A Royal Priesthood

Intro

For the past number of weeks we have been working though the biblical theme of worship

I started this series with this quote and as we end the series this week I want to end with this quote

Engaging with God: A Biblical Theology of Worship Introduction

Worship is the supreme and only indispensable activity of the Christian Church. It alone will endure, like the love for God which it expresses, into heaven, when all other activities of the Church will have passed away

Worship matters here on earth and in heaven

The idea is that when we live into worship here on earth then we actually become more and more of who God is calling us to be. Worship trains us to be with God…

This always happens to me…The more I study an idea, the more I begin to see it everywhere in the Bible. Worship is everywhere

First I want to establish this idea

All followers of God have a priestly calling

Yes. You. If you have your trust in Jesus then You have a priestly calling

As we finish our worship series, why might this matter?

Well the first humans Adam and Eve…There is a lot of ways that we can look at them but one of the ways that we can look at them is a human archetype for all humanity

and one of the things that we can see about them is that their Job in the garden is a priestly job

In the very first week of this series I showed us this verse that I want to look at again because I think it matters so much for us

Genesis 2:15 NIV

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

If you were here with us on that first week you might remember that the Hebrew word for Work is Ava’d

You might also remember that I showed you that who you work for in the bible denotes whether it is hard and toilsome vs easy and delightful

For instance. When Pharaoh says this

Exodus 5:18 NIV

Now get to work. You will not be given any straw, yet you must produce your full quota of bricks.”

He is defining their work as difficult

Pharoah says, Hey you have to Ava’d for me!

But you might also remember what God said to Moses

Exodus 3:12 NIV

And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”

Ok so if you weren’t here for all of this…The thing that you need to understand is that the word for “work”…”Work the garden”….”get to work” ….The word is the exact same word as worship…

What God calls them to in the garden…When it is done for the Lord it is worship and when it is done for the Pharoah’s of this world it is hard and toilsome work…

This is review from week 1!

But wait there is more

In the book of Genesis Man is called to work and keep the garden it is to Ava’d and Smr (SH-MAR) The garden….

When Moses gives instructions for the levitical priests they are translated slightly different in english but

Numbers 3:7 NIV

They are to perform duties for him and for the whole community at the tent of meeting by doing the work of the tabernacle.

They are to SHAMAR for the whole community at the tent of meeting by Avading the tabernacle…

So basically the exact same instructions that God gives to Adam and Eve are now given to the priests in Israel.

The implications are huge…This is the way the Hebrew bible works….It sort of unfolds in its significance…Like you don’t understand the significance totally of Genesis 1-3 until you read the rest of the Pentateuch…

I mean you read first that they work and keep the garden and now as you read further you are like…Wow that is what a priest does.

So Adam and Eve are like the first priests of God…

Remember they are made in God’s image so what does a priest do.

A priest represents God and intercedes for people.

This is what it means to be made in his image

So Adam ad Eve are to image or show off what God is like to the rest of creation

Adam and eve literally stood between all of creation and the Lord.

The priest’s job is to facilitate the worship of God’s people

and guess what

There is a huge chunk of the book of Exodus where they are just building this tent of meeting called the tabernacle…

and there are people who are called levites and they are set apart to be priests…

And what the priests do is they represent God to the people…So they tell the people God’s laws, God’s words and who God is

They also intercede for the people…They stand between the people and God

The priest make the sacrifices and they pray on behalf of the people so they can have forgiveness and things like this…

And the tabernacle has this space in the middle, it was called the holies of holies…This was the holiest spot where God’s presence was

It is where God dwelt on earth…

It was literally where heaven and earth met

It is actually just like the Garden of Eden…

Eden is planted in a larger territory called Eden…In the center of the garden is the tree of life….It is the place where God and man dwell together

We first learn that Adam and Eve are imagers of God. Their job is to be like God to all of creation

 So Adam and Eve are God’s image and are like priests, working and worshiping in a type of Heaven-on-Earth temple.

They represent creation before God. And as God’s image, they represent God to all of creation.

