Hi all,
I closed last week talking about the fact we are royal children, and as with any royalty, royals rule over non-royal citizens. The kingdom of heaven is set up the same way. We are royalty, but not all in the kingdom of heaven are.
I think we lump every believer down through the ages and into the future ages all together as being the body of Christ, the bride of Christ, royal children, but that is because we haven’t been taught what the Word actually says. Once we do that, order is seen, and also we will see just how special you are!
Who is qualified? Who will rule the earth?
“Do you not know the saints will judge the world?…Do you not know that we will judge angels?” I Corinthians 6: 2-3
“For to the angels He did not put in subjection the world to come…” Hebrews 2: 5
“And has made us kings and priests to God and His Father…” Revelation 1: 6
“…and has made us unto our God a kingdom of priests, and we shall reign on the earth.” Revelation 5: 10
“…and laid hold of…the devil…and cast him into the bottomless pit…until after 1000 years…And I saw thrones and those who sat upon them, and authority to rule was given them…and I saw people who had been beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God, and who had not worshipped the beast neither had taken his mark on their foreheads or in their hands…and they lived and reigned with Christ 1000 years. But the rest of the dead did not rise until after the 1000 years were finished. This was the first resurrection.” Revelation 20: 1-5
How spiritually mature now must you be to rule then?
The above verses were written to real people – imperfect people – and they were told they will rule and reign with the Lord in the 1,000 years called the Millennium. Some of these Paul wrote to were the Corinthians.
Paul said to them ‘we’ will judge the world and angels. Not ‘he’ but ‘we’, meaning Paul and those he was writing to.
Again, ‘judge’ is an administrative term from the first century, meaning you are going into government service, it is not a court situation of judging angels like right or wrong, but rather being in charge of them, giving assignments and such. For the people we rule over the age to come will be settling disputes by the gifts of the Spirit and seeing to it that the Lord’s will is done in that which we are put in charge.
Rabbit trail
Early on when the Lord started visiting me to teach me things, He let me ask ‘my’ angel questions after he had delivered his message to me. I asked him on one such occasion how he felt about me ruling over him in the age to come. The expression on his face immediately turned to horror that I could ask such a thing as he said in utter shock to me:
“It is right! It is proper!” I asked ‘Why?’ and he responded, “Remember, we know Him as Creator. But you know Him as Savior!”
Those wild & crazy Corinthians!
The Corinthians had at least 10 major issues covered in Paul’s first letter. This will give us hope for ourselves!
In chapter 3 they were in envy and strife and divisions living like they weren’t born again Paul told them.
In chapter 5 a man sleeping with his step mother and the rest of the body of Christ not dealing with it.
In chapter 6, the first part has believers suing each other, while others in the chapter he names as formerly “sexually impure, homosexual, idol worshippers, adulterers, ‘abusers of themselves with mankind’ (let your imagination wander on that one), thieves, drunks, extortioners, ‘party spirit’, visiting prostitutes connected to temple idolatry, and rioters…And such were some of you…” His exhortation was to stay with the Lord, and pure in Him.
In 7 it was confusion about dating, marriage, divorce.
In 8 it was flaunting their freedom in Christ by eating meat that had earlier been surfaced to idols in the presence of other believers who thought it was a sin to eat meat that had been sacrificed to idols.
In 9 it was about supporting Paul financially because they had received so much from him but gave nothing back.
In 10 he warned them saying Israel’s unbelief was an example for them, and closing thoughts on eating meat that had been previous sacrificed to idols in the pagan temples.
In 11 we see the rich refused to eat with and have the Lord’s Supper with the poor, and as a result of their prejudice some had died early and others were ‘weak and sickly’ Paul said, for ‘not discerning the body’.
Chapters 12-14 were about the gifts of the Spirit, love, order in the home based meetings that was church.
In chapter 15 it was about the rapture as taught in the Feast of Trumpets.
In 16 it was giving to others, personal plans and closing messages.
So you can see, they had issues just like Christians today! And yet he said, they will judge the world and angels.
I shared that because if someone is their own worst enemy, the thoughts that arise are ‘I’m not worthy to be one of those who reign’ and ‘I’m not qualified because….’ But the truth is that Paul included the Corinthians with all their faults and immaturity in his teaching on the rapture, saying they were included, and they would administrate the coming world and angels. Amazing grace!
I felt we needed to get that out of the way. Those saved from the gospels to the coming of Jesus are included in those who will reign…amazing grace. Yes, you are qualified to reign in the age to come, not by reaching a level of maturity, rather being in Christ now and knowing Him now.
“Now are we the sons of God, but it does not yet appear what we shall be, for when He appears we will see Him as He is, and we will be like Him.” I John 3: 2
If you look at yourself now you may say ‘No way am I qualified’. The good news is, Jesus is basing His choosing of us to live in this time based on what ‘we shall be’ when we see Him ‘as He is’, in full glory – a glory that will further transform us. So rejoice…and more next week, until then, blessings,
John Fenn
