Monday, July 7, 2014

Reign in Life 3—Throne Mentality

I came across an interesting verse today...

‘Take away the wicked before the king, and his throne will be established in righteousness.’ [Proverbs 25:5]

Since we know this chapter contains the proverbs of Solomon, at first glance this doesn’t apply to the average Christian…of course, there are no average Christians, but keep reading!

Most of us skim over that verse and keep moving.

But today I was searching for the phrase ‘in righteousness’ because the New Covenant makes it clear that we’ve been made the righteousness of God in Him [2 Corinthians 5:21]…that by HIS doing, we are IN Christ Jesus, Who became to us wisdom from God, and RIGHTEOUSNESS and sanctification, and redemption…[1 Corinthians 1:30]

Romans 3:22 says that the righteousness of God has been manifested through faith in Jesus Christ for ALL those who believe!

And let’s not forget Romans 5:17…

‘For if by the transgression of the one [Adam], death reigned through the one, MUCH MORE those who receive the abundance of grace and of the GIFT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS will REIGN IN LIFE through the One, Jesus Christ.’

Wait a minute…where do people who reign sit? And what are they called?

Revelations 1:6 and 5:10 both say that we are kings and priests. I know the NASB translates it as a ‘kingdom of priests’ but the Greek word for kings is basileus—leader of the people, prince, commander, lord of the land, king—and is translated as king 82 times! Revelations 5:10 says we will reign upon the earth.

Even the NASB Lexicon states that basileu means royal power, kingship, dominion, rule…not to be confused with an actual kingdom but rather the right or authority to rule over a kingdom. The royal power and dignity conferred on Christians in the Messiah’s kingdom. HALLELUJAH!

Young’s Literal Translation translates basileu as king.

Yep, we’re kings all right, called to reign upon the earth. We are one Spirit with the Lord, members of His Body…He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and we’re those very lords and kings! Made COMPLETE in Him.

Okay, before you start to scream heresy, these are VERSES I’m quoting. You know, from the BIBLE…

And where do kings sit? On THRONES!

Now I realize that modern royalty is seen largely as a useless institution…powerless celebrities, whose personal lives are fodder for People magazine and such. When the Bible was written, however, they had absolute power over life and death. Their word was instantly obeyed, or else.

Ecclesiastes 8:4 tells us that the word of a king is authoritative.

Consider these scriptures:

‘…and raised us up with Him, and seated us WITH HIM in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus…[Ephesians 2:6]

‘…when He raised Him [Christ] from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, FAR ABOVE ALL RULE AND AUTHORITY AND POWER AND DOMINION, and every name that is named, not only in THIS AGE but also in the one to come.’ [Ephesians 2:20,21]

‘…because AS HE IS, so also ARE WE IN THIS WORLD’

Jesus is seated on His throne alright, and we’re right there with and in Him, FAR ABOVE every other throne—all rule and authority and power and dominion!

And we know Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil [1 John 3:8] and that He defeated Satan by His death and resurrection.

So we can pray with bold confidence, ‘Father, take away the wicked before me, and my throne will be established in righteousness today and every day, and I WILL reign in life through the One, Christ Jesus.’

It’s time, and well past, for every believer to get a throne mentality and stop being pushed around by a defeated foe!

Hallelujah!

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Read Reign in Life; Reign in Life 2; Eternal You; Proclaim!; His Word, His Command; Our God Reigns; That Which Has Been Will Be; plus lots of additional articles on this blog…search ‘reign in life’ and you will come up with pages and pages! Enjoy!