The overcoming believers will be kings to rule in the eternal life over the nations who will remain on the earth in the realm of the eternal life—the enlarged kingdom of God in the millennium (Rev. 20:4, 6; 2:26; 12:5; Matt. 25:34, 46b). Matthew 25:34 says, "Then the King shall say to those on His right hand, Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Verse 46 says, "And these shall go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." To have eternal life is one thing, to inherit eternal life is another thing, and to enter into eternal life is yet another thing.
The righteous in verse 46 are the sheep in verse 33. The sheep will be the good nations who will enter into the realm of eternal life in the kingdom age. When He comes back, the Lord Jesus will descend upon the Mount of Olives (Zech. 14:4) and will sit on His throne of glory (Matt. 25:31). At that time, all the nations will be gathered to Him (v. 32). He will then classify, or divide, the nations into two categories: the sheep and the goats. The sheep are the righteous ones, and the goats are the unrighteous ones (vv. 33, 46). The goats will be sent into the eternal punishment (v. 46a) of the lake of fire (v. 41; Rev. 20:14-15), but the sheep will enter into eternal life (Matt. 25:46b). The eternal life will be a realm into which they will enter, but the eternal life will not enter into them. They will not enter into God's kingdom today, but they will enter into it in the coming age. In the coming kingdom, the sheep will be the nations, the people, the subordinates, the subjects, to be ruled by the overcoming believers, who will be the kings (Rev. 20:4, 6; 12:5). Will you as a believer be such a king in the coming kingdom? We all must exercise our faith to believe that we can be the overcoming believers to be the kings in the coming kingdom. In order to be such kings, we must prepare ourselves today. In this present age, we are a part of the new man, and we are also a part of the enlargement of Christ. This new man will become the kingdom in the next age. We are a part of the new man today, and we will be a part of the kingdom in the next age.
The church as the new man and the Body of Christ is the enlargement of Christ. The Body of Christ today will be the enlargement of Christ in the coming age. Since we are members of the Body of Christ today, we will also be a part of the enlargement of Christ in the coming kingdom. These are the facts. We are a part of the kingdom of God today (Rom. 14:17), and we will be a part of the kingdom of God in the next age. As the overcoming believers, we will be a part of the corporate kingship to rule over the righteous nations, and the nations, who will be saved but not regenerated, will enter into the realm of eternal life to be our subjects.
Our being a part of Christ, a part of the new man, and a part of the kingdom today is completely based on our having the eternal life. If the Triune God had not been processed to be our life, we could not be a part of Christ, a part of the new man, or a part of the kingdom of God today. The eternal life in the present age, in the coming age, and in the eternal age is related to the Triune God becoming our life. We have the eternal life in this age, and we will also have it in the coming age. In the coming age, the eternal life will be enlarged to be the kingdom. We will not only be in the kingdom, but we will also be the kingdom as the enlargement of Christ. This enlargement will be something altogether in the eternal life.