There are moments when a message does more than inform us.

It locates us.

It gives language to something God has already been stirring beneath the surface. It names what we have been sensing, reaching for, and carrying together, even when we have not fully known how to say it yet.

That is what Sunday felt like.

After several weeks in Asia, Chris Berglund returned and shared from the deep place of what God had been stirring in him through his time in Malaysia and Singapore. He spoke about the churches and leaders he connected with in East Malaysia, about their hunger for the message of Melchizedek, and about the real relationships God is forming there.

But this was not just a missions report.

It felt like an invitation.

An invitation to recognize that God is not only doing something “over there.” He is forming something in us. He is awakening something among us. He is calling us again to say yes.

Yes to the prophetic.

Yes to the young people.

Yes to the nations.

Yes to the message He is rooting in us.

Yes to the life of Christ being formed in us, not as a doctrine we admire, but as a reality we live.

Called to Something That Does Not Exist Yet

One of the phrases Chris shared that stayed with me was that he had once received a word saying he was called to something that did not exist yet.

I think many of us can relate to that.

There are things God speaks over our lives that do not immediately fit into the categories we already know. There are callings, messages, relationships, and assignments that take time to recognize. Sometimes we carry something for years before we have the framework to understand it. Sometimes we say yes in one season, and then the Lord brings us into another season where that yes becomes deeper, clearer, and more personal.

That is part of the tenderness of God.

He does not simply demand instant comprehension. He walks with us. He forms us. He brings us into the right relationships, the right places, and the right moments where faith rises again around what He has been speaking all along.

As Chris shared about Malaysia, I felt that tenderness so strongly. The leaders he connected with were hungry to be discipled in the message of Melchizedek, the priest-king order, and the miracle of union with Christ. And as he shared, it felt like the Spirit was stirring a fresh yes — not only in him, but in all of us.

God is stirring us to say yes to Him more fully.

Yes to the assignments we understand.

Yes to the parts we do not yet understand.

Yes to the relationships He is forming.

Yes to the message He is rooting in us.

Yes to whatever He wants to do through a surrendered people who are willing to follow Him into the new thing.

Forgiveness Is the Doorway, Not the Destination

One of the central statements in Chris’s message was this:

Forgiveness is not the destination. Forgiveness is the doorway.

That sentence matters.

So much of the Christian life has been reduced to the miracle of being forgiven, and that miracle is glorious. We never move beyond gratitude for the blood of Jesus. We never outgrow the wonder of mercy. We never graduate from the cross.

But the cross was never meant to be reduced to a legal transaction that leaves us standing at the threshold, forgiven but unchanged.

Forgiveness is the doorway into something much greater.

It is the doorway into union.

It is the doorway into life in Christ.

It is the doorway into the soul being filled, conquered, healed, aligned, and glorified in Him.

In Christ, we are not merely forgiven sinners trying to manage our old identity. We have been brought into Christ Himself. We are in Him. His life has become our life. His righteousness has become our righteousness. His priesthood, sonship, compassion, and authority are not separate from us because we have been joined to Him.

This is why the “in Christ” message is so essential.

If we lose union, we will misunderstand forgiveness.

If we lose union, we will misunderstand sonship.

If we lose union, we will misunderstand authority.

If we lose union, we will misunderstand the kingdom.

Forgiveness opens the door, but the Father’s desire has always been more than pardon. His desire has always been a people filled with the life of His Son.

The Priest-King People

Chris spent much of the message unfolding the mystery of Melchizedek.

Melchizedek appears in Genesis 14, bringing bread and wine to Abraham. Psalm 110 speaks of a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews reveals Jesus as the great High Priest who fulfills this priesthood.

At first glance, Melchizedek can feel like a small theme in Scripture because he is only mentioned in a few places. But sometimes the things God hides are not insignificant. Sometimes they are treasures He invites kings to search out.

And what begins to emerge is stunning.

From the beginning, God desired a priest-king people.

Not kings without tenderness.

Not priests without authority.

Not government without intimacy.

Not devotion without dominion.

The priest and the king belong together in Christ.

This is why the conversation around authority matters so much. True kingdom authority is not about controlling people. It is not about conquest, domination, or human ambition. We do not take dominion over people. We participate with Christ in seeing souls, places, and nations set free from the powers that hold them in bondage.

And we only move as the Father leads.

Jesus shows us this perfectly.

At His baptism, the Father declares Him to be the beloved Son. Immediately, Jesus is led into the wilderness, where the enemy tempts Him to act independently from the Father. But mature sonship does not act independently. Jesus refuses to move from self-will, self-proving, or self-preservation.

He only does what He sees the Father doing.

That is the way of the Son.

And that is the way of a priest-king people in Christ.

We do not receive authority so we can build something from ambition. We receive authority because we have been brought into union with the One who governs all things from love, obedience, humility, and perfect communion with the Father.

The Government of His Life Within Us

Before we talk about nations, we must talk about the soul.

Chris spoke about David driving enemies out of the land as a picture of Christ’s government within us. The land becomes a picture of the soul — the places in us still occupied by unbelief, fear, pride, striving, independence, shame, and flesh.

The King does not come to decorate what remains unconquered.

He comes to fill.

He comes to cleanse.

He comes to govern.

He comes to bring every part of us into alignment with His life.

