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In this message we will continue to consider our experience and enjoyment of Christ as the last of the Divine Trinity.
The Son of God is further presented as the Ruler of the kings of the earth (Rev. 1:5). First, He lived on this earth as the faithful Witness. Then He resurrected from the dead to become the Firstborn of the dead for the church, the new creation. Today He is the Ruler of the kings of the earth in His ascension. He is ruling over the earth, the entire world, as the Ruler of the kings of the earth. Having passed through incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, He has been enthroned above all kings.
In Revelation 1:5 Jesus Christ is described as “the faithful Witness, the Firstborn of the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth.” The name Jesus implies the incarnation, and the title Christ indicates that the Lord Jesus is God’s anointed One. He was the faithful Witness in His human living, and He is the Firstborn of the dead in His resurrection. In His ascension and enthronement He is the Ruler of the kings of the earth, for He is now Lord and Head of all. Furthermore, He will rule over all nations when He comes to reign in His kingdom. The title the Ruler of the kings of the earth thus refers to His ascension, to His present situation, and to His coming back. Therefore, the description of Christ in this verse covers everything from Christ’s incarnation to His eternal kingdom.
The Son is the Ruler of the kings of the earth. Although many communists are against Christ, they use His calendar without realizing that they are doing so. According to history, the one whose calendar we use is the one to whom we are in subjection. If a person used the calendar of a certain king, he would be under the rule of that king. In like manner, even the ungodly are under Jesus Christ because they use His calendar. They may call it the international calendar, but actually it is the calendar of Christ. His calendar is the universal calendar; Jesus’ birth has become the landmark of the calendar of all the peoples on earth. To use His calendar is to acknowledge that He is the King. In this way they unconsciously admit that He is their Ruler. In the universe there is one unique Ruler. All mankind today uses the calendar of Christ and is under His rule. All the people on earth are His people, and He is the Ruler of all nations. He is the unique Ruler of the earth; the whole world is Christ’s kingdom.
To call Him the Ruler of kings is to say that He is far above the earthly rulers. On the earth there have been many kings, queens, and presidents, but the Ruler of all these is Christ. The rulers of this world are not the real rulers. Christ is the One ruling over the world. In a very real sense, Christ as the Ruler of the kings dethrones all the kings. Only He is the Ruler.
Furthermore, according to Revelation 19:16, He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Christ is both the Ruler and the King. As the Ruler, He rules the entire earth. It may seem that kings and presidents rule the earth and that the Lord Jesus is not on the throne. Nevertheless, this One who seems not to be on the throne is the Ruler of all the enthroned ones. Today the entire world is under the Lord’s ruling. Every king, queen, president, and head of state is under His reign. He is truly the Leader, the chief Ruler. The entire world situation is under His rule, not under the control of any nation. Jesus Christ is the Administrator of today’s universe. God made Christ the Ruler and exalted Him as the Leader. He is the Ruler of all the kings of the earth to administrate God’s plan for man. He administrates the entire universe for the purpose of fulfilling God’s eternal plan.
Christ carries out His mission as the Ruler of the kings of the earth by the seven Spirits of God burning before the throne of God (1:4; 4:5; 5:6). All of the world leaders are under the flaming of the seven Spirits. The seven Spirits are burning on this earth today for the carrying out of God’s administration. The entire world situation is under the flame of the burning of the seven Spirits. The seven Spirits are carrying out God’s administration on earth. The world situation and international affairs are all under the direction of this flame. The flame of the seven burning Spirits before the throne of God has sovereignly controlled the world situation. The throne of God in the heavens is the deciding factor of the world situation. We must realize that today the seven Spirits of God are burning before the throne, not only concerning the churches but also concerning the world situation for the churches.
According to Revelation 1:5, Christ, the Son of God, “loves us and has released us from our sins by His blood.” He loves us and has accomplished redemption for us by shedding His blood, which washes us and cleanses us from all our sins. Only the blood of Jesus Christ, whom God judged on the cross (Isa. 53:8), is able to wash us from our sins. Thus, Christ’s blood is the unique redeeming blood. Only His blood can redeem us from all our sins. Once we believe that the Lord died and shed His blood on the cross to make propitiation for sins, the Lord’s blood causes God to forgive us of our sins and to spare us from the punishment of sin; it also washes away our sins and removes the filthiness of sin from us (1 John 1:7-9).
