Transformed: Becoming Who God Created You To Be! (Priesthood)

Paul tells us this in Romans 15:15–16 “But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.”

Paul was made a priest to the gentiles.

Anyone who has accepted Christ as their Lord and savior is a priest to the gentiles.

I think you still having a hard time with this thought ….

Look at 1 Peter 2:9 “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.”

Peter writes and tells his readers, “you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation..”

I still see you are not quite there yet ….

Turn to Revelation 5:10 “and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.””

This is part of a song that is being sung and John is privy to.

This is what Christ has done …. made them …. priest!

For those who have accepted Christ as your Lord and savior, YOU ARE “Little Christ.”

You are Priest!

Do you know how special you are?

Young and old … rich or poor ….

your picture is on God’s refrigerator door

You are a priest.

So how does one become a PRIEST?

We are going to look at 5 things that will answer this question.

In order to do this we have to go back to the OT to see how this takes place ……

(Have them stand)

Exodus 29:1–27 ESV

“Now this is what you shall do to them to consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests. Take one bull of the herd and two rams without blemish, and unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers smeared with oil. You shall make them of fine wheat flour. You shall put them in one basket and bring them in the basket, and bring the bull and the two rams. You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and wash them with water. Then you shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the coat and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastpiece, and gird him with the skillfully woven band of the ephod. And you shall set the turban on his head and put the holy crown on the turban. You shall take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him. Then you shall bring his sons and put coats on them, and you shall gird Aaron and his sons with sashes and bind caps on them. And the priesthood shall be theirs by a statute forever. Thus you shall ordain Aaron and his sons. “Then you shall bring the bull before the tent of meeting. Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the bull. Then you shall kill the bull before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and shall take part of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and the rest of the blood you shall pour out at the base of the altar. And you shall take all the fat that covers the entrails, and the long lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar. But the flesh of the bull and its skin and its dung you shall burn with fire outside the camp; it is a sin offering. “Then you shall take one of the rams, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram, and you shall kill the ram and shall take its blood and throw it against the sides of the altar. Then you shall cut the ram into pieces, and wash its entrails and its legs, and put them with its pieces and its head, and burn the whole ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the Lord. It is a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the Lord. “You shall take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram, and you shall kill the ram and take part of its blood and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron and on the tips of the right ears of his sons, and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the great toes of their right feet, and throw the rest of the blood against the sides of the altar. Then you shall take part of the blood that is on the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and his garments, and on his sons and his sons’ garments with him. He and his garments shall be holy, and his sons and his sons’ garments with him. “You shall also take the fat from the ram and the fat tail and the fat that covers the entrails, and the long lobe of the liver and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and the right thigh (for it is a ram of ordination), and one loaf of bread and one cake of bread made with oil, and one wafer out of the basket of unleavened bread that is before the Lord. You shall put all these on the palms of Aaron and on the palms of his sons, and wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. Then you shall take them from their hands and burn them on the altar on top of the burnt offering, as a pleasing aroma before the Lord. It is a food offering to the Lord. “You shall take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s ordination and wave it for a wave offering before the Lord, and it shall be your portion. And you shall consecrate the breast of the wave offering that is waved and the thigh of the priests’ portion that is contributed from the ram of ordination, from what was Aaron’s and his sons’.

The “process” of becoming a priest is illustrated in the Old Testament ceremony of the induction of Aaron and his sons into the priesthood.

Let’s look at the steps that were involved and how they illustrate the New Testament priesthood.

They were chosen and called by God (Exodus 29:1–3““Now this is what you shall do to them to consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests. Take one bull of the herd and two rams without blemish, and unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers smeared with oil. You shall make them of fine wheat flour. You shall put them in one basket and bring them in the basket, and bring the bull and the two rams.)

Every Jew in the camp did not become a priest, but only those chosen by God—Aaron and his sons.

In order to become a priest one had to be born into the right family.

They were washed (Exodus 29:4 “You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and wash them with water.”)

This was a bathing of the whole person, and it symbolized the cleansing of their sins.

The priests were to represent the people before God, and this meant maintaining a holy life (Zech. 3).

They were clothed (Exodus 29:5–6“Then you shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the coat and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastpiece, and gird him with the skillfully woven band of the ephod. And you shall set the turban on his head and put the holy crown on the turban. ”)

God told Moses to have special garments made for Aaron and his sons (Exod. 28).

Unless they were properly attired, they could not minister in the tabernacle.

