Living As Royalty

Living as Royalty

He has made us a Kingdom of priests for God his Father. Revelation 1:6

BELIEVERS STAND AT AN INTERSECTION of heavenly and earthly realms, serving as both kings and priests. We have been called to be priests (1 Peter 2:5)—representing God to humanity and humanity to God—and we have been called to rule with Christ. We have been given the keys of his Kingdom (Matthew 16:19), are seated at his heavenly throne (Ephesians 1:21-22; 2:6), and will rule with him on earth (Revelation 5:10). We have a more extraordinary calling than most of us understand.

Jesus spoke often about those who believe being able to see and inherit the Kingdom. Sometimes those verses have life-and-death, heaven-or-hell implications; sometimes they simply refer to the ability to experience Kingdom things. But in any case, they call us to see, think, pray, and believe like royalty and priests.

How do royal priests see, think, pray, and believe? We’ve looked at several of our characteristics already—walking by faith rather than sight, thinking about Kingdom-oriented possibilities, praying from victory rather than for it, and knowing who we are in Christ. We don’t ask for the King’s promises; he has already given them. We simply believe them. We don’t try to become like Christ; we simply behave like him because we are his. We are citizens of heaven already, and we live like we know it—with all of heaven’s values, virtues, and vision.

That’s not a call to arrogance. Jesus is our model, and he never demonstrated pride. But he did carry himself like royalty. His kind of kingship involved servanthood, but always with authority. A royal priest in the Kingdom of God doesn’t try to convince the kingdom of darkness of what’s right; he or she simply says what is and isn’t. Kings don’t ask their realm to follow decrees; they expect decrees to be followed. We don’t pray for God’s promises to be true; we accept them as they are. We don’t try to attain royal status; we have been born into the family. This is our identity, calling, and lifestyle. Live as a priest and a prince or princess. As a citizen of another realm, you are invited—even urged—to live with the authority Christ has given those who love him.

Power in complete subordination to love—that is something like a definition of the kingdom of God.