Kings and Priests: Your Double Crown in Christ

Introduction

Sixth installment of the series "Our Identity in God," this message from Joël, co-leader of worship at CVV Paris, starts from a simple observation: you don't tremble when you know who you are. Faith is rooted in the knowledge of what God has made of us. And what he has made of us, the Bible sums up in a double crown: you are a king and a priest for God your Father (1 Peter 2.9; Revelation 5.10). Not one or the other, both. This sermon shows you how this double identity changes the way you serve, pray, and exercise your authority in the world.

Message Outline

1. Your identity is reclaimed because of what was lost

• Adam and Eve were created in perfect relationship with God. Disobedience broke three relationships at once: with God, between man and woman, and with oneself. The entire Christian life is the reclaiming of this lost image.
• You were not conceived by chance. God formed your soul, sketched the outlines of your identity, deposited in you a unique character, a calling, gifts. But you were also born into a sinful nature that twisted everything, and sometimes into a family where the Father's love was poorly represented, or even absent or hurtful.
• The revelation of the Father's love is the foundation. In our Pentecostal and charismatic churches, we seek salvation through Jesus, we seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but the revelation of the Father's love often remains weak. We know a lot of things in our heads. The real question is: has it gone down into my inner being?
• Not trembling is not a revolutionary stance or courage gritted through by sheer will. It is being grounded in the love of the One who is all-powerful, and knowing who he has made us.

2. You are a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (1 Peter 2.9; Exodus 19)

• 1 Peter 2.9-10 calls you "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people acquired." The word "holy" here doesn't just mean "without sin", for God that's an obvious matter of nature. It means above all "set apart," consecrated. You are in the world but not of the world. God acquired each one of us and put his mark on us.
• Originally, in Exodus 19.4-6, God wanted all of Israel to be a nation of priests. "You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation."
• But very quickly, in Exodus 32, the people make a golden calf. They broke the covenant. Only the tribe of Levi rushed to Moses; it is this tribe that would become the priestly tribe. The original plan (an entire nation of priests), did not come to pass because of idolatry.
• What Israel could not carry, God raised up in Christ. "The people God formed for himself will declare his praise." John the Baptist reminds us of this: from these stones, God can raise up children for Abraham (Matthew 3.9). And Jesus will say: if you do not praise, the stones will cry out (Luke 19.40).
• Be careful not to forget Israel. Romans 11 says it clearly: God has not rejected his people. We, the nations, have been grafted onto the cultivated olive tree like a branch of wild olive. We share in the sap, in the promises. And the day Israel is grafted back in, it will be like "life from the dead" (Romans 11.15).

3. You are a kingdom AND kings : the double anointing

• The Greek text of Revelation 5.10 literally says "a kingdom and priests." Some French translations say "a kingdom of priests," but the Greek distinguishes the two words. We form a kingdom, of which Jesus is the King. And within it, we are called kings and priests.
• "They will reign on the earth" (Revelation 5.10). If we reign, it is indeed because God establishes us as kings. This is not contradictory with Jesus being King of kings: it is precisely under his authority that we carry our own.
• In the Old Testament, the two functions were kept strictly separate. The king was not a priest and the priest was not a king. King Uzziah, who wanted to offer incense, was struck with leprosy (2 Chronicles 26). In Jesus, this barrier is broken.
• David is a foreshadowing of this. In 2 Samuel 6, when he brings the ark back to Jerusalem, he puts on a linen ephod (a priestly garment), even though he is from the tribe of Judah, not Levi. David, anointed to be king, also behaves like a priest before the ark. It is a picture of Jesus, and a picture of us: in Christ, we carry the double anointing, that of the king and that of the priest.
• Your identity in Christ calls you to worship in order to reign. The two go together, and in this order. Presence first, authority second.

4. The priest: your first function, serving the presence of God

• According to Ephesians 1.11-14, you have been saved and sealed with the Holy Spirit "to the praise of his glory." Your first function in the kingdom is to celebrate the glory of God. Not only on Sunday morning, the priest of the old covenant served from morning to evening, every day.
• The temple no longer exists. Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6.19). What place does serving the presence of God occupy in your schedule? Half an hour of worship on Sunday, or something continuous?
• A role with several facets:
  • The sacrifice. Formerly, animals were offered for sin, for thanksgiving, for praise. All of this was a shadow of what was to come: blood poured out once for all. Today, Paul says: "Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice" (Romans 12.1) and Peter speaks of "spiritual sacrifices" (1 Peter 2.5). Concretely: praise, the expression of the heart, a life given.
  • The altar and the fire that never goes out. Making the fragrance rise. It is said that in Jerusalem the incense burned on the temple altar was so intense that it could be smelled as far as Jericho. The fire had to be tended constantly. This is what a few teams try to do modestly in Paris ("the house of fragrances"), 2 hours a week for now. One day, 24 hours a day over Paris, with all the churches together, would be a dream worth carrying.
  • Intercession that carries the people on your heart. The high priest entered the most holy place with the twelve precious stones engraved with the names of the tribes on the breastplate (Exodus 28). We carry the people of God on our heart. When we enter the presence of God, we don't come only for ourselves: we bring our families, our city, our country.
  • The anointing of the presence. The priests alone were authorized to carry the ark of the covenant, on their shoulders. David first wanted to bring it back on a cart pulled by oxen, imitating the Philistines: Uzzah put his hand on the ark and died (2 Samuel 6.6-7). Three months later, David understood: you carry the presence of God, it is not transported just any way. This ark is on your shoulders when you go to work. You don't go with your head down, you go as a bearer of the presence of God.

