The Priesthood of the Believer

Part 1 The Process Begins

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light" (1 Peter 2:9).

In ancient Israel God established an earthly priesthood to receive tithe, offer sacrifices, oversee the tabernacle and later both Jewish temples in Jerusalem, and stand as a bridge linking heaven and Earth, God and man.

In ancient Israel God established an earthly priesthood to receive tithe, offer sacrifices, oversee the tabernacle and later both Jewish temples in Jerusalem, and stand as a bridge linking heaven and Earth, God and man.

However, the true priesthood was transferred long before A.D. 70, and the process began when Jesus, at age thirty, stepped into the Jordan River to be baptized. John the Baptist, the cousin of Christ, was the son of a priest named Zacharias who served in the temple in Jerusalem. John was baptizing believers at the Jordan River in an area called Bethabara.

This was the same location where, fifteen hundred years earlier, Joshua had crossed the Jordan River and instructed the Hebrews to take twelve smooth stones out of the Jordan River and build a monument on the Israel side of the river as a memorial and reminder that God opened the Jordan River for them to cross. The priest also lifted twelve stones from the wilderness and placed these in the dried riverbed. That day the water from the Jordan River was rolled back all the way to a city called Adam, at least ten miles away and south toward the Dead Sea.

The area where Joshua crossed is the same area where John baptized Jesus, and it has powerful prophetic significance. When a high priest was preparing to transfer the priesthood to his son, there was a threefold procedure:

1. The high priest’s son had to submerge in water for purification (Lev. 8:6).
2. The holy oil was to be poured upon the head of the high priest’s son (Lev. 8:12).
3. The high priest had to publicly declare that this was his son (Num. 20:28).

This three-part process occurred when Christ waded into the Jordan River. Christ stepped into the same area where Joshua had crossed. Joshua’s Hebrew name was Yeshuah, and Jesus’s actual Hebrew name is Yeshuah.

In Joshua’s time, the waters of the Jordan were rolled back to the city of Adam, just as Christ’s redemptive work removed mankind’s sins all the way back to the first man, Adam. When Christ stepped into the cold waters of the Jordan, He was being recognized by John, who was the son of a Jewish priest. Christ was not being baptized for the remission of sins because He was sinless. There is a deeper meaning to this baptism. Christ was thirty years of age—the same age that a Levite entered the priesthood (Num. 4:30).

Little did Israel know that the priesthood in Jerusalem was being transferred to one man—Jesus Christ! That pattern is seen in His baptism.

1. Christ was baptized in water, symbolic of preparation for the priesthood.
2. The Spirit descended upon Him like a dove; this was the anointing (Matt. 3:16).
3. God spoke from heaven, declaring that Jesus was His son (Matt. 3:17).

Mysteries In the Garden (Part 3)

It is not coincidence that Jesus chose three men out of the twelve that night in the garden. His three closest disciples, Peter, James, and John, each have a character trait that resembles atonement of the body, soul, and spirit.

Peter represented emotional atonement, James bodily and atonement, and John spiritual atonement.

Let's look at Peter first.  He continually needed a healing of emotions.  Before Peter received the Holy Spirit, he was brash, arrogant, and self centered.  Peter rebuked Christ for saying He was going to die In Jerusalem.  He was adamant that he would never deny Him, but had little confidence that others would follow his strong stance. To prove his loyalty the free swinging Peter took out his sword and whacked off the ear of the High Priest's servant. Hours later, however, his burning passion turned cold when he denied the Lord three times. To prove his point, he even cursed. Peter was emotionally unstable at times. Peter is a picture of one who loves Chrit but is on an emotional roller coaster and needs stability.

James, the second person in this inner circle, gives the details of the physical or bodily atonement. James gives the details of what a person should do when they are sick.  “Is anyone sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your faults to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much. ‭‭James‬ ‭5:14-16‬ ‭MEV‬‬ This passage deals more with physical healing than spiritual healing.  Notice how confessing your faults to one another is connected to physical healing.

