Your True Kingdom Self - Part 2
In Your True Kingdom Self – Part 1, I described how every human being, male and female, is created by God in His image. We are created to be His image bearers to the world. And if we are His image bearers, we are also His glory bearers, reflecting the glory of Jesus like a mirror into the lives of the people God brings into our life. Psalm 8 tells us, “He has crowned us with glory and honor” (Psalm 8: 5).
When we are emotionally healed and spiritually delivered, when the veil made up of negative emotions and sins is removed from our hearts, we can reflect the glory of Jesus and become more like Him.
“We can all draw close to Him with the veil removed from our faces. And with no veil we all become like mirrors who brightly reflect the glory of the Lord Jesus. We are being transfigured into His very image as we move from one brighter level of glory to another. And this glorious transfiguration come from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3: 18 TPT).
In conjunction with being His image and glory bearers, Scripture tells us we were created to be rulers and kings, administering and executing God’s plans for the earth and all humanity. In Revelation, John wrote about the 24 elders and 4 beasts falling down before Jesus. They sang a new song to Him:
“Thou are worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us onto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on earth” (Revelation 5: 9, 10 KJV).
The Bible calls us “kings and priests” of our God. Our purpose is to reign over the earth in partnership with Him.
Perhaps nowhere in Scripture is our purpose, function, and condition more clearly spelled out than in Psalm 8. Here is part of that Psalm from The Passion Translation:
“Look at the splendor of your skies, your creative genius glowing in the heavens. When I gaze at your moon and your stars, mounted like jewels in their settings, I know you are the fascinating artist who fashioned it all! But I have to ask this question: Why would you bother with puny, mortal man or care about human beings? Yet what honor you have given to men, created only a little lower and Elohim, crowned with glory and magnificence (here he means you and me! Crowned with His glory). You have delegated to them rulership over all you have made, with everything under their authority, placing earth itself under the feet of your image-bearers. All the created order . . . everything is in submission to Adam’s sons (Psalm 8: 3 – 8 TPT).
This is what theologians call the “dominion mandate”, first introduced in Genesis 1.
We were created to be rulers. God placed everything under the authority of His image-bearers. He made us a little lower than the Elohim. Elohim is an interesting word. First of all, it is plural. It refers to gods, or supernatural beings of lesser import than God. The NIV simply calls them “heavenly beings”. Consider them members of God’s council. Also note that God has delegated the rulership and authority of things on earth to us. He is still God; we are not. But that fact does not diminish our value and significance to God.
God does not need us. But He created us to be His image-bearers, to be His imagers to the earth. He chose to use us to carry out His will and accomplish His purposes.
“The working relationship between God and humankind, before and after the fall, involves genuine, meaningful participation on the part of God’s human imagers . . . There is nothing we do that God could not accomplish Himself. But He has not chosen that method. Rather, He tells us what His will is and commands His loyal children to get the job done” (Michael S. Heiser, ‘The Unseen Realm – Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible’, pgs. 51, 52).
And He gave each of us the personality, gifts, and power to fulfill this purpose – all wrapped up in our true Kingdom self. But cover up that self, mar it with a pall of sin, selfishness, and pride – the veil – and we cannot live this life of purpose and indescribable blessing. Satan wins.
So, where does that leave us? Every person is born into the kingdom of the world, lost when we take our first breath. Sin is crouching at our door, meaning to have us. What chance do we have? Thanks to Jesus, we have access to the narrow gate and the life lived in the power of our true Kingdom self. He is our savior, only He can remove the veil, the pall over our hearts. But we must do two things: First, confess with our lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead (ok, that’s two things but lump them together). Second, repent. Repentance is more than confession. Confession is part of it. But we don’t just repent of what we have done, we repent of who we are.
When we believe in Jesus as Lord, accept His resurrection, and repent of our sins and all the stupid, selfish things we did in our life (even if we can’t remember all of them) it is as if Jesus takes a fire hose to our heart, blows away the veil, and washes away the pall of shame, guilt, and depression. We are clean. We are forgiven (really!) and perhaps for the first time in our life we can see our true kingdom self. Maybe not clearly, maybe just a glimpse, but we know it is there. We can see how beautiful in Christ we really are. I promise you, the world will begin to see it too.
Of course, it is a journey. As we continue to grow ‘in Christ’, as we continue to walk on that road of repentance with Jesus, our true Kingdom self will become sharper, more in focus, brighter, and more beautiful. Our light will shine brighter. We will carry His image and His glory into the world in ways we never thought possible.
How wonderful is that?
I like what Paul wrote in Colossians 1, quoted in Part 1, “And by the blood of His cross, everything in heaven and earth is brought back to Himself – back to its original intent, restored to innocence again” (Colossians 1: 20 TPT). You are restored! That means that God’s original creation, who is you, is beautiful. But the beauty was covered, obscured, marred by sin. By His cross, death, and resurrection Jesus accomplished what was necessary for your restoration – to remove the years of living for yourself, apart from Him. To bring to light the beauty of yourself the way the restorers brought back to life the beauty of the Sistine Chapel. And you were not only restored back to your original condition, but also back to your original purpose and function – the life you were created to live. That life, that path or way, for you is the only way to a life of true, peace, joy, and hope. It is life in Christ.