The Lord shed His blood to redeem us from our sins, cleansing us and releasing us from them so that we no longer have the problem of sins. All the troubles that come to us from our sins were resolved by the Lord’s blood, which has released us from them. Since the Lord’s blood has released us from our sins, it also has released us from judgment, condemnation, wrath, and death, which are related to sins.
Revelation 1:6 says that the Son of God “made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father.”
The reason God washed us in the precious blood of Christ was that we might be brought under His government. The believers, who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ, not only have been born of God into His kingdom (John 3:5) but also have been made a kingdom for God’s economy. This kingdom is the church (Matt. 16:18-19). John, the writer of Revelation, was in this kingdom (Rev. 1:9), and all redeemed and reborn believers also are a part of this kingdom (Rom. 14:17).
Revelation 1 and 5 reveal that the Lord has purchased us by His blood to make us His kingdom (1:5-6; 5:9-10). The Greek word translated “kingdom” in 1:6 and 5:10 implies the meaning of “king.” In Greek, as in English, king and kingdom have the same root. Whether the Greek word is rendered “king” or “kingdom,” it denotes royal authority, or sovereignty. In saving us through the blood of Jesus, God desires not only to transfer us into His kingdom but also to make us His kingdom. In other words, in God’s eyes, we saved ones are not only saved into His kingdom but also constituted to be His kingdom. God purchased us by the blood of Jesus for the goal of making us His kingdom. His purpose in making us His kingdom is to rule, to reign, to accomplish His will on earth, and to gain a group of people on earth to be under His authority.
Every saved person has a measure of the kingdom within him. Some have a greater measure and others a smaller measure, but every saved person has the kingdom within. The Lord’s salvation brings not only the Lord’s life but also the heavenly rule into us. We know that every saved one has the Holy Spirit within. This Holy Spirit is not only life and power but is connected to the throne in heaven. The Holy Spirit in Revelation 4 and 5 is the seven Spirits before God’s throne (4:5; 5:6). This indicates that the Holy Spirit is connected to the throne. The Holy Spirit brings not only God’s life but also God’s throne into us. On the one hand, He is the Spirit of power; on the other hand, He is the reigning Spirit, bringing God’s throne into our spirit. He is the Spirit who causes God’s throne to rule in our spirit within us. The Holy Spirit in us is not only the Spirit of life and the Spirit of power but also the reigning Spirit. Many Christians speak of the Holy Spirit’s pouring out of the love of God into us, but few realize that the Holy Spirit also brings and establishes God’s throne and authority into us. The Holy Spirit is the authority — the seven Spirits of God before the throne — and He desires to establish the throne in us. The seven Spirits of God, the sevenfold intensified Spirit, has entered into us with God’s throne and is ruling and reigning within us. If we submit to Him, we will be blessed, for the kingdom will be ours.
God is recovering His right over the earth in order to make the whole earth His kingdom (11:15). When Christ came, He brought the kingdom of God with Him (Luke 17:21; Matt. 12:28). This kingdom has been enlarged into the church (16:18-19), which will accomplish the establishing of the kingdom of God on the whole earth. On one hand, the kingdom of God today is in the church, but on the other hand, the kingdom of God is coming through the overcoming believers (Rev. 12:10). Then Christ and the overcoming believers will reign over all the nations in the millennial kingdom (2:26-27; 12:5; 20:4, 6).
