Rule and reign over what? Two or three square feet of terra firma? No. Over a universe populated with untold billions of galaxies containing billions of suns which contain billions of planetary bodies. And I will assure you there is other life there, not just because the odds almost make it a certainty mathematically, but because God says so in His Word.
He talks about winged creatures and four-headed beasts, not to mention the angelic host.
So we know there is a universe so broad and so wide that we cannot even conceive of the boundaries intellectually. And He said that one of the main reasons He created you is so you can rule and reign (or manage and administrate) the vastness of this creation with all of its life forms on His behalf.
That is what we are here to learn. If you cannot learn how to influence a few people in your neighborhood, if you cannot learn how to lead in an environment as limited as it is now, how will you ever handle what comes later?
Earth: Merely A Training Session
God put us on this earth to learn these lessons so we don’t do any damage on a cosmic scale. Then when we have learned these lessons, we graduate to our eternal calling. That’s what the parable of the talents in Matthew 25 is all about.
A lord goes on a journey to a far country and entrusts his estate and all of his belongings to three servants, each according to his several ability (v. 15).
Distribution And Reward
The master’s resources were not distributed equally to the three servants: one had five talents, another had two and another had one, each according to his own ability. It does not matter how much God gives you to manage.
We sometimes look at the people who are given huge amounts of authority and think, “Wow, their reward is going to be great!” But you will notice that the ones who had the five talents and the two talents received the same reward.
It has to do with making the best of what God gives you, regardless of how much that is.
So the lord went on a journey to a far country, and when he returned, he took an account of what he had entrusted to his servants. The two servants who received a “well done” were the ones who had brought increase to their lord’s kingdom.
This story, saint of God, is a parable about God’s Kingdom. God expects you to bring an increase—you personally—the Kingdom of God. And what is the principle that governs increase in the Kingdom? The principle of sowing and reaping.
Increase in the Kingdom is not based on how much you save in the bank or invest in stocks. You bring increase to the Kingdom of God through the principle of sowing and reaping. That is why Jesus said in Mark 4:13 that if you do not understand the parable of the sower, you are not going to understand any of the other parables.
He said the whole Kingdom of God works on this principle to produce increase: sowing and reaping.
How you use the resources He has entrusted to you—some of which may be human, some of which may be material or financial—will determine whether or not you will hear what Matthew 25:21 says: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”
The bottom line has to be, did you use your resources in such a way as to produce an increase in the Kingdom of God? You see, our eternal rulership is going to depend on how well we learn the very lessons we are being taught today.
Putting Things In Perspective
The purpose of influencing people and attaining a vision of what God has called you to do is to bring increase to the Kingdom of God. It is not to make you rich. It is not to position you to retire early so you can play golf for the last twenty years of your life.
God does not want you to work till you’re 65 years old at the same job, retire with a gold watch and die without ever having brought increase to the Kingdom.
We are talking about eternity now. We are talking about what is really important. We get our eyes on this life and say, “This is the big deal, right here. This is it in a nutshell.” No. We must get away from that view.
James said, “For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away” (James 4:14). You are being prepared for eternity. How many of you would like to rule three or four galaxies? You should want that.
How is God’s vision for your life going to produce increase in the Kingdom? If you are not running your own ministry or your own business, you have to view your contribution in terms of the organization you are a part of right now.
How can you best help them to fulfill their vision? Your means of bringing increase to the Kingdom is through assisting their efforts, which is going to produce an increase for the Kingdom of God.
If you do have your own ministry or business, you have to make it clear to those who work for you that the part they play is important because they bring increase to what God has called you to do. Their efforts will help you fulfill your heavenly vision, but it will affect their eternity.
When you add God’s plan for your life to the vision He imparts to other believers, God’s redemptive plan for mankind is promoted. Then, as far as I am concerned, this deal can end. Let’s all get our “Well done” from the Master and go on to rule and reign with Jesus.
Rulership means to administer on behalf of someone else. It implies delegated authority, because He is the Lord. But we will rule and reign with Him for an eternity. Selah; stop and think about that for a moment!
Excerpt permission granted by Mac Hammond Ministries
Mac and Lynne Hammond are senior pastors of Living Word in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, which they started in 1980. Many outreaches and ministries have launched from Living Word since that time, including Maranatha Christian Academy, a Pre-K through grade 12 school with nearly 900 in attendance, and Living Free Recovery Services, a licensed outpatient treatment program.
Most recently, Mac and Lynne have launched a vision to plant fifty churches across the globe in the next five years. As of August 2024, nine churches have been planted in the Dominican Republic, Ireland, Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, and Guatemala with construction underway for seven more churches in El Salvador, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Prior to becoming a pastor, Mac was a pilot. He served in the Air Force, served two tours of duty in Southeast Asia, and was honorably discharged in 1970 with the rank of Captain. Between 1970 and 1980, Mac was involved in varying capacities in the general aviation industry, including ownership of a successful air cargo business serving the Midwestern United States. A business acquisition brought the Hammonds to Minneapolis, where they ultimately founded Living Word. Currently, Mac is the host of The Winner’s Way and The Winner’s Minute broadcasts and the author of several internationally distributed books. Mac is broadly acclaimed for his ability to apply the principles of the Bible to practical situations and the challenges of daily living.
