A Kingly People
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4 John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, 6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Shasta is the main character in C.S. Lewis’s The Horse and His Boy. An orphan of mysterious background, raised by a poor fisherman called Arsheesh, Shasta discovers he is on the verge of being sold into slavery. So Shasta escapes with Bree the talking horse, and the two head north for Bree’s homeland of Narnia. Shasta is overjoyed. He’s been longing his whole life to go north, and Bree actually suspects Shasta comes from “northern stock.” Through a series of adventures Shasta comes to discover that he is indeed of Northern blood — more than that, he is in fact a prince: Cor, the long-lost son of King Lune of Archenland and older twin brother of Prince Corin.
At the end of the story, King Lune speaks with Cor about the training and learning he will have to catch up on as the rightful heir. In addition to the courage and self-sacrifice he has already shown, he will,
“Come over all the castle with me and see the estate, and mark all its strength and weaknesses: for it will be thine to guard when I am gone. . . . For this is what it means to be a king: to be first in every desperate attack and last in every desperate retreat, and when there’s hunger in the land (as must be now and then in bad years) to wear finer clothes and laugh louder over a scantier meal than any man in your land.”
Believers in Christ are in the same position as Cor: We are kings and queens in training, and we have much to learn and much growing to do in order to be made fit for such a calling
We are crowned by adoption
We are crowned by adoption
5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, 6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
To summarize these two passages, we find that Jesus, the King, has died to forgive us of our sins. By saving us, we belong to Him and because of this we too are now made kings with Him. This is a beautiful truth for us to hold on to when it seems that things aren’t going our way. It reminds us that our sufferings don’t separate us from the Lord, but that they testify to our reigning with Him. If you find yourself struggling with doubt, with issues of assurance, with a defeated soul, this text lifts our heads up and reminds us that we are heirs with Jesus, not because of anything you’ve done, but because Jesus died for you.
Now, this leads me to answer a question which is, “If I’m an heir with Jesus, why does it seem like things are going so poorly for me?” And I want to answer that in my second point which is that we are cultivated by our subjects.
We are cultivated by our subjects
We are cultivated by our subjects
What is a King without subjects? While it may not seem like we have all things, according to the Bible, we do. In 1 Cor. 3, Paul writes:
21 Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours: 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come—all are yours. 23 And you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
Now, I need to make sure we understand something here. This doesn’t mean that we can go and grab a hold of whatever we want without paying or can walk around acting like we own the place - yet at least. In this life, we know that we are heirs because it’s been promised to us. However, we will not receive the possession of all things until He makes everything new. So, what does it mean that we have all things in this life? Well, it means that our subjects serve us, but not in the way you might be thinking. Instead of us being seated on a comfy throne, with servants fanning us and giving us grapes, they are serving us by working together for our good to make us more like Jesus.
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
This truth is encouraging because it lets us understand that our grumpy bosses, our injuries, our broken friendships, and the like all have a purpose to serve us which is to make us more like the Lord. When we come to see things this way, we will understand that when difficulties come, we shouldn’t say, “Why me?” Rather, we should ask, “What in me are you working on Lord?”
Finally for this point, if all things are working for our good, then we should be careful to use our possessions for the good of others whether it be our time, talents, or resources.
We are conquerors over our enemies
We are conquerors over our enemies
Finally, if we are kings, then we are warriors. And if we are kings in Christ, then we are victorious warriors. But it isn’t against people in a way that we might think. Paul says,
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
This can be uncomfortable stuff to think about, but what Paul is teaching us is that there is a battle that you and I can’t see that affects everything around us. And if that’s the case, we might be tempted to think, “How in the world can I win in a fight I can’t even see?” Paul tells us one way in Romans.
20 And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
In this passage, Paul is writing to a church that has people in it that are causing division. However, he wants to encourage them by reminding them that God is at work among them and will work through them to overcome this satanic assault. But what are some of the ways that God works through us to do that? Or better yet, how can we fight effectively as Christians? Here’s three ways:
By looking to Jesus.
37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
One writer put it this way, “The Kingly office of Christians is to oppose and overcome, through faith, the devil, the world and all enemies.”
2. By denying ourselves.
11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.
3. By being alert.
41 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
