The book of Hebrews opens with a formal oration on the supremacy of the Son of God (Heb. 1:1-4). Then, in various ways the Son’s superiority is proven by demonstrating that He is greater than the angels (Heb. 1:5-14; 2:5, 16). This is telling of just how exalted of a station the angels enjoy. In quoting David, the writer of Hebrews explains that in His humanity, Jesus was temporarily of a lower position than the angels (Ps. 8:4-6; Heb. 2:5-8). In the order of creation, man is on a rung below that of the angels. This recognition provides the proper backdrop by which to fully appreciate the role of the Body of Christ in the Millennium as revealed in 1 Corinthians 6:2-3:
Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life!
The members of the Body will be fully conformed to the image of Jesus (Rom. 8:29; 2 Cor. 3:18) and be made like Him (1 John 3:2). The extent and manner in which the saints are to be like Jesus is debatable. What is clear is that the improvement is to the degree that some human beings are made higher than the angels. Not only will the Body of Christ judge the world of men, but even the angels.
REIGNING SAINTS
The rule of saints under Jesus is explicitly said to occur during the Millennium in Revelation 20:4-6:
Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. 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 ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.
The people sitting on the thrones might be a reference to the twelve only (v.4). However, it may also include all believers that were granted such an honor at the Judgment Seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10). The saints who refused to take the mark of the beast and were martyred for the testimony of Jesus are to be resurrected and given authority (v.4). These tribulation saints are mentioned separately and that implies that they have a unique position in the government. The remaining deceased are not resurrected until after the Millennium (v.5) and this is to face judgment and damnation (v. 6; Rev. 20:12-15). Therefore, all of the saved persons through history will have been translated or resurrected and will have received their glorified bodies by the end of the Millennium. They are blessed and holy because they have eternal life through faith in Jesus (John 3:16). The blood of Jesus has been applied to those in the first resurrection (Rom. 3:25) and this empowers them to share in the reign of Jesus (v. 6).
The rule of saints under Jesus is explicitly said to occur during the Millennium in Revelation 20:4-6:
Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. 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 ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.
The people sitting on the thrones might be a reference to the twelve only (v.4). However, it may also include all believers that were granted such an honor at the Judgment Seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10). The saints who refused to take the mark of the beast and were martyred for the testimony of Jesus are to be resurrected and given authority (v.4). These tribulation saints are mentioned separately and that implies that they have a unique position in the government. The remaining deceased are not resurrected until after the Millennium (v.5) and this is to face judgment and damnation (v. 6; Rev. 20:12-15). Therefore, all of the saved persons through history will have been translated or resurrected and will have received their glorified bodies by the end of the Millennium. They are blessed and holy because they have eternal life through faith in Jesus (John 3:16). The blood of Jesus has been applied to those in the first resurrection (Rom. 3:25) and this empowers them to share in the reign of Jesus (v. 6).
Previously, the apostle John provided us with a point of clarification in Revelation 5:9-10:
And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”
The reigning saints include every single person ransomed by the blood of Jesus, regardless of ethnicity (v. 9). That means that no saved person will be left out or remain in Heaven during the Millennium. All of God’s people will become a kingdom of priests, reigning alongside Jesus, here on the earth (v. 10).
The apostle John did not spill much ink in covering the Millennium in his apocalypse. The reign of the saints with Christ being one of the few points mentioned highlights its importance. All of those as of yet unfulfilled verses about various men and women obtaining great authority in the Kingdom find their home here.
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