This is not condemnation. This is mercy.

The Father is not exposing these places to shame us. He is revealing where His life still wants to reign. He is showing us where we have settled for forgiveness without fullness, pardon without possession, cleansing without communion.

Christ wants more than our agreement.

He wants our surrender.

And as Chris said, this is not about us getting “more of Christ” as though He has withheld Himself from us. He has given us His life. Now He is asking for ours.

He wants the boundaries of our souls.

He wants the places still ruled by fear.

He wants the places still guarded by pride.

He wants the places still shaped by self-protection.

He wants the places still waiting for permission to fully believe.

Not so He can take something from us, but so He can fill us with Himself.

The New Wine of Union

One of the most beautiful pictures Chris brought us to was the wedding at Cana.

John tells us this was the first sign Jesus performed. That means it was not merely a miracle of provision. It was a revelation of who He is and what He came to bring.

The wine runs out.

The vessels used for external cleansing are filled with water.

And Jesus turns the water into wine.

The old system of outward washing is being overtaken by the inward wine of His life.

This is the miracle of union.

The Bread of Life stands at a wedding and provides the wine.

The Melchizedek picture of bread and wine is being revealed in Christ.

And He does not provide barely enough.

He provides an abundance that feels almost ridiculous.

This is the nature of the life He came to give. Not enough to keep us religiously functioning. Not enough to simply survive until heaven. Not enough to polish the outside of the cup.

He gives the overflowing wine of His own life.

He brings us into participation.

He invites us to eat His flesh and drink His blood.

He invites us to abide in Him.

He invites us to live from His life, not merely believe ideas about Him from a distance.

This is where Christianity becomes more than doctrine.

It becomes communion.

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It becomes union.

It becomes new wine in surrendered vessels.

Compassion as the Mark of Priesthood

Another important part of the message came from Hebrews 4, where Jesus is revealed as the great High Priest who sympathizes with our weakness.

That matters because if we are going to speak of Melchizedek, priesthood, authority, government, and the nations, we must also ask whether we are becoming compassionate.

Are we becoming merciful?

Are we becoming tender?

Are we becoming like the High Priest we have been joined to?

If we are not being formed in His compassion, then we are not truly walking in His priesthood.

Authority without compassion is not the government of Christ.

Truth without mercy is not the priesthood of Christ.

Revelation without love is not maturity.

The priest-king order is not permission to become impressive. It is an invitation to be conformed to the Son — the One who carries all authority and yet is lowly in heart. The One who governs all things and yet draws near to weakness. The One who is enthroned in glory and yet became the mercy seat for us.

If we are in Him, then His compassion must become visible in us.

A Corporate Yes

By the end of the gathering, there was such a strong sense that we were not simply listening to a message. We were being invited to respond.

Larry spoke by faith about Asia, about passports, and about some of us potentially going and standing with these leaders and churches in the nations. Others shared and prayed. And together, we began to say yes.

Yes to the prophetic.

Yes to the young people.

Yes to the nations.

Yes to carrying a message that may not fully exist yet in the forms we have known.

Yes to not fitting neatly into old categories because God is doing a new thing.

Yes to the full reward of the Lamb’s suffering.

Yes to the new wine.

Yes to the ridiculous abundance of His life — like the more-than-enough wine Jesus provided at Cana.

Yes to being filled beyond what we could produce, manage, or manufacture on our own.

Yes to being messengers of this priest-king reality in Christ, whatever that looks like and however He leads.

And I believe that yes matters.

Not because we fully understand it yet.

Not because we have a polished strategy.

Not because we know exactly what comes next.

But because there are moments when God asks a people to respond before they have all the details. There are moments when the Spirit draws a corporate yes out of us because He is forming something that will require all of us to carry it together.

We Are Not After Talking Points

This is what I keep coming back to.

We do not want to merely preach this well.

We want to live it.

We are not after talking points. We are after the life of Christ.

We are not trying to become experts in something new. No one is an expert in the new thing.

We are not trying to become something apart from Him.

We are learning to live from the One we have been joined to.

We are learning to yield to the life already given to us in Christ. We are learning to recognize His voice, trust His movement, and take the next step together from union rather than striving.

And as I listened Sunday, I felt the pleasure of the Lord over us.

Not because we have done everything perfectly.

Not because we have had all the language.

Not because we have moved quickly.

But because we have not rushed ahead to fill the silence with activity. We have not tried to build strategy where we had not yet received revelation. And we have not lagged behind in unbelief either. We have kept gathering. Kept praying. Kept pondering. Kept following the light we have been given.

And now, I believe we are at the door.

We are arriving to it — to Him — together.

Even now, we are beginning to enter in.

So we say yes.

Yes to where He is leading.

Yes to taking each step as a community.

Yes to the process.

Yes to the life of Christ being formed in us.

Yes to the miracle of union.

Reflection Questions

Where have I treated forgiveness as the destination, when the Lord may be inviting me to live more deeply from union with Christ?

What might it look like for us, as a community, to say yes to the prophetic, the young people, and the nations — not from striving or strategy, but from surrendered dependence on the Father?

You can watch Chris’s full message here:

Beyond Forgiveness: The Miracle of Union with Christ | Chris Berglund
https://www.youtube.com/live/GQeuTl0CWkE?si=tFcmwtqMOD0Ge9NZ