The Gospel in Ten Words (20 page)

You are a
chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation … (1 Peter 2:9)

I once
passed the small hours of the night having drinks with a prince of a European
nation. It was one of those accidental encounters life dishes out from time to
time. A friend said he was going to meet someone and asked if I would like to
tag along. I went and learned that the person we were going to meet was second
in line to his country’s throne. At first I was a bit starstruck, but the young
prince turned out to be a fairly ordinary bloke. We chatted for hours.

One thing that was confirmed to me as a result of that experience
is that royalty is not what it used to be. I saw none of the historic trappings
of nobility. There was no carriage, no scepter, and no crown. Today, few
European monarchs have any real power or authority. If you were to pass them in
the street you would not recognize them for who they really are. The same could
be said of most Christians.

Peter said we are “a chosen people, a royal priesthood and a holy
nation” but what did he mean? Peter’s words
roll off our tongues like lines we learned in
school, but do we really understand what we are saying? Let’s find out.

Do
you believe that you are chosen, holy, and royal? If you have made it this far
through the book hopefully you will say yes to at least two of those three
adjectives. But for many people, these are just words. They do not see
themselves as favored, which is what chosen means. Neither do they consider
themselves as particularly holy. And as for royal, well that’s just not an
adjective most would use to describe themselves.

But
royal you are—Peter says so—and not in a distant “I’m married to the third
cousin of the Queen’s sister” sort of way. You are wedded to the King of kings.
You are royalty indeed.

And [Jesus] did make
us kings and priests to his God and Father …
(Revelation 1:6,
YLT)

You
were a slave but Jesus made you into a king and a priest. That’s quite a
turnaround and I can understand if you are a little unsettled by the idea.
Perhaps you are more
comfortable with your priestly
role than your kingly role. Depending on your denominational background, you
will be at least somewhat open to the idea that every Christian is a minister.
[68]
But the Bible also declares that every
Christian is also a king. We are not merely a kingdom of priests, we are king-priests.
Or priest-kings. (Take your pick.) We are called to serve in a priestly
capacity and rule in a kingly capacity.

And You
have made them a kingdom (royal race) and priests to our God, and they shall
reign [
as kings
] over the earth! (
Revelation
5:10,
AMP)

“Ah yes, Paul. That’s for later, not now. We are kings in
training. We won’t actually rule anything until Jesus returns.” Well by that
logic you are not a real priest because the two go together. He has made us
“kings and priests.” You are not one or the other but both.

Heaven
regards us as kings because our Father is kingly. Your born-again blood runs
royal blue. Yes, there is a training aspect involved and we won’t see the
fullness of our kingly roles until Jesus returns. But it ill befits the
children of a king to act like commoners or slaves. We have a God-given mandate
to rule and reign here and now. This has been God’s plan from the beginning:

Then God said, “Let
us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule …” (
Genesis 1:26)

You were born to rule. You are called to be the head and not the
tail. The Hebrew word for rule means to tread down and subjugate.
[69]
Such a strong word should leave us
in no doubt regarding God’s intentions. When he told Adam to “
fill the earth and
subdue it,” he wasn’t inviting our forefather to trash the planet. He was
saying, “This is your home. You’re in charge. Take care of it” (see Genesis
1:28).

Adam
was given a king’s authority over the earth and the animals but his reign was
short-lived.
Two chapters later he gave his
authority to a usurper disguised as one of the very animals he was supposed to
rule.
But God’s plan has not changed. Just as
Adam was to rule in the name of God, we are to rule in the name of his Son.
Every Christian has a royal calling to reveal Christ the King and the glad
tidings of his kingdom.

God told
Abraham he would be “the father of many nations and kings will come from you.”
[70]
Abraham’s offspring
—
the
children of the faith
—
are meant
to be kings.

Kingship has to do with authority and power. Adam was given
authority over the earth and lost it to Satan. We know this because of what the
devil said when he showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world: “All their
authority and splendor has been given to me” (see Luke 4:6). But last Adam took
back what the devil stole and before he ascended into heaven, he revealed his
kingly glory: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew
28:18).

The war has been fought and won and the devil is defeated. Yet
many of his works are still with us. As believers our role is to represent the
Victor and his victory in those areas that remain under the influence of
darkness. We are to fill the earth with the knowledge of his glory by ruling
over sickness, demonic spirits, and all the works of the enemy.
[71]

In our
union with Christ Jesus he raised us up with him to rule with him in the
heavenly world. (Ephesians 2:6, GNB)

This
leads to some sobering questions: Why do bad things happen to good people? Why
do people get sick and die prematurely? Why do the innocent suffer? Theologians
blame sin, followers of Job blame a sovereign God, but look at what the Bible
says:

The highest heavens
belong to the Lord, but the earth he has given to man. (Psalms 115:16)

This
planet is our responsibility. It was given to us and we were told to rule it.
Why do bad things happen? It is because we—the kings called to rule in God’s
name—allow them to happen. It was
one of us
who gave the planet to Satan,
and it was Jesus acting as
one of us
who took it back. When you think
about it, the history of the world has our fingerprints all over it. We have
far more say in what goes on than we give ourselves credit for.

