Saturday, May 25, 2013

Revelation 1:6 We've Been Made Kings and Priests


REVELATION
A Verse by Verse Study


A journey of Studying What’s Revealed to Me

Revelation 1: 6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen....

After greeting us with grace and peace and after making clear who this Revelation was from and who it was coming to, one of the first things revealed is God has made us kings and priests?  Who?  The answer is his servants to whom the Revelation was coming. The Revelation was coming from Jesus, on behalf of the Father, to his servants, through his angel and John the apostle.  The Revelation was though as stated in the first few verses for his servants and for all who would read and hear the words of the book!  Who are we as kings and priests serving? We are serving God the father (to his God and Father,) and to whom is glory and dominion forever and ever. The kingdoms of this world may pass but the kingdom of God, of which we are kings and priests is forever and ever Amen!

When this verse says “to his God and to his Father,” we can again, along with many other passages in the bible see the Trinity established. Many reject the Trinity because they can’t grasp with their limited natural mind that God can be three in one.  While you can’t separate the Father from the Son or either from the Spirit, you can clearly see here that the Father is the God of Jesus. He is his God and Father.  Jesus is in relationship with the Father as both a separate person and they are indeed one... inseparable! This is not, God, taking the shape of three different ones, one at a time, but instead this is three separate persons in one! The Father is distinct from the Son and the Spirit is distinct from either. We see the Spirit before the throne that the Father is upon and we see the Son acknowledging the Father as his God.  Glory be to God that he is not limited to earthly understanding. This is what makes him different from all other religions and this is what makes him the real God rather than a list of rules and doctrines.  Many men have formed many religions, yet none have surpassed human wisdom.   Our God, he IS God and he is real.  There have been physicists who have accepted him because they saw a person that wrote about things like the three in one that seemed in our limited world to be impossible yet with God all things are possible.  All other religions write about things that are possible and imaginable yet only God through the Scriptures reveals things beyond our imagination.  In Ephesians he assures us there is more to come that is exceedingly and abundantly beyond all we can think or imagine. The author of the bible is supernatural and beyond earthly imaginations.   Outside of this world and outside of our limited understanding it is mathematically possible for three to be one.  There is a point to where they can all be one.  This knowledge wasn’t known by man when the Trinity was revealed.  For it to have been revealed before the Physicists knew it was possible reveals a source beyond the knowledge of the world’s greatest physicists. He is the one that knows it all and he is the one revealing it all to us! Praise his name!  With God all things are possible! 

Matthew 19:26b  “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

He says that he has made us kings and priest unto our God.  All through the Old Testament there were kings both in Israel, and Judea when the kingdom was divided and there were also king in the earth.  In the 1st and 2nd Kings and 1st and 2nd Chronicles, we read stories of the kings; each being either a good or bad king.  All of these kings exercised authority in their land.  They were the top authority yet Christ is King of Kings.  We too have been given authority in the kingdom of heaven.  We are ambassadors that stand in his name.  We are kings of God and his good, heavenly kingdom and we are in direct opposition to our enemy, the devil who is over the kingdom of darkness.  How we exercise our authority in the earth is important!  What does the bible say about our authority?

The bible says his kingdom is the power and the glory forever. We are not kings in a temporary kingdom. Although at times the picture may look bleak, we must remember we serve the King of Kings and Lord of Lords whose power and authority are both established and are eternal. The kingdoms of this world will fail and many will even come against our God! The devil in the kingdom of darkness will fight God until the end and his demise but we can be rest assured the Kingdom of our God is both victorious and without end!

Matthew 6:13b For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

INFLUENCE


One Greek word for authority is also interpreted as power in the English.  It is “exousia.”  It is used to represent the power of authority and influence.  When Jesus spoke, men listened because of the “exousia” he walked in. As we speak the Words of God, God allows us to speak in his name and with his authority.  Remember the old saying, “When EF Hutton speaks, people listen.”  God has given us that same authority. As we speak, we speak with authority that comes from heaven. Sometimes people may not know exactly why they are listening but when they hear, they know they are hearing the truth and they know they are hearing a heavenly voice, even though God is using our voice.  As “kings” to our God and in his authority, we cannot take lightly the Great Commission to know and speak his Words in the earth!  When we speak, people listen and our words are influential because of the authority he gives us!  Yes, it’s supernatural. You can know when you speak the Words of God, you are backed up with a heavenly authority that he has given by making you a king.  Being a king, speaks of having authority.

POWER OVER THE DEVIL AND DARKNESS


This word, “exousia,” is also used in the passage in Matthew 10 where it speaks of Jesus giving his disciples power (authority) to cast out demons.

