Reigning With Christ

Read: Revelation 2:18-3:6

“To him who overcomes and does my will to the end,
I will give authority over the nations.”
(Revelation 2:26)

Thoughts… I am spending a few days in London on my way back from a missions trip to Africa. One of the places I visited yesterday was Buckingham Palace—home to the kings and queens of England. Although British royalty has no real authority and power in British politics these days, they still hold sway in the hearts of the English people. To say that the British are infatuated with royalty would be an understatement.

I found myself sharing that infatuation as I watched the palace guards and observed the fawning attentiveness of the onlookers. Most people feel the same no matter where they are from. There is just something about ruling and reigning and royalty that is planted deep within the human heart, and we just can’t get away from it.

Perhaps our infatuation is really a deep spiritual longing to experience what God has planned for us in eternity: To reign with Christ and rule over the nations in his eternal kingdom. From our reading in Revelation today, John teaches that this kind of royal authority is waiting for us when time ends and eternity begins: “I will give [you] authority over the nations.”

However, there is a condition to our eternal royalty. We must overcome the evil one in this life. We must wrestle with our sinful nature and, through the help of the Spirit of God, overpower it. We must do the will of God all of our days until the very end of life. In other words, what we do now in this life counts in the life to come. Our purity, our integrity, our submission to God’s will, our partnership with the purpose of God matters a great deal.

That is why day-by-day, we must give every effort to our part of the salvation equation. God has marvelously saved us by his grace through faith we place in Jesus and his saving work. There is nothing we can add to it.

Yet our response to salvation is critical. Out of love for God, gratitude for his gracious gift of eternal life, and in preparation for our eternal calling, we must give maximum and sustained effort now to overcome the evil one. We must expend our full energies in doing God’s will and fulfilling his purposes each and every day of our lives for the rest of our lives.

Our lives now are a staging ground for what will take place in eternity. Therefore, we would be wise today to invest in time in such a way that it will pay off handsomely in the age to come.

Prayer… Father, you have redeemed me not just to keep me out of hell, but to fulfill your glorious purposes both now and for all eternity. I want to give my best efforts today, and every day until I die, so that one day I can rule and reign over the nations with my Lord Jesus Christ. With your help, I will overcome and do your will to the full.

One More Thing… “He who created us without our help will not save us without our consent.” —St. Augustine