The Perfect Priest-King
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Text: Genesis 14:18-20
18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine—since he was priest of God Most High —
19 and he blessed Abram and said: “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth,
20 and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything.
PRAY
Introduction
Have you ever thought about what the world would be like if Adam and Eve had never sinned?
What would the world be like if it were perfect?
If there were no curse on the ground, I’d imagine we wouldn’t have to worry about weeds in our gardens or thorns on rose bushes. Our gardens would produce amazing quantities and qualities of fruits and vegetables and flowers. We wouldn’t have squash bugs eating all our zucchinis.
If they had never sinned, relationships between people would be perfect. Men and women would perfectly love and respect each other. All our thoughts and words and actions toward each other would be kind. Everyone would be faithful in their marriage and no one would ever get divorced. Children would honor and obey their parents.
People would value the lives of everyone, including the unborn. Every baby would be born safe and healthy and grow into a healthy adult. No one would ever get sick. No one would ever get hurt. No one would ever die. We would never attend a funeral.
We would have unbroken access to God. We would never feel guilty or ashamed before Him, but we would joyfully walk with Him every day and worship and praise Him and love Him perfectly with our whole being. We would always obey Him and honor Him in everything we do and say.
That’s what a perfect world would be like. Actually probably much better than that.
Does your heart long for such a world? Don’t you want to experience that? Wouldn’t you give up everything you have now to be part of such a world?
This is what the world was supposed to be like, but this perfection has been lost because of sin. Sin has broken our relationship to God, our relationships with other people, and everything about the world. This world is not what it is supposed to be. We are not what we are supposed to be.
But Jesus Christ has come to bring about redemption - Not only to rescue us from our sin and its consequences, but to restore us and all creation to what we are supposed to be. And when we trust in Christ, we become part of His new creation, although the fullness of the new creation awaits us after His return. Someday the world will be perfect again, and those of us who know Christ will enjoy a perfect relationship with God and each other forever.
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Today we will be looking at Melchizedek and especially considering his roles as priest and king and how he serves as an example of what Jesus Christ came to be and do. These things practically affect our lives today and they give us great hope for the future as well.
Most of us probably don’t spend much time thinking about kings and priests. So while part of our difficulty in understanding the importance of these things may due to laziness in studying the Scriptures, a large part is due to how far removed our time and culture is from the biblical times and cultures.
For one thing, we don’t have kings in our country. We don’t have temples or tabernacles where priests slaughter animals as sacrifices.
These things seem foreign and unfamiliar to us, which is one reason that we need to diligently study the Old Testament. We need to seek to enter the biblical world so that we can see and treasure the glory of Christ in a greater way.
And although Melchizedek is the first man in Scripture referred to as a priest, there are others before him who serve in a priestly role. And he is also not the first one who occupies the dual office of priest-king. By going back to the beginning, we’ll see how Melchizedek fulfills the roles that Adam failed to fulfill, and he also points forward to Jesus Christ, the ultimate fulfillment of the dual role of priest-king.
Adam: The Priest-King in the Garden
Adam: The Priest-King in the Garden
Genesis 1:26-28; 2:15.
From the very beginning, we see God’s intention for mankind to serve Him in the roles of king and priest.
Even though Adam isn’t explicitly called a king or priest in Genesis, the roles God gives him in Genesis 1:26–28 and 2:15 clearly mirror those very functions.
Adam’s Kingly Role
God states His purpose for mankind in Genesis 1:26-28:
26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness, to rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, and over all the earth itself and every creature that crawls upon it.”
27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that crawls upon the earth.”
God gives Adam dominion over creation - all the earth and every created thing on earth. God states this as His purpose in v. 26 before He creates mankind, and then He commands it in v. 28. Adam is to rule on God’s behalf—like a steward-king. Adam is not to be a tyrant (like those kings in Genesis 14 that we looked at last week). Rather he is to be a representative of the true King (God).
