Revelation 3:21 Commentary and Bible Study

The Lord chooses to excite our affections with this remarkable promise. It is as if the lukewarm need to be lifted up above the mundane by a special view of what could be theirs. They have lost sight of the glories of heaven, and need a fresh view to spur them forward to repentance. It is only the reality of our future reward that can re-ignite our love and give backbone to our determination to follow Christ through this world of tribulation.It is only for this church that Christ compares his overcoming with our overcoming. It is a theme of Scripture that we follow in his footsteps, experiencing a similar trial to the one he experienced. He was hated, we are hated; he suffered the contradiction of sinners, we must suffer it too; he turned his back on this world and we too must take up our cross and follow him. He overcame and all his elect will also overcome. Having ascended into heaven, he took his place at the right hand of the Father, on his throne (Psalm 110:1) as Hebrews also states (1:3, 13; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2). This was his reward, his due for completing the work which the Father had given him to do. Therefore he prays, ‘I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. ⁵ And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was (John 17:4-5). From all eternity he had existed as the Son of God in glory. But having descended to the earth and become incarnate he now for the first time returned to heaven to take his place on his Father’s throne as the God-Man. That place is not merely honorary. It is the place from which he reigns over all creation as the only sovereign Lord. Neither is the place to which his people are exalted merely honorary, for in a measure they reign with him. For this reason that the saints are called kings and priests (1:6) and it is said that we shall reign on the earth (5:10). Now we reign through prayers that move the hand of God. Then we shall reign in a way that has not yet been revealed.