Just Can't Wait to Be King
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· 3 viewsWestern Heights Baptist Church, July 23, 2023
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Background to passage: I will just be honest with you. This is not a topic that I have ever given much thought to. We shall reign with him as co-heirs. But what does that really mean? Someone said that if we were describing a kingdom and all we did was identify the king and his subjects, that would be pretty short and sweet, and woefully inadequate to understand. Some of this just stretched my brain, and some of it I am still processing. So, I am going to push you some, but hang in there. My prayer is that this expands your mind as to what is coming for us to are following close to Jesus, because there will be a difference in the level of our inheritance based on the faithfulness of our stewardship here.
16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,
10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”
Opening illustration: video of the Lion King’s “Just Can’t Wait to be King”,
Heaven Chapter 20: What Does God’s Eternal Kingdom Involve?
“We cannot understand biblical revelation, human history, or the events of our own lives if we don’t grasp God’s plan for the new heavens and New Earth,” writes theologian Herman Ridderbos. “[Christ’s] redemption acquires the significance of an all-inclusive divine drama, of a cosmic struggle . . . the goal of which is to bring back the entire created cosmos under God’s dominion and rule.”[3]
Main thought: We will look at how we will reign with Christ forever in the new heaven and new earth
1) Where do we rule?
1) Where do we rule?
9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,
10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”
1) Where do we rule?
1) Where do we rule?
Explanation: According to this scripture and implied by others, we will rule on the new earth, and by extension, the new heavens. Over and over the kingdom of Christ and his people is spoken of as eternal. We know that this earth is temporary, the present heaven is temporary, and that God will renew and restore the earth to its permanent form for true eternal life. The kings and nations of the world will be in the city, therefore authority will be present, and as co-heirs of Jesus, we will reign with him.
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
Illustration: Those who are co-heirs with Christ engage in spiritual warfare to reclaim the hearts of mankind for God’s glory. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12). After the final battle is won by Christ, we will rule the earth with him as co-heirs of his Kingdom. -Alcorn
Application: One of the theologians that Randy Alcorn quoted, said that a good exercise would be to ask ourselves regularly how we would rule a big city like Baltimore or Liverpool should it be given us. Cities are not the only the that will need to be ruled, towns, neighborhoods, businesses, zoos, etc. Do not consider it a small thing that God puts you in charge of things in the new heaven.
2) When do we rule?
2) When do we rule?
16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
2) When do we rule?
2) When do we rule?
Explanation: These verses speak of our glorification with Christ as co-heirs, but then speaks about the glory that will be revealed in us after suffering in the present time. So, we will rule in the new Jerusalem after the return of Christ and the restoration of the earth to its former glory. Daniel speaks of the progression of the kingdoms of the earth up into the final eternal kingdom through Nebuchadnezzar's vision.
13 “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him.
14 And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.
18 But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever.’
27 And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High; his kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.’
26 The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations,
21 The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.
Illustration:
Application: The scriptures teach that Christ came to earth when “the fullness of time” had come. Thus it will be so with the timing of his return and the restoration of the earth. The application is that we must be ready. He is coming soon. We watch the signs of the times—wars and rumors of wars, destruction, violence, starvation, families turning against one another, killing of our nation’s children, fading away of family structure and values, revisionist history and government indoctrination, Christ will return soon. There is a blessing promised for those who are looking for the Master to return, lamps burning, hearts prepared for him.
3) How do we rule?
3) How do we rule?
3) How do we rule?
3) How do we rule?
Explanation: We will rule under his authority. We will work, but it will not be laborious. You will not want vacations, or PTO, or retirement. You will love what you do. Nothing that would make you dislike, feel forced, or endure work will exist. It will be fun, and you will always have great days, you will always be the best manager, and have the best managers. You will not be scared to speak in public. Won’t be afraid of responsibility, no fear. Won’t be unwilling to serve because other commitments.
2 Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases?
3 Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life!
12 if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us;
Illustration: We pray especially hard over big decisions, and sometimes over small ones, but never there.
Application: You will be able to do anything and everything you want, because sin is gone, and you will desire only what God desires. There will be nothing in your glorified body that would cause you do rule any other way that good and right and fair and joyfully.
4) Why do we rule?
4) Why do we rule?
29 and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom,
30 that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
4) Why do we rule?
4) Why do we rule?
Explanation: It is interesting that the first command given after be fruitful and multiply was to subdue the earth and have dominion over it. Think about it. Man and woman, created in God’s image, a perfect creation, two commands. Since the fall, the corruption of the earth, the fall of Satan and angels, has created a world that is nothing like what it will be.
28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
32 “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
16 The first came before him, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made ten minas more.’
17 And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’
18 And the second came, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made five minas.’
19 And he said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’
Illustration: Some might protest, “How dare we imagine such a future for ourselves!” Certainly it would be blasphemous for fallen humans to claim a share of God’s throne if it was our idea. But again, it’s not our idea; it’s God’s idea. It’s his sovereign plan, laid out before the foundation of the world, which he has gone to sacrificial lengths to implement. If we reject the idea that God has called us to rule the earth, then we reject his explicitly stated plan and his sovereignly orchestrated purpose. How dare we? -Alcorn, God is the sovereign ruler of the universe, yet he chooses not to rule the universe alone. He delegates responsibilities to angels, who exist in a hierarchy of command under Michael the archangel (Jude 1:9; Revelation 12:7). God made human beings in his image, as creators and rulers, to carry out his divine will. He does not grudgingly pass on to us management responsibilities. On the contrary, he delights to entrust Earth’s rule to us. He has uniquely created and gifted us to handle such responsibilities and to find joy in them.
Application: You were made for this! This is God’s will for your life. This is a penultimate reason that God created mankind and the rest of the universe; the ultimate being his glory. This is also a motivation for faithfulness. We have been given a certain amount of money and other possessions in the span of our lifetimes. Have we used it as leverage for the increase of the kingdom? The king wants to know if you can be faithful with what he has entrusted you with, and it will affect your authority and dominion in heaven. Look forward to your royal kingdom, God is pleased for you to have it
Closing illustration: God is glorified when we take our rightful, intended place in his creation and exercise the dominion that he bestowed on us. God appointed human beings to rule the earth: “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth’ ” (Genesis 1:26-28)
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