Practically, Adam would demonstrate good and wise authority by
Naming the animals (as he did in Gen 2) and caring for them
Caring for God’s creation and helping it flourish
Multiplying image-bearers with his wife - having children and raising a family that would demonstrate God’s good character
Leading his family with love and humility - sacrificially seeking their good
Adam’s Priestly Office
In the Genesis 2 account, where God describes the creation of man in more detail, He tells us in v. 15,
15 Then the LORD God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it.
The words translated “cultivate and keep” could also be translated “serve and guard,” and these are exactly the same terms used of the Levitical priests and their service in the tabernacle in Leviticus chapters 3 and 8.
By using these priestly terms, Moses is identifying Adam as one who is filling a priestly office, serving and guarding the garden sanctuary of God as the later Levites would serve and guard the tabernacle sanctuary.
Practically, Adam’s priestly office meant that
He enjoyed intimate, unbroken fellowship with God, living in God’s presence in His Garden temple.
His work is holy work - it is worshipful service to God. All of life is worship.
He was responsible to protect the holiness of the garden sanctuary, keeping anything from defiling the place of God’s dwelling.
He and all his descendants are to reflect God’s character and represent Him to His creation and lead all of creation in worship to God.
So from the creation account, we learn that God created Adam to serve both as king and priest - to rule over creation on God’s behalf, and to mediate God’s presence and blessing to all of creation.
The Fall
We don’t know how long Adam served in the offices of king and priest, but it seems that it was not long before sin entered the world and ruptured the relationship between God and mankind.
Because Adam failed to keep God’s covenant and instead ate of the forbidden fruit, he failed to fulfill the roles that God had designed him for.
But God’s vision for humanity as kings and priests was not gone. The rest of Scripture is the story of how God redeems and restores people to serve Him as priests and kings. Redemption has been accomplished in Christ, who has made us a kingdom of priests to God, and yet the fulness of this reality awaits us in the new heaven and new earth.
And the mysterious man Melchizedek was part of God’s plan for bringing about the ultimate King-Priest who will restore His people to their royal priesthood.
Melchizedek: The Priest-King of Jerusalem
Melchizedek: The Priest-King of Jerusalem
Genesis 14:18-20; Psalm 110:1, 4; Hebrews 7:1-10.
Consider now how Melchizedek follows in the pattern of Adam, serving God in the dual office of priest-king.
In Genesis
Consider what Genesis 14 says about Melchizedek:
18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine—since he was priest of God Most High —
19 and he blessed Abram and said: “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth,
20 and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything.
It tells us his name, Melchizedek, which means king of righteousness or righteous king.
It tells us he’s the king of Salem or Jerusalem.
It tells us that he’s priest of God Most High, whom he refers to as Creator of heaven and earth. When Abram later adopts this same title for the LORD, he acknowledges that he and Melchizedek worship the same God.
Melchizedek recognizes God as the deliverer of His people.
And Abraham pays a tithe to Melchizedek, and then he’s gone.
In Psalm 110.
Over 1000 years later, his name reappears in a Psalm of David, Psalm 110:4. Speaking to the coming Messiah who will come from David’s family, the LORD says,
4 The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”
God says that the coming Messiah, who will be a king in the succession of the Davidic kings, will also be a priest. But He will not be a priest from the tribe of Levi; since He’ll be from David’s family, He’ll be from the tribe of Judah. Instead He will be a priest in the order of Melchizedek, that is, following the pattern of Melchizedek’s priesthood.
It seems that the reason that the name Melchizedek is invoked here is that he is the only other man in OT Scripture that bears both of these titles, priest and king.
So the LORD is saying through David that the Messiah, like Melchizedek, will be both a priest and king.
And unlike all the kings and priests before Him, His throne and His priesthood will last forever.
In Hebrews
Once again, for another 1000 years, the Scriptures are silent about Melchizedek, but then he reappears in the Epistle to the Hebrews, in chapters 5-7. Let’s consider what Hebrews 7 has to say about this mysterious man:
1 This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,
2 and Abraham apportioned to him a tenth of everything. First, his name means “king of righteousness.” Then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace.”
