In the manifestation of the kingdom the overcoming believers in Christ will participate in the kingdom feast with the overcoming saints in the Old Testament, including Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is promised by the Lord Jesus in Matthew 8:11: “I say to you that many will come from the east and the west and will recline at table with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of the heavens.” The overcomers will drink the cup of the new covenant anew with the Lord when they participate in the feast of the kingdom of the heavens, just as the Lord said when He established the table on the earth, “I shall by no means drink of this product of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in the kingdom of My Father” (26:29). This word indicates that from the time the Lord established His table, He would be physically away from the believers and not drink the fruit of the vine with them until He drinks anew the cup of the new covenant with the overcoming believers in the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens, that is, the kingdom of the Father.
In the coming kingdom the overcomers will rule over all the possessions of the Lord as a reward (24:47).
Ephesians 5:5 implies that some believers will not inherit the kingdom of Christ and of God (cf. 1 Cor. 6:10; Gal. 5:21). The kingdom of Christ is the millennium (Rev. 20:4, 6; Matt. 16:28); it is also the kingdom of God (13:41, 43). The kingdom of Christ and of God refers to the manifestation of the kingdom in the coming millennium. The overcomers will inherit the kingdom of Christ and of God so that they can enter into the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens (5:20; 7:21; 2 Tim. 4:18). Believers have been regenerated into the kingdom of God (John 3:5), and in the church life they are living in the kingdom of God today (Rom. 14:17). However, only those who overcome will participate in the kingdom of Christ and of God in the coming age, that is, in the manifestation of the kingdom in the millennium. The defeated believers will have no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God in the coming age.
The millennium will be the kingdom in a way that is more practical than what we are experiencing in the church today. Only in the millennium will the kingdom of Christ become the kingdom of God. When Paul speaks of inheriting the kingdom of God, he does not mean merely to enter the kingdom. This is to receive the kingdom as a reward for our enjoyment. The coming kingdom will be a joyful inheritance to the overcomers. This should be an incentive for the believers to live an overcoming life. The believers referred to in Ephesians 5:5, those who practice the fleshly works in Galatians 5:19-21, and those who do the unrighteous deeds in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 will not inherit the kingdom of God as a reward.
Moreover, if believers want to inherit the kingdom, they need to love God. James 2:5 says, “Listen, my beloved brothers: Did not God choose the poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which He promised to those who love Him?” The kingdom here is the kingdom of God; it is also the kingdom of Christ, which will be inherited by the lovers of God as their reward. Second Peter 1:11 says, “In this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly and bountifully supplied to you.” This verse clearly indicates that the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is eternal (Dan. 7:13-14). This kingdom will be manifested at His coming back (Luke 19:11-12). It will be a reward to His faithful believers, who pursue the growth in His life unto maturity and the development of the virtues of His nature that in the millennium they may participate in His kingship in God’s glory (2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 20:4, 6).
The overcomers will be glorified with Christ (Rom. 8:17). Glory is God expressed. Christ, the hope of glory (Col. 1:27), was sown as the seed of glory into the believers at the time of their regeneration and is now growing. When this seed reaches the stage of blossoming, it is the time of manifesting glory. For the believers to be glorified with Christ means that the glory within the believers will be expressed; that is, the believers will be brought into the full expression of the Triune God. This is the issue of the believers’ maturity in life. If the believers suffer with Christ today, they will also be glorified with Him in the future. The degree of their suffering will determine the degree of glory. The more suffering, the brighter the glory will be. Ultimately, the strength of the believers’ glory depends on the degree of their sufferings. However, Paul clearly saw that the sufferings of the present time were not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed upon the believers (Rom. 8:18). Moreover, the momentary lightness of our affliction today works out for us, more and more surpassingly, an eternal weight of glory (2 Cor. 4:17). Compared to the coming glory, the present suffering is indeed momentary and light and means nothing.