Priest-Prophet-King

6 min read

1 Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests went to work and rebuilt the Sheep Gate. They dedicated it and set its doors in place, building as far as the Tower of the Hundred, which they dedicated, and as far as the Tower of Hananel.
— Nehemiah 3:1

The entire Jewish community of Jerusalem went to work to repair the city wall. However, “the high priest and his fellow priests” are the first ones accounted for in the record. Of course, it was God’s intervention of bringing Nehemiah from Persia that kickstarted this good work.

1’m reminded of Pastor Jeff’s last message at our retreat this past weekend. He preached from 1 Peter 2:5 and pointed out how Adam and Eve were the first priests and the Garden of Eden was the first temple. In other words, humanity was created to be priests and to minister before God. That priestly role given to humanity was corrupted due to the fall but then is restored through faith in Christ Jesus.

I was so blessed by Pastor Jeff and the messages he shared. In particular, I was blown away by how this message of our priestly role adds to the message that I share concerning our purpose to fill the earth with the glory of God through God-fearing, God-honoring, God-worshipping, God-loving communities and families, the church.

These two messages go hand in hand. We cannot have one without the other. Adam and Eve were never meant to do the “holy huddle” (more like, “unholy huddle”) in the Garden of Eden. Rather, they were commissioned to take the Garden of Eden (the temple, aka the house of the LORD, i.e. the church) to the ends of the earth (Genesis 1:28) so that the whole world would be the house of the LORD and all of humanity would be a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9) ruling over the earth and ministering to God and ministering to one another.

And if we were to complete these co-messages with one more message, it would be that humanity was also created to embody and communicate the word of God with His indwelling Spirit as prophets. These three roles—priest, king, and prophet—represent who God created us to be. These roles were lost in the fall because of idolatry (the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil). It was supposed to be reestablished in Israel through the covenant at Sinai, but they too failed because of idolatry (the golden calf). These roles found promise in King David, but Solomon dropped the ball because of idolatry (his many foreign wives).

Finally, these roles were permanently established in Christ Jesus, and it is through our union with Christ, through faith in Him, that these roles are to be restored in us. And what separates us from fulfilling these God-given roles in Christ Jesus is always idolatry, which is the original sin.

But Christ has freed us from the curse of sin and the bondage of sin so that we may now pursue His kingdom and His righteousness without fear of condemnation (Romans 8:1).

Then, every local church is a community of sinners redeemed and united with Christ so that we might fulfill our original divine role as prophet-priest-king and fulfill our original purpose to fill the earth with the glory of God (by ministering to Him and to one another) through God-fearing, God-honoring, God-worshipping, God-loving communities and families (that is, the church).

Father, I confess that all of this theology is sometimes too much to grasp. But I also know that it’s not just academic, but it pertains to my life, and the life of every soul in Canvas and Your church. Help us to understand and receive it as Your word, Your truth. And by the power of the Holy Spirit, may we be convicted by Your truth so that we might be transformed into the image of Christ, our Priest-Prophet-King. In Jesus’s name. Amen.