Saints to Rule

[Christina]

Saints to RuleChristians pray, “Thy kingdom come.” Many scriptures demonstrate that Christ will establish the kingdom of God at His Return. Will He rule by Himself—or will others rule with Him? When He establishes His world-ruling government, how will it be structured?Examine what Daniel recorded about this kingdom. Daniel 7:13 speaks of Christ’s coming. Before His Return, God will officially grant Him the authority to rule the world. Verse 14 states, “And there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve Him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.”Exactly how does God intend to manage all of the peoples and nations of earth? Again, will Christ rule alone, or with others?Several more verses in Daniel 7 are critical to understand. Notice verse 18: “But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.” That is right! The ultimate calling of true Christians is to join Christ and share rulership in the kingdom of God over all nations and peoples. Truly, Christ is “king of kings and lord of lords.”Now read verse 22: “…and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.”Verse 27 confirms the marvelous potential lying ahead for all the true saints of God: “And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.”Christ states, “And he that overcomes, and KEEPS MY WORKS unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of My Father” (Rev. 2:26-27) and a few verses later He adds, “To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with Me in My throne…” (3:21)Christians are overcomers. They understand that they must “keep” Christ’s “works.” They do not sit idle, “just believing” in Jesus. They recognize that they are in training to be teachers and rulers!Revelation 5:10 adds, “[God] has made us unto our God kings [rulers] and priests [teachers]: and we shall reign on the earth.” No wonder Christ said, in the Sermon on the Mount, “the meek…shall inherit the earth” (Matt. 5:5). Also see Jude 14-15.The phrase “in My throne” (Rev. 3:21) is used because Christ understood that His throne is on this earth—unlike the Father’s throne, which is in heaven. Luke 1:32 shows that Christ will sit in Jerusalem on the throne of David.Revelation 20:4, 6 states, “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them…and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years…Blessed and holy is he that has part in the first resurrection: on such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.”What could be plainer than these verses? When Christ returns, the saints rule with Him! They will reign over the entire world with Him!Now, could anyone seriously believe that God would give such enormous power to those who have not qualified and learned to use it? Could a human king effectively rule a country without any training? Of course not!

 

[tim_from_pa]

I always knew that we will rule and reign with Christ. As a matter of fact, Jesus quotes Psalm 2 when he refers to the overcoming believer in Revelation 2:26-27. The promise of "many Kings" to Abraham is spiritually fulfilled this way. We know that simultaneous ruling kings of Europe (of the lost tribes) is the physical fulfillment, but this is even greater! Most people think this refers to just Messiah, but in fact, we are all like Him if we believe!Of course this is where I get into some theological trouble. While Jesus is THE Son of God, I believe we are also sons of God (I'll put it in the lower case so as to not sound like I'm crowding out our Lord) and I don't want to say the "D" word, but let's put it this way: We are higher than the angels in our glorified state---- most people believe only God is higher than the angels. I won't argue that if you get my drift. That's how much power, authority and love God gives to his child, the believer. (c.f. John 10:34)