The millennial kingdom will have two sections—the heavenly section and the earthly section.
The heavenly section of the millennial kingdom will be the kingdom of the Father. Matthew 13:43 says, “Then the righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” The kingdom of the Father, as the heavenly part of the millennium, will be the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens as a reward to the overcomers.
The heavenly section of the millennial kingdom will be composed of all the Old Testament and New Testament overcomers. This is indicated by the Lord’s word in Matthew 8:11. “I say to you that many shall come from the east and the west and shall recline at the table with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of the heavens.” This refers to the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens. It will be in the manifestation of the kingdom that the overcoming Gentile believers will feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all the other Old Testament overcomers. As the overcomers participate in the feast of the kingdom of the heavens, they will drink the cup of the new covenant anew with their Lord (Matt. 26:29).
The heavenly section of the millennial kingdom will actually be the New Jerusalem in the millennial age. In Revelation 3:12 the Lord says, “He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall by no means go out anymore, and I will write upon him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which descends out of heaven from My God, and My new name.” Here we see that the overcomer will be made a pillar built into the temple of God. This promise will be fulfilled in the millennial kingdom as a reward to the overcomer. All the Old Testament and New Testament overcomers will be gathered together to be the New Jerusalem on a smaller scale in the millennium. As those who compose the heavenly section of the millennial kingdom, they will also compose the New Jerusalem in the coming age of the millennium.
The heavenly section of the millennial kingdom will be a reward to all the Old Testament and New Testament overcomers (Heb. 11:26, 39-40). Hebrews 11:26 tells us, for example, that Moses esteemed “the reproach of the Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, for he looked away to the reward.” Because he was willing to suffer the reproach of the Christ, Moses will receive the reward of the kingdom. This reward will be given to all the Old and New Testament overcomers, including Enoch, Abraham, David, and Paul. Whether or not we shall receive this reward depends on our enjoyment, experience, and expression of the processed and consummated Triune God. If we enjoy Christ, experience Christ, and express Christ, we shall be among the overcomers receiving the heavenly section of the millennial kingdom as a reward.
The heavenly section of the millennial kingdom will be the realm for Christ and the overcomers to reign over the nations and for the overcomers to be priests of God and of Christ for one thousand years. The overcoming believers will reign there with Christ. Revelation 20:4b says, “They lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” Furthermore, the overcoming believers will rule over the nations. “He who overcomes, and he who keeps My works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will shepherd them with an iron rod, as vessels of pottery are broken in pieces, as I also have received from My Father” (Rev. 2:26-27). This is a reward to the overcomers of reigning with Christ over the nations in the millennial kingdom. The overcomers will also be priests of Christ and of God. Revelation 20:6b says that the overcomers “shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with Him a thousand years.” The overcomers, therefore, will be priests to contact God and co-kings with Christ to reign over the nations in the millennium. As priests they will bring man in his need to God and minister God to man, and as kings they will bring God in His authority to man and represent God to shepherd man. Hence, the heavenly section of the millennial kingdom will be the realm for the exercise of this priesthood and kingship.