The Priests of God

"They shall be priests of God and of Christ." Here is a very powerful concept, one that sometimes is lacking in Christian thinking. We are referring to the role of the elect as priests. We have a general idea of what a priest is from our knowledge of the Aaronic priesthood, and also from the appearing of Melchizedek to Abraham. A priest is someone who represents God, who stands in the place of God and requires obedience to God on the part of men.

This is the role of the elect of God. The elect, the members of the Church, the Wife of the Lamb, compose a royal priesthood. Every member of the elect is part of the royal priesthood, having been called to this exceedingly high office from the creation of the world.

The Jews, for the most part, have never accepted their role as the priests of God. The same is true of the Christian people. The idea that God has called them out from the world to represent Himself is not agreeable to them. They would rather be part of the world. They want to be acceptable to people.

But God's priests are His inheritance. They are not to be primarily concerned with their acceptability to people but with their acceptability to God. The apostles, prophets, evangelists, and other ministries are to labor until every member of the royal priesthood has come to the knowledge of the Son of God, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

Every Israelite is to be a priest of God, a member of His holy nation, His treasure from among the nations of the earth. The tribe of Levi was chosen to be the priests of the priests. From the tribe of Levi, Aaron and his descendants were chosen to be set apart as priests to the rest of Levi and to all Israel. There were priests over the priests who were over the priests who were over the nations.

This is the pattern—concentric circles of holiness radiating outward from the most Holy, from the God of Israel.

From the Church of Christ is being drawn a firstfruits, a holy priesthood, who will rule with the Lord Jesus during the Kingdom Age. The name of God is engraved on them. The name of the new Jerusalem is engraved on them. The new name of Christ is engraved on them.

They will be known by the inhabitants of the earth as God's priests.

But ye shall be named the Priests of the Lord: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles [nations], and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves. (Isaiah 61:6)

To be a priest of God and of Christ is a very high honor.

The purpose of the royal priesthood is to teach and compel obedience on the part of the nations of saved peoples of the earth. No disobedient believer in Jesus is qualified to be a priest, to represent God in the earth, to compel obedience or teach obedience to others. For a disobedient believer to be a priest is for the blind to lead the blind, for the captive to be a deliverer of captives, for the dead to bring life to dead people.

To be continued.