The
problem is not that we lack authority like a European prince. The problem is
that we don’t walk in the authority God has given us. Perhaps we think we are
too young or too old or we don’t have enough training or we need more
anointing. Perhaps we are just
sitting idly by
waiting for Jesus to return. Whatever our excuse, the outcome is the same. When
we abdicate our kingly role people suffer. Consider Adam. A treacherous enemy
slithered into his realm, Adam did nothing, and humanity ended up on death row.
Bad things happen because kings do nothing to stop them.

When industries collapse and companies fold, it’s easy to point
the finger at corporate fat cats and sleeping watchdogs. But spoilers and
slackers have always been with us and playing the blame game solves nothing. A
better question to ask is, where were we? Where were the kings who rule with
wisdom and justice? Unbelief thrives in a culture of victimhood but faith
brings the victory that overcomes the world (see 1 John 5:4). Passive unbelief
stays on the sidelines and doesn’t lift a finger to help, but faith raises its
hand—it volunteers, it speaks out, it defends and seeks to administer justice
in the name of a righteous king.

True kings rule. They
draw lines in the sand and say, “This far and no further.” They protect and
bless those around them and take
ownership of other
people’s problems.
Jesus is a prime example. He didn’t have to leave the
comforts of heaven and die for us but he did. This was a noble and kingly act.
He saw our sorry state and said, “I am going to come and
tread upon their problem even if it kills me.”

The heart of this Great King beats in your heart. His Spirit is
one with your spirit. Jesus
didn’t hang up his crown after ascending to heaven. He
plans to reign until all his enemies have been defeated. Through your union
with Christ, you are destined to reign.

For if, by the
trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will
those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of
righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:17)

Adam’s
failure to be a king condemned the human race. His sin opened the door to
death, disease, defeat, discouragement, and disappointment. But we who were
victims of Adam’s disobedience have become victorious through Christ’s
obedience.

There
is a new king in town and his name is Grace. Under Adam death reigned, but
under Grace
we
reign. However, not every Christian
does
reign.
Many are racked with guilt and tortured by condemnation. They struggle with sin
and live in fearful anxiety. Problems assail them from every side and they are
unsuccessful in much of what they do. Although Christ has provided all we need
for the abundant life of royalty, they are not enjoying it. They are the
paupers in the palace.

Why
do
some live like this? This isn’t rocket science. If
there is little evidence of the grace of God in your life that doesn’t mean God
is tightfisted. Far
from it. It means you have not received from his
abundant provision of grace. The incalculable riches of grace have been
deposited into your account but you have not made any withdrawals. I don’t say
this to belittle your faith but to recognize that most of us have been raised
in a culture of unbelief.

We
are constantly hearing that God has
not
provided all we need to rule and
reign, and that there are things
we
must do to make that happen. This faithless
message is loudest in the church that does not walk in grace. Ironically, this is
exactly the sort of church where you will often hear that you must live by
faith, pray with faith, and walk by faith, as if talking about faith had the
power to magically make things happen. The trouble is nothing ever does happen
and when
that
happens you’ll be told you didn’t have enough faith. “You
gotta have more faith and here is a list of things you have to do to get it.”

Walking
by faith
is walking in grace. There is no difference. If you would walk
by faith, learn to walk in his grace. Learn to receive what He has already
provided. Stop begging him to act and start thanking him for what he’s done.

Only those who
receive from God’s abundant provision of grace get to reign in life. One thing
that can stop us from receiving is the lie that says we have to prove our
mettle before God will bless us; we have to get cleaned up, straightened out,
and dried out before we can receive. This is a grace-killing doctrine of
demons. It’s like telling sick people they have to get well before the doctor
will see them.

Every
blessing there is, whether health, deliverance, provision, or salvation, comes
to us by grace and grace alone. To think we must work for the blessings of God
is to try and buy that which is not for sale.

Those
who don’t get this worry that those who do are pushing cheap grace. They fret
that we are giving away the treasures of heaven without first requiring people
to turn from sin, get baptized, confess, and do all the other things that
supposedly describe the cost of discipleship. They don’t understand that grace
comes first, that it is only by grace that we can forgive the unforgivable,
love the unlovable, and do all the other things that followers of Christ do.

Beware
cheap grace?
There is no such thing. Grace is free or it’s not grace. Or rather grace is
priceless and you can’t afford it.

There
is simply nothing you can do to earn the Lord’s acceptance and favor. If you
are wondering why God is not pleased with your sacrifices, maybe it’s because
you are not pleased with his.

I
have personally encountered hundreds of people who are confused by the good
news of God’s grace. When I explain it in simple terms, as I have just done,
some of them come back to me with qualifiers and caveats and long lists of
reasons outlining why I am wrong. They may respond fifty different ways but behind
it all is a heart of unbelief. “It just can’t be that simple. Grace can’t be
free. There must be a price to pay.” There is and Jesus paid it.

If
I am wrong about grace then one day I will have to apologize to God for telling
everyone he is better and more gracious than he really is. But if the grace
killers are wrong, then eternity for them is going to begin with a truly
awkward moment. “Er, sorry Lord. Sorry for prostituting your love and making
people pay for the free gift of grace.”