CROWNS AND REWARDS PART ONE

I am knitted together to look beyond the physical realm and look into the spiritual realm. Man is a spirit man as well as a physical man and what can be seen in the physical can be found in the spiritual

Looking at our crowns I was intrigued to begin to study of the 5 crowns spoken of in the New Testament,  some theologians say they are our rewards and crowns to be given at Bema Seat of Christ. This is not to take away(because I agree) but just to dive deeper into it. But before we look at the 5 crowns themselves let's look at our position as a child of God.

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen generation,  a royal priesthood, a holy nation. His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

Revelation 1:6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory

Let's consider what does priests and kings mean to us, the bride of Christ. Answer this question: when did we become priests and kings? Let's look at the meaning of these two words.

We know that the husband is the priest of his household. We know that in the days of Moses and Aaron, God established the order of the priesthood, including the high priest. We also know that  according to God's word:

 Hebrews 2:17 Therefore in all things He had to made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

The function of the High Priest was to intercede on behalf of the people of God, they tended to the temple daily, they kept the altar fire burning, they lead God's people in worship, Jesus is our High Priest, He was the Lamb of God sacrificed for us, He intercedes for His children. So how are we priests today? Anyone who is born again into the kingdom of God, is a priest. Think about it we are told in 1Corinthians 3:16 that we are the temple of God, and we are given a warning not to harm God's temple. I was reading a little earlier in Francis Chan's book "Letter's To The Church" and he shed a light on this. Many think of killing or physically harming themselves through addictions or physically harming another Christian; yet, the greatest harm we do is through our mouths in gossip and slander, tearing down another's character bringing division and strife within the local body of Christ, now that is something we need to get ahold of, we are the temple of the One True Living God.  Any time we begin to intercede in prayer for someone we are functioning in the office of the priesthood. We are to lead our family and ourselves in worship by letting our children and grandchildren see how we praise and worship our Lord and Savior everyday, both good days and bad days. It is our responsibility to keep our fire (our zeal for God) stoked, this is done by staying in His word, in prayer and in fellowship with other believers. We are to daily operate in the office of the priesthood.  The moment we first believed God spoke 1 Peter 2:9 over us.

Kings, when you think about a king, what comes to your mind? Wealth, wisdom, power, authority, dominion! For now let's look at the power, authority and dominion that is given to a king. Why would Jesus call us kings? When Jesus was writing to the seven churches, which I believe represent churches of our day and since we are the children of God we are His church it speaks to each of us individually as well as corporately, listen to the first thing that John writes:

Revelation 1:6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen

At the cross Jesus took back the power and authority from Satan that had been given to him by Adam when sin was born in the garden of Eden. In Genesis at man's creation God gave man dominion over all of creation (Genesis 1:26) and with the fall, man yielded his dominion to Satan who is the prince of darkness and ruler of this world. But Jesus said we may be in this world but we are not of this world. The prince of darkness has no power or authority over us, we are not subject to the world's value system. 

The word teaches us that one day we will rule and reign with Christ, ( Luke 22:28-30) that we will even judge angels ( 1 Corinthians 6:2-3). It also teaches us that during the great tribulation Jesus will take back the deed to earth and what was His at the time of creation will once more be His and Satan and his demons will be cast into the lake of fire. We know that Jesus is the King and when He returns He comes back as King of kings and Lord of lords. So you think "Linda, did you get sidetracked? " No just background to lead into "how are we kings, today?"