Matthew 10:10 And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.

Just as he gave his disciples power over darkness and disease so he has given us that same authority by making us kings.  When he transferred that to his disciples, they now had the power to walk in his name.  To walk in authority you must know you have authority yet many do not know or understand the power that has been given them in Jesus name.  Should all Christians come to the place of understanding this power, we would see a mighty wave of deliverance and healing in the earth.  Jesus is still at work today through the lives of his servants, those who have been made kings unto their God! Wow! If we ever got a full revelation of this, the world would be changed!  You’ve heard it said we have sophisticated demons in America.  They hide behind all of our technical knowledge.  We just call sickness diseases with names and they are diseases, caused by the devil. To act in authority one must act in faith and in America we have come to rely on science more than faith!  One thing you don’t see much of in America is halls of hospitals clearing because an authority filled Christian has visited every room where inside the rooms, people filled with faith have put their trust in God and allowed the prayer of faith to come into their room.  You may see this from time to time but we are instead looked upon with disdain if we ask to pray for patients. There are other nations on the other hand in which hospitals welcome the prayers of authority filled Christians and many hospital rooms are emptied.  I have one particular friend who ministers in the continent of Africa who is allowed to enter hospital rooms to pray. The patients welcome him and very often they go home healed with no medical explanation.  To allow prayer is not to deny science but it is to recognize the Great Physician, Jesus Christ.  May we again see a wave of healing sweep through America once again as in days of old when preachers were sometimes arrested for practicing medicine because of people coming to a meeting sick but going home cured! We really need a great awakening of the authority and power of Christ in our nation again!  When Jesus returns and even before when the saints are swept away, we’ll enter that heavenly city where we will eat from the Tree of Life and sickness will be no more.  Just know though, you are not meant to wait for the New Jerusalem. You have been made a king now. You have an authority that has been given you from heaven.  Don’t wait to pray for the sick. Start today!

There are other ways the kingdom of darkness manifests.  In many other nations there are demon filled people who attempt to enter a Christian meeting.  If you are not filled with the Spirit and authority of Christ, you may not have the understanding it takes to deal with a situation like this.  We’ve become so sterilized in America, we do not even realize when we are dealing with a devil. That’s why a Holy Spirit gift of Discernment has been given, that we may know what spirit we are dealing with.  The authority Christ has given us as kings to him, is to silence and defeat devils yet if you speak on that subject in America, you are laughed at.  The world may laugh now but when the time of reckoning comes, they will wish they had listened.  For now we wrestle against the devil and his temporary authority but there will come a day when all other power and authority is wiped away and only the Kingdom of God will remain!

1 Corinthians 15:24, 25  24 Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. 25 For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet.

P.S. I posted this as a note on Facebook and my minister friend whom I spoke about in this blog responded to the note saying the following:

Wow-i just finished it: Hospital Ministry. Everyday, even today, in my own home land-ZIMBABWE, I'm being warned, 'Be careful, U will never see the whole hospital being healed by your message'. But I'm daily witnessing the healing of multitudes in Hospitals, and clinics. I thank our GOD, I'm now mentoring a brother, and a sister in the hospital ministry. I believe by the end of the year, I will be mentoring disciples from every continent, until we are in every country. I'm not yet even where I'm supposed to be, in terms of substance-I travel in taxis, I'm renting a house and sometimes I trust GOD, for only $1 for the taxi...-please, please, I'm not asking for your hand, its just a testimony, and I'm not even manipulating u to fund my ministry work, GOD Himself is my Own Source-in ZIMBABWE, its just a miracle to be on the internet everyday, they actually term it, 'a luxury'. I'm using an average of $2-US, on the phone, everyday-wow!! Yes-in ZIMBABWE, but how??, because I'm not employed. The authority has been invested in u, so why are u not using it??? Most Christians, u cry, God is very faithful in honoring His Word, but in your acts, you are always warning us, be careful, it might not be GOD's will to heal every one at this hospital. So how are u going to demonstrate to the world, that HE IS ALIVE, but for me, through healing miracles... 5 people, this year are now free from the 'HIV & AIDS pandemic'. Its a very long testimony, I can continue, If u still want somemore......

To be cont’d...

We’ll pick this up next by studying what it means to be a Priest to God.

Joyreaper
5/25/2013


Blue Letter Bible. "Dictionary and Word Search for exousia (Strong's 1849)". Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2013. 25 May 2013. < http:// www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?
strongs=G1849&t=KJV&page=3 >
The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.. “Bible Gateway. 2013. 11 May 2013. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=revelation%201:6&version=NKJV

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