Is your crown on your head? TRGN

Few Christians know this, but all those who are born again have received a crown.

In the Bible, depending on the context, we find the term "crown" to show an ornament, a position, an authority, or a reward.

Many times in the New Covenant we read that Paul, Peter or James speak of a crown. But all three speak of a crown that we will receive when Jesus returns to earth.

2 Timothy 4:8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

James 1:12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

1 Peter 5:4 and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.

As a result, many Christians today think they will receive a crown when they are reunited with Jesus. So, thinking that this crown is not for this world, they have often put this aside. These same people think that they are God's children, but like little children who are so dependent on their father that they can do nothing on their own.

They sometimes rely on these kinds of passages which, as Jesus says, we can do nothing without Him:

John 15:5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

Or when Jesus says that we must become like children in order to be able to enter the kingdom of God.

Matthew 18:3 and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

From this kind of passages, misunderstood, we think that even if we are born again, we are God's little children, as if we were little children with their daddy who comes to save them at the slightest problem. God does not treat us as if we were His little children.

If I were to ask you if you saw God coming to get you out of all the problems you have gone through since you were born again, you would answer me that you did not.

This shows you that God is not, with you nor with the other Christians, ready to intervene like a child whose hand is always held in the street.

You and I have received a crown, and it's time to take responsibility for it!

Some people may say to me, "But Franck, the Bible says that we will have this crown when Jesus returns. How can I have a crown when I haven't finished my race, as Paul says?

There are many Christians who, without noticing it, make up passages in the Bible as if playing with a jigsaw puzzle. This is the case of this passage below:

1 Corinthians 9:24-25 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.

I can't count the number of times I've heard Christians say that Paul was running for his crown, that is living his life according to the Gospel in order to win his access into eternity. But this is not at all what Paul was saying in this passage. Paul was not striving to win eternity by treating his flesh harshly and not allowing his weakness to take over. Paul understood that his access to eternity had already been settled at the cross. In speaking of a crown in this passage Paul was speaking of a prize, a reward, not a status or position in the kingdom.

There is a crown that we receive as soon as we are born again. This crown validates our status as sons and daughters of God. This crown is already in our possession.

This is what Jesus said to Christians in the church in Philadelphia, during their lives on this earth, not after their death, their passing from this world.

Revelation 3:11 Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.

If you were born again, you received a crown on the day of your new birth.

Where did you put this crown?

Is it on your head, or did you put it away in a drawer?

When the Bible speaks of God as the King of kings, as a young Christian I have often wondered what this means. It was hard to believe that God said that He was the King of the kings of the earth, that is, the King of all the rulers of the earth. Yet this was the only explanation I had for years, and I wondered how God could be the King of the heads of state, seeing the sad state of affairs of the world.

But a few years later, I understood in a teaching I was reading, that the kings of whom God speaks, well, it is us His children. The same Paul also said this:

1 Timothy 6:14-15 … until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing,which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords,

We are going to look at these words from Paul to Timothy a little more closely. Paul says here that God is the only ruler, that is, the source of power and authority comes from Him alone. So God is that source, but He has not kept it for Himself. Paul also says in another of his letters that God has given us everything with Him. That is to say, not only did He give us His person as a sacrifice, but also everything He possesses.

Romans 8:32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

Then Paul continues in his letter to Timothy saying that God is the King of kings. We are the kings of whom Paul speaks. God is the King of kings and queens whom He has established on earth. You are a king, a queen of the kingdom of heaven on a mission on this earth.

Then Paul ends by saying that God is the Lord of lords.

The word "lord" in the original language means "owner". We can therefore say that God is the owner of the owners.

All of this begins to make sense when we reflect on some of the truths that the Bible teaches us.

When God created Adam and Eve He told them that they would be the ones to rule the earth and everything on it.

Genesis 1:28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Certainly Adam and Eve lost that status as rulers, as owners, when they chose to no longer refer to God, but to refer to themselves in matters of good and evil; but you have regained that status if you are born again.

All who are born again are kings and lords of the kingdom of heaven!

When Jesus came to earth, He spoke of the kingdom, the good news of the kingdom. It was not just about the gospel, but about the kingdom. There are many parables on the theme of the kingdom. He said, "The kingdom has come near", not "the gospel has come near". All of Jesus' teaching revolved around one kingdom, the kingdom of heaven.

If this is not your case, it is time to put your crown on your head!

The Bible teaches us that there is a kingdom in heaven. God created the earth as a colony of that kingdom, and we are its ambassadors.

2 Corinthians 5:20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ,

This is why Jesus came to earth to enable us to take up this function of kings and queens of the kingdom of heaven. This is the good news.

Too many Christians have been taught that Jesus came to die on earth to give us a mere passport to heaven. But the Bible shows us that Jesus came to give us back our kingdom. That is why, in realising all this, you will take your crown out of the drawer and put it on your head proudly.

The apostle John, speaking of Jesus, said:

1 John 4:17 …because as He is, so are we in this world.

We are like Jesus!

Many times these words of John are used to teach that Jesus is not sick, that He is all-powerful, and that we should have the same results in our personal lives.

Although this is true, this is not the context in which John wrote this. When John says that we are like Jesus, he is talking about being 'love'.

The Bible says that God is love, and if we are sons and daughters, kings and queens of the King of kings, then we become like Him. It is in this sense that John speaks in this verse 17.

That is why we should wear our crown on our head and not just keep it in a drawer.

Our transformation into the image of God, self-discipline, motivation, the death of our "self", the healing of the sick, being love, love for our neighbour, all this must come from the fact that I am a king, a queen of the kingdom of heaven, and not because I am a former sinner trying as best I can to change and improve.

You see God gives us first in order to manifest a result later!

Let's take a closer look:

God loved us first so that we could love Him for our own benefit. In the same way, since your new birth, God has made you a king, a queen of the kingdom of heaven.

It is because you will have understood and integrated this into your thought that you will then begin to manifest all that we have just described above. You will manifest a transformation into the image of God, that is to say, you will become like God, because that is the result that will come about when you understand who you are and what your position in this kingdom is.

Then at that moment you will have put your crown on your head!

Romans 5:17 (Passion Translation) Death once held us in its grip, and by the blunder of one man, death reigned as king over humanity. But now, how much more are we held in the grip of grace and continue reigning as kings in life, enjoying our regal freedom through the gift of perfect righteousness in the one and only Jesus, the Messiah!

We are kings and queens, and we must live as kings with Him. Here to live as a king with Him means to become like Jesus, to think like Him, to speak like Him, to have the same mentality as Him.

So don't try to change just because the Bible says so. On the contrary, try to understand and integrate in a natural way the fact that you have received the title of king, queen of the kingdom... which is now also yours.

Then the proof that you have fully integrated this will manifest itself in a profound transformation of your person in the image of God.

Self-discipline, motivation, the death of your "self", the healing of the sick, being love, love for your neighbour, will have become natural attributes of your new person. You act in this way because you are a king, a queen, not to become a king or a queen. You act in this way not to please God, but because you have understood that God loves you no matter what.

And that makes all the difference.

Bye for now...