REV. LYNN’S BLOG

Archive for April, 2009

Some time ago I wrote this series about the Royal Priesthood. I thought I should post it here over the next few weeks.

 Recently I had an internet dialogue with an elderly lady who is looking at converting into the Roman Catholic Church. One of the points that she kept coming back to was that of the priesthood, and the fact that she saw the RC priesthood as the only legitimate one. So, I thought it would be good to look at priesthood and what it means for us as New Testament believers.

Firstly, we need to understand that there is a difference between priesthood and ministry. The word “ministry” simply means service, and can legitimately be applied to any area of service within the Body of Christ. “Priesthood” is a particular kind of service. Primarily, priesthood is about two things: access and representation. Wherever a priesthood exists, it means that only the priests have access to God. Because the general population does not have that access, the priests must represent God to the people, and the people to God.

Secondly, we need to understand God’s purposes for priesthood. To do this we need to go right back to the creation of the world. God created the whole material realm, then finally He created mankind in the “image and likeness” of God. The rest of the material creation did not have direct access to God, but man did. Man was created to be like God, so that he would represent God to the material creation. He was to tend and nurture it, just as God would, releasing the life of God into the world around him. The creation should have been able to look at mankind and see what God was like.

Instead of taking up this high calling, however, man listened to the devil’s lie that he could become a god for himself, not needing any input or control from the God of the universe. Instead of representing God to the creation, he handed control of creation over to the devil, who was only interested in representing himself.

God, however, had not given up on His purposes to be truly represented in the world. Eventually He picked a man, Abraham, through whom the whole world would be blessed (Gen 12:3Gen 12:3
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3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you. In you will all of the families of the earth be blessed.”

WP-Bible plugin). Ultimately, this refers to the coming of the Messiah, but it also speaks of the raising up of a people who would faithfully represent God to the nations.

Over four hundred years later, after He brought the descendants of Abraham out of Egypt under the leadership of Moses, God said to them, “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests” (Exodus 19:5-6Exodus 19:5-6
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5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice, and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own possession from among all peoples; for all the earth is mine; ⁶ and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”

WP-Bible plugin). God’s intention for Israel was that they would have access to Him, and that they would represent Him to the world. He wanted a nation of people at whom the world could look and say, “Now we know what God is really like. We have seen it in His people.” At the same time, Israel was to represent the world before God, making intercession and calling forth His mercy and grace. Notice that the intention was not for there to be a separate, exclusive priesthood which did these things, but that the whole nation would be “a kingdom of priests”.

Like our first parents, however, Israel rejected God’s offer of a face-to-face relationship out of which they would minister to the world. Instead, they were happy to pass the responsibility to Moses. “When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.” (Exodus 20:18-19Exodus 20:18-19
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18 All the people perceived the thunderings, the lightnings, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking. When the people saw it, they trembled, and stayed at a distance. ¹⁹ They said to Moses, “Speak with us yourself, and we will listen; but don’t let God speak with us, lest we die.”

WP-Bible plugin.) Afraid of what a face-to-face relationship might cost, they chose to let someone else represent them. The result was the establishment of the priesthood, an exclusive group with sole access to the presence of God, and then only under carefully limited circumstances, who would from then on represent God to the people and the people to God.

This was never God’s intended purpose. So He waited. Waited until the Son came and by His death tore open the veil separating the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. Once again the ordinary believers were to be given free access to God’s presence. They could now “approach the throne of grace with confidence” (Heb 4:16Heb 4:16
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16 Let us therefore draw near with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and may find grace for help in time of need.

WP-Bible plugin). They did not need anyone else to represent them because Christ was their High Priest and the “one mediator between God and men” 1 Timothy 2:51 Timothy 2:5
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5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

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Once again God made that wonderful statement, “you are a royal priesthood” (I Peter 2:9). He repeats it in slightly different form in Revelation 1:6Revelation 1:6
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6 and he made us to be a Kingdom, priests to his God and Father; to him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

WP-Bible plugin and 5:10. As was His original intention for Israel, His intention for the Church was not that it HAVE a priesthood, but that it BE a priesthood. God has given us free access to His throne. We can come before Him any time we want. We don’t have to bring the blood of bulls and goats, because the blood of Jesus has been shed once and for all. In fact, the Holy Spirit, who is God, dwells within every born again believer, and wants to communicate with us on a regular basis. More than that, God intends that we should represent Him to the world around us. The world should be able to look at us and say, “Ah, now we know what God is like!” God also intends that we represent the people to Him. There are probably many people you know who do not know God. For many of those, you may be the only Christian they know. Do you lift them regularly before the throne of Grace? Do you represent them and their needs, particularly their need of salvation, faithfully before God?

Unfortunately there are many Christians who still want to have a priesthood rather than being a priesthood. They want someone else to pray for them (I am not talking about asking someone to stand in agreement, which is legitimate, but about asking someone else to take the responsibility of taking their needs before the Father). They want someone else to prophesy over them, or to hear the word of God on their behalf. They want to go to church on Sunday and be spoon fed. And in it all, they are missing God’s call to priesthood – a call that applies not to an exclusive group within the Church, but to the whole Body of Christ.

This blog is © copyright Lynn Fowler.

There is one God, and one mediator between God and people, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:51 Timothy 2:5
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5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

WP-Bible plugin)in Whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in bodily form (Colossians 2:9Colossians 2:9
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9 For in him all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily,

WP-Bible plugin)and Whom God the Father has exalted to the highest place, giving Him the Name which is above every name, that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11Philippians 2:9-11
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9 Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name; ¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth, ¹¹ and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

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