Believers are not only members of God’s household; they are also citizens of God’s kingdom. This is seen in Ephesians 2:19. Furthermore, Revelation 1:6; 5:10; and Philippians 3:20 show that we are the heavenly citizens of God’s kingdom. Titus 2:14 says that we are God’s particular people. After we are saved, we become citizens in God’s kingdom; hence, we are heavenly, particular, and different from others.
The emphasis of a home is enjoyment, but the emphasis of a kingdom is obligation. In the physical realm there are homes and nations. Even though there are obligations in a home, the emphasis is on enjoyment. With respect to a nation, even though there is enjoyment, obligations surpass enjoyment. As believers, we also have a spiritual home and a spiritual kingdom. Our spiritual home is God’s house, and our spiritual nation is God’s kingdom. In God’s house, we have more enjoyment than we have obligations. In God’s kingdom, we have more obligations than we have enjoyment. So once we are saved, we should not only have full enjoyment in the house of God, but we should also fulfill our obligations in the kingdom of God.
We need to remember that we are members of God’s household and citizens of His kingdom. In the household, we enjoy the Father’s care and provision, but in the kingdom, we are under the Lord’s ruling and are subject to His authority. There is no citizen of a country who is not under the protection of that country. Since we are citizens of God’s kingdom, we are also under the protection of God’s kingdom. This protection is stronger than the protection of a house.
However, we must know that today we are citizens of God’s kingdom, but ultimately we will reign in the kingdom of God. In the end, we will all be kings in the kingdom of God. 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. Today it seems as if we are citizens in God’s kingdom, but we are actually being trained to be kings.
Brothers and sisters, have we considered that as citizens in God’s kingdom we are actually being trained to be kings? This can be compared to a prince who grows up in a royal palace as a son but is actually being trained to one day reign as a king. Have we ever thought that as believers, we are citizens of God’s kingdom for the purpose of being trained to reign for God? Revelation 20 tells us that one day the overcomers of Christ will be co-kings with Christ to reign with Him.
Revelation 1:6 and 5:10 speak of us being priests. In God’s household we are children, and in God’s kingdom we are citizens being trained to reign. We are also priests of God serving before Him. As soon as we are saved, we should serve God as priests. But today in degraded Christianity only a small number of saved ones are separated to be priests. Today the so-called fathers in the Catholic Church are called priests. Even in Protestantism, the pastors in the Episcopalian Church are sometimes called priests. But according to the Bible, every Christian is a priest. Every believer should be a priest and should be one who serves God.
The brothers and sisters have referred to me as a person who serves God. My question to them is this: “Whom do you serve? I serve God, but what about you? Whom do you serve?” Once a brother even said to me that he had the liberty to do many things that I could not do because he was not serving God like I am. I immediately responded, “Brother, yes I serve God. But whom do you serve? Do you not realize that if you do not serve God, you are serving the world, and you are serving mammon?”
Every believer must be a priest who serves God. Our specific duty, our primary occupation, is to serve God. All other things are side jobs. Being a teacher is a side job, taking care of family is a side job, doing business is a side job, farming is a side job, and working in an office is a side job. Whatever we do is a side job. Our primary occupation is to serve God as a priest. The priests and Levites in the Old Testament farmed and had household chores, but these were their side jobs. Their primary occupation was to serve God. This applies to Christians. Every believer should serve God as his primary occupation. Everything else is a side job.
Ephesians 1:11 and 14 speak of being God’s inheritance. It is difficult to see in the Bible any inheritance in the universe for God, other than His saints. In a broad sense, all things in the universe belong to God, but God does not consider them as His treasure and His inheritance. In the Old Testament God said repeatedly that His people, the Israelites, were His inheritance. However, the Israelites are merely the earthly people of God, and the believers are the heavenly people of God. So we are all the more God’s inheritance, all the more God’s possession.
We are God’s possession. We are His precious inheritance. We are in God’s hands and under His protection. Even though we are still in the old creation, Ephesians 1:13 says that as God’s inheritance we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit. This can be compared to buying things at a factory. Once we have bought them, we need to put our seal on the items because we have not taken them from the factory. We need to seal the items, to separate them from everything else in the factory. Then at the appropriate time we take the sealed items home. In the same manner, even though we have not been raptured to be with the Lord, the Lord has already placed His Holy Spirit in us to mark us out, confirming that we are of God and that we are His inheritance.