5. The king: your authority to reign in life

• Romans 5.17: "For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ." You were not made to endure. You were made to reign over sin, over circumstances, over the works of darkness, over the words spoken behind your back, over the jealousy and the plots that seek to make you fall.
• The king wears the garment on his shoulders. The shoulders speak of authority. You have authority over your own life first. If you are a parent, over your household. If you are engaged in the Church, a delegated authority in your service.
• This authority is exercised through the word. "The king's word is supreme" (Ecclesiastes 8.4). Your own word has no power in itself, but the word of God in your mouth is powerful. This is why we can decree the word of God over the sick, over situations, over lives.
• Matthew 16.19: "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." Jesus said this to Peter, but he entrusts this authority to his Church.
• Don't confuse this with pretension or a revolutionary spirit. This is not insubordination, this is not pride. It is simply what God has made you. A long religious tradition has pushed us toward asceticism and a spirit of poverty, not material poverty, but poverty of identity. That is not what God has called you to.

6. The two go together, in the right order

• If you are only a priest without being a king, your church risks becoming a closed club that prays a lot but has no impact on society. We wait for the rapture and we change nothing around us.
• If you are only a king without being a priest, you quickly fall into tyranny or human self-sufficiency, you start doing things by your own strength.
• David modeled this order. In 1 Chronicles 25, he established 24 teams of priests who worshiped before the ark day and night in Jerusalem. For 33 years, the ark was no longer in a closed holy place (it was under a tent in the center of the city. The Philistines attacked three times), three times David came to consult the LORD under the tent before acting. Three times he was victorious.
• Then, during those 33 years, David accumulated the riches so that Solomon could build the temple. The order is clear: presence first, then authority, then lasting construction. Put the presence of God at the center of your life and submit your decisions to his will, "may your will be done, not mine."

Key Takeaways

• You don't tremble when you know who you are. Faith is rooted in the revelation of the Father's love and in the awareness of what God has made of you.
• You are called "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people acquired" (1 Peter 2.9). Holy means set apart for God, not perfect.
• In Christ, you carry the double anointing: king and priest. David, wearing the ephod even though he was from the tribe of Judah, foreshadows this.
• The priest serves the presence: spiritual sacrifices, a fire that never goes out, intercession that carries the people, the anointing of one who bears the presence of God both at work and at church.
• The king reigns in life (Romans 5.17). Your authority is deployed through the proclaimed word of God, through the keys of the kingdom, in your life, your family, and your sphere of influence.
• The two go together and in this order: presence first, authority second. Without presence, authority becomes tyranny. Without authority, presence becomes a club turned in on itself.

Personal Application

1. Are you trembling or are you rooted? In the face of which circumstance this week did you forget who you are in Christ?
2. What place does serving the presence of God occupy in your schedule this week? What can you give back to God as time of worship, prayer, or silence at home, not only at church?
3. When you pray, do you come only for your own needs, or do you also carry the people, the city, a loved one on your heart like a priest?
4. On what concrete ground is God calling you to reign this week rather than to endure: a recurring thought, a behavior, a professional situation, a relationship?
5. Have you put presence at the center before acting, like David under the tent? On which decision can you come and say today, "may your will be done, not mine"?

Verses Cited

• 1 Peter 2.9-10 · a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation
• Exodus 19.4-6 · a kingdom of priests and a holy nation
• Exodus 32 · the golden calf and the broken covenant
• Revelation 1.5-6 · a kingdom, priests to God his Father
• Revelation 5.9-10 · you have made us a kingdom and priests, they will reign on the earth
• Romans 11 · God has not rejected his people, we are grafted onto the olive tree
• Matthew 3.9 · God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones
• Luke 19.40 · if they are silent, the stones will cry out
• 2 Samuel 6 · David dances before the ark wearing an ephod
• Romans 5.17 · they will reign in life through Jesus Christ
• Matthew 16.19 · the keys of the kingdom, binding and loosing
• Ecclesiastes 8.4 · the king's word is powerful
• Romans 12.1 · offer your bodies as a living sacrifice
• 1 Peter 2.5 · offer spiritual sacrifices
• Ephesians 1.11-14 · sealed with the Holy Spirit to the praise of his glory
• 1 Corinthians 6.19 · your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit

Frequently Asked Questions

What does it concretely mean to "be a priest" today?

Under the new covenant, the blood of Jesus was poured out once for all. You no longer have to offer animals. But your priestly role remains: to offer your life as a living sacrifice (Romans 12.1), to present spiritual sacrifices to God (praise, thanksgiving, intercession (1 Peter 2.5; Hebrews 13.15)), and to carry others on your heart before God. It is a daily service, not just a Sunday one.

Isn't saying I am a "king" prideful?

No, not when it comes from the Bible and not from you. Revelation 5.10 says that Jesus made us "a kingdom and priests" and that we "will reign on the earth." Romans 5.17 promises that we "will reign in life" through Jesus Christ. Your authority is not conquered by your own strength; it is received from God, and it is exercised under the authority of Jesus, who remains King of kings. Pretension would be wanting to reign without him. True royal identity is humble, submitted to the Spirit, and it bears fruit in a life that no longer merely endures.

Why this order: priest first, king second?

Because without the presence of God, authority turns into self-will and tyranny. Without authority, presence turns into religious withdrawal. David is the model for this: he began as a shepherd in intimacy with God, then God established him as king. In Jerusalem, he placed the ark under a tent in the center of the city, with priests praising day and night, before every military decision. "Shall I attack?" he asked God, and he won. This is the same order Jesus invites you to live: "Seek first the kingdom and its righteousness" (Matthew 6.33), presence first, authority second.