“To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.”
To him who overcomes
The person who “overcomes” here is the spiritual Christian.
I will grant to sit with Me on My throne
A “throne” is a seat of authority. God has a “throne” because He is the ultimate authority (He 4:16). God’s grace proceeds from that throne. He has the right to give you grace. It is a right that comes from Himself, His person. God is Sovereign and Ruler of the universe.
Jesus delegates some of His authority to Christians. God gave David the “authority to rule” (Lk 1:32) and gave Jesus the “throne of David.” Jesus grants spiritual victors the right to rule with Him in his Millennial Kingdom. These Christians will share some of the prerogatives of Jesus’ royalty.
As I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne
Jesus fastens the victory of the spiritual Christian with His own victory on the cross. Jesus met with temptation and came out the victor. Because He did this, in His humanity, the Father gave Him authority to rule in the Father’s Kingdom. There is a parallel between Christ’s victory and our victory.
There are two thrones in this verse: “My throne” and “His throne.” There is the throne of Jesus, and then there is the throne of the Father. The throne of the Father is His sovereign rule over the universe. There is nothing that is not under His control in the universe. Jesus sat down at the “right hand of the Majesty on high” with His Father, at His Father’s right hand (He 1:3).
PRINCIPLE:
Spiritual Christians will rule with Christ in the Millennial Kingdom.
APPLICATION:
Never to this day has Jesus sat upon His throne in the Millennial Kingdom. That is yet future (Mt 25:31). One day the victorious Christian will rule with Christ in His Kingdom.
2 Ti 2:12-13, “If we endure,
We shall also reign with Him.
If we deny Him,
He also will deny us.
13 If we are faithless,
He remains faithful;
He cannot deny Himself.”
I was hoping for a clearer explanation of how I, as a Christian, and every other Christian can all sit on the throne. I am not being funny either. Can you say anything more about that?
Thanks.
~~Elizabeth, the Bible does not detail the kind of information for which you ask. About all that is said is that Christ will seat believers before the throne He shares with the Father. Other passages that allude to the subject are Matt. 19:28; Luke 22:29–30. It is clear that we will reign with Him (2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 5:10; 20:6; cf. 1 Cor. 6:3). This is a figurative idea for sharing the privilege and authority of Christ in His reign (2:26, 27; Luke 19:16–19; 2 Tim. 2:12).