Every born again Christian has a divine assignment we are to operate in with all the power and authority Jesus has given to us. In fact you might say we have been assigned places where we have dominion over, places we rule over the powers of darkness that attempt to come against us, our families, our community,  our church, our work place. For pastors, evangelists, prophets, teachers and apostles these are called into the ministry with an anointing to fulfill their purpose. Not every pastor has been sent to shepherd large flocks, some are called to shepherd small flocks,  not everyone is called to go to a foreign country to share the gospel and  build churches, some are called to a community, a town, a city or even a village, in areas near them. This is the area of dominion that God has placed in their hands. We will look at some scriptures in just a moment to paint a picture of what I am saying. But what about you and me? We all have talents we were born with, talents that we can grow and learn how to increase our talents. At our salvation we were given spiritual gifts to be used with our talents to further the kingdom of God. We have all been called to be witnesses of Jesus the Christ everywhere we are, we are called to be ambassadors for Christ on good days and bad days, we are designed to be worshipers, to pray and to praise. We serve a God that does not force Himself on us, so each day we make a decision "Am I going to use my authority to rule my life today, or am I going to surrender my God given authority to my Lord and Savior that I may do His will and not mine?" God has anointed us to walk in ministry, the ministry He has placed us in. Our assignment may be as simple as training our children in the way they should go, others may have an assignment to pray for those in your work place, or establish a relationship with a neighbor that you might one day lead that person to Jesus. Though we gather inside walls to worship our Lord, those walls and the name on the building is not the church, you and I are His church, His body, His bride. Our gifts and talents and callings are to be used within the corporate church for the edification of the body and outside within our community to ministry and share the good news; Jesus came, He lives, He forgives and He is our hope. 

Do you realize that God has planted you in the body of believers you are at? How often do we even think about God actually planted me in this church, to use my gifts and talents to edify His church. We all have diversity of gifts, talents and assignments to be used where we are planted. How often have people up and ran from a church they were planted because of offenses?  Offense is the devil's tool to divide a church body, he accomplishes this when a person leaves because of offense, they have disrupted the body and maimed the body of Christ. Because they were needed to fulfill what God has planned.

1 Corinthians 12:18-20 But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. And if they are all one member where would the body be? But now indeed there are many members yet one body.

This is speaking of our diversity of gifts within the body. Do grasp the magnitude of the depth of this?  We are part of Christ body, we are the feet, hands, eyes, ears and mouth that our Creator desires to use within a particular body of believers and outside the walls of a building to have a kingdom purpose and kingdom connection for His glory.

Now let's look at some scriptures pertaining to God given assignments. It is in these assignments that the power of God will change the atmosphere around us.

Jesus, Himself, said He did not do anything that His Father had not told Him to do. "John 4:4 But He needed to go through Samaria". Jesus had a divine assignment or some would say a divine appointment with a lady at the well.

Acts 18:9-11 Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, "Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city". And he continued there a year and six months teaching the word of God among them.

Acts 16:6, 9, 10 Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. Verse 9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night, A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him saying, "Come over to Macedonia, and help us". Verse 10 Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.

Acts 23:11 But the following night the Lord stood by him (Paul) and said, "Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for me in Jerusalem, so you also must bear witness at Rome

I could go on and on with scripture examples, but do you get it? Every Christian has a divine assignment in God's kingdom. Think back, and remember those divine appointments those assignments that God gave to you, and as you walked in it His anointing was with you as you ministered. Maybe it was teaching a Sunday School class, ministering in a ladies group or a man's group, hosting a connection group in your home, praying for someone, going into the nursing homes and assisted livings just to bring the gospel to them, or ministering in homeless shelters, or to the outcast and forgotten or visiting the sick to bring them encouragement and so much more that time would keep from continuing but you get the idea. In these assignments they are the places of our dominion, places of our God given authority. In the spiritual we could say "we are operating in our kingly anointing".

God has positioned us in heavenly places, He has opened doors for us to minister to others as He has called us to do. Salvation is not of our works, yet we are to be about good works.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand we should walk in them.

Sometimes God merely has us to do a "good work" fulfill a need that isn't about using our spiritual gifts but merely being available to help. Like fixing a meal for someone, that is not  using a spiritual gift per say, but it is a good work that God has prepared for you to do. I believe that even in these little things God has given them as our assignment. As we follow God in where He takes us to use us, we are gathering rewards/crowns to be given to us on the day we hear "Well done good and faithful servant". I want to say right now that our rewards/crowns have nothing to do with our salvation, our salvation is within the covenant promise. 

So I ask "What are these rewards/crowns and can we lose them?" Remember I am not talking about salvation.

There will probably be several posts relating to this subject, this is only a little background. And I am sure it barely scratches the surface of our understanding. 

In a couple of days I will post part 2, looking at what are the 5 crowns and is there a difference between a crown and a reward?