John 1:14 - And the Word (undiminished deity) became flesh (true humanity), and dwelt among us (the Incarnation), and we (James, Peter, and John) beheld His glory (the visual manifestation of the Uniform of Glory), glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth (Bible Doctrine).
In our previous lessons we reviewed the doctrines that relate to TLJC in his first advent when he was incarnated via the virgin birth.
We started our study with a discussion of the doctrine of the virgin birth that was necessary for there to be no transmission of the OSN and then took up the doctrine of the hypostatic union that explains the mechanics of how undiminished deity and true humanity reside in the person of TLJC and then discussed the doctrine of the kenosis that defines God the Father's protocol for the deity and humanity of TLJC in hypostatic union.
In the context of these doctrines, we have been looking at some of the names and titles for our Lord Jesus Christ in order to see more clearly what God has done for us through him, so we can more completely understand who he is and what he has done for us, and from our knowledge of him have our confidence established in our occupation with him. Heb 12:2;
Last time concluded our study of "New Spiritual Species" and started looking at the Royal Family of God that the members of the "New Spiritual Species" are part of and we ended last time with the description of the church age believer's royalty that is found in 1Pet 2:9; "But you are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the virtues of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light."
The First Advent of Christ occurred in the dispensation of Israel. This includes Christ's death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and session.
Ten days after the session, the Age of Israel was interrupted in order to insert a new dispensation into history for the purpose of calling out his royal family.
Jesus Christ was royalty by birth, by deity, and by His spiritual victory on the Cross.
The spiritual royalty of Christ occurred as a result of His spiritual victory over Satan on the cross and His acceptance by God the Father at the session at the Father's right hand.
Being seated at the right hand of the Father, he was given a new title, "King of kings, and Lord of lords, the Bright Morning Star" Therefore, as the God-man, He is a new class of royalty. A superior, permanent and spiritual royalty and He must have a royal family to share His reign.
The Age of Israel had to be interrupted in order to introduce a dispensation with the objective of forming a royal family for Christ. "The Church" and "the body of Christ" are synonyms for the royal family.
The Mystery Doctrine of the Church Age recorded in the Epistles document the Royal Family. Ephesians emphasizes the position of the royal family forever. Hebrews emphasizes the priesthood of the royal family forever. Romans emphasizes the objectives of the royal family. Colossians emphasizes the lifestyle of the royal family.
The Lord's royal family is formed by the baptism of the Holy Spirit at salvation.
This is the work of God the Holy Spirit that began at Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost to the eleven disciples and about 200 others. The Holy Spirit entered these believers into union with Christ.
We see this in Acts 2:1-4; Everyone there was given the temporary spiritual gift of speaking in foreign languages.
At salvation, the Holy Spirit enters every believer into union with Christ making every believer a member of the royal family. The baptism of the Spirit is identification with Christ as royalty, John 14:20; Acts 1:5, Acts 2:3; Acts 11:15-17; 1Cor 12:13; Gal 3:26-28; Col 2:12.
The result of the baptism of the Spirit is positional truth. Positional truth means the believer is positionally with Christ at the right hand of the Father. Believers are accepted positionally as royalty just as Christ has already been accepted as royalty. All church age believers in union with Christ share all that he is and all that he has as royalty.
Positional truth belongs to all believers regardless of their spiritual status or maturity. All Church Age believers are royalty no matter how evil or sinful they may be.
Because the baptism of the Spirit is not an experience, our royal status is not seen or felt. It only becomes manifest to others when we reach spiritual maturity and manifest the character of Christ.
Because the baptism of the Spirit is a sovereign work of God, our royalty is not progressive. We cannot improve it by anything we do. Therefore our royalty is not related to our human ability, our good deeds, or any other human system of works or approval.
Since God is eternal, all that He does is eternal. This means that since positional truth or the baptism of the Spirit is a work of God, it is also eternal. Since we become royalty by the work of God, our royalty is eternal in nature and there is nothing we can say or do to terminate our royalty. Rom 11:29;
The believer's awareness of their status as royalty and membership in the Royal Family only comes from the daily perception and metabolization of doctrine. Rom 10:17;
The spiritual royalty of Jesus Christ is unique. He is spiritual royalty at the right hand of God. As the strategic victor of the angelic conflict, Jesus Christ in Hypostatic Union was alone at the right hand of the Father so the Father interrupted the Jewish Age to insert the Church Age, as a dispensation for the calling out of a royal family for Christ.
The royal family on earth is called "the body of Christ" and in heaven is called the "bride of Christ."
After the Exit Resurrection or Rapture of the Church, the royal family is prepared in heaven as the bride during the Tribulation, and then returns with Christ at the Second Advent as His bride.
The Church Age will only last as long as it takes to complete the royal family.
The Royal Family is identified by the Indwelling of the Spirit. 1Cor 6:19-20.
This passage also tells us that God the Holy Spirit indwells the believer's body to establish a temple for the indwelling of Christ.
When we sin, we are still indwelt with the Spirit. Therefore we are still Royal Family even though we are out of fellowship.
As long as you are indwelt by the Holy Spirit you are royalty. You are indwelt forever, therefore you are royalty forever.
The believer's security as royalty is based on the sealing ministry of the Holy Spirit. We are sealed by God Holy Spirit at salvation. 2Cor 1:20-22;
This is a guarantee of our status as members of the royal family of God forever.
Our security is also based the character of God. God is perfect. His plan is perfect. There is no sin or evil we can commit that is greater than the grace of God.
God the Holy Spirit has put His seal on us. We are "sealed until the day of redemption," aka the exit resurrection. Eph 4:30;
The Royal Family was established with specific objectives. The first objective of believers is to take in doctrine on a consistent basis until they begin to have a personal love for God. This establishes their personal sense of destiny and their spiritual self-esteem.
Believers must continue to grow spiritually by the intake of doctrine until they have developed spiritual autonomy, the virtue of impersonal love toward other members of the human race. Then they must pass the momentum tests that include people testing, thought testing, system testing and disaster testing.
Finally they must reach spiritual maturity, where they are is blessed by undergoing evidence testing, thereby becoming a witness for God against Satan in the invisible war.
At maturity, we receive our blessings which were deposited in escrow in Christ in eternity past (Eph 1:3-14;). The conveyance of these blessings glorifies God to the maximum. Then God may test us concerning these blessings as evidence against Satan. This is the objective of the royal family while on earth.
At the Exit Resurrection, every member of the royal family will receive a resurrection body exactly like our Lord's. A perfect glorified body minus the old sin nature.
After the exit resurrection, the royal family will be evaluated at the Judgment Seat of Christ regarding their attitude toward Bible doctrine and their advance to maturity during their life on this earth that was the result of the application of Bible Doctrine.
Members of the royal family who reach maturity will have great rewards for all eternity and will be blessed to a greater extent than those believers who did not advance to maturity in time. These eternal rewards will glorify God for all eternity, establishing an inequality in heaven for eternity.
The royal family will return with Christ at the Second Advent to observe His victory against Satan and all the fallen angels in the Armageddon campaign and mature believers of the royal family will rule with Christ during His millennial reign and throughout the eternal state.