In this piece, we will be considering what has been titled: The Dual Expression of Kingdom Citizenship. We know that for us, God has been hammering on the kingdom, helping us to understand who we are, and what He has made us to be on the earth. And we are looking at the dual expression of kingdom citizenship in that light so that we can understand our true place and identity on the earth as God’s children. We are going to start our observation from Revelation 1:5-6. The Bible says:

“And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, ⁶ and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

“To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins…” To Christ Jesus, because when we are talking about discipleship, we are not disciples of just anybody, and that’s why anyone that is not following the ultimate discipler, cannot disciple in this kingdom. It has to be Christ. Apostle Paul said: Him we preach, we declare Him, we show Him, we demonstrate Him, we reveal Him, that’s our assignment. So, “To Him who loved us”, the “Him” is Christ Jesus, He loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us. We did not just appear on the scene, He made us. And that’s why the Bible makes us to understand that everything is made by the Word, nothing was made outside Him. In Him all things consist. And the Bible says in John 1 that from beginning, the Word has been with God, and the Word is God. So, the Word (Christ Jesus), made us.

What did He make us to be? When you are being discipled by Jesus, it’s a making process. When Christ disciples you, He is making you. He is in the business of making men. He told His disciples, the twelve that He called on His earthly ministry, He said follow me, and I will make you. They were not in denial of who they will become. It was specific, it was clear. So, everyone that follows Christ has an identity in view, a person to become. Haven followed Christ, who are you supposed to become? When people look at your life haven followed Christ, who should they see? It says He has made us kings and priest. So, every disciple of Jesus Christ carries this dual expression: kingship and priesthood. He has made us kings and priest not for ourselves, but to God.

So, what’s our assignment? Why did He make us? Why were we made? What purpose is that making? He said that we have been made kings and priest to His God and Father, to Him be glory, dominion for ever and ever. So, the first thing we must understand is that this dual expression of kingdom citizenship is kingship and priesthood. So, if you are following the Lord Jesus, if He has washed you in His blood, if He has forgiven you your sins, you must become in His hand, kings and priest. So, he has made us kings and priest to His God. Now let’s go to Revelations 5:9-10. “And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy; [who were they referring to? Christ Jesus.] You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; For You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood.”

Do we see that what we read in Revelation 1 is being re-emphasized in this Revelations 5? It says; “you have redeemed us.” The reason we qualify for this kingship and priesthood is that you Christ Jesus our Lord and Master, has redeemed us by your blood. Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,¹⁰ And have made us; so, we did not just appear, “He has made us” please let’s not forget this making. This making of Christ Jesus, is the discipleship that you and I are familiar with. Christ Jesus could not make any man until they follow Him. There was a young man that wanted to really be made by Jesus, and he came to Jesus, and said Jesus I really desire to be your disciple, and Jesus said to him; sell all that you have and give it to the poor and follow Me. Because that is the prerequisite.

If you don’t follow me, I cannot make you. What you desire is my making, but what is the prerequisite for my making? Followership, discipleship. You must be my disciple. So, this Revelation chapter 5 is making us to understand how we are being made. It said He has redeemed us by His blood out of every tribe and tongue, people and nation, and have made us kings and priest. Remember that where we read in Revelation 1, this same kingship and priesthood was mentioned. He has made us kings and priests to our God. The emphasis is to God, we are made kings and priest not in isolation, not so that we will feel self-sufficient on our own, it is so that we can depend on God. And He said what is our purpose? “And we!” Who are the “we?” Everyone redeemed by the blood of Jesus, everyone that is made king and priest to our God in Christ. What did the Bible say we will do? We will reign on the earth.

