The Priestly Service

(Hebrews 8:3-7 – The Priestly Service)

Over the past few posts I have examined matters concerning the priesthood of Christianity. Jesus Christ is our High Priest and today we gain some insight into the priestly service.

It is important that a priest offers a service to both God and the congregation over which He is priest. Jesus does both of these as He is the intermediary and mediator between man and God. He stands in the place between man and God, just as any priest would do. The priestly service basically is to serve.

In these verses today we see the initial parts of His service. As we continue we see for what it is that Jesus offers His priestly service. Understanding these things is important to know the place of God, Jesus, and ourselves and the process of His mediation.

The priestly service in general

Before continuing let us look at the scriptures in review today.

3 For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; hence it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. 4 Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. 5 They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly sanctuary; for when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.” 6 But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry which is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second. (Hebrews 8:3-7)

Priests serve their God on behalf of their people. This is standard in all religions, bit the true religions and the false ones. There is always a priesthood and a high priest.

Priests also always offer something as sacrifice to their God. They offer gifts to their God for various purposes.

And finally, their is a purpose to the priestly service of the High Priest in any religion. They do not serve randomly. Even though in pagan religions they serve false gods, they still have a purpose to their service. Often it is as mediator. Sometimes it is to seek the will and insight of God. And often it is to gain wisdom from God on how to deal with their people and their people’s problems, issues, and requests.

The priestly service of Jesus

The above are consistent with the priestly service of all religions, both the true and false. The outcomes of the priestly service can be widely different, but the basic purposes are similar. So, now we look at the priestly service of Jesus to identify how His service aligns or differs from priests on earth.

There are contrasts we note between the priestly service of Jesus and the service of priests on earth. The first being that Jesus serves as priest in the heavenly places.

The scripture says that if Jesus were on earth He would not be a priest. There are two aspects of that statement to consider. First, it says there is already a priesthood on earth, that being the priests of Levi under the high priesthood of the sons of Aaron. Under that priesthood, the laws of the Old Covenant were administered so that the Jews could serve God. The second thing we should consider is that He did not take on the role of high priest and truly begin His priestly service until He died. It was by His death and resurrection that He took on the eternal life that marked Jesus as a priest of the order of Melchizedek, as we are told in this verse.

15 This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchiz’edek, 16 who has become a priest, not according to a legal requirement concerning bodily descent but by the power of an indestructible life. 17 For it is witnessed of him, “Thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchiz’edek.” (Hebrews 7:15-17)

Next we note that priests must offer gifts and/or sacrifices to their God. The priests of Levi offered the sacrifices of animals to atone for sin. But Christ offered His own blood by dying Himself. He offered His blood not on an earthly altar, but into the heavenly temple and altar of God.

We should note also that the New Covenant under which Jesus serves God as High Priest is a better covenant. The New Covenant is based upon or enacted upon better promises. The basis of the New Covenant is that it is the agreement God established with Abraham that his descendants would inherit the earth. But it is not based upon mere physical relationships and descendants. The promise is based upon the faith of Abraham. It is the children of faith who will inherit the earth, not just Abraham’s physical descendants.

A Faultless Covenant

Finally in these scriptures today we see there was a fault in the Old Covenant. If for no other reason, we needed a New Covenant to resolve the fault with the old covenant.

Not that there is anything wrong with the laws under the Old Covenant. As Paul wrote and Jesus also said:

So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good. (Romans 7:12)

And;

17 “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. 19 Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:17-19)

There is nothing wrong with the law. It will remain until the end of the age because it will be the standard by which God judges the world. The law defines good and evil, sin and righteousness. Those who do right are righteous, but those who break God’s law are sinners.

And therein lies the problem or fault with the Old Covenant.

The Old and the New Covenants

Jesus came to to take away the sins of the world, as it says in John 1:29. But in the law of the Old Covenant, there is the constant reminder of sin. It is the law that condemns people as sinners. So, if God was to remove sin He had to also remove the law that condemns us as sinners.

This is the essence of the New Covenant and the priestly service of Jesus. He came so that we could have our sins taken away and be set free from the law. The power of the New Covenant and the priestly service of Jesus is that we receive both of these by faith. Specifically, we believe Jesus is our Lord and Saviour, and we believe God raised Him from the dead. Under those two points we receive salvation and righteousness by faith.

But that is not the end of it. To fulfill and complete the process of righteousness, we must be baptised in water to enter into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. His priestly service was to provide us the means to be saved from sin and set free from the law. Our response is to accept Him by faith and receive His sacrifice in ourselves by baptism, to be born anew as new creations in Christ.

This is the priestly service of Jesus Christ. This is the perfect covenant that is without flaws like the first covenant. Not that there is anything wrong with the first covenant. The only problem with it is that man could not keep it. No human by him or her self can keep God’s law. That is the flaw in the Old Covenant. But every person can receive salvation and freedom from both sin and the law in Jesus Christ under the New Covenant.

Let us then come to Jesus Christ as our high priest and receive salvation. Let us learn how to serve God under the truth of the New Covenant in Jesus Christ. This is the purpose of the priestly service of Christ, to bring us to God in perfection.

You might also like:

My Yoke Is Easy And My Burden Is Light
The Stone That The Builder Rejected
Old And New Wineskins
The Transfiguration
The Hope Of Eternity Is In Christ
Death Of Jesus
Jesus Transfiguration
The End Of An Age
Behold The Lamb Of God
If You Keep My Commandments
Why Jesus Died
Promise Of Salvation
Baptism And Receiving The Holy Spirit
Essence Of The New Covenant
Why You Are Freed From Law
Serving The Law Or Serving In The Spirit
Simplicity Of Righteousness By Faith
Mystery Of The New Covenant
Ratifying The New Covenant
Why The Law
A New Creation In Christ Jesus