Sonship Before Sceptre: The Path to Divine Authority
“I will proclaim the Lord’s decree: He said to me, ‘You are my Son; today I have become your Father. Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You will break them with a rod of iron; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.” Psalm 2:7–9
The Scriptures tell us that the Lord is going to make His Son the ruler of the earth. He will give the earth to Him as an inheritance, and bestow authority on Him. This authority is embodied in the Lord Jesus in Isaiah 11:4, where it says,
“But with righteousness He will judge the needy, with justice He will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth; with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.”
Here, we see Jesus exercising the rod and restraining evil with the authority He has been given. He’s not using a staff like a shepherd because He is not in shepherd mode. A shepherd tends the flock and gathers them unto himself with his staff, guiding them and showing them where to go.
“The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” Psalm 23:1–4
“For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.” Ezekiel 34:11–12
There is a distinction between the Lord as a Shepherd and the Lord as a Ruler and Judge. When He takes His place as the Ruler of the earth, He will use a rod of iron, like a lion with teeth of iron to rule.
“Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.” Revelation 19:15
The scripture below tells us what to do in light of these impending events:
“Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you perish in the way, for His wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him” Psalm 2:10–12.
The basic idea is this: If you know that the Lord Jesus is going to come and rule, and you are a king—someone with authority over people—then be wise, and be warned. You show your wisdom and demonstrate that you’ve heeded the warning by serving the Lord with fear and celebrating His rule with trembling, rather than opposing it.
But how do you rejoice with trembling? Isaiah 66:2 gives us insight: “This is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at My word.”
Our path leads to destruction if we do not worship the Son by submitting to Him and yielding to His authority. We are to do this in fear, trembling, while rejoicing. Be glad in it, but do it from a place of knowing that the Lord may flare up, may take action, may discipline, or may act firmly and fiercely. God has been known to do this so many times throughout Scripture. This is why Hebrews 10:31 says, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
Wise people do not trifle with the Most High. So whatever authority you have in this age, whether in government, leadership, family, or influence, use that authority with a clear and constant awareness that the Lord is ruler of all. And you would do well to serve Him with the honour He deserves.
Sonship Before Sceptre
When the Lord wants to give you authority over the nations, He first makes you His son.
“For the earnest hope of the creatures waits for the manifestation of the sons of God,” Romans 8:19.
As long as people have not entered into that manifestation, they do not have the authority to inherit the nations as a possession or the capacity to rule with a rod of iron. No matter how much they try, it fails and comes to a halt, because sonship is the requisite for such authority.
When the day comes for us to be His sons and daughters, as written in 2 Corinthians 6:18, “I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty,” only then do we have the right to wield a rod of iron which is unbreakable.
We look forward—indeed, we can only look forward—to the day when such authority will be given to us. Not by striving to grasp power, but by striving to become a son.
How does one become a son? How does one qualify to be in that class?
“But those who are considered worthy of taking part in the age to come and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God’s children, since they are children of the resurrection.” Luke 20:35–36
These are the sons of the resurrection, those who were counted worthy. And how did they become worthy? By losing their lives to the Lord’s will, so they could find true life.
Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 10:39
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:26–27
Do not look for power or try to rule over people by controlling them and using force to exert over them. You may succeed like many have succeeded in this age, but you will lose out in the coming age. Rather, lay down your life, be a shepherd, a lamb in this age, and in the next age, you will be a lion. That is the example the Lord Jesus has placed before us, and that is the path we must walk in. The Lord Jesus promised to share this rod of iron with us; He said He will give it to us, and we will rule with Him. This is the promise of the coming age. We should embrace it fully and completely.
So,
The call is clear: seek sonship before sceptre. The Lord is not looking for those who clamour for thrones, but for those who submit to His will in humility and obedience. The authority to rule with Christ is not granted to the ambitious, but to those who have died to themselves and live only for Him. If we would reign with Him in the coming age, we must first learn to follow Him in this one by carrying our cross, surrendering our rights, and yielding our lives in full obedience. These are the qualities of the sons of the resurrection, who tremble at His Word and rejoice in His rule. They qualify to wield the rod of iron only because they first became sons.
Ita Udoh
4th June 2025
