‘And has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father’ (Revelation 1:6)
"John echoes Yahweh's words, spoken at the Exodus. He told Israel that they would be a kingdom and a priesthood. The same words are now applied to the church. The community of faith is to be a kingdom in the sense that God will reign in it. But there is a sense in which the power of the kingdom will be shared by its citizenry. Compare Revelation 5:10 ‘They will reign on the earth.’
"John lived in the ancient east where kings were proverbial for their absolute power, and splendid lifestyle. For those who join with Christ, life is full of privileges. The first and primary privilege is the liberation from the deadening burden of sin (1:5). But other brimming satisfactions follow."
"Jesus predicted that those who cast their lot in with him, would discover surprising joys. He pictured a poor ploughman; toiling day and night to make ends meet. One day his plough turned up a casket of treasures. From that day forward life was decked with overflowing benefits. Some of them are listed in the Beatitudes. ‘Blessed are the poor, theirs is the kingdom of heaven; blessed are those who hunger, for they will be satisfied; blessed are they that... weep---for they will laugh’ (Luke 6:20,21).
Paul adds this thought: ‘We are heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ’ (Romans 8:17)
"There is a quality of life that God intends for us. For now, it is principally known in the spiritual blessings that are ours in Christ. A day will come when the material world will correspondingly yield a bounty to us."