The third disciple was John.  John's gospel gives the clearest message on the suffering of Christ and His redeeming work on the cross,  We usually direct new converts to the gospel of John for this very reason.  John stood at the foot of the cross while the others were hiding in fear.  He focused on the spiritual atonement of mankind.

Jesus completed a three fold of atonement for mankind from the whipping post to the cross.  The stripes in His back were for my physical healing.  The crown of thorns on His head were for my mental and emotional well being. His death on the cross brought a death blow to sin and brought eternal life to my spirit.

Mysteries In The Garden (Part 2)

And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. —1 THESSALONIANS 5:23

The physical body can become sick, the soul (mind) can experience negative emotions, and the human spirit can become tainted by sin through disobedience to God’s Word. The atonement sets out to redeem the spirit, renew the soul, and restore or heal the body, causing a person to become whole or complete in Christ.

Isaiah breaks down how the sufferings of the Messiah will impact the tripartite nature of mankind:

1. The atonement of the body

Isaiah prophesied that, “With his stripes we are healed” (Isa. 53:5). Isaiah looks forward to the atoning work of the Messiah. Peter, however, looks back at the finished work of the cross and proclaims, “By whose stripes ye were healed” (1 Pet. 2:24).

2. The atonement of the soul

Isaiah revealed the atonement for the soul when he wrote, “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Isa. 53:3). Christ was also oppressed and afflicted (v. 7). Oppression, sorrow, and grief are all emotions that can wreck havoc on the emotions and minds of believers. Yet Christ carried sorrow and grief to the cross on our behalf.

3. The atonement of the spirit

The prophet then revealed that the Christ would be wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities (Isa. 53:5). In verse 10 he wrote, “Thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin.” Sin is a spiritual disease that eats away at man’s spirit. Christ’s ultimate goal was to redeem the spirit of a person and impart the gift of eternal life.

Isaiah sums up the sufferings of the Messiah in the last two verses of Isaiah 53: He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. —ISAIAH 53:11–12

Mysteries In the Garden Part 1

And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. —1 CORINTHIANS 15:45

In the Garden of Eden, the first Adam was not born through a normal birth process, and neither was the second Adam, Jesus Christ. The first Adam was formed from dust, and the second Adam was formed in the womb of a virgin (Gen. 2:7; Luke 1:27–31). The first Adam was perfect before the Fall, and the second Adam was sinless throughout this life (2 Cor. 5:21). The first Adam fell into sin while living in a garden, and the second Adam had the sins of the world placed upon him in a garden called Gethsemane. At the tree of the knowledge of good and evil the first Adam experienced death, and at a tree called a cross the second Adam experienced death. But through the cross, the second Adam conquered death, hell, and the grave and is alive forever more (Rev. 1:18). Eternal death began in a garden, and the plan of redemption began near the temple in Jerusalem, in a garden called Gethsemane.

There is a powerful mystery surrounding that fateful night of destiny in Gethsemane. It was in this very garden where Christ revealed to Nicodemus that, as Moses lifted the serpent in the wilderness, so He (Christ) would be lifted up (on the cross) to draw all men to Him (John 3:14). The story of the brass serpent in Numbers 21:2–9 is an amazing picture of the redemptive work of Christ. Israel had sinned and was bitten by serpents. As people lay dying, Moses constructed a brass serpent on a pole. All who looked to the brass snake lived!

God chose a brass serpent to represent Christ, since brass represents humanity and the serpent represents sin. Christ became man and bore our sins on the tree!

“FATHER INTO THY HANDS I COMMEND MY SPIRIT”

Adrian Rogers said that the only man made thing in heaven will be the scars in the hands, feet, and side of Jesus.  What better way to die than in the perfect hands of the Father and now for us, in Jesus.