3 Without father or mother or genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God, he remains a priest for all time.
The author of Hebrews rehearses the events of the Genesis account of Melchizedek, and then he begins to draw some conclusions.
He mentions the significance of his name and the place where he served as king - he is the king of righteousness and the king of peace.
He also mentions details in v. 3 that could be easily misunderstood if we don’t know the context of Genesis. Since we’ve been going through the book of Genesis, we’re at an advantage right now, since these things are hopefully fresh on our minds.
In Genesis, everybody who is anybody is part of a genealogy. Even many people who we know nothing else about are in a list of a family line. Genesis 5 and Genesis 10-11 are full of lists of names and generations of many people (and we’ll come across several other genealogies later in the book), and so every significant person in Genesis is part of a genealogy. But not Melchizedek. There is no mention of his father or mother or any other family members. No wife, no sons, no daughters. Just him.
Another important detail that we have regarding almost all the important people in Genesis is the mention of their birth and death. How many times have we seen the phrase that so-and-so lived so many years and then he died. But not Melchizedek. There’s no mention of his birth or death or age. He seems to be a timeless figure.
Because of this, it seems that his priesthood also continues on and like him is timeless.
Now, I don’t think the author of Hebrews means us to take this in a literal sense that Melchizedek didn’t really have parents or that he is in fact eternal like God. Some have taken this to mean that Melchizedek was a Christophany, a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ. But such an interpretation does not fit his argument here. He says that Melchizedek is like the Son of God or that he resembles the Son of God - that would be a meaningless statement if he actually is the Son of God (it would be saying that the Son of God is like the Son of God).
So Melchizedek is not Jesus, and he is not literally eternal like the Son of God. But it seems that Moses intentionally omitted the details of his genealogy and birth and death to make him appear timeless, so that he serves as a shadow of the one to come who is in fact eternal and timeless, the Son of God.
Next, the author of Hebrews shows us that Melchizedek is superior to Abraham.
4 Consider how great Melchizedek was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder.
5 Now the law commands the sons of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people—that is, from their brothers—though they too are descended from Abraham.
6 But Melchizedek, who did not trace his descent from Levi, collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises.
7 And indisputably, the lesser is blessed by the greater.
Now if you’re not familiar with the book of Hebrews, it was written to - you guessed it - Hebrews. Jewish people, probably living in Rome, who would have been very familiar with the Old Testament.
And who were the most important people for the Jews?
I believe that Moses and Abraham are two of the most important people for them. And Abraham, of course, has a very prominent place, since he is the father of the Jewish people. The author of Hebrews already showed us in earlier chapters that Jesus is greater than Moses, and now he is going to show that Jesus is also superior to Abraham.
He does this by first arguing that Melchizedek is greater than Abraham, and then he’ll show us that Jesus, like Melchizedek, is also greater.
He argues that Melchizedek is greater than Abraham because he received the tithes from Abraham and also because he was in a position to pronounce a blessing on Abraham.
He goes on to show then that the Levitical priesthood, which came from Abraham’s offspring, is also inferior to Melchizedek’s priesthood - or to say it positively, Melchizedek’s priesthood not only came before the Levitical priesthood, but it is also better.
8 In the case of the Levites, mortal men collect the tenth; but in the case of Melchizedek, it is affirmed that he lives on.
9 And so to speak, Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham.
10 For when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the loin of his ancestor.
There’s much more we can say about Melchizedek, but we’ll come back to him in a moment when we consider how Jesus fulfills the role that Melchizedek embodies - Melchizedek is the shadow, and Jesus is the reality that casts the shadow.
But first, let’s consider the progression from Melchizedek to the nation of Israel as a kingdom of priests.
Israel: A Kingdom of Priests
Israel: A Kingdom of Priests
Exodus 19:3-6.
After God sent Moses and delivered the people of Israel out of Egypt, He reveals this to Moses when they reach Mt Sinai:
3 Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain, “This is what you are to tell the house of Jacob and explain to the sons of Israel:
4 ‘You have seen for yourselves what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.