Reigning on the earth is the dominion mandate in Genesis 1:26. Reigning on the earth is the original plan and purpose of God for you and I. Everyone that comes into discipleship in Christ Jesus is going back into dominion. That’s why Jesus will always say in the beginning it was not so. He brings us back to the beginning where we started with God, where man was with God. That’s the assignment of Christ Jesus, and that’s why it’s called the redemption plan. Man was lost, man lost it, lost the dominion, man lost his way and that’s why when you become born again and say you have repented, meaning that you have done a turn around. Man had been going on a journey outside the presence of God, man returns, repents back into the presence of God; because it’s in God that our dominion is, because when God blessed them, He blessed them in Himself.

Let’s go to Genesis 1:26. “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion” Let man have dominion, let them reign on the earth, God now started breaking that down, He said; “let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. ²⁷ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. ²⁸ Then God blessed them.” What was the location of man when God was blessing them? Genesis 2:7 had not come into play. Man was in God when God blessed. So, God created man in Himself because in Genesis 2, we saw that God formed the man out of the ground, and breathed into His nostrils.

Where was God breathing from? From Himself. So, man is always blessed in God, outside God man is cursed. So, our kingship and our priesthood are in God and that’s why in Revelation the Bible says that He has made us kings and priest unto our God. We must go back home. Because it’s at home that the blessing is. So, when we carry the expression of our citizenship, our citizenship only makes sense in the kingdom. Our passport is not relevant, our rights and privileges can be abused outside the kingdom. That’s what happened with the prodigal son when Jesus was showing us a picture that every time anyone leaves home, number one; he will go in riotous living, number two; he will miss out on the rights and privileges of the kingdom, number three; he will always regret. And that’s what happened with the prodigal son. He regretted ever leaving his father.

When he came to himself the Bible says; he said to himself; even the servants in my father’s house they live better than this. And when he came to himself what was the first thing he did? I am going back home. In fact, I might have lost my place as a son, if I can just be a servant. But I need to be back home. Because home is where the blessing is. So, we reign on the earth having being made priest unto God. in exodus 19 verse 5 to 6, we will see that Gods plan from the beginning after man fell is to restore man back to this place of dominion. And the agenda of God is to make a kingdom of priest.

Exodus 19:5-6. “Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.” Why is God referring to the earth when He was making this statement? Because the reign and dominion of man is on the earth. That’s why in Revelations that we read, the Bible says that we should reign and the location was not absent. It’s on the earth, we should reign on the earth. So, God said for all the earth is mine so I will give it back to you. Verse 6, And you shall be to Me –God! so, this is Scriptures interpreting Scriptures and explaining it to us, the mind of God, the will of God, the counsel of God has not changed.

So that you will be to Me; that’s why when Christ was redeeming us back, He redeemed us as a kingdom of priests to God. because this is the heart of God, He said and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.” Because God was trying to bring the children of Israel as an example, as a specimen, of what he will eventually do for the whole world in Christ. So, His agenda was clear, God is looking for a kingdom of kings and priests. So, when you follow Christ, when you become a disciple of Christ, when you enter the kingdom via Christ, who you will become is that you will become a kingdom of priest. Jesus said I bestow on you a kingdom just as my father bestowed on me. You don’t just have that kingdom and hold it and feel good. It is so that there is a function, there is an assignment, its so that you can function in priesthood.

Isaiah 61:5-6. “Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, And the sons of the foreigner Shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.” Now this is the prophecy of what God said He was going to do. The Bible talks about the good news of salvation, the Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, and he started talking about the expressions, the things that will happen. It said but you shall be named; this what will happen to you, you shall be named what? The priest of the Lord. You shall be named the priest of the Lord. Haven come to God by Christ Jesus; your name must be that you are a priest of the Lord. And they shall call you the servants of our God. you shall eat the riches of the gentiles, and in their glory you shall boast. This is the blueprint of God concerning any man.

Every man that comes in in Christ Jesus, is to be made in Christ kings and priests. “you shall be named priest of the Lord. So, when we talk about reigning on the earth, dominion; dominion is for kings and priests. Dominion is not just for anybody, it’s for kings and priests. You must be made kings and priests for you to reign. So, when we are talking about the issue of dominion in the kingdom, dominion is not just for disciples that are trying, it’s for those that have become kings and priests, those that have become sons of God, those that have actually manifested.

