But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light . 1 Peter 2:9
Many of us find it hard to identify ourselves as priests. If we grew up in mainline evangelical churches such as the Baptists, Churches of Christ, Methodists, Bible Churches, Nazarenes, etc. there were pastors, but they were not designated as priests. That kind of distinction between “clergy” and “laity” was minimized. Pastors did not wear distinct garb marking them as priests and churches where there were distinct roles and dress for priest were probably viewed as “unbiblical” in that regard.
If you grew up Catholic or Episcopalian, you would be familiar with the idea of priests but would still find it difficult to view yourself in that role. In those churches, the priesthood was reserved for those who had been through rigorous training in seminaries and who knew all the nuances of sacred rituals and church procedures for everything. These men and women were seen as the spiritually elite who had a unique call on their lives that few could aspire to.
And yet, the New Testament identifies all believers as priests in the kingdom of God. The priests of the Old Testament – Aaron and his sons – were chosen by God and anointed with a holy oil that consecrated them and set them apart for sacred service. We too have been chosen by God and anointed with the Holy Spirit, who consecrates us and sets us apart for sacred service. The Old Testament priests served in the temple, but now we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Only the priests could come into the presence of God on behalf of the people with fear and trembling, but we can come before the throne of grace at anytime with confidence for the presence of God remains with us. We literally live in his presence because we carry his presence. In a sense, each of us is a living ark of the covenantcarrying his law and his presence within us. The priests were tasked with teaching God’s people the will and the ways of God by making the written word understandable to them. We are commanded to teach one another but, more than that, we are to present the word of God to those who are not yet his people.
Aaron and his sons dressed in white linen garments that marked them as priests. The white linen symbolized purity. We are clothed with Christ (Gal.3:27) and sealed by the Spirit. We are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.
All of this is to say that you possess great standing in the kingdom of God and are set apart from every person on earth who is not a follower of Jesus. As priests we are authorized to offer up worship, to offer sacrifices, to make the word of God understandable to the world around us, and to represent men before God in our prayers. Only we can enter the presence of God to do so.
In addition to that, priests were those designated to bestow blessings on men. In the Book of Numbers we read, “TheLordsaid to Moses, Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: The Lordbless you and keep you; the Lordmake his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lordturn his face toward you and give you peace.’ ‘So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.’”
As the priests declared a blessing over Israel, God would release the blessing. We are instructed throughout the New Testament to bless men and not curse them…even our enemies. We are to bless because it is the Father’s heart to bless and we can bless because we are priests. Because you are a priest, you may direct the blessings of heaven and God will honor your direction. He has given you authority to bless. Because God always desires to work in partnership with his people, he often waits on us to bless, before he releases the blessing. As priests, it is our privilege and responsibility to pray for people, to bless them, to give them an understanding of God’s word,and to administer the sacraments of the church – communion and baptism. Because we are all priests, we all have the authority to do those things.
More than anything, as his priests, we are to faithfully represent God before men. In the same sense that ambassadors represent the King, priests represent the Father to men as well as men to the Father. We have a great high priest, Jesus Christ, who will live forever while we serve under him. Our priesthood is not the Aaronic Priesthood of the Old Testament but, according to Hebrews, we serve under Jesus who is of the eternal order of Melchizedek, a much greater priesthood than that of Aaron (see Heb. 7:1-21). We also will be priests forever serving with Jesus. Remember that priests are anointed, consecrated, and set apart from the world for sacred service. We should live as those who are always about our father’s business and as those who lives are dedicated to those things that are sacred.
Again, you have great standing in the Kingdom of Heaven if you can receive that by faith. You are made in the image of God and are a child of the King, royalty in the courts of heaven, an ambassador of Christ, and a priest clothed in Christ who is anointed with the Holy Spirit and appointed to represent God to men and men to God. Because of who you are, Christ has given you power and authority over the enemy to do the works that he did and to destroy the works of the devil.
All this has come to us by grace and not by any efforts of our own. Because of that we should live a life of thankfulness and humility. We should walk with great confidence but not arrogance. We should be a source of blessing to all those around us and our goal should be to always be about the Father’s business because that is what we were born to do when we were born again.
To know who you are and to receive that by faith is a great gift and is the key to living the abundant life that Jesus promised. There are many amazing things in heaven with your name on them. Those things were purchased by the blood of Jesus and he wants you to receive each of those things as your inheritance, but they come to you only by faith – faith in who Jesus is and who you are in Jesus. Ask the Lord to give you a revelation of who you are in Christ because to know that is about the most essential thing you can discover because you will only become who you believe you are. Blessings in Him.