5 Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine.
6 And unto Me you shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to speak to the Israelites.”
The tabernacle and later the temple both mirror the garden of Eden, God’s garden-sanctuary. And Israel as a whole was to serve in the role of king-priest to God.
Israel was meant to represent God to the nations (priestly) and rule under His authority (kingly).
Their laws, justice, and worship were to reflect what it looked like to live under God’s reign.
We know from the OT that God gave one tribe, Levi, the special responsibility of the care and service of the tabernacle, and He later designated the tribe of Judah and David’s family as His chosen kings.
But the whole nation was to reflect this dual role of priest and king.
Jim Hamilton explains,
Typology: Understanding the Bible’s Promise-Shaped Patterns; How Old Testament Expectations are Fulfilled in Christ §3. Israel the (King) Priest Nation
The nation of Israel was to accomplish as a priest what Adam failed to do: fill the earth, subdue it, and reign over it for Yahweh’s glory.
Like Adam, who was placed in the garden, Israel was placed in the holy land, and just as Adam was to expand the borders of the garden (subduing the land,
So Adam failed as a priest-king
Melchizedek then appears as an example of the true priest-king to come, creating expectation that God will restore mankind to this role.
God then says that if the nation of Israel will faithfully obey Him, they will be a priest-king nation. But the nation of Israel, like Adam, failed to keep God’s covenant, and forfeited their role as a kingdom of priests.
But all hope is not lost. Although Israel failed to obey God and be a kingdom of priests, God tells us through His prophets that the days are coming when He will raise up a Man from David’s line who will be the perfect priest-king forever.
Prophecies about the Coming Priest-King
Prophecies about the Coming Priest-King
Psalm 110:4; 1 Sam 2:35; 2 Samuel 7:12; Jeremiah 23:5; 33:15; Zechariah 6:12-13.
Several prophecies fit together to foretell the coming of the eternal priest-king. Here are some of them:
In 1 Samuel 2, a prophet comes to the priest Eli and foretells the day when not only Eli’s family but also the whole Levitical priesthood descended from Aaron will be cut off, and instead, God says,
35 Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest. He will do whatever is in My heart and mind. And I will build for him an enduring house, and he will walk before My anointed one for all time.
God says that the priesthood from Aaron will end and that He will raise up a faithful, perfect priest, who will perfectly carry out God’s will.
God says that He will build an enduring house for this priest, and He indicates a close relationship between this priest and His anointed one - which we understand to eventually refer to the king descended from David - the Messiah (Messiah in Hebrew and Christ in Greek mean anointed one).
God uses very similar terms when He makes His covenant with David years later, telling David,
11 … The LORD declares to you that He Himself will establish a house for you. 12 And when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom.
16 Your house and kingdom will endure forever before Me, and your throne will be established forever.”
It seems that God is indicating by the connections between these two promises that the king from David’s family and the faithful priest He promised are in fact one person, for whom God will build an enduring house, one person who will serve as both king and priest forever.
David seems to have understood this, and he made the connection back to Melchizedek when he wrote in Psalm 110,
4 The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”
The coming king from David’s line (who will be the eternal king) will also be an eternal priest, serving in this dual role like Melchizedek, and in fulfillment of Adam’s original role.
Twice in Jeremiah (over 400 years later), the LORD promises once again that He meant what He said, and despite Israel’s unfaithfulness and its consequences, God would faithfully fulfill His promise and raise up the righteous king from David’s line. And He calls Him the Branch.
5 Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He will reign wisely as King and will administer justice and righteousness in the land.
He repeats the same promise in Jeremiah 33:15.
And then, following the return from captivity about 70 years later, the prophet Zechariah brings together these roles of king and priest and hints that they will be fulfilled by one man:
12 And you are to tell him that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Here is a man whose name is the Branch, and He will branch out from His place and build the temple of the LORD.
13 Yes, He will build the temple of the LORD; He will be clothed in splendor and will sit on His throne and rule. And He will be a priest on His throne, and there will be peaceful counsel between the two.’