If we allow Him to exercise His authority to a sufficient extent, we will be a group of overcomers. According to God’s ordination, all the believers should be under the authority of Christ, should allow Christ to reign, and should be a realm where Christ can exercise His authority. Many saved ones, however, desire the Lord’s salvation, the Lord’s love, and the Lord’s blessings, but they will not allow the Lord to reign in them so that He may gain His kingdom. In this situation the Lord must do a further work in the church to gain a particular group of people. Throughout the last two thousand years the line of these lovers of the Lord has never been broken. Apparently the church is in decline, and indeed the church as a whole is in decline. However, in this decline there are still overcomers. In this decline there are still some who love the Lord and tell Him, “Lord, I am under Your authority. I am Your kingdom. I am willing to allow Your throne and Your authority to come in. I love Your ruling. Lord, You are the King, and I am under Your ruling. I submit to Your authority.” When there is a group of overcomers in the church, these overcomers will bring the authority of heaven, the kingdom of God, to the earth. At that time the church will be victorious, and the enemy will be powerless.
We must seriously learn to be restricted, ruled, and trained under the authority of the kingdom. Only those who receive the training to be under this heavenly authority today will be able to exercise this heavenly authority in the future. If today we learn to be under God’s authority, one day we will be enthroned to rule and reign with His beloved Son.
Revelation 1:6 and 5:10 say that God has made us a kingdom. This means that, as citizens of God’s kingdom, we allow Him to reign, and we reign for Him. We are the sons of the Almighty God, who is the King of kings. This makes us members of the royal family. We are not only sons of God but also members of the kingly family. We need to know today not only that we are citizens of God’s kingdom but also that we are actually being trained to be kings. Ultimately, we will reign as kings in the kingdom of God. This can be compared to a prince who grows up in a royal palace as a son but is actually being trained to reign as a king one day. Revelation 20 tells us that in the millennium all the overcomers will be co-kings with Christ, and these co-kings of Christ will be the priests of God and of Christ who will reign with Him for a thousand years (v. 6). In the New Jerusalem we will also reign with Christ in the kingship (22:5).
Christ made us a kingdom, and this kingdom is the priesthood. The redemption accomplished through Christ’s blood made us not only a kingdom to God but also priests to God (1 Pet. 2:5). Revelation 5:9-10 says that we were purchased for God by the blood of Christ out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and we were made priests to our God. The kingdom is for God’s dominion, whereas priests are for the expression of God’s image. This is the kingly, royal priesthood (1 Pet. 2:9), which is for the fulfillment of God’s original purpose in creating man (Gen. 1:26-28). This kingly priesthood is being exercised in today’s church life (Rev. 5:10). It will be practiced intensively in the millennial kingdom (20:6) and will be ultimately consummated in the New Jerusalem (22:3, 5). The New Jerusalem is simply the kingship and the priesthood. All who will be in the New Jerusalem will be kings and priests. On the one hand, they will reign for God. On the other hand, they will serve God.
The entire Bible is a book of the priesthood. From the time that the children of Israel were brought to Mount Sinai and began to build and set up the tabernacle and through the entire New Testament, the Bible is absolutely a record of the priesthood. God’s original intention was for the entire nation of Israel to be a “kingdom of priests” (Exo. 19:6). However, because of their worship of the golden calf (32:1-6), most of the Israelites lost the priesthood. Later, only Aaron and his sons were the priests, and the Levites served the priesthood in practical matters (Num. 3:6-10). Yet in the New Testament, according to Revelation 1:5b-6 and 1 Peter 2:5 and 9, every believer in Christ is a priest.
To say that a priest is a person who serves God is right, but this understanding is shallow. We need to understand the meaning of being a priest in a deeper way. In God’s creation of man we can see the qualifications of a priest. The Bible, which is a book on the priesthood, reveals that God created man with the view that He could have a priesthood, a priestly body, to serve Him. God created man with four particular characteristics. First, He created man in His image so that man might bear His likeness, expressing Him (Gen. 1:26). Second, He gave man His authority for His dominion, which indicates that man is His representative (v. 28). Man expresses and represents God. Third, He created man with a spirit, and this spirit in Genesis 2:7 is called “the breath of life.” The Hebrew word translated as “breath” can also be translated as “spirit” in Proverbs 20:27, which says, “The spirit of man is the lamp of Jehovah.” Our God-created human spirit is an organ to contact God and to receive God. Fourth, God put man in front of the tree of life, indicating that God desired to have man to receive Him as the tree of life so that man might live God (Gen. 2:8-9). God created man to make man His expression and His representative, creating within man an organ so that man could contact Him and receive Him as life that man might live God. These are the four particular characteristics that show God’s desire in His creation of man. A priest is a person who bears these four particular characteristics.