What are we supposed to manifest as sons of God? This kingship and this priesthood. When you show up, with this dual expression, as a king and as a priest, when you show up as a king and as a priest what does it mean? It means that you are showing up as one that has authority. Kingship is a position of authority. So, when you show up as a child of God, a son of the kingdom, you are showing up in your kingly expression, as one that has authority. The Bible says where the words of a king is there is power. So, you are not coming as a beggarly person trying to make things happen, you are actually coming on the scene as a king that makes things happen. your words carry weight, and that’s why God is called the kings of kings. The kings, they are not just the kings of the earth, they are the kings of the kingdom, you and I. So, He is the king over all the kings. Everyone that is made by Christ. Being made by Christ is to made a king. And that’s why when they came to Jesus they said this about you; are you the king of the Jews? He said you are the one that said it, my kingdom is not here.

Because if my kingdom is from here, I could have told my people to come and demonstrate, but my kingdom is bigger than this space, my kingdom includes this space. And that’s why when the prophecy of Jesus was to be told, the Bible says the government will be upon His shoulders. When Jesus was speaking on the earth showing an example of who must become, and He will speak and the Pharisees will say He speaks as one that has authority. What were they saying? He spoke like a king, no wonder they wanted to crown Him. He spoke so much and they said you know what the next thing we should do, is to just crown this person. And that’s why He will say I have come as a son of man. because man has been made originally in the blue prints of God, kings and priest.

So, when you come in Christ Jesus, you are not coming for smallness, you come into Christ for greatness. The greatness is in your kingship and your priesthood. And you can’t love one and abandon the other or else you become ineffective. They are together, it’s a dual expression and you must carry both of them as you journey. The dominion of God and the people of the earth is tied to our understanding and expression as kings and priest. the church has so much power and authority if only we will wield it according to the order of Christ. The church is a government. The church is a body of kings and priest, spiritually the church carry so much power. And it is when we actually translate the power we have in Christ from the invisible to the visible, that the people can actually appreciate the authority that the church has in Christ Jesus.

That’s why He is called the bride, He is the bridegroom. Have you ever seen the bride that does not carry the glory of the bride groom? In a perfect situation. So, the church is a perfect reflection of Christ. And who Christ is, is who we are. He said as He is, so are we. Who is he? He is king, and He is the King of kings because we are kings. Bible says you have been made high priest according to the order of Melchizedek. If He is priest, then we are priests. So, our kingship and priesthood is so important that we can’t joke with it. 1 Peter 2 also reinforcing this dual expression. 1 Peter 2:5-9. “You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood- What is our assignment in this priesthood? [To offer up spiritual sacrifices] to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God. We are being built up in Christ to that point where we can offer up spiritual sacrifices, not the one that will be rejected, but the ones that would become acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. He is our medium.

⁶ Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.” ⁷ Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who ^[b]are disobedient,“ The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone,” ⁸ and“ A stone of stumbling And a rock of offense.” They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.

We have been appointed for this from the beginning they stumble being disobedient to the one that appointed them. Everyone had been appointed by God from the beginning by the word. It says let us make man; that word appointed you. And that’s why no man is inexcusable. When it comes to the judgement day when we will all stand before the big white throne of judgement. Because that word will testify against every man that stands there.  The word that appointed you, scientific evolution did not appoint you as man, what appointed you is the word. Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness and let them have dominion; that word appointed you. So, if you live less than the word that appointed you, you can be condemned. Because the same word that justifies you can condemn you.

