Page 142 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 8

Foundational Discussions in Christian Psychology
When Abraham fought for the king of Sodom
and others to defeat the kings that defeated
them and took Lot into captivity, God sent His
Priest to bless Abram:
18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought
out bread and wine; he was the priest of God
Most High. 19 And he blessed him and said:
“Blessed be Abram of God Most High,
Possessor of heaven and earth;
20 And blessed be God Most High,
Who has delivered your enemies into your
hand.”
(Genesis 14:18-20 NKJV)
When God finally brings Abraham’s seed out of
captivity in Egypt and establishes them as a na-
tion, He also establishes the formal priesthood
under leadership of Aaron, the first High Priest
of that dispensation. Detailed descriptions were
given of the tasks of the priest, amongst others
their task of asking God’s blessing to be on the
nation:
22 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 23
“Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is
the way you shall bless the children of Israel.
Say to them:
24 “The LORD bless you and keep you;
25The LORD make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
26The LORD lift up His countenance upon
you,
And give you peace.” ’
27 “So they shall put My name on the children
of Israel, and I will bless them.”
(Numbers 6:22-27 NKJV)
God’s intention was that this nation of Israel will
become a kingdom of priests (Exodus 9:3-8)
When Jesus came as High Priest and offered
Himself to become the final sacrifice on Golgo-
tha (Hebrews 9:11-14), two things happened:
Firstly, He set us free, so that all who believe in
Him will not perish but have eternal life (John
3:16).
Secondly, all these believers became a kingdom
of priests as God intended for His holy nation,
the spiritual children of Abraham:
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4 Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected
indeed by men, but chosen by God and pre-
cious, 5 you also, as living stones, are being
built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood,
to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to
God through Jesus Christ
(1 Peter 2:4-5 NKJV))
and furthermore:
9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, His own special
people, that you may proclaim the praises
of Him who called you out of darkness into
His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a
people but are now the people of God, who
had not obtained mercy but now have obtai-
ned mercy.
(1 Peter 2:9-10)
So every believer is a priest and king – part of
the people of God – His kingdom!
Thus:
In Christ we (the believers) received the most
wonderful blessing from God:
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every
spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in
Christ,
(Ephesians 1:3 NKJV)
Jesus established all believers as kings and
priests in His kingdom:
To Him who loved us and washed us from
our sins in His own blood, 6 and has made
us kings and priests to His God and Father, to
Him be glory and dominion forever and ever.
Amen.
(Revelations 1:5b-6)
As a priest, every believer has a role to play,
one of which is to bring God’s blessings to the
people around him/her whom is or is to be his
children.
Current Practice
Over the approximately 2 000 years since Jesus’
sacrifice and ascension, we see that instead of
every believer operating in their priestly role,
the different streams and denominations of
the Church in the world have mostly opted for