In the Bible the kingship is equal in importance to the priesthood. Priests have the image of God to express God and bring man into God’s presence. Kings have the authority of God to represent God and bring God to man.
The kingship is mainly to reign for God, to rule over God’s people for God. To reign for God, we need to know God’s sovereign authority and submit ourselves under God’s authority. David and the Lord Jesus knew God’s authority from their heart and always submitted themselves under God’s authority so that eventually they could reign for God. Only those who obey authority can represent God as authority to reign for God.
The kings established by God, such as David and Solomon, brought God to man in God’s authority. Acts 13:36 says, “David, having served his own generation by the counsel of God.” This indicates that David’s reigning as king brought God to man.
The kingship is brought in by God’s anointing. This can be illustrated by David, who, as the first generation in the age of the kingship, was chosen and anointed by God (1 Sam. 16:10-13) to bring in the kingdom of God. Solomon was anointed by God to be the legal successor to the throne of David (1 Kings 1:32-40). David typifies Christ in His sufferings until His crucifixion; Solomon typifies Christ in His resurrection reigning as the King in resurrection.
When Jesus was baptized, He was anointed by the Spirit of God (Matt. 3:16) to carry out the kingship in His humanity. This was the fulfillment of the word of the prophet Isaiah concerning the anointing of the new King and His introduction to His people (61:1; 42:1). In His ascension He was made Christ (Acts 2:36), God’s Anointed, to carry out God’s economy and accomplish God’s commission.
Micah 5:2 prophesied that Christ would be born in Bethlehem to be Ruler in Israel. This was fulfilled in Matthew 2:4-6. Christ as the King reigns for God to shepherd God’s people.
When Christ comes again to possess the earth, He will be the King in the kingdom, governing the earth and ruling over the nations with His overcoming believers (Rev. 20:4, 6; 2:26-27). As the coming King, He will be the Head and the center in the coming kingdom. In His coming reign, God’s authority and glory will be fully manifested, and the whole earth with man will be brought into the righteousness, peace, joy, and full blessing of God’s creation.
In the divine administration Christ is the Ruler of the kings of the earth (Rev. 1:5; Acts 5:31) to rule over the whole world. Today the whole world is under the ruling of Christ. He rules sovereignly over all men, all affairs, and all things for the execution of God’s authority to bring God to man for the establishing of the kingdom of God.
The believers have been firmly attached by God to Christ, the anointed One; thus, when Christ was anointed to be the King, we were spontaneously anointed with Him by God (2 Cor. 1:21).
The overcomers will be priests, drawing near to God and Christ, and kings, reigning over the nations with Christ in the millennium (Rev. 20:4, 6; 2:26-27; 12:5). As priests, they satisfy God and Christ by enjoying their service, and as kings, they reign for God and represent God, shepherding man for man’s enjoyment and satisfaction.
Since the believers reign with Christ, they minister with Christ to bring God to others. Today, in a normal situation, proper believers bring others and their need before God and also minister God to others. By exercising the priestly ministry and the kingship, the believers meet the need of both God and man, bringing man to God and bringing God to man that both God and man may have the enjoyment and satisfaction.