And they do all of this in this sacred space that’s saturated with the life and presence of God.

And so God tells them to rule creation on his behalf. They’re like priests who embody God’s heavenly wisdom and rule here on Earth.

In fact they are like royal priests.

Page 1 of the Bible sets this all up Now this whole set up—the royal priests in God’s presence where there’s abundance and life—in the book of Genesis, this is called God’s blessing.

But it you know the story takes a bad turn

Then the next story is to Story of highlight that people are priests…

Its a story of two brothers that bring two different sacrifices

Wait a second….whose Job is it to offer sacrifice? It’s a priestly job!

Cain, who is sort of the evil priest in the story kills his brother and Cain’s family will plunge the world into darkness

And the whole rest of the Bible will be looking for an offspring of Eve who will be a good priest…who will restore everything that was broken by sin

So humanity has lost its way but one of the things that we will see done in the Bible over and over again is that God will separate his people from the sinful kingdoms and remake them.

This is the story of the Exodus..,..God’s people have been in Egypt living as slaves under Pharaoh for 400 years

And after the exodus…After they were saved…Their whole Journey was to worship God on Mt Siani.

and when they finally get there look at what God says to the people

Exodus 19:3–6 NIV

Then Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 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 and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”

Ok Look at what the bible says: You have seen…in other words…you have seen my power

You have seen what I can do

You have seen my victory over Pharaoh

You no longer belong to Egypt and her God’s, you belong to me!

Now if you keep my covenant and fully obey me…

Then you will be my treasured possessions

Here God is separating out a people group for him that will be marked and defined by this new covenant

They will be marked by their obedience to God’s law

And then notice. something that is really important

These are not a new people that are separated out just to enjoy God but these are people who are separated out to be a kingdom of priests

Now its the Levites that are the priest for the Israelites but now the whole community are supposed to be priests and what does that mean?

What is God’s intention here?

The idea is that Israel as a nation..>should not act like other nations

This nation will be a group of people who will represent God to the nations:

And how do they do this? By keeping the 10 commandments

All thorough Israel’s history everyone knew when there was a jewish community in their town..>Why…The sabbath!

Because when everyone else was working they rested

Whenever there was a plague in the ancient world the ancient sources would record that there was always suspicion toward the jews because they were not dying like everyone else…

Well it turns out those ritual cleansing laws…Washing hands….kept the Jews alive

It was a way of God protecting his people and showing their special status as God’s Children

They were imaging God to the rest of the creation…In the same way that Adam and Eve imaged God to the garden….

But remember what a priest does…They don’t just represent but they also intercedes for people.

So again these are not people off in a Holy huddle enjoying their special status with God…

This people group by their obedience to the covenant is the way that the whole world will be transformed!

But the problem is easily seen

Israel does not embrace their special status as a royal priesthood

Like Cain and Able before them Israel decided to do what is right in their own eyes….

Instead of being God’s priest

They make a golden calf and they do not show off God’s laws if anything they engage in Egyptian revelry

Let’s fast forward to Jesus

So Jesus travels around Israel preaching the word of God

He is healing people

He is restoring them back their relationship with the Lord.

and then he is getting questioned by the high priest and he is wanting to show them that the son of David is also the son of God

It’s a remarkable bit of theology of what Jesus is doing here

Jesus’ entire ministry is to show Israel what a real priest of God does…

So one of the things that I want to do is look at an instance of how Jesus views himself:

At first this reference might seem obscure

Matthew 22:41–45 NIV

While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?” “The son of David,” they replied. He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says, “ ‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.” ’ If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?”

SO what Jesus is doing is pointing out that the messiah is going to both come out of the lineage of David but also be Lord, YAHWEH

Jesus is quoting Psalm 110

And in the jewish world to quote the beginning of a psalm is to recall the rest of the psalm…

Psalm 110 is all about the coming messiah and what he will be like

And one of the other things in Psalm 110 is this

Psalm 110:4 NIV

The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”

So the messiah now is a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.