Zechariah 6:9–15
Jesus: The Eternal Priest-King over All Creation
Jesus: The Eternal Priest-King over All Creation
And then, just like God promised, He came. The one who will serve forever as king and priest has come - His name is Jesus.
Jesus isn’t just the solution to our problem of sin—He’s the fulfillment of Adam’s original calling, the calling that both Adam and Israel failed to fulfill.
And so continuing on in Hebrews we read,
Hebrews 7:11-28.
11 Now if perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood (for on this basis the people received the law), why was there still need for another priest to appear—one in the order of Melchizedek and not in the order of Aaron? 12 For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed as well.
13 He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar. 14 For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, a tribe as to which Moses said nothing about priests.
15 And this point is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, 16 one who has become a priest not by a law of succession, but by the power of an indestructible life. 17 For it is testified: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”
18 So the former commandment is set aside because it was weak and useless 19 (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.
20 And none of this happened without an oath. For others became priests without an oath, 21 but Jesus became a priest with an oath by the One who said to Him: “The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind: ‘You are a priest forever.’ ”
22 Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.
23 Now there have been many other priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office. 24 But because Jesus lives forever, He has a permanent priesthood.
25 Therefore He is able to save completely those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede for them.
26 Such a high priest truly befits us—One who is holy, innocent, undefiled, set apart from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.
27 Unlike the other high priests, He does not need to offer daily sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people; He sacrificed for sin once for all when He offered up Himself.
28 For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.
Now I’m not going to take time today to look in depth at every part of this passage - I hope to preach through the book of Hebrews next after we finish Genesis, so Lord willing we’ll take more time on this passage then.
But consider his argument.
The Levitical priesthood was not good enough. It could not bring about the perfection that we need. It only dealt with external things and could not cleanse people’s consciences so that they could draw near to God. And because those priests died, their priesthood died with them, and it was carried on by the next generation regardless of whether they were godly or not (and there were many ungodly priests).
So God has done away with the Old Covenant priesthood and established a new priesthood by giving His oath that David’s descendant, the Messiah, would be not only the king but also the eternal priest in the order of Melchizedek.
So Melchizedek serves as a shadow of what Jesus Christ has now come and fulfilled. Jesus became our high priest not on the basis of His physical descent, but because of God’s oath which declared Him to be the eternal priest following the pattern of Melchizedek.
And Jesus, although He died, was victorious over death, rising again. And He truly lives forever. Because of this, He alone is able and worthy to hold an eternal priesthood, and because He does, as v. 25 says, He always lives to make intercession for us.
And as he goes on to say, Jesus is exactly the high priest we need - He is perfect in every way, and unlike the earthly priests who serve in physical tabernacles and temples, Jesus has entered heaven itself and ministers on our behalf in the presence of God the Father.
He is better in every way, and by grace through faith, He is our high priest and king forever.
We’ll come back in a moment to consider some of the implications of this truth.
But the Scripture’s teaching doesn’t end there.
The Church: A Kingdom of Priests
The Church: A Kingdom of Priests
Jesus is the perfect, eternal priest-king, but He means to use us as His people, the church, to serve Him also as a Kingdom of Priests. Consider these verses from the NT:
1 Pet 2:9; Rev 1:5-6; 5:10.
Peter says,
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
And John tells us in Revelation,
5… To Him who loves us and has released us from our sins by His blood, 6 who has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and power forever and ever! Amen.
10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign upon the earth.”
Christ has fulfilled the role that Adam and Israel failed to fulfill, the role that Melchizedek foreshadows and David and others prophesied, the eternal priest-king.
And when we are united to Him by faith - when we trust in Christ - He restores us to fellowship with God and He commissions us to be His ambassadors, calling others to join us in following Christ - to find forgiveness of their sins by His grace and to submit their lives to His authority as king.
When we live in obedience to His great commission to make disciples of the nations, we are serving as His royal priesthood.
The applications of these truths will affect all of our life here on earth, and they give us great hope for our eternal future.
