Eternal King, Eternal Priest
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
The story of Scripture can be boiled down to God making promises or covenants with His people and then God fulfilling those promises.
Advent in particular is a time to remember the promises that God made about Christ and how he fulfilled those, as well as looking ahead to the promises made about Christ’s second coming and the hope that comes with knowing He will fulfill those promises.
Today, we are going to look at one of those promises in particular, about a King and a Priest who will be established forever.
Read Passage:
Read Passage:
Jeremiah 33:14-26
Jeremiah 33:14-26
This is the Word of God
Thanks Be to God
A Promised Priest and King
A Promised Priest and King
vs 14 - days are coming…I will fulfill the promise...
Context - In and around the time of Judah’s fall to Babylon.
The Kingdom of Israel was split in two after the reign of Solomon, the Northern Kingdom (Israel) Has already fallen.
The Southern Kingdom is living sinfully and has been warned over and over that it will fall if it does not repent.
These bad things are happening and many are saying that God has abandoned the promises that he gave to David and the priests.
This is a message of hope in the darkness.
Can imagine looking around, everything is falling apart and thinking, Really?
Two promises that He is addressing.
Vs 15 talks of the promise of a King to sit on David’s throne.
first see this in 2 Sa 7:16
And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’ ”
See it in several other places, 1 Kings 2:4; Psalm 89; other places in Jeremiah, Isaiah, etc.
Isaiah 16:5 (ESV)
then a throne will be established in steadfast love, and on it will sit in faithfulness in the tent of David one who judges and seeks justice and is swift to do righteousness.”
King represents God’s authority and reign over the people. (15)
execute Justice and righteousness in the land Isaiah 11:3-5
Isaiah 11:3–5 (ESV)
And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.
Will Be a perfect Judge and will execute the Justice of God.
Romans 13 God puts government in place to be his representative and execute justice
Even the passage David preached on last week “the government shall be on his shoulders”
This promised king was not just to rule over Israel, but eventually over the whole world.
vs 18 - also a promise to continue the line of priests Numbers 25;
“To offer burnt offerings, burn grain offerings and makes sacrifices forever.”
There were different offerings and sacrifices under the Levitical law. Some were offerings that demonstrated dedication to God and others that were to cover sin.
A priests role is to stand before God and represent the people. He makes sacrifices to cover the iniquity and sin of the people and makes offerings dedicating the people to God.
We see an image of this “Perfect Priest” in Isaiah as well. This passage, this person is known as the “Suffering servant,” but he fulfills the role of priest that we just described.
Isaiah 53:4–6 (ESV)
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
This Priest bears the burden of our sins and makes atonement for them.
These two roles are incredibly different. You have a perfectly righteous and just King who is worthy to cast judgment on all, and a priest who begs mercy and bears the burdens of sin. These differences still lead some Jewish Scholars to argue that these are intended to be two different people. But, there is one man, and only one man who fills both of these roles. Only He can fill both rolls because He is the God-Man.
The God-man is the Priest-King
The God-man is the Priest-King
Jesus is the King-
Matthew 1, Luke 3 - Trace the lineage of Jesus through David, giving him a royal lineage
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
He is regarded as King at his birth, and even Pilate asks him (All four gospels show this as Pilate’s first words to Jesus).
Jesus reigns over all of creation as King, but there will come a time when he will sit on the throne as King when He returns.
Jesus is the High Priest
When we looked at the role of priest, they stood before God and represented the people. They were to make sacrifices to cover the sins of the people. Look at Hebrews 9,
But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.
By His own blood on the cross he secured the eternal redemption for those who would trust in Him.
The Mighty King who reigns over all things and the humble priest who sacrificed himself for sinners. No one else could fill either of these roles, much less both of them.
Last week David showed in Isaiah 9 how the titles Wonderful Counselor and Mighty God indicate that the coming King would be both God and man.
If you take nothing else away from this Advent season, remember that we are not simply celebrating the birth of a baby, but that God himself came to fulfill the promises made.
This season is a season to remember and celebrate the Incarnation. Easton Bible Dictionary defines Incarnation as “that act of grace whereby Christ took our human nature into union with his Divine Person, became man. Christ is both God and man.”
And only the God-Man could be both Priest and King
Let’s look at the promise in vs 20-21, God says - If you can break the covenant with the day and the night, then you can stop the covenant with David and the priests.
Think about this for a second, God is talking to Jeremiah who is warning everyone that Babylon is going to take over Judah.
Even though it looks like God is abandoning His promise, nothing can stop that promise from being fulfilled.
Can you stop the day and the night? Could Babylon stop the day or the night from coming?
The only way to stop it is to stop God Himself, because God Himself would fulfill it.
This is what we celebrate at Advent, at Christmas. That God the son, second person of the trinity became man so that He could be the High Priest and King and that He could make the sacrifice needed to reunite humanity with Himself and that He would reign for eternity.
Hallelujah, the King is here, Given for all men, For today the Holy Son of God is born in Bethlehem.
It’s a reason to celebrate, but it should also affect how we live our lives.
So What?
So What?
Remember that Christ came for you!
The role of the priest is to represent the people before God.
When we put our faith in Him and the work He completed on the cross, then we can stand before God forgiven and free.
O Come all you unfaithful -
So come, though you have nothing, come HE is the offering, come, see what your God is done....Christ is born for you!
Remember that Jesus is the High Priest, but we are the priesthood of believers.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Al Mohler puts it this way:
Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary Priesthood of Believers
As the people of God, the church is now a “royal priesthood” (1 Pet. 2:9), ministering together in the name of Christ. Though we do not represent one another before the Father, believers are called to pray for one another, to encourage each other to good works, and to call one another to holiness.
Remember we said there were two functions of the offerings of the priests before God. One was atonement, which has been completed in Christ. The other is demonstrating our dedication to God. That is what we live for now. Our lives are to be a living sacrifice (Rom 12:1) which is our worship and demonstrating our dedication to God!
Finally, remember that Jesus is King!
We live in the Already-Not Yet - Hope of redemption is fulfilled, but the perfect Reign of the King is yet to come.
Live in the Hope, that no matter what is going on around us, Christ is and will be King and in the Kingdom of God, he will wipe away all our tears.
Remember the promise of vs 20 and 21....If you can break the covenant with day and night....The day comes, the night comes, you and I can’t change that, and no one can stop the Kingdom from coming.
Part of what we do each week to remember the already, the sacrifice Christ has made, and the not yet, that the His Kingdom will come, is to celebrate the Lord’s Supper. We come together each week to partake in the bread and the cup to be reminded of what Christ has done and will do, and refocus our hearts to honor and glorify Him!
-This is a symbol to remind us of what is ours - if you have not experienced this, don’t come
-Time of silence to prepare our hearts.