So, we are being appointed by that word. Verse 9 says; But are a chosen generation, you are ecclesia, you are the called-out ones, chosen, a royal priesthood, you are not any priesthood, you are royalty. That talks about kingdom. You are a kingdom of priest. Royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim, that you may declare, that you may reveal, that you may manifest, the praises of Him-Christ who called you out of darkness. When you were walking away from God you were walking into darkness and He called you out of darkness into; [that’s when you repented] into His marvelous light. Who once were not a people, but are now a people of God. Who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

So, who are we? This dual citizenship we carry is so that we can offer spiritual sacrifices. So if you are living your life not offering spiritual sacrifices you are actually failing the one that appointed you. You are not appointed to please yourself; you are not appointed to offer up sacrifices to yourself and call yourself a self-made man. You were appointed, the one that appointed you, appointed you to please God, appointed you to be priest and king unto God.

In Genesis 2, the Bible says God planted a garden east ward in Eden, and God put in the garden that He planted, the man that He had formed. So, where is the place of boasting for man. Non! That’s why the Bible says Christ is all in all. Everything about you, everything you can ever use to boast about He made them. and that is why we must come to the realization that our true authority lies on our dependency on God so that we can truly offer up spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God. You don’t ever sit down and look at yourself and say oh all these things my hands have made. Bible says all things were made by Him. There is nothing that was made including your children, including the present job in that was not made by Him. If you think everything your hands have worked for suddenly the ground under you gives way, they will all sink, and that’s the end.

So, we must understand our placement, we must understand that for us to truly reign on the earth, we must acknowledge the Lord. We must live our lives offering up spiritual sacrifices. In Romans 12, it explains to us further how we can offer up spiritual sacrifices.  how can we make these things possible? How can we live our lives pleasing Him and walking in this authority? Romans 12:1-2. I beseech^[a] you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present; how do you offer? You offer by presenting. present your bodies. I am so happy that it is not body, but “bodies.” Present your bodies, meaning anything, including your physical body.

Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God. You will realize that everything has their destination in God. if anything in your life does not have the destination of praise and worship in God, that thing will go wrong. You are about to lose your placement, your dominion, your reigning on the earth. And do not be conformed to this world. Because what the world will teach you is that those things that are pleasant to the eyes, those things that are good for food, that God does not want you to be like Him, He doesn’t want you to enjoy a little bit of glory, He doesn’t want you to feel good at all, He just wants to take everything to Himself, don’t you think this God is so wicked, why can’t you just acclaim or take a little bit of these things for yourself, why not? Just like Gehazi.

Why should you just allow Naaman go like that? After the great miracle, can’t you just take even if it’s just a wrapper, even if it’s just a few silver, can’t we take it? the Bible says do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed. Because in that transformation is where your dominion lies. That transformation is what happens to you when you follow Christ. That transformation is what happens to you when Christ Jesus actually makes you kings and priests. Where you are not under circumstances but over them. where sin no longer has dominion over you, where you are walking in the liberty of the Spirit. Where you know that even though our outward man may be perishing our inward man is being renewed, where you know that in all things I am more than a conqueror through Christ.

This confidence will not just come on you; it will come by a transformation. A transformation by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove; I love this part, that your life may prove, that your marriage may prove, that your finances may prove, what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God from the beginning. That your life will produce the blueprints of the counsel and will of God from the beginning.

That even though you cannot see Him, even though you cannot touch Him, you still believe Him. You still trust Him, and you are still submitting yourself to His mighty hand. No wonder He said to Mary, Mary cannot see the transformation as it were physically, but she still chose to sit at the feet of the master. He said this thing that she is receiving, can never be taken away from her. The word of God that is coming to you, the light you are receiving in your communication and fellowship with the Holy Spirit-the Spirit of Christ, can never be taken away from you. What has happened to your soul, what has happened to your heart can never be taken away from you. That’s why the Bible says guard your heart with all diligence for out of it, everything that you see around you came from your heart. for out of it flows the issues, all the issues; the houses, the people under your influence. All the issues of life flows from it. guard your heart, the things that have happened to your heart in discipleship with Christ, in fellowship with the Holy Spirit, guard it, hold it dear, don’t let it go, for out of it you will produce.

