This Kingdom is not isolated from God’s Family. Rather it is one with the Family of our Heavenly Father.
1. The intent of God isn’t to enjoy a higher position over mankind. It’s His desire to have Man included in His Family, and through Man, He would subdue all creation and make His Name known to them. He is Lord over all that He created and yet He set apart Man as His own to govern and administrate. His will concerns what was created, so that His love and mercy, righteousness and justice, faithfulness and goodness can be made known unto all creation.
2. When we are saved through Christ Jesus, we are restored to this inheritance in God the Father as His children. We became co-heirs with Christ Jesus in His family. We are to rule creation with Him. Through this we derive our kingly office and duty.
Rom 8:17 [NIV]
Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
3. In order to do this, He first adopts us into His family, or His Household. Then He will teach us, through His Holy Spirit, two kinds of wisdom: Kingly and Priestly, as we mentioned before. When we are established in this, He will give us the opportunity to handle His business. This is the life our Lord Jesus had demonstrated to us.
4. We are also to make His Name known to creation. We are a Kingdom of Priests. This was the intention when God created Man, when He called and set apart the Israelites, and when He gave us His Son and made new His promises.
1 Pet 2:9-10 [NIV]
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.Rev 1:6 [NIV]
and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.
5. The essence of rule or reign in the Kingdom of God is not the same as the way of the world. Jesus explains this very well.
Luk 22:25-30 [NIV]
Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. You are those who have stood by me in my trials. And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
The authority and power conferred to us in the Kingdom of God is helpful to know Him and be built up in Him. In essence, this is the priestly duty.
We will discuss this more in the following chapters as we proceed into more discussion about Kingdom Life.
This is post is _Part 4_ in the series Ministry Under the New Covenant. To continue with this series, click on Pt 5. To use this as a growth tool to better understand your own calling, you might start by reading the explanation of this series, Pt 1, Pt 2 and Pt 3.
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