And hath made us kings and priests unto God and His father, to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Revelation 1:6
We are priests. We understand that, as we gather as an Assembly to carry out our Lord’s command that we partake of the bread and the cup in remembrance of Him. As brothers and sisters, we worship, functioning as believer priests in a capacity that far exceeds that of the priests in the old Jewish religious system. Our delight is to function as priests in the knowledge that this great office is ours for time and for eternity. But our text speaks of us being made both priests and kings. We know about our role as priests, but how do we function as kings?
I am sure that students of prophecy can tell us about our coming privilege of reigning with Christ. We read in Scripture of His great coming kingdom, and appreciate that we will have a part in that. We appreciate that Heaven will have mansions that exceed any palace of earthly kings, and that even Solomon in all his glory could not imagine the magnificence that will be our environment in the Glory. No king of earth will ever know the royal treatment that God has reserved for us forever. Yes, we will be forever kings and priests, with the greatest blessings of both of those great offices. But I also believe that we have been made kings now, and should live in the good of that great truth.
I don’t know how an earthly king eats and works and sleeps, and carries out the functions of being a royal person. All I know is that the lifestyle of a king is not anything that I can aspire to. But if I understand that the Lord Jesus has made me a king, that knowledge should make me act and feel differently than if I was made aware that I was a lowly servant. People around me don’t know that I am a king. But as a king, I should show those people around me a little of the kingdom into which I have been brought. My testimony as a faithful Christian should be as a representative of that kingdom. The knowledge that I have been raised above the slavery and sin of this world should fill me with joy and appreciation. But it should also fill me with a desire to share the great blessings into which God’s salvation has brought me. It should be my desire that others will become kings and priests as well.
What we are in Christ is far beyond what we can understand. But as we seek to appreciate that we are priests and kings, we will become more like our Lord. -Jim MacIntosh