Priest Forever

….You are a Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

Hebrews 5:6*

Talk about job security; forever is a long time. As priest, Christ has offered the sacrifice, atoned for the sins of God’s people, and interceded on our behalf to God. The perfect priest offered the perfect sacrifice, so that part of His service is over; “It is finished” (John 19:30). The intercession aspect of His ministry is ongoing.

The Lord Jesus pleads our case before God when we sin, fail to see his revealed will, or are unthankful. He’s also there to instruct and encourage us as well as set us apart for God’s service. These are wonderful and necessary things He does, but He won’t be doing them forever.

When the saints of God are called up to glory, our old sinful nature will finally be destroyed and entering heaven we will be holy, just as He is holy, never to sin again. We’ll be with Him; we’ll be like Him. At that point, we won’t need an intercessor.

Every time the title “Priest Forever” appears in scripture it’s always followed by the phrase, “according to the order of Melchizedek.” This added information is also very important or it wouldn’t occur in the Bible five times.

Melchizedek was the Priest/King of Salem that greeted Abraham after his victory over the four mighty kings of the east. He blessed the Patriarch and received tithes from Him. He was God’s representative to Abraham and demonstrated power and authority.

Since the Savior is a Priest forever according to the order of Melchizadek, He will bless God’s people throughout all eternity. As the King/Priest of the universe He will reign over everything with justice and raise up the banner of holiness

*see also Hebrews 6:20, 7:17 and 21; all quoting from Psalm 110:4

Prince of Peace

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called  […..] Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6

Of all the single verse names of Christ, Prince of Peace is probably the best known. It’s seen frequently on Christmas cards, heard in Handel’s Messiah and always found in lists of the titles of the Lord Jesus. Most Americans have heard the title but not everyone understands what it means.

All around us are wars, rumors of wars, terrorism, and even Christians tortured and killed for their faith. If you look at history it gets worse. World history is nothing but a series of wars, oppression, revolution, and civil unrest; church history focuses on the persecution of the church and divisions between those who call themselves Christians. An honest man would have to ask himself, “So where’s the peace?”

On the global scale, the peace hasn’t come yet. Our planet is the battleground between the forces of holiness and the forces of evil; between God’s people and Satan’s. They don’t peacefully co-exist. Jesus tried to explain this: “Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division. For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three” (Luke 12:51,52).

However, on a personal level, things are totally different. Christ told His followers: “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27). The world’s definition of peace is the absence of conflict. How the Prince of Peace defines it is calmness and the absence of fear in the midst of conflict.

When people get tired and desperate from the consequences of sin and fighting against God, life seems hopeless even when things seem to be going well. They want the peace that passes understanding which only comes from the Prince of Peace. 

Him Who is Able to Keep you from Stumbling

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen.
Jude 24 and 25

It’s very clear in scripture that grace is the power of God that saves us. The same grace that saves also sanctifies and protects the believer in his walk of faith. Since Jesus is the channel through which grace reaches humanity, Christ is our Savior, Sanctifier, and “He who is able to keep you from stumbling.”

The very short book of Jude serves as a warning to Christians that apostates (defectors from the faith) will try to throw spiritual road blocks in their path. He urges the saints to be strong and contend earnestly for the faith.

Progress in the Christian life is compared to walking or running. Anything thrown on the path, not just false doctrine, can cause a believer to stumble. Believers can fall into sin, get tripped up by doubts, or be sidelined by fears and depression. Going to the Lord Jesus in moments like these, not only can keep a follower of Christ from stumbling but also presents him faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.

Through the years, I have counseled many struggling believers. Although their problems might be about doubts, fears, finances, or relationships, sin is usually at its core. Drug addiction, alcoholism, and pornography have huge holds on people and rarely does generic advice and a simple prayer ever work.

It takes time and a lot of hard work to rebuild trust and dependency on Christ. It’s easy to believe that as Savior, Jesus can keep you out of hell. It takes desire to grow deeper in the spiritual relationship and to trust Him to be your Sanctifier that sets you apart for the Master. Finally, it takes a fresh, new revelation from God to see Christ as Him who is able to keep you from stumbling before you realize He can give you the power to break free from what’s bringing you down.

Apostle (Sent One)

Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, 
Hebrews 3:1

          Simply speaking, an Apostle is a “sent one.” Although this is the only passage in the Bible that labels Jesus as the Apostle, but several times He referenced Himself as the sent one of the father.

“For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me” (John 6:38).

“Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me’” (John 8:42).

“I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work” (John 9:4).

“For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me” (John 17:8).

“And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world” (1 John 4:14).

It is important to understand that the term "apostle" does not refer to some high position in the ecclesiastical hierarchy, but simply refers to someone sent on a mission. The Lord Jesus had twelve close disciples which He later sent out to every town and village in Judea to teach and heal. It was this act of being sent out, and then, consequently, doing what they were sent to do, that made them Apostles.

