Each member of the elect is a co-heir with Christ of the Kingdom of God, and is called:

To bear witness of God's Person, will, and ways to the nations of the earth.

To be the eternal House of God, the Temple of God, the place of God's rest.

To be a member of Wife of the Lamb.

To be a son of God.

To be a brother of Christ.

To be God's heir.

To be God's ruler under Christ.

To be God's priest.

To be a member of the Body, the fullness, of Christ.

To be God's judge.

To execute the Divine vengeance on sinners and their sin.

To be God's deliverer.

To bring justice to the nations of the earth.

To teach the nations of the earth.

To be the servant of the Lord.

As we consider these roles and tasks we can see it is necessary we be changed into the image of Christ and be in perfect union with Him; otherwise it would not be possible for us to fulfill the roles or perform the tasks.

We can see also that some of these roles are for God's benefit while others extend to the nations of the earth. The mature saint is delivered from self-centeredness. He learns that the greatest joy any individual can experience is to give himself totally and completely to Christ, and then to other people as the Lord directs.

One of the poisons in current Christian teaching is the concept that Christ and God are our servants; that the purpose of salvation is to make us happy, to supply our needs, and to enable us to find self-fulfillment and realize all our potential as an individual.

The Scriptures teach that we are being created the servants of the Lord, the means through which God and Christ will accomplish Their goals. Today the opposite point of view is being stressed. The present-day emphasis on what we can get Christ to do, what we can get from God, proceeds from Satan, from Antichrist. This part of modern Christian teaching is in error, not only in doctrinal particulars but also in its spirit and outlook. It is man-centered.

The greatest harm any member of the Seed of Abraham can do to himself is to save his own life, not being willing to surrender his individual preferences to God's interests and purposes. It may be noted that the main promises of God concerning Abraham's Seed are associated with the "slaying" of Isaac (Genesis 22:15-18).

The Christian believer who saves his own life cannot possibly fulfill the roles or perform the tasks of the Kingdom. His religious life will be restricted to the activities of the lukewarm churches.

There are roles we have been called to fulfill and tasks we have been called to perform. None of them is possible if we attempt to preserve our own way before God.

These roles and tasks are eternal, beginning now as the Lord leads and enables us. We are being created God's eternal servants (Revelation 22:3).

To be continued.