“And made us a kingdom“
“Ahhhhh, so you are a king,” said Pilate at Jesus’ trial as if this was a great discovery. Recall the reply of Jesus, “My kingdom is not of this world.” The place where Jesus ruled as king was not yet the world, and it would never be OF this world. In Jesus’ kingdom God’s will is the way of living. It is the way of life. Someday when we have our renewed spirits, new bodies and are back on the new earth living the style of Jesus will not be a choice. It will be natural, as natural as breathing. The instinct to rebellion and doing it my way will be finally and permanently divorced from us.
That kingdom can also be called eternal life which is a thing Jesus mentioned in his prayer of John 17. In that prayer Jesus spoke of those that God the Father gave Jesus out of the world. In that prayer Jesus also said that eternal life begins by knowing Jesus. The blessedness of living by faith starts on this side of the grave. We enter the kingdom not of this world by choice, by faith, by responding to God’s drawing us to himself. Eventually faith will be replaced by sight, but until that time faith is good enough.
“Priests to his God and Father.“
Priests have many roles, but each is linked to God. They are intermediaries between God and men. Jesus is the ultimate priest for all of us, but our individual lives, too, are about connecting needy people to a providing God. Recall that Jesus was God come to us in human form. He did that because when God the Father comes it is simply too overwhelming. God came as Jesus so that we might not be scared off, running in terror. (Review the events at Mount Sinai in Exodus 19 to see the people trembling before God as he manifested himself in the storms.)
There are many people on earth who will be more comfortable in your presence than in the presence of God. Just as Jesus was sent from heaven to earth we are sent out on the earth. We are to be priests. Actually we are made into priests. We are to serve God and serve others.
“…to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
As I walked around my living room pondering this part of the lesson, praying about this part of the lesson my eyes came to rest on a puzzle. The puzzle was half built, and was of the Taj Mahal. That structure known the world over is a symbol of the kingdoms people build. It has held its beauty since the mid 1600’s when it was completed, but the structure is merely a burial place. It holds the remains of Mumtaz Mahal and her husband Shah Jahal.
The government of India has a webpage on this wondrous building. It reports: “One knows The Taj as a legend of eternal love of an Emperor for his favourite Queen!!!” Well, men build legends, but God builds kingdoms. The kingdoms of men rise and fall, but Jehovah’s goes on forever. Men build kingdoms out of the stuff of earth, but God builds them out of men.
The glory and dominion of God’s kingdom, built of men and women, will far exceed the glory that men and women try to build and buy for themselves.
John got the most unique view of this kingdom and dominance of God, and he shared it with us.
Shah Jahal built a kingdom, but it was a kingdom of this world. Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Hitler and the Bolsheviks did their deeds on the world stage and we know what happened to them. Individuals do their best and build up their little kingdoms as well some making great companies that effect the world and others are merely successful donut makers. In some way all are the same, some big and some little.
God, though, is not idle. He is the ruler over the kingdoms of men and he is purifying for himself a people who are his very own. They are a kingdom and while they are alive they are priests. Eventually these will inherit the earth, a renewed earth. Satan will be cast out and the dominion of men gone. Men will plug their God given fabrics of life and living into that of the Lord Almighty. They will live in and unto the glory and dominion of God forever and ever.
Join up today! The offer of membership is still available. He has loved us and freed us from the linkages to this world by his blood. He has made us to be this kingdom. Priests to serve God we are.
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