Called to Be a Kingdom and Priests
Our Divine Calling
God has given us an extraordinary identity and purpose. We are called to be both a kingdom and priests serving Him.
1 Peter 2:9-10 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Revelation 1:5-6 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.
Revelation 5:9-10 And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”
The Process: How We Become Priests
Who better to explain this transformation than the Apostle John himself?
Revelation 1:9 I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus.
This is not a trivial phrase. John distills our entire experience in Christ Jesus into three essential elements: suffering, kingdom, and patient endurance.
Consider the pattern: Jesus was crucified, then He was resurrected. When Stephen was being stoned, he saw the throne of God. When we meet suffering with “Father, forgive them for what they do,” we participate in building the kingdom of God. We are called to a life of patient endurance here on earth, suffering to build His kingdom.
John 16:7b-8 Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment.
The Three Elements of Priestly Formation
1. Suffering Romans 6:23 — “For the wages of sin is death.”
2. Kingdom Romans 14:17 — “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
3. Endurance Revelation 13:10c — “This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God’s people.”
Revelation 14:12 — “This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus.”
Revelation 16:5b, 7 — “You are just in these judgments, O Holy One. And I heard the altar respond: ‘Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just are your judgments.'”
Revelation 16 — “It is done!”
The Sacred Intersection
At the juncture of suffering is the possibility of kingdom creation as we endure.
This is where transformation happens. In our suffering, met with patient endurance and faithfulness, the kingdom of God breaks through into our world. We become what we were always meant to be: a kingdom and priests serving our God.