he made us to be a kingdom, to be priests
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2The same was in the beginning with God.
3All things were made through him; and without him was not anything made that hath been made.
4In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
John was, among other things, a master of summary. Using Christ's own words he is able to say so much with so few words. Here is another popular example.
16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life.
Those are of course very well known passages I want to look at another one this from Revelation that perfectly summarizes our role in this incredible Gospel story that is so incredibly described through the book of Revelation.
We will start in Revelation 1:4-8 with John succinctly describing Christ's and our role in this life.
4John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from him who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits that are before his throne;
5and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loveth us, and loosed us from our sins by his blood;
Grace and peace from Christ? I need as much of that as I can get. You can learn all about those seven spirits further in the book they play a prominent role. More important though, is how Christ's role is summarized a faithful witness, crucified for us, a ruler who first loved, then forgave us of ALL of our sins through his blood. There is a lot packed into verse 5, but then this is John.
Now let's look at our, yours and my role, in all of this. In Johns summary we all have two jobs, just two, but they are big.
6and he made us to be a kingdom, to be priests unto his God and Father; to him be the glory and the dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
There you have it you have two jobs, just two. First you are a king, some versions are more explicit about this than others. You've got a kingdom, I don't know how big it is right now, you may be your only subject, for now. Your Job though as a king is to give dominion, all that you have dominion over, to God. Second you are a priest, your job as priest is to give all glory to God. These are a couple of serious jobs. Notice we've been promoted from children of God to kings and priests to God, roles we would be well advised to not take lightly.
But why? Why are we entrusted with such critical roles, in such a critical kingdom, at such a time as this?
7Behold, he cometh with the clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they that pierced him; and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn over him. Even so, Amen.
8I am the Alpha and the Omega, saith the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.
Because Jesus, Johns friend who loved him very much, is coming back. And one more thing, verse 3 has already added a bit of urgency to the situation, all generations would be wise to heed.
3Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written therein: for the time is at hand.