The Hope of Every Nation and Every Person is the Coming Prophet, Priest, King

More than A Priest, He is OUR Great High Priest

 

A Prophet – One who speaks for God to us
A Priest – One who speaks to God for us
A King – One who rules over us

A Brief History of the Priesthood

Melchizedek:      Around 2000 BC, Genesis 14
Aaron:               Around 1500 BC, Exodus 28
Samuel:               Around 1000 BC, I Samuel 3
Ezra:                    Around 500 BC, Ezra 7

We need help, but not just any priest will do

1. Christ is the forever high priest: He lives forever and He intercedes for us

• He is like Melchizedek and not Aaron, Samuel or Ezra in that He has a forever priesthood

1. Christ is the perfect high priest: He has no sin or weakness in Himself and He can help us in our sin and weakness

• Aaron and all his successors made sin offerings for themselves first because of their sin but Christ in absolute perfection offered Himself for us all

1. Christ is the compassionate high priest: He face all of our temptations and trials and He can sympathize with our struggles

• He interceded for us in the Upper Room, the Garden of Gethsemane and on the Cross

1. Christ is the great and gracious high priest: He sits at His Father’s right hand and He invites us to confidently come to Him for help

• Having completely satisfied all the demands of the Law for righteousness and restitution He continually invites us into His presence

 

 

 

 

The Hope of Every Nation and Every Person is the Coming Prophet, Priest, King

More than A Priest, He is OUR Great High Priest

 

Scripture Reading and Prayer…Leslie Evans (Hebrews 4:14-16)

 

More than A Priest, He is OUR Great High Priest (Header Slide)

• We discussed last week the portrait of Christ is the coming prophet in fulfillment of God’s promises to Israel through Moses
• We say last week that as Peter was preaching in Acts chapter 3 that Peter connected Jesus Christ with the great promise of Moses from Deuteronomy 18
• Today we will look at Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of the Great High Priest to come into the world with a permanent priesthood
• So these three offices, Prophet, Priest and King, Christ fulfills all three roles
• Slide 2
• A Prophet – One who speaks for God to us
• A Priest – One who speaks to God for us
• A King – One who rules over us
• The merger of these 2 offices, Priest who is also a king, is our focus today

A Brief History of the Priesthood

Melchizedek:      Around 2000 BC, Genesis 14 (Slide 3)

• Read Genesis 14:18-20 (Slide 4)
• Read Psalm 110:4-5 (Slide 5)

Aaron:               Around 1500 BC, Exodus 28 (Slide 6)

• Read Leviticus 16:29-30 (Slide 7)

Samuel:               Around 1000 BC, I Samuel 3 (Slide 8)

Ezra:                    Around 500 BC, Ezra 7 (Slide 9)

• Turn to Zechariah 3
• During the time of Judah’s return to Jerusalem, they had just rebuilt the temple and in that moment the confidence of the people is low
• Who are we to build this temple, given the rebellion of the nation
• Look how small this temple is compared to others around us and compared to the temple that once stood here
• Then we get this vision in Zechariah 3 with Joshua the high priest coming into the temple to offer sacrifice before the Lord on behalf of the people
• Zechariah 3:1-7 summarize
• Read Zechariah 3:8 (Slide 10)
• Read Zechariah 3:9-10 (Slide 11)
• Read Zechariah 6:12-13 (Slide 12)

We need help, but not just any priest will do

1. Christ is the forever high priest: He lives forever and He intercedes for us

• He is like Melchizedek and not Aaron, Samuel, Ezra or Zechariah in that He has a forever priesthood
• Read Hebrews 7:23-24 (Slide 13)
• Read Hebrews 7:25 (Slide 14)

1. Christ is the perfect high priest: He has no sin or weakness in Himself and He can help us in our sin and weakness

• Aaron and all his successors made sin offerings for themselves first because of their sin but Christ in absolute perfection offered Himself for us all
• He interceded for us in the Upper Room, the Garden of Gethsemane and on the Cross
• Read Hebrews 7:26-27 (Slide 15)

1. Christ is the compassionate high priest: He face all of our temptations and trials and He can sympathize with our struggles

• Read Hebrews 4:14 (Slide 16)
• Read Hebrews 4:15 (Slide 17)

1. Christ is the great and gracious high priest: He sits at His Father’s right hand and He invites us to confidently come to Him for help

• Having completely satisfied all the demands of the Law for righteousness and restitution He continually invites us into His presence
• Read Hebrews 4:16 (Slide 18)
• We have incredible needs, needs before God and God has appointed His own Son to meet our needs
• We need a permanent, forever advocate before our Holy God
• We need a perfect high priest, so that we are not concerned whether His ministry is sufficient or well received
• We need someone who can really minister to us because He understands our weaknesses
• We need a compassionate priest who offers grace and help in our deepest moments of need
• Jesus Christ, the Great Prophet, High Priest and King, the fulfillment of all our hopes came to speak for us to His loving, Heavenly Father
• He is our Great High Priest