Now this is an obscure Old testament reference and Melchizedek is kinds of a mysterious figure in the Bible…

Melchizedek was the king of Salem who was also a priest

Salem is the ancient place we now call Jerusalem

Oh so he was a king and a priest….Hmm…Just like Adam and eve…

He blessed Abraham with a meal of bread and wine!

And now Jesus is identifying this psalm with himself…

This is huge because Jesus is the priest king who blesses the world with his body and blood…Which in a meal he will have with his disciples just a couple chapters away from here is bread and wine

and who in Jerusalem was enthroned on the cross and now stands between us and the father advocating for us on our behalf!

And now after Jesus dies…raises again and sends us his Holy Spirit then we are actually re-defined

One of Jesus’ closest friends Peter will say it like this

1 Peter 2:9 NIV

But 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.

Now all of those who believe are a royal priesthood…a holy nation…God’s special possession

What did Exodus 19 say again? 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 and a holy nation.’

Peter is just quoting from Exodus 19…He is just saying look

What does it mean that God came to earth in Jesus? What is the significance of Jesus dying and raising to life…Its that everything changes for us we are all now priests of Jesus

And what does it mean according to Peter to be a priest in God’s kingdom?

A priest declares the praises of Jesus

Out of darkness and into his wonderful light

Do you get it?

If you have said yes to Jesus then Jesus looks at you as a priest in his glorious kingdom!

whenever you tell your story of going from darkness to light

From life centered on you to life centered on Jesus then you are doing a priestly work!

You are worshiping!

Peter will go on to say this

1 Peter 3:15 NIV

But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,

It means when the opportunity arrises that you share the gospel

Do you get it?

The whole point of being a priest in God’s kingdom is that imaging Jesus to the rest of the world is an act of worship!

Whenever you tell someone I’ll pray for you and then you do…You are interceding on their behalf to the Lord!

Whenever you share the reason for the hope that you have in Jesus

This is an act of worship

Whenever someone says hey you’re a christian I was wondering what the bible has to say about XYZ….You are doing a priestly duty of sharing with them the word of God

Whenever you bless a stranger

whenever you return good for evil

whenever you help people in the name of Jesus you are practicing the Ava’d and Smr (SH-MAR) that Adam and Eve practiced in the garden

You are worshiping the Lord

Then when we get to the very last pages of the bible

If you were here for the 28 Weeks that I taught though the book of Revelation then I am sure you all remember that the first three chapters are Jesus’ message to the church and some of what Jesus said to the church was good and much of it was like Hey if you don’t repent then I ma going to shut you down

Then there is a cosmic scene shift and what we find is a throne room…and worship is happening

And in this throne room we find all of creation and all of these elders constantly bowing down before the throne of God they are taking off their crowns and placing them before the throne and lets look at Revelation 5:9-10

Revelation 5:9–10 NIV

And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”

Let’s think about these words that are being sung in praise

Worthy is the lamb to take the scroll and open its seals: So the lamb is Jesus and the scrolls are the totality of human history…So worthy is Jesus to preside over all of human history…He is the only one worthy

He is the only one able to do it

Because you were slain! You know the story…Jesus was murdered on the cross but the grave couldn’t keep him in it

Jesus is now alive on the throne…and he is worthy of worship because he defeated death. and with his blood he redeemed all of those who put their faith in him

But here is the reason why they are all praising Jesus

You have made them (Those who believe in the lamb) to be a kingdom of priests to serve our God. and they will reign on the earth

God looks at me as a priest in his kingdom, it is up to me to embrace that role

Response:

Prayer Team

priestly Blessing

Look our role in worship is to embrace the calling that we are not just worshipers but that we are in many ways worship leaders

It doesn’t matter what your vocation is…You could be a state worker an attorney, a school teacher a police office and what you hold is a priestly office because you are a child of the most high king

It doesn't matter if your a stay at home mom or the ceo of a big company, if your faith is in Jesus you hold a priestly office

You are a worship leader

Called to declare the praised of jesus

Called to share the gospel

Called to pray for other

Called to show this world what Jesus looks like

This is your act of worship

You are called to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.