Overview
The realm of Zion should be dear to our hearts. There will be times our hearts could burst because of the joy found in her. More than anything else Zion is a relationship. It's a unique relationship with the Lord and then with one another. All the promises of God are fulfilled in Zion. All the blessings are reserved for Zion. Sonship is Zion. The priesthood is Zion. Zion is both a realm and a relationship.
Zion embraces the saints on both sides of the veil. The writer of Hebrews says, "But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel."
Zion is the realm where we find our greatest joy. The Psalmist testified, "All my springs of joy are in you (Ps. 87)." Zion is not just a doctrine; it is a spiritual realm that must be experienced to be understood. It is the realm that is closest to God's heart. As we walk in Zion all of God's promises are made real to us.
It is in the realm of Zion that we experience the chastening that produces mature sons (Heb. 12). It is a unique work of grace that is not found in nominal Christianity. This is why Jesus said that many are called, but few are chosen. We enter the realm of Zion because we are driven by a hunger and thirst to know the Lord. We do not count the cost. It is as Jesus said, "Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world."