The mouth that spoke as never a mere man spoke became silent. The heart that never beat except in love was stilled. JESUS DIED! But as we read in the Scriptures a moment ago, before He did in His seventh saying from the cross, He committed His spirit to God for safe-keeping. Now, was Jesus merely whistling in the dark? I mean, did it do any good for Him to say, “Father into THY hands I commit My Spirit.”

Well, the Resurrection gives us the answer. Because on the 3rd day, God raised Him Who was truly and really dead and now He lives forever and He offers us eternal life as well. So you see, because of the cross, death no longer terrifies us. Now we know that for Christians death is just a gateway to heaven. 

“IT IS FINISHED”

These THREE words in English were only ONE word in the original Greek and that word was, “TETELESTAI.” 

It means, “To bring to an end, to accomplish, to complete.” 

It was used in that day of a servant reporting back to his master.  In other words, what you gave me to do, I accomplished. 

It was used after running a race.  A person would cross the finish line and say, “It is finished.” 

It was most commonly used in paying bills. A bill would be stamped with that word meaning, "Paid in full.".

When Jesus uttered this, there was no precise subject for it.  The word “it” just kind of embodies the whole scope of redemption. 

One thing important to remember is, Jesus didn’t say, “I’m finished.”  It was not the end of Him but the beginning of a whole new chapter of life. It is the most triumphant cry in all of human history. 

It is in the perfect tense.  That is when something happened that still holds good.  Jesus cried out, “It is finished and it is forever finished.” In other words, “This work that I have done will hold good for eternity.” 

What was finished?

His suffering

His sacrifice

Jesus took my bankruptcy and covered it with His solvency.  Jesus didn’t just make the down payment and then make us make the installment payments the rest of our life.  Jesus paid it all. The wages of sin is death but Jesus paid the last cent of the wages of sin.

How do we know that the price was paid in full and that the Father accept it? We have self-satisfaction by self-substitution.  God satisfied Himself by substituting Himself.  I know that is complex but nevertheless true. The resurrection is the receipt for the payment…that God accepted it.  The father also accepted Jesus back in heaven.  

All of our sin is paid for.  Nobody needs to carry the guilt of sin.  We cannot add anything because it is paid in full.  All we do is believe, trust and rest in what he has done for us. In actuality I am stacking my eternal destiny on that one word. “TETELESTAI!” 

“I THIRST”

Jesus was enduring extreme dehydration.  It began in Gethsemane when Jesus in great anguish sweat drops of blood.

The Creator was on cross.  The One who made the rivers and oceans is thirsty.  The water of life is thirsty.

What does this tell us? What does it speak to us of?

The humanity of Jesus

We are tempted to forget or minimize His humanity.  He was the God-man. He fully entered into our world. He began His ministry fasting.  The Bread of life was fasting in the wilderness.  Then He ends His life thirsting.  The Bread of Life is hungry at the beginning and the Water of Life thirsty at the end.

The submission of Jesus

This shows Jesus submitting to the word and will of God.  He knew that all thing were accomplished.  But He said this to fulfill the Scripture. Psalm 69:21 (KJV) They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

The substitution of Jesus

He suffered with parched lips so we might be able to drink from the well of salvation. He suffered the raging fires of hell for us so that its fires might be quenched for us.  I think His physical thirst pictures our spiritual thirst and His death as the means of quenching that thirst.  Hell is a place of unquenchable thirst.  As Jesus thirsted there on the cross, He bore that for us so that we can drink forever of the well of salvation. 

The issue is not will we thirst.  We are all born into this world thirsty.  The question is, “How long will we thirst?”  The soul of man has an inexhaustible thirst. Only Jesus can quench this thirst. As He said to to woman at the well: If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again.

Jesus drank from the cup of death so that we could drink from the cup of life.  He drank the cup of wrath so that we could drink the cup of blessing.  Take a drink of living water now and you will enjoy it forever. The final invitation in the Bible is Revelation 22:17 (KJV) And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.   The only qualification is if you are thirsty.  Those who come to the One who was once thirsty, never ever have to thirst again.