Revelation 20:6 indicates that being a priest is a matter in resurrection. In His resurrection and with His divine life Christ has made us living priests to serve God. Therefore, it is in resurrection life that we are God’s priests.
The believers are also slaves of God. Romans 6:22 says that we have been “enslaved to God.” First Peter 2:16 says, “As free, and not having freedom as a cloak for evil, but as slaves of God.” One aspect of our status as believers is that we are priests of God; another aspect is that we are slaves of God. We should be happy to be both priests and slaves. Actually, the Greek word rendered “slaves” in 1 Peter 2:16 means bondslaves. A bondslave, according to ancient custom and law, was one who was purchased by his master and over whom his master had absolute rights, even to the extent of terminating his life. As believers we are such bondslaves of God.
As slaves of God we have been freed from all bondage. However, we should not use our freedom as an excuse to behave in a careless manner. On the contrary, we should use our freedom as slaves of God. Although we are freed from the law of Moses, we are still under the law of Christ. As those under the law of Christ, we are slaves of God. On the one hand, we are free; on the other hand, we are slaves of God under His control.
Before we were saved, we were slaves of sin (Rom. 6:17, 20). But now we are freed from sin. Romans 6:22 says, “Having been freed from sin and having been enslaved to God, you have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end eternal life.”
First Corinthians 6:20 says, “You were bought with a price.” This price is the precious blood of Christ (Acts 20:28; 1 Pet. 1:18-19). As fallen human beings, we were in a dreadful situation before we experienced Christ’s redemption: we were merchandise up for sale in Satan’s marketplace. But Christ came to purchase us, to redeem us. He paid a very high price to buy us-the price of His precious blood. The blood that bought us was extraordinary blood-the blood of the God-man, Jesus Christ. Only the precious blood of Christ was qualified and sufficient to redeem us, to purchase us. The highest price has been paid for our redemption so that we might now be slaves of God.
The believers are brothers of Christ as the firstborn Son of God. Romans 8:29 speaks of Christ as “the Firstborn among many brothers.” From eternity Christ was the only begotten Son of God (John 1:18; 3:16; Heb. 1:8, 10-12; 7:3). As the only begotten Son, Christ is unique. However, in resurrection the only begotten Son became the Firstborn. This means that Christ’s resurrection was His birth as God’s firstborn Son. Acts 13:33 indicates that to the man Jesus resurrection was a birth. He was begotten by God in His resurrection to be the firstborn Son of God among many brothers. Although He was the only begotten Son of God from eternity, after incarnation, in which He put on humanity, and through resurrection He was begotten by God in His humanity to be God’s firstborn Son. He needed to be begotten in resurrection because He had put on humanity. As to His divinity there was no need for Him to be begotten as the Son of God. But as to His humanity there was the need for this. On the day of Christ’s resurrection His human nature was uplifted and transfigured into a glorious substance. In this way Jesus was begotten to be the firstborn Son of God.
Romans 8:29 speaks of Christ as the Firstborn and refers to us, the believers, as the many brothers. It is a wonderful fact that the Firstborn has many brothers. Today Christ is not merely the only begotten Son but also the firstborn Son, and we are His brothers. As the Firstborn Christ has both humanity and divinity, and as His brothers we have both divinity and humanity. Through regeneration we have the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). Although we are human beings, we now have the divine nature. Although the Lord Jesus is divine, He has the human nature. Therefore, both the Lord Jesus and we are the same in that both He and we have the human nature and the divine nature.
However, we are not, and we never shall be, the same as Christ with respect to His deity. Deity refers to His Godhead, whereas divinity refers to His divine being. According to His deity, Christ is still the only begotten Son of God. We, His brothers, participate in His divinity, but we can never partake of His deity. It would be heresy to say that we can partake of Christ’s deity. As His brothers, we partake of the divine nature, and this is to partake of divinity. Christ is the Firstborn with divinity and humanity, and we are His many brothers with humanity and divinity.
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