When God created the person He intended you to be – your true Kingdom self -- He equipped you to carry His image and His glory in a way that is unique to you. God’s glory is many things, but among them it is His light, which is brilliant; and His value. In places in Scripture, “glory” means “weight”, which translates to value. When God “crowns you with glory and honor” (Psalm 8: 5), He is “crowning” you with value and significance. You have value to God and to the entire spiritual realm in the universe.
I have learned something from praying for emotional healing and spiritual deliverance for several hundred people. What I learned is this – the entire point of this healing and deliverance is to facilitate the process, led by the Holy Spirit, of connecting each person with their true Kingdom self. Once they begin to see, understand, and believe in their heart (not just their head) who they are in Christ, there is powerful emotional healing, even in the face of horrific abuse. When they see themselves as Jesus sees them, healing and whole heartedness follows. The veil is torn away, the pall is lifted, and the light is revealed. It is beautiful to see how powerful and loving our Father is.
Once I began to understand the importance of my true Kingdom self, I asked Jesus, “Lord, will you show me my true Kingdom self?” He did. I closed my eyes and Jesus showed me this image in my imagination:
I was standing in a large, white hall or room. Before me were two doors, the color of walnut. They were huge – at least 20-feet tall and 6-feet wide. Suddenly, the doors swung inward revealing an even bigger white hall. A red carpet extended from my feet about 100 yards across the room. At the other end of the carpet was a dais with three steps. On the top of the dais were three seats, much like thrones. On the right seat (my right) sat God the Father. On the left seat sat Jesus the Son. There was an empty seat between them.
I felt compelled to walk toward them on the red carpet. As soon as I stepped onto the carpet, I felt a purple robe drape over my shoulders. It touched the floor. I tried to take the robe off. I knew it could not be for me, or at least, I didn’t deserve it. But each time I took it off and dropped it to the floor, the robe reappeared on my shoulders. Somehow, I knew Jesus wanted it there.
As I approached the dais, Jesus stepped down to me. He had a gold crown in His hand. He put the crown on my head and invited me to join Him and Father God on the platform, indicating that I should sit in the middle seat.
Now I was seated between them. They began conversing, including me in the conversation. It was apparent I was valued by them. In their eyes I had worth and significance. I sensed I was a partner in what they were discussing. I was their representative and administrator, even their ambassador, on earth. I was not their equal in anything, yet they treated me with dignity and respect.
This vision or image I saw in my mind was a picture of my true Kingdom self – a valued partner of Jesus, one whose opinion was important. I was royalty, although not a king. More like a prince or favored son. Seated on the throne with Jesus and the Father, I knew in my heart that I had authority, responsibility, and power – but for His glory, not my own.
As God showed me this image, I felt areas of woundedness healed in my heart. I have known intellectually I have value; but intellectual knowledge does not usually heal a wounded heart. Jesus has to touch the place of woundedness to make us whole. That is what He did when He showed me my true Kingdom self. It was not my mind that was blessed; it was my heart.
That person, seated between Jesus and the Father, valued by them and enjoyed by them, had no shame, regret, guilt, anger, or fear (at least in that moment. True healing takes a lifetime, but healing did occur in that vision). I took one more big step toward realizing my true Kingdom self.
It all sounds strange, perhaps even a bit blasphemous – me seated next to Jesus in a heavenly, divine realm. But isn’t that how Paul says we should see ourselves?
“But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus . . . “ (Ephesians 2: 4 – 6 NIV).
The verbs are past tense – “made us alive”, “raised us up”, “seated us with Him”. This is not something that will just be done when we meet Jesus in heaven. It was done when we believed in Jesus, accepted His salvation, and repented of our sins. This is our true Kingdom self when we are made alive ‘in Christ’ and “Christ in us, the hope of glory”.
What about you? Would you like Jesus to show you your true Kingdom self? For some, those whose lives have been scarred by abuse, tragedy, shame, and guilt, it might require several healing and deliverance prayer sessions. But here is a process that can help you get started:
1. Pray, confess and repent of the sins that God brings to your mind. Then in your mind say, “Jesus, would you show me my true Kingdom self?”
2. Close your eyes and imagine a tree. Notice colors and anything around the tree. Is it on a hill? Is there green grass? Is the sky blue?
3. Then in your mind, invite Jesus into that vision. Notice what He looks like.
4. Now ask Jesus to show you your true Kingdom self. Pay attention to what He shows you or to what He says.
5. If nothing happens, pray and again ask Jesus, with His help and power, to show you your true Kingdom self. If He shows you an image you don’t understand, ask Him to give you understanding.
It is one thing to see your true Kingdom self. It is something else to begin to live life as that person. Living your Kingdom self takes a lifetime, a journey of repentance and faith, led by the Holy Spirit. But we have a goal, a target to shoot for. When we get discouraged, we have this sense of who we are in God’s eyes. That is a powerful encouragement to keep us moving forward when life seems to be against us. Remember Hebrews 10, “By one sacrifice (Jesus’ death on the cross) He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy” (Hebrews 10: 14 NIV).
Jesus made each of us in His image to be His image bearers, even His glory bearers into the world around us. He does not make mistakes. You are not a mistake. You have beauty, dignity, even joy, and power within you to degrees you cannot understand or unlock apart from a life ‘in Christ’. Come to Jesus today, repent, and receive the Holy Spirit. Then in the Spirit of the Lord, ask Jesus to show you your true Kingdom self. You will be amazed. “Really, Lord. Is that how you see me?” “Well”, I hope you will say, “if that is how You see me, perhaps I had better accept that gift and begin to see myself in the same way.”
Relying on Him alone,
John