Applications of Christ’s Priesthood
Applications of Christ’s Priesthood
Practically, Christ’s priesthood means
We Have Ongoing Access to God
In the Old Testament, only the high priest could enter the Most Holy Place—and only once a year—to intercede for the people. But Hebrews 4:14–16 says that Jesus, our Great High Priest, has gone through the heavens and now gives believers direct, constant access to God.
So You don’t need to go through a human priest to reach God. You can come boldly in prayer, no matter what you're dealing with—doubt, fear, guilt, sin.
We Have a Perfect Mediator and Advocate
Jesus represents us before the Father, not just as a sacrifice, but continually. He knows our weakness and intercedes for us (Hebrews 7:25, 1 John 2:1).
When you mess up, Jesus isn't condemning you—He’s advocating for you. You don’t have to live in shame or hide from God. Jesus is always pleading your case with mercy and grace.
We Have a High Priest Who Sympathizes with Us in Our Suffering and Temptation
Hebrews 4:15 says Jesus can sympathize with our weaknesses because He was tempted in every way, just like us—yet without sin.
So you’re never alone in your struggles. When you’re overwhelmed, tempted, heartbroken, or suffering, Jesus truly understands from experience.
Our Priest Made a Complete and Final Sacrifice
Old Testament priests had to offer sacrifices repeatedly. Jesus, as High Priest, offered Himself once for all (Hebrews 10:11–14).
You don't need to earn God’s favor by your performance. Your salvation and forgiveness are secure—not based on your efforts, but on Jesus’s finished work.
So Worship Him with Confidence
Pray with Boldness
Live all of life as an act of worship to Him.
Applications of Christ’s Kingship
Applications of Christ’s Kingship
You Live Under a Good and Sovereign Ruler
He is in control of all things and is working all things for your good if you belong to Him.
World events, all of your circumstances, and even your pain and suffering are part of His good and sovereign plan for your life.
You Are a Citizen in His Kingdom
More than you belong to any earthly country, you belong to His Kingdom. Your loyalty is first and foremost to Him above and beyond any earthly country or leader.
Your life is to be a witness to what kind of King you serve. You are to reflect your King’s character.
You Represent the King’s Authority
The authority we have comes from Him and is to be used for Him. We must exercise authority like He does, in kind and loving ways.
We are his ambassadors, and we must represent the values of His Kingdom in the places we live and work.
We must fight against sin and for righteousness, not in our own strength, but His. We fight the battle knowing that He has already won the war.
His Kingdom is Both a Present and Future Reality
He is already King. He is already on the throne. He is ruling and reigning over His Kingdom now.
But He has not yet restored all things to the way they’re supposed to be.
But one day He will.
He will return as victorious King and Judge; all nations will bow before Him. He will punish the wicked and reward the righteous.
He will make the new heaven and new earth, and His Kingdom will be fully here. There will be no more death, no more sorrow, and no more sin. Only eternal joy in His presence.
Once again God’s people will rule His creation under His authority and mediate His presence and blessing to all of creation, perfectly representing their Creator.
So remember, while God may bless you with a good life on this earth, your goal isn’t to build your “best life now.” The best things in this life won’t compare with the glories to come.
And you can endure your suffering in this life with hope—it’s not the end of the story. In fact, your suffering is preparing you for glory. It keeps you from loving this world too much and turns your eyes to eternity with God.
These are some of the implications of what Jesus’s role as Priest-King means for us both now and forever. We would do well to spend time meditating on the greatness of who He is and what He has accomplished for us.
If you have not yet come to know Jesus personally as your Priest and King, I urge you to come to Him today, experience His forgiveness and submit yourself to His loving rule.
And if you are a Christian, you are part of His kingdom of priests. So consider whether you are being obedient to Christ’s call on your life to make disciples. Who are you leading and teaching and helping to know and love and obey Christ? He has called us to be His kingdom of priests, and one way that we fulfill that role is by seeking to lead others to Him. We rest in His forgiveness and live under His authority, and we call others to do the same.