No wonder Apostle Paul could go from place to place and reproduce the same power, the same effectiveness. Why? He was not about the things he carried. He was not about houses or cars, he was about what had happened to his heart, the transformation. He could go to a place holding nothing, the same man that has been affected by Christ, and he will produce the same results. Why? Something had happened to him; he was carrying an expression and a dimension that will keep and keep reproducing. That is who we are. Take us anywhere, whether it's in the desert, or in the forest, or in the wilderness, God is still God.

The same power, the same wisdom can produce in those places. That's why whether Joseph was in Potiphar’s house, or he was in the prison, the same result. Whether Daniel was in the palace, or in the lion's den, the same result. It's about an expression of the dimension. Even though Daniel was in Babylon, he was having revelation of end times. Even though John the beloved was on the Island of Patmos, he was having revelation. It was not about the place; it was about the person. When you encounter Christ, it is not about the place, it is about the person you have become. So, when we understand that we have been made free in Christ Jesus, the liberty that we have in the Spirit is such that is so strong, the liberty helps us to release these two dimensions and expressions, effortlessly. You are a king and you are a priest.

That's what the daughter of Saul could not understand. She always knew her father as King, she never saw priesthood. And when she saw it in David, how can a king, how can a man in authority also be so on humble and belittle himself like this? She could not comprehend it. That is a dimension. We carry this dual expression haven been made by Christ. You can't carry it just like that. You have to be made. Christ has to make you, and that's why when we started in Revelations, the Bible makes us understand that we have been made. We did not just show up on the scene, we have been made. The question is: have you been made? Because you can never express or manifest or reveal these expressions if you are not made. We must be made by Christ. And this is who Christ is making us to be: kingdom of priests, where you can be a worshipper of God and a warrior at the same time, where God can teach your fingers to fight on your hands to battle and you can still be that person with a broken and a contrite heart before your father, you can still wait on Him and your strength is renewed, you are mounting up with wings as eagles, you are running and you're not tired, you are walking and you are not fainting. It takes this dimension.

Are we willing and ready to be made by Christ? Are we willing to carry these expressions in our lives, where we are truly reigning on the earth? Reigning on the earth is not in material things. And that's why Jesus said the life of a man does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses; it is about who possessed him. It is not about what he possesses, it is about who possessed him. That's why Jesus said those that are lose their life, let it go for me, they will gain it but those that hold on to their lives, they will lose it. Those that think they are reigning on the earth are actually being defeated on the earth, those that think they are losing on the earth for the sake of Christ are truly the ones reigning.

Are we willing and ready to reign Christ? Do we want to be seated with Christ Jesus in heavenly places, far above principalities and powers? It doesn't just jump on you; it is a product of His making. It is a product of making. Are we willing like Mary to take that posture, sitting at His feet and learn of Him? Because He said as He is, so are we. For us to be as He is, He said greater works than what He has done we will do, because we have grown to become a king and a priest, and as we do that, we will truly reign.

But we must remember what we saw in that Revelation 5:12. It concluded with: “He has made us…” That ‘made’, is a word that we must interrogate. We didn’t become this accidentally; it is not chance or by luck. Have you been made? It takes time and it is a process. No bread comes out accidentally. Nobody eats an accidentally cooked food; it must be made. If you are hungry and you need to eat food, you don’t eat a food that just appeared all of a sudden, you eat a food that has been made. It takes time. If you will not just suddenly appear and suddenly disappears, you must be made. On this earth, if you must become a king, you must go through a process.

There are some cities in Nigeria that kings emerge after some days, or seven days of serious initiation. The king must be prepared. There was a time we mentioned it that if you want to become the wife of a prince of UK at the Buckingham Palace, you must be taught the process. For example, there is a way you talk because there is a royal way of talking, there is a way you conduct yourself. If you have been walking with your head bow, you must begin to walk with your head up, there is an attitude befitting for royalties. This does not just jump on people like ripe pawpaw. Imagine you want to be a boxer, you want to the best in the world and you just appear, and say “by the grace of God, I will win you.”