The Old Testament also reveals that a priest offers the sacrifices, which typify Christ, to God for God’s satisfaction. A priest is a person ministering God, bringing God to man and bringing man to God. Therefore, he must be a person who is close to God, that is, a person who is one with God. He knows God’s heart, and he speaks God’s will, God’s way, and God’s plan. Such a person is a priest doing the priestly service in the Old Testament priesthood.
In the New Testament more items were added to the priesthood. A New Testament priest should be a person who lives Christ in His death, in His resurrection, and in His ascension (Gal. 2:20; Col. 3:1-3). In the Old Testament there were items typifying Christ, but they were not Christ in the actuality of His death, resurrection, and ascension. Paul was a pattern of the New Testament priests of the gospel of God. He was a person bearing God’s image, expressing God, and having God’s authority, representing God (Gal. 4:19; 6:16; 2 Cor. 5:17-21). He was a person who always exercised his spirit. In the New Testament he taught much concerning our human spirit, and he used his spirit to contact God, to receive God (Rom. 1:9). He enjoyed Christ as the life-giving Spirit in his spirit, and he enjoyed Christ as his life (8:16; Col. 3:4). In Philippians 3:10 he expressed his desire to know Christ and the power of His resurrection that he might be conformed to the death of Christ. This shows us that a New Testament priest should be a person in the experience of Christ’s death and in the enjoyment of Christ’s resurrection power (2 Cor. 4:7-12).
The New Testament reveals that all the believers are priests of the gospel of God (Rom. 15:16). A minister of Christ Jesus to the nations is a ministering, working, and energizing priest of the gospel of God. As the New Testament priests, we need to preach the gospel of God’s salvation in all His virtues to make the saved sinners spiritual sacrifices offered to God for His acceptance. When we preach the gospel, we make sinners the sons of God and the members of Christ, and we help them to grow in the divine life so that they can be the active members in the practice of the Body life. Whatever Paul did was his service in the gospel. The preaching of the gospel of God is the service that we should render to God in our spirit. To serve God is to handle the gospel, and to handle the gospel is to preach the gospel in order that Christ might be imparted to others, dispensed to others, that they might become the members of Christ, that Christ’s Body might be constituted, and that many local churches could be raised up for His Body to be expressed in many localities. To preach the gospel of God, which is to carry out God’s New Testament economy, is to preach Christ until His Body is constituted and expressed in different localities so that many local churches will be raised up. This is the preaching of the gospel, and this is the New Testament service, which is called the New Testament priesthood.
The unique pattern of the priests of the gospel in the New Testament is the apostle Paul (1 Tim. 1:16). We need to see how Paul did his work as a priest of the gospel. According to the New Testament record, he did it in three steps of offering. First, Paul saved sinners to offer them up to God as acceptable sacrifices (Rom. 15:16). Second, he brought the believers up to lead them to present themselves to God as living sacrifices (12:1). Third, he warned and taught every saint in all wisdom to present each one full-grown in Christ (Col. 1:28-29). He did this by laboring and struggling according to God’s operation, which operated in him in power. Paul’s announcing of Christ in Colossians 1:28 is to tell out Christ. To present every man full-grown in Christ is to offer every man full-grown in Christ. All these steps are the work of the New Testament priesthood of the gospel. The preaching of the gospel of God is the daily life of a priest of the gospel in the New Testament. Our preaching is our priestly service, and we need to make it our daily life and daily work; we need to make it even a part of our being. We must bear this responsibility for God’s good pleasure.
If we practice the priestly ministry in the church life today, we will be made priests to God and Christ in the millennial kingdom as a reward. In the New Jerusalem in eternity, one of the blessings to be received by the redeemed ones is to be priests serving God. The priests who compose the New Jerusalem will undoubtedly have the four characteristics in God’s creation of man. They will be people bringing God to man and bringing man to God, and they will be absolutely one with God. Day and night they will be living a life in Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension. That will be the consummation of the priestly service.
