When we teach on sonship, you'll discover that sonship has three phases to it. The first phase is being adopted, or brought into the family, where we become a child of God. We're what's called ‘teknon’ - a young child, one who has the nature of the Father, one who is part of the family. Then we are brought into the process or preparation, where we come under the training of the Holy Spirit, who trains our character, and prepares us; and then finally, God positions us into our sonship, at the second coming of Christ. In that positioning into our sonship, that's when we enter into all these experiences that we talk of here. So one of the key aspects then, of our journey as a child of God, is: we let God transform us. That means healing, deliverance, character transformation, shifting beliefs, changing the way you think… all those kinds of things.
Main MessageI want to look at one specific aspect of reward, called the Victor's Crowns. They all come under the heading of honour. The Bible tells us then that some believers will receive crowns. A crown is bestowed as an honour, or an award, to recognise someone. If someone's wearing a crown, then you know they're recognised. There's some reason behind them having that crown.
In the Bible there are two words used for crown. The first one is diadem; and the second one is Stephanos; and today we will focus on Stephanos. Diadem means: the crown of a ruler. If a person is a king, or a ruler, he has a diadem on. That's a special type of crown that acknowledges that he has authority, and he rules, has dominion. For example…
Revelations 19:12 (talking about Jesus) - “His eyes were a flame of fire and on His head were many crowns, and He had a name written that no one knew except Himself”.
The whole concept of a crown comes from a thing where they used to have a cap, or a turban; and there was some form of metallic plate, or a thing that circled the head, that had jewels on it. If you look at the crown jewels, the Queen's crown, it's magnificent, rich; and it says of Jesus: He has many crowns. Obviously, you can't wear many crowns. He's talking in terms of a spiritual picture, that Jesus has all authority over everyone. He is the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords; therefore, He has many crowns. He is the Emperor over an Empire. You don't hear that word used much, but He is literally an Emperor. He has an empire, made up of kingdoms; and kings over those kingdoms; and He rules the kings, so He's called the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. The crown represents His royal position, His royal honour, and His authority. Christ now reigns, is King over the whole of the universe, and not because He was the Son of God, but because, as the Son of Man, He gained that honour.
Ephesians 1:20-22 – “Jesus is the centre of God's purpose, which He worked in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and seated Him at the right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power, might, dominion, every name that's named not only in this age, but also the age to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church”.
He's far above every principality and power, every dominion, every authority. His ranking is far, far higher; far, far above. He will reign, until He's put all His enemies under His feet; then He will present the kingdom back to the Father - meaning that Jesus is now in that position, but when He is crowned, He will return to earth. He will gather to Himself His people, invest in them authority, and power, and a resurrection body; and they, with Him, will then bring the whole of the earth and creation into order, over a period of 1000 years. So He wears the crown of a ruler.
There's also another crown, and that's the crown of a victor - that's a different crown. A crown of a ruler is someone who sits over a place. They rule over it - they have the responsibility to rule and govern; but the victor's crown is someone who won. That's the word ‘Stephanos’, and the first reference you find to that is in 1 Corinthians 9:24-25. Paul is writing, and he says:
1 Corinthians 9:24-25 - “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. For everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we, an imperishable crown.”
The second crown there is the word ‘Stephanos’, and that's the wreath, or the garland, that they put on someone who is the winner of a race. It comes from the word ‘Stepho’, meaning to ‘entwine’, or a wreath that encircles the head. It was either: someone who won a race; someone who won a fight; or it also referred to a Roman emperor, or a Roman commander, who came back from a battle, and he's won the battle, and he's wearing it.