And if they did minister without wearing these garments, it could cost them their lives (Exod. 28:43).

They were anointed (Exodus 29:7 “You shall take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him.”

This anointing oil was very special because it was prescribed by God and could be used only for holy purposes (Exod. 30:22–33).

They were satisfied (Exodus 29:22–27 ““You shall also take the fat from the ram and the fat tail and the fat that covers the entrails, and the long lobe of the liver and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and the right thigh (for it is a ram of ordination), and one loaf of bread and one cake of bread made with oil, and one wafer out of the basket of unleavened bread that is before the Lord. You shall put all these on the palms of Aaron and on the palms of his sons, and wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. Then you shall take them from their hands and burn them on the altar on top of the burnt offering, as a pleasing aroma before the Lord. It is a food offering to the Lord. “You shall take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s ordination and wave it for a wave offering before the Lord, and it shall be your portion. And you shall consecrate the breast of the wave offering that is waved and the thigh of the priests’ portion that is contributed from the ram of ordination, from what was Aaron’s and his sons’.”

Moses gave the priests part of the “ram of consecration” as their food.

The priests were given stated portions from some of the sacrifices as their payment for service.

A faithful priest would never go hungry!

You might be asking “Why does this matter ….” Better yet you might be asking ….

So how does this illustrate us becoming a priest?

This is illustrated in the New Testament stating….

We are Chosen!

All Christians are chosen and called by God (Ephesians 1:4 “even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.” ).

They have nothing in themselves that merits God’s salvation.

It is wholly of grace (Ephesians 2:8–10 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” )

We are Washed!

As Christian priests, we have also been washed, and therefore we stand cleansed before God.

(Revelation 1:5–6 “and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” ).

Side note: Clarification - No matter how sinful we may have been, God washed us when we trusted his Son as our Savior (1 Cor 6:9–11).

We must not equate this washing with baptism, because baptism does not wash away our sins (1 Pet. 3:21).

It is “the washing of regeneration [the new birth], and renewing of the Holy Spirit” that accomplishes the cleansing of the sinful heart (Titus 3:5).

God purifies our hearts by faith (Acts 15:9), not by means of religious ceremonies.

Baptism is an important witness of our salvation (Acts 10:47–48), but it is not the means of our salvation. (Know there will be some who disagree with this!)

We are clothed!

Ever since Adam and Eve sinned, man’s nakedness has been a problem to him.

Man tried to cover his nakedness, first by hiding from God, and then by wearing fig leaves (Gen. 3:10–11).

God in his grace, shed blood (took animals skin) and clothed Adam and Eve (Gen. 3:21), a picture of what he did for us when Jesus died on the cross.

Jesus was made sin for us so that we might wear the robe of his righteousness and stand “accepted in the beloved” (2 Corinthians 5:21 “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”)

We are Anointed!

The anointing oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit of God who has anointed every believer (2 Corinthians 1:21 “And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us,”.

We are Satisfied!

As a “holy priesthood” (1 Peter 2:5 “you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” ), we are set apart for God’s exclusive service.

As a “royal priesthood” (1 Pet. 2:9), we share our Lord’s authority, for he is both King and Priest.

The spiritual lesson is clear: as we serve the Lord, he supplies our needs and satisfies us.

CONCLUSION:

Let’s a go back and be reminded of what was said earlier ….

We were not created for the sole purpose to “DO” but to “BE!”

God didn’t created us for the purpose to do (Poietes [Pee - a - Tis]) things for Him.

We were created to be (Eimi [Ee - Me]) with Him!

“Doing” is a reflection of “being.”

(Poietes [Pee - a - Tis]) is a reflection of (Eimi [Ee - Me]).

Once we understand whose we are, we then start reflecting who we are.

“What I do is an offering to the One I serve.”

You are a priest because ….

You are Chosen!

Adopted into the family!

You are Washed!

Renewed by the blood of Christ!

You are Clothed!

In the righteousness of Christ

You are Anointed!

By the Holy Spirit!

You are Satisfied!

Set apart and taken care of!

What you do is an outflow of who you are in Christ!

As a Priest ….. “What I do is an offering to the One I serve.”

If you have entered into a relationship with Jesus you are a Priest.

This is who you are. “This is who you BE!”

HEARE ME WHEN I SAY THIS ….

“Being” shapes and defines your “doing.”

God is looking for holy priests who will offer up spiritual sacrifices that will glorify his name. Will you be one of them?

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