The Blood-Bought Kingship: Redeemed to Rule and Reconcile

Something is startling about the image in Revelation 5:9. A Lamb, standing as though slain, is the only one in all creation worthy to break the seals of human destiny. Not a warrior. Not a philosopher-king. A Lamb.

And yet this Lamb has redeemed people "out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation."

The blood changes everything.

The Crimson Thread Through Scripture

Long before John saw his vision on Patmos, God was telling this story. Picture the garden—not in its glory, but in its shame. Adam and Eve, suddenly aware of their nakedness, scrambled to cover themselves with fig leaves. Inadequate. Flimsy. A human solution to a divine problem.

Then God does something remarkable. Genesis 3:21 tells us He makes garments of skin for them. Skin requires death. Someone had to die so they could be covered. The first blood spilt on earth wasn't Abel's—it was the blood of an innocent animal, shed so humanity could stand clothed before a holy God.

This is the pattern. This is the template.

Fast forward to Egypt. The Israelites are slaves, and death is coming. But God provides a way of escape through the blood of a lamb painted on doorposts (Exodus 12:1-11). The destroyer passes over every house marked by blood. Death cannot touch what blood has covered. That night, a nation of slaves walked free because a lamb died in their place.

Centuries later, John the Baptist stands by the Jordan River watching Jesus approach. His declaration echoes across time: 

"Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29). 

The symbol becomes flesh. The shadow finds its substance. Every lamb slain since Eden was pointing here, to this moment, to this Man.

Paul makes the connection explicit: 

"For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us" (1 Corinthians 5:7).

What happened in Egypt was a dress rehearsal. The real exodus was coming—not from physical slavery, but from the bondage that holds every human heart captive.

The writer of Hebrews strips away any ambiguity:

"And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission." (Hebrews 9:22)

Blood or nothing. Death or darkness. Sacrifice or slavery.

Purchased in the Marketplace of Sin

The Greek word translated "redeemed" in Revelation 5:9 is agorazo (ἀγοράζω)—to purchase in the marketplace. The marketplace, the agora, was where everything was bought and sold—including slaves.

That's what we were. Slaves standing on the auction block, bound by chains we couldn't break, owing a debt we couldn't pay. Sin owned us completely. (Romans 6:6). 

But Jesus entered the marketplace.

Not with gold or silver, but with His own blood. He didn't negotiate for a discount or haggle over terms. He paid in full. First Peter 1:18-19 captures this stunning reality:

"...knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot."

The price was astronomical. The payment was final. And the scope? Universal. 

"He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world" (1 John 2:2). 

Titus 2:11 declares that 

"the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men."

Everyone qualifies. Anyone can come. The blood is sufficient for the whole world.

Kings and Priests: Your Double Inheritance

Here's where it gets radical.

Revelation 5:10 tells us that Christ "has made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth." Not just forgiven. Not just saved. Made into royalty and consecrated for divine service.

Think about the distinction. A king rules over people. A priest stands between people and God, interceding on their behalf. A king exercises authority. A priest carries divine presence.

You are both.

Right now, in this present age, we function as priests. You bear the presence of God wherever you go. You're not walking alone through your Monday morning commute, your difficult conversation at work, or your crisis at midnight. The Holy Spirit dwells in you. You carry Heaven's embassy in your chest. Your job as a priest is to bring reconciliation between God and humanity—to preach the good news, to demonstrate the Father's heart, to stand in the gap for a broken world.

In the age to come, there will be no need for priests as intermediaries. Jesus will be physically present. But now? Now you're needed. God has positioned you exactly where you are to represent Him.

And you're a king.

This isn't merely symbolic. It's functional. John 1:12 says, 

"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name." 

Children of the King aren't paupers. They're heirs. They carry authority.

Your kingship began the moment you gave your life to Christ. Not when you feel qualified. Not when you've cleaned up your act or memorized enough Scripture. The moment you believed, you were transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light, and with that transfer came identity, authority, and responsibility.

Think Like a King

Kings don't think survival. They think dominion.

When you wake up in the morning, are you just trying to make it through another day? That's survival thinking. That's slave mentality. That's amnesia about who you are.

Genesis 1:26-28 shows us God's original design:

"Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.' So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue 

Dominion was the assignment before the fall. It remains the assignment after redemption.

Jesus reinforced this in Luke 19:13, telling His servants, "Do business till I come." Occupy. Engage. Impact. Don't hide. Don't merely exist. Rule in the sphere where God has placed you.

A king carries himself with dignity. He thinks strategically, not reactively. He's not constantly in crisis mode, lurching from one emergency to another. He plans. He prepares. He looks at territory and asks, "Where will I extend influence? What needs the King's touch in this space?"

Ask yourself right now: What territories am I called to cover? Your family? Your workplace? Your neighborhood? A particular issue or injustice? God hasn't called you to impact everything, but He has called you to impact something. Where has He positioned you? What influence has He given you?

Be strategic, not reactive. Be impact-driven, not comfort-driven.

Operating in Your Identity

Your identity as a king and priest should never be compromised. When you forget who you are, you disgrace the One who made you. When you operate beneath your calling, you're not being humble—you're being disobedient.

This requires audacity. Dare to operate like God because you're a son of God. That's not blasphemy; that's the Bible. First John 4:17 says, "as He is, so are we in this world." Jesus said in John 14:12:

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father."

You've been given authority as a son or daughter. Use it.

This doesn't mean arrogance. Kings can be humble. But humility isn't thinking less of yourself—it's thinking of yourself less. It's knowing exactly who you are and using that identity to serve others, to advance the Kingdom, to bring glory to the Father.

The Call to Action

So sit down today. Actually sit down. Take out a piece of paper or open a document on your phone. Ask the hard questions:

1. Where am I thinking survival instead of dominion?
2.  What territories has God given me to steward?
3. How can I bring reconciliation as a priest in my current relationships?
4. Where have I been reactive instead of strategic?
5. What would it look like to operate fully in my identity as a king and priest this week?

You weren't redeemed to coast. You weren't purchased with the blood of the Lamb so you could live a small, safe, unnoticed life. You were bought to reign. You were consecrated to represent.

The blood paid for more than your ticket to Heaven. It paid for your authority on earth.

Walk in it. The Lamb who was slain has made you a king and a priest.

Now live like it.