“…but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.” (Revelation 20:4-6, NASB)

As Christians, we are all priests of God. This is not a title given only to Christian leaders, but for every child of God saved by faith in Jesus the Messiah. This includes both believers from the Old Testament as well the New Testament. If this is true, then we had better get used to the idea because it’s a work that we will do it for the rest of our lives and for all eternity! It says in today’s passage,

“And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.”

When we go to heaven, one thing that we will no longer do is evangelism. There will be no longer a need to tell people to believe in Jesus and be saved (Jer.31:33-34). On the other hand, when we go to heaven, the ministry of priesthood will continue forevermore. The Bible says that Jesus himself is “the great high priest” (Heb.4:14-16) and he will be a “priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek” (Heb.7:17). And those who follow him are called to serve him as priests and reign with him forever. In fact, the kingdom of God is also called “the kingdom of priests” (Rev.1:6). In my opinion, serving God as priest on earth is just a boot camp training for what we’ll do in heaven. So, get used to being called a priest and get used to doing the work of a priest.

So that leads us to the question, “Who qualifies as a priest and what does a priest do?” First, according to today’s passage, those who have a part in the “first resurrection” qualifies for the priesthood of God and of Christ. It speaks of everyone who will be risen from the dead through faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection. The second resurrection, on the other hand, speaks of everyone who will be brought to life for the last judgment, called the great white throne judgment. Thus, “first” and “second” resurrection indicate types, not sequence. In other words, the first resurrection speaks of every believer who is not part of the Great White Throne judgment.

The first stage of the first resurrection will take place during the rapture where saints both asleep and alive will be caught up in the air to meet the Lord (1 Thess.4:13-18). The second stage will be during the Tribulation where many saints who were martyred by the antichrist will rise to join Christ (Rev.7:9-14). The third stage will likely be during the millennial kingdom of Christ to the end. Even though Christ will bring a peaceful and prosperous life on earth, those who are alive physically will succumb to death as they are living in sinful bodies. Those who are deemed righteous will join the first resurrection, and others who are unrighteous will remain dead until the second resurrection.

The second resurrection will take place after the thousand-year reign of Christ. Verse 5 says, “The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed.” There is a great blessing involved in being part of the first resurrection because they will be recognized as saints and given the ministry of eternal priesthood. The participants of the second resurrection will not be so lucky because, although they too will be resurrected from the dead, but only to be part of the last judgment for the wicked (Rev.20:11-15).

Second, as to the question of what we will do for eternity as priests, it is difficult to answer as we are given limited information. However, according to the Scriptures, the typical ministries of priests involved maintaining the temple of God, receiving and offering sacrifices from people, interceding on behalf of the people, and leading the in worship. These are the things that earthly priest did in the Bible. We do not know for certain what heavenly priests will do in heaven, but if these things are mere shadows of things to come, we can guess the exciting things we’ll get to do in heaven. In other words, forget the idea that we will be sitting around singing “Kumba-ya” forever, but get used to the idea that we will be serving God as priests and reigning with Him forever and ever.

• What do you think it means to “reign with Christ” and serve as “priests of God and of Christ” for thousand years?
• How should we as “priests of God and of Christ” prepare ourselves to serve in the millennium and for eternity?