into the family through the agency of Jesus and also born into the family. To understand that we are children of the King and therefore royalty, let us look to His original intent with Israel.
The plan of Israel
God told Israel in Exodus 19: 5-6 He intended them to be a “treasured nation above all people, a kingdom of priests, a holy nation”. His intent was for the nations to know Him through the royal nation of Israel. They were to have been a theocracy – a nation ruled by God. To no other nation did He extend that invitation. Other nations could know Him through Israel, the top nation of the earth, because God was in covenant with them – not any other.
They were to be the royals, but they failed and rejected their national priesthood…But God got His way, to have a special people above all others, a kingdom of priests when He turned to (primarily) non-Israeli people (Gentiles). Note I Peter 2: 9:
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a royal nation, God’s special possession…” It is exactly what God told Israel He intended of them in Exodus 19: 5-6. But now we, you and I, have become that royal priesthood of God, given an assignment to spread the knowledge of God to the nations as Israel had before us….
His plan succeeded after all, as Peter’s words are confirmed in Revelation 1: 6 and 5: 10: “He has made us unto our God a kingdom of priests.” We are the royals. This is why Paul told the Corinthians in I Corinthians 6:2 that we will judge (rule over, administrate) the world to come and angels. The royals rule the non-royals in a kingdom.
Royals have access to their Sovereign, others do not. We are told to come boldly to the throne. We are told we’ve been both born into and adopted into the Kingdom. You and I right now are royals – we need to live like it. We have authority to command evil spirits away using His name – why? Because we’re part of His family, we can use His name. We command healing into bodies. We live uprightly and holy lives as royals of the King should – it is a process and none of us are perfect (but we aren’t accountable to perfection, only to growth).
God wants to expand His royal family
We live in a time when the invitation has gone out to believe, to be born again, to be grafted into the royal stock of believing Israel. The invitation has been extended since Pentecost, to become a royal: But that invitation has an expiration date.
The Marriage Supper of the Lamb
In Revelation 19: 5-9 we see the marriage supper of the Lamb. This celebratory feast takes place in heaven while the earth undergoes the tribulation. The marriage supper of the Lamb is with the bride of Christ, (the body of Christ), who, according to the Feast of Trumpets, were ‘caught away’ to heaven with Messiah at the blowing of the last trump at the start of what we call ‘the tribulation’.
“Let us rejoice and exult and give him glory, because the wedding celebration of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready. She was permitted to be dressed in bright, clean, fine line for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. Then the angel said to me, “Write the following: Blessed are those who are invited to the banquet at the wedding celebration of the Lamb! And it was given to her that she should be clothed in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.”
When one sends invitations to a party it means some are invited and some are not. We are invited. Others not.
While the body of Christ is in heaven, millions more are getting saved on earth during the tribulation. Millions are being killed for their faith. Many are dying by starvation and disease. Revelation 20:4 does say those in the tribulation who did not worship the beast nor take his number will rule and reign with Christ for 1000 years – so they will join us in that – but they missed the marriage supper of the Lamb because while we were in heaven they were on the earth in the tribulation. We’ve been invited to miss the Tribulation because we are royalty, His children, and as Paul told the Thessalonians twice, we have been delivered from the days of wrath and the ‘wrath to come’.
Consider also those people who survive the Tribulation will go directly into the Millennium upon His return and the setting up of His kingdom. Zechariah 14: 16: “And it will be that whosoever survives of those nations that came against Jerusalem, will come year by year to Jerusalem at the Feast of Tabernacles to worship the King…”
Millions of new believers will survive the tribulation – but they aren’t the bride that was in heaven at the marriage supper of the Lamb.
What my angel said
Some will recall me sharing about the time with ‘my angel’ and the Lord, when I was allowed to ask some questions of my angel. I asked him how he felt about me ruling over him in the next age, and the immediate reaction seen in his face was one of horror that I could even ask such a thing: “It is right! It is proper!” I asked why and he responded more gently, realizing I truly did not understand: “Remember, we know Him as Creator, but you know Him as Savior.”
We are in a special time and have been made a royal priesthood, a kingdom of priests. We need to appreciate how special we are in the kingdom of heaven. It should inspire us to live like it. Remember, our King values a cup of water to the thirsty, kindness to children, the giving of food and clothing, and visiting those we care about. Those are kingdom values.
Everything is going to burn away, but people are eternal. That is core to the values of the Kingdom.
We don’t know the fullness of the grace of God, but we know He is fair. We know ignorance can play a part in one’s entrance into the kingdom, and we know the most basic way of knowing Him is to see Him in creation. We have many more questions than answers, but we know He is just. The heart is in the realm of God and I think we will be surprised who is in heaven…
New subject next week, until then, blessings,
John Fenn
