CHRIST CALLS ALL BELIEVERS INTO HIS ROYAL PRIESTHOOD
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All believers are children of the Most High God. Yet do you know we are a kingdom of priests that serves our Great High Priest, Jesus Christ?
“Obey Me, and I will be your God, and you will be My people. You must walk in all the ways I have commanded you, so that it may go well with you.” – Jeremiah 7:23
In biblical times, God chose and anointed His priests to serve as intercessors. The line of Aaron was the designated line… the privileged ones allowed to draw near to God… the ones called to bridge the gap between sinful man and a holy God. Daily sacrifices needed to be offered to Jehovah God to atone for the sins of the people. Yet since the priests were mere men, it was necessary for them to first offer a sin offering of atonement for themselves (Leviticus 16:11).
God desired to dwell with Israel… to be their God and they His people. Yet this promise came with a caveat… if they obeyed all that He commanded. The priests were to teach God’s covenant people His laws and commands, His promises and blessings… along with the consequences and curses for disobedience.
When the priests were faithful in their responsibilities, God blessed His chosen people. When the priests were unfaithful, the people went astray, falling out of His favor and causing His curses to rain down upon them. As the loyalty of these ministers toward God ebbed and flowed, so followed the rise and fall of the nation of Israel.
A new priesthood was needed… a holy, divine, eternal priesthood with a faithful, reigning Great High Priest. God already had His master plan set in motion. His Son Jesus Christ would be the perfect and final sacrifice for the sins of mankind. The blood of the sinless Lamb would cleanse all who came to believe in Him. He would forever bridge the chasm between God and man.
“You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.” – 1 Peter 2:9
Believers are the new, chosen nation with Christ’s Spirit living within their hearts… set apart from the world to be a holy nation. For we have been called from the dark path of the world into the light of kingdom life… to be holy as He is holy (1 Peter 1:16). We are God’s children in His royal bloodline… His cherished possession.
Jesus is our Great High Priest and King of kings who lives and reigns in glory. He is gathering as many as believe into His kingdom. He is our eternal light… the Light of the World… transforming us ever closer into His likeness. He is our Prophet who reveals God’s words and will to our hearts. He is our Intercessor before the Father who mediates on our behalf.
“To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve His God and Father – to Him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.” – Revelation 1:5-6
Jesus is the everlasting High Priest to whom all Old Testament prophecies point. He rules in priestly glory over all. He has won for us triumphant victory over sin, death and all evil. The veil has been torn. Nothing separates us now from the Father. His throne of grace is forever open to us.
God dwells with us through His divine Spirit who lives and works within us. We can draw near to Him personally with boldness and confidence, not because of our own worth but because of the One who made us worthy, Jesus Christ. His mercy and grace will always be ours.
All believers are priests of the Most High God… His conduits of blessing for mankind. We are set apart and anointed into Christ’s royal and eternal priesthood for service to the King. We shine His light in this dark world and sing His praises so that all may come to know Him.
“As you come to Him, the living Stone – rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to Him – you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” – 1 Peter 2:4-5
The sacrifices we offer to our heavenly Father are the sacrifices of our lives… living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to Him because Christ has made us accepted and valued in His eyes. We seek to follow all His ways with our hearts and our lives by the power of His Spirit working in us.
For we are called with a holy calling to be priests of God, heirs of His kingdom of grace and glory. In heartfelt devotion and thankfulness, we present our spiritual sacrifices of praise and prayer... expressing our love… and communing with the One who is our life.
