Book 2 of Musings The Absolute Monarch and His Brothers
What absolute monarch invites other people to be his brothers and fellow heirs and rulers? Jesus does!
One time the disciples were arguing among themselves as to who would be the greatest in the Kingdom.
The Lord rebuked them, and said whoever would be the greatest would be the servant of all.
The Word of God tells us we will be coheirs with Christ, the Greatest of all kings.
The Lord advised us that if we overcome, as He overcame, we will sit with Him on His throne.
Revelation tells us that the overcomes will govern the nations with a rod of iron, a promise made to the Lord Jesus in the second Psalm.
The King and His fellow kings and nobles will govern the world to come.
See, a king will reign in righteousness and rulers will rule with justice. Each man will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land. (Psalms 32:1-2)
You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth. (Rev 3:10)
Our world is in an uproar at this time. Wars and rumors of war abound, just as the Lord Jesus said would be the case.
Now I want you to imagine something with me.
Let's pretend that every person in a ruling position, at every level of government, was in the moral image of Christ and living in untroubled rest in the center of God's Person and will. He or she was filled with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Each ruler and leader always placed the welfare of his or her charges before his own welfare. Each ruler, although possessing access to infinite authority and power to enforce his decisions, was compassionate, merciful, kindly, loving.
Each ruler was absolutely just, showing favoritism to no one. The rich and the mighty, the poor and lowly, were all treated fairly. No bribery was possible.
The righteous people were blessed by the government. The wicked were punished swiftly in accordance with their crimes.
Now think carefully about such a world condition.
What kind of world would it be? Would it not be Paradise on the earth?
This tells us something. The problem with the world is that the rulers more often than not are self-seeking people who do not know the Lord.
There is a Gospel. There is good news. There is a kingdom coming to the earth that will be governed by the type of people I have mentioned above. They all are brothers of Jesus Christ and rule just as He rules.
Isn't that the best news you have ever heard?
The future rulers are being trained today. It is a difficult curriculum, let me tell you. Each one of us is stretched to the limit. Every part of our personality to the smallest area is examined and tested with the greatest care.
Will all people who profess Christ be made rulers? I doubt it very much. They are not ruling now; rather, they are being ruled by their idols, their lusts, their fears, their covetousness, their jealousies, their personal ambition.
A university course of studies might begin with 5,000 freshmen. But when we get to the doctoral program there may be only five or six who are ready to proceed.
What happened to the others? They left the university for a variety of reasons. Even after the first year, from freshmen to sophomores, there is a large drop in numbers.
So it is in the Kingdom of God. Multiplied thousands start on the path that leads to the Throne of Christ. But when we come to the final struggle to conform our personality to the image of Christ and bring it into untroubled rest in God, only a handful of believers are ready and willing to press on to the fullness.
In order to be among the few who move forward to the fullness we have to count all else in our life as garbage that we might concentrate on one thing-to know Christ; to know the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings.
It must be Christ, Christ, Christ, in all that we are and do. Jesus must be central in every relationship, circumstance, and ambition. The struggle for rulership is just like the doctoral program in a university. It is the highest and best the institution of learning has to offer.
It is of the greatest important to understand that God has provided all-absolutely all-that you will need to reach the prize. The only power that can prevent your reaching God's highest and best is your own unbelief and disobedience.
Think of what it will mean to the Lord Jesus if you don't quit!
Think of what it will mean to the people with whom the Lord brings you into contact if you keep on plugging along!
Think of what it will mean to your loved ones if you hold that shining example before them!
Think of what it will mean to you in the Day of Resurrection when you are crowned with life, righteousness, glory, and honor; when Christ smiles at you because you have done well; when you are given a multitude of people over whom you will rule with justice, making it possible for each one to pursue his or her own destiny.
On the other hand, think what it will mean to rise in the Day of Resurrection and discover that you have traded the wealth of God for the plastic and tinsel of the present world; when you see others surrounded with thankful people who were saved into the Kingdom, or who even went on to the fullness, because those other saints were faithful to the end. Here you stand destitute and alone!
Weigh the consequences of your choice with extreme care, because the scenario I have just described for you is more certain to occur than the rising of the sun tomorrow morning.
Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. (Isaiah 53:13)