David did not just appear. David was prepared, he was made ready. When he was going to do what he did, it wasn't because he was trying; trial and error. No, that's what he used to do. He was skillful in it; he was skillful in playing the harp. Royalty does not just jump on us; we must be prepared by it. It takes a king to make another king, it takes a priest to raise up another priest. Only Jesus combined the two together and He is the only one who can make us. Some people become priests after the order of their divisions. Like John’s father, the Bible says he offer sacrifices in that day that he encountered the angel after the order of his division. He was from a lineage in Israel. So, you must be born by a priest to become a priest. To be a king, you must be born by a king or you have the spirit of kingship in you.

We must submit ourselves to Jesus that He may make us kings and priests, He has the attitude, He has the Spirit of royalty, He can make us. It will take time. There is a training we must go through, there is a discipline, there is a process of purification. All the dross in our silver must be washed away for the pure one to appear. You know the Bible says when a dross is taken away from the silver, the silver is ready, it can be showcased. Are ready to separate the dross from our silver that we may be pure? If we will be kings, decreeing justice, setting orders, we are not waiting for people to tell us what to do, we know what to do. We are not there and things are fallen apart.

You know, Yoruba people will say: when the elder is not around, the head of the children will dangle. You remember the time when the Bible says there was no king in Israel, the children of Israel were doing the things they wanted to do. Everyone was on his own. You must not be in a place and things are messed up; things are scattered, there is no order, nobody knows what to do. When you want to talk about the testimony of your life, don't share the testimony of a baby, share the testimony of how you decree justice, you maintained law and order in a space; both spiritually and physically, that is kinship. A king is not waiting for you to tell him what to do, he tells you what to do. He may not know what to do, he may require the counselors, but when you come before him, he tells you what you must do. Is that how your life has been? Or you go about knocking the doors of your uncle asking about what to do.

So, when a king is asking you for your opinion, he is not asking you because he is clueless. Are we growing in that desire? When apostle Paul said desire earnestly the best gifts, is it going to be for babes? It is gong to be for those who are willing to take a stand, to take their place, to rule their space. Those who are not willing to say the reason why my life is messed up is because nobody is around to help. They are willing to offer up spiritual sacrifices that will save their souls. Some people must connect to a pastor for a spiritual sacrifice to be offered on their behalf. Are you a priest or you are seeking for a priest?

So, if you are a citizen of this kingdom, the evidence is what we are taught today. You must be growing in kingship and priesthood. You must be. When there is time to offer worship to God, don't say please offer worship on my behalf, take N5000. When it is time to know what to do, don't say please, what should my life become? Take your place in the Spirit, let God be able to lead you so that you can lead others. When I was meditating on it, I saw the priesthood side to be the side where you go to God, where it is between you and God, where the kingship is between you and the people, you and your generation; for David after he has served his generation by the will of God, he fell asleep. So, every time David comes to God, he come as a priest. But when he goes to the people, he comes as a king.

There was a disaster in Israel, David said: get me the ephod. He consulted God as the priest. Normally, other people don’t dare it. Saul wanted to try it, he was offering sacrifices, he was not originally a priest, he wanted to do the work of a priest. But David functioned in the two and he inquired of the Lord and God said, you will surely overtake and recover. Now when he was going in pursuit, he was not going as a priest, he was going as a king. So, as one man, you can do the two. But you must not allow your kingship to give the impression that you can pick one and dump the rest. The muscles that you have as a king is not what you require for priesthood. You need to come to the place of brokenness. A broken and a contrite spirit, upon this I will not look away from.

Now, haven been broken before God, you don't come to the people or before your enemies broken. You must come bold. So, you can be the two, this is what Christ has made available for us. When you hear the lion and the lamb, the same person. As a lamb, He is slain before God, as a lion, He roars against His enemies.

We need to pray this experience right now.

Thanks for the gift of your time, We are Lara Gboyega Adedeji and Gboyega ADEDEJI!

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