Revelation 1:7 says, “Behold, He comes with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the land will mourn over Him.” In Revelation Christ’s coming back is revealed in two aspects. In one aspect Christ will come secretly as a thief (3:3; 16:15), and in another aspect He will come openly on the cloud (1:7; 14:14). This corresponds with Matthew 24:30 and 43. The day and hour of His coming in the first aspect are unknown (v. 36), whereas the day of His coming in the second aspect is clearly revealed — it will be at the last trumpet (the seventh trumpet) at the end of the great tribulation (1 Thes. 4:16; 1 Cor. 15:52; 2 Thes. 2:1-3).
Christ went to heaven on a cloud. He will come back to earth in the same way (Acts 1:9, 11; Matt. 26:64; Rev. 14:14). At the close of the great tribulation Christ will come on the cloud with power and great glory to be seen by all the tribes of the land. When Christ comes on the cloud, the earth will see Him. The Lord will appear as lightning, which flashes across the sky from east to west.
Revelation 1:7 mentions “all the tribes of the land.” Here the land refers to the Holy Land. All the tribes of the Holy Land will see Him. The basis for saying this is Zechariah 12:10-14, which says that they will look upon Him whom they have pierced and that the land will mourn for Him. The tribes mentioned in Revelation 1:7 are the tribes of those who have pierced Him. Revelation 1:7 surely is a reference to Zechariah 12. According to the context of Zechariah 12, the tribes are not all the nations of the earth but the twelve tribes in the Holy Land. Based upon this, we may say that the tribes in Revelation 1:7 are the twelve tribes in the Holy Land. When the Lord appears as lightning, coming with power and glory to be seen by all in the Holy Land, the twelve tribes will behold Him and will weep.
When Christ comes to the earth at the end of the war at Armageddon, the remnant of Israel will see Him whom they have pierced, will repent and wail, and will believe in Christ and receive Him (Zech. 12:10). In this way all Israel will be saved. This will be the household salvation rendered to Israel by God. The repentant Jews will look upon the One whom they have pierced. This means that they will look upon the Christ who was pierced by them. Although it was the repentant Jews’ forefathers who pierced the Lord Jesus, God counts that as something done by these repentant ones. The reason for this is that in the sight of God the entire people of Israel are one person.
Christ is the pierced One with whom there is the opened fountain. The piercing of Christ has opened a fountain for sin and impurity (John 19:34, 37; Zech. 13:1). This fountain is the flow of His precious blood from His hands and His side for the cleansing of sins; it was opened for the accomplishing of redemption. The piercing of Christ is the foundation of redemption. Apart from Christ’s being pierced, there would be no base for our redemption.
Zechariah 12:10 says, “They will wail over Him with wailing as for an only son and cry bitterly over Him with bitter crying as for a firstborn son.” An only son is most dear to his parents, and a firstborn son has honor among the many sons. Repentant Israel will wail over Christ as the only Son of God and will cry bitterly over Him as the firstborn Son of God. They will mourn not for their sins but for their rejection of the Lord in the past.
In the New Testament Christ is revealed first as the only begotten Son of God and then as the firstborn Son of God. John 1:18 says that the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, has declared Him. John 3:16 tells us that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. Through His death and resurrection, the only begotten Son became the firstborn Son (Rom. 8:29; Heb. 1:6a). According to the New Testament, Christ’s being the only begotten Son is for us to be redeemed and to receive eternal life. Christ’s becoming the firstborn Son through death and resurrection is for us to become sons of God as heirs to inherit all the riches of what God is, that is, to receive, participate in, and enjoy all the riches of the Triune God. In their repentance Israel will recognize Christ both as the only begotten Son of God and as the firstborn Son of God. They will realize that Christ, as the only begotten Son, has redeemed them and brought them eternal life and that He, as the firstborn Son, has made them heirs to inherit the riches of the Triune God as their enjoyment.