Christ was on a mission to do His Father’s will. A plan was in place before the foundation of the world to redeem mankind and define love and grace to the angels that  witnessed Satan’s rebellion and fall. Only God manifested in the flesh could do this, but no person capable of feeling intense pain would come up with the idea of dying on a cross in order to save the world. In Gethsemane the Savior prayed “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:42). That’s what an Apostle does.

Image of the Invisible God

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

Colossians 1:15

How do you describe something that is indescribable? Do you know the answer? Use a genre without words. Art and music can convey thoughts and emotions that verbal communication can't. That's why humans try so many forms of artistic expression. They want to imagine the unimaginable and view the invisible.

Jesus Christ is the Creator's artist masterpiece in which He presents to Mankind the Image of the Invisible God. The Almighty used an art medium that every human being can understand, flesh and blood, and He used it to communicate what can't be understood, the nature of God.

Planets, stars, galaxies, and light energy can be observed so they are proved to exist. However, scientists have studied the gravitatonal forces of the universe and discovered that what we consider to be normal matter and energy is actually less than 5% of the total universe. Some invisible unknown reality is out there and it's really big, making up over 95% of all that exists. This huge, mysterious something is called "dark matter" together with "dark energy". Actually, just going by percentages dark matter should be considered the normal and what we call ordinary matter is really the aberration.

Maybe it’s just me, but when people start speaking about some huge force out there that fills the universe, I think of God. Some people prefer to call Him Dark Matter, rather than Almighty Creator, because they feel that they owe no obligation to a burst of unknown energy, but would be beholden to God, if it was proved that He designed them and gave them life.

Christ came into this world so that ordinary people could know the unknowable and see the Image of the Invisible God. He didn't arrive composed of dark matter but with skin, muscle, and blood. He showed us what the invisible God is like both in character and nature. He also came so that we can be made like Him and be transformed from the mortal to the immortal. 

Wisdom of God

But we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
 Corinthians 1:23-25

A really wise chess master will sometimes make a move that seems stupid to his opponent because it results in the loss of a bishop or knight. Then a few moves later, the chess master executes “checkmate” due to the board position he gained from the sacrifice - that is what is happening in these verses.

It doesn’t make sense that the sinless Son of God should be sacrificed on a Roman cross. It seems that Satan and the God-haters of the world had won and all were pleased and proud of how it all played out. Christ is still rejected by the majority of the Jewish people to this day and some intellectuals still laugh at the ludicrousness of the gospel.

The bottom line is that the celestial chess game was never between God and mankind; it was between God and the devil. When Satan and his angels rebelled against God, he seduced the human race to join his cause. Planet Earth became the last piece of turf Lucifer had in the whole universe. If God had just destroyed everything, the Creator would have, in fact, lost the game because God’s plans would have been thwarted and the creation he made in His image would have been cut off from fellowship forever.

Human history is full of wars, plagues, and natural disasters. Chaos seems to dominate and the devil seems to be the undisputed god of this world. Everything, however, changes in the end game. Christ came to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8). He not only restored mankind to the relationship they had before the fall, but He brought them into the family of God. Very smart move, but Satan never saw it coming because he was matched up against Jesus Christ, the Wisdom of God.

  

Merciful and Gracious

"The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious…”

 Exodus 34:6*

         Ugly and vicious, with hairy legs and a needle-like snout, she comes upon the unsuspecting to suck their blood and spread disease. Hidden only by the insignificance of her size, she strikes out with impunity against those millions of times her superior. Attractive in nothing, loved by none, a parasite indeed. So the tiny mosquito can be described by those unfortunate enough to be her victim.

         In my lifetime, I’ve swatted thousands of those pesky insects without giving a moment for apology or remorse. Given the opportunity, I’ll kill many more. Mosquitoes deserve to die. They get no mercy from me.

Mankind is even less deserving of mercy than the lowly mosquito. Made in the image of God and given a mind to reason, man would deny his Maker, preferring instead to think he is the product of a mindless series of accidents called evolution. This creature refuses to submit himself to his Lord.

When God sent His laws to earth, people broke them. When warnings of judgment were given, they laughed at all that was Holy. Finally, when God took human form to come to Adam’s race, the creation struck out at its Creator, wanting Him dead. The entire human race is not worthy of mercy.

Seven times in the Bible, God is called merciful and gracious in the same verse. This at first doesn’t seem so remarkable until one considers just how unlovely and undeserving people really are. If I wasn’t a hell deserving sinner, I wouldn’t need mercy. However, since I am worthy of God’s wrath, I am glad that I can go to Him who is both Merciful and Gracious.

*Nehemiah 9:31; Psalm 103:8; Joel 2:13 plus 3 other references.