Lesson for February 22, 2023
The Doctrine of Christology
Lesson 3
Christ’s Offices as Prophet, Priest, and King
Christ as Prophet
A prophet was a person chosen by God to speak on behalf of God, the message he had received from God. Prophets were God’s specially-called messengers. They were “holy men of God who spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” (II Peter 1:21) The guidance and inspiration by the Holy Spirit in the expression of their message guaranteed the expression of truth without error.
Often, the prophet’s job was to call the people back to God and to the truth of His Word. It involved warning them of the consequences of their actions and a call to a change of mind. At times it was a message of God’s plan for the future of His Kingdom. The heart of their message was God’s promise of eternal salvation through the coming of the Messiah (Jesus Christ).
The test of the prophet was practical and simple: Jeremiah 28:9, “When the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known that the Lord has truly sent him.” True prophecy has in it no contradictions. It must always agree with what is already known about God. (Matthew 7:15-23; Mark 13:21-23; Jeremiah 14:13-18, 28; 1 Kings 22:5-28).
As a prophet, Christ’s message to the world was one of salvation. He encouraged people to believe in Him for eternal life. He explained that He was God in the flesh, sent to deliver them from their sin. He also prophesied about future events, such as His death, burial, and resurrection. He predicted the betrayal of Judas, the denial of knowing Him by Peter, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the dispersing of the Jewish race. He prophesied the coming of the Holy Spirit. Jesus was indeed a prophet. (John 3:16, 36, 14:9; Mark 8:31-33; Matthew 16:21; Luke 22:21-22; Matthew 24:1-2; Luke 19:41-44, 21:20-24; John 14:25, 16:5-7)
Christ as Priest
Jesus Christ is our royal High Priest. In order to become our High Priest, Christ had to become a human being, which He did at the Virgin Birth. Jesus Christ represented all of mankind on the Cross, as their substitute for sin. Now in Heaven before the throne of God, Jesus represents all believers as their High Priest and Mediator.
(I Timothy 2:5-6) As believers, we belong to the Royal Priesthood. (Hebrews 4:14-16; 6:17-20)
Jesus Christ is the only priest in all of Israel’s history Who is from the tribe of Judah, Who is a bona fide king and at the same time a priest. In the future, He will be the High Priest of Israel during the Millennium, even though He is from the tribe of Judah. Jesus Christ was born of the linage of David, and there was no priesthood of any kind in the family of Judah; the tribe of Levi had all of the priests. God the Father appointed His Son to be High Priest, which He had every right and authority to do. Therefore, the priesthood to which we belong is unique!
Hebrews 5:5-6, “So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He Who said to Him, “Thou art My Son, today I have begotten Thee”; just as He says also in another passage, “Thou art a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” In this verse we have a quotation from Psalms 2:7. “Thou art my Son” indicates that when this was written about Jesus Christ, He was not yet humanity and could not yet be our High Priest. Jesus had to be born as a human being before He could assume the role of our High Priest and fulfill the divine decree from eternity past. Christ did not assume the role of High Priest by His own volition; He was appointed by God the Father.
According to the order of Melchizedek means in the same manner of Melchizedek. Melchizedek was an actual person, a Gentile, who ruled a great city called Salem, the ancient Jerusalem. He functioned as a priest in the time of the family priesthood, he was a contemporary of Abraham, and not a theophany of Christ. Theophany comes from two Greek words, “theo” for God and “phaneia” for appearance. So, a theophany is an appearance of Christ in the Old Testament. Jesus Christ continues to function as our High Priest.
Christ as King
Jesus Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords and will rule as such on earth during the Millennium. Christ has always been and will always be the King of Israel even though they rejected Him in favor of earthly kings. During the Millennium, He will once again resume His rightful place of honor as the King of Israel. When He began His earthly ministry, He made the offer to Israel to be their king, but they once again rejected Him, and this time were responsible for crucifying Him. (Acts 1:6-8)
The Kingdom of God is God’s eternal kingdom to which every believer belongs from all dispensations. It is God’s spiritual kingdom, which is entered only through salvation by faith alone in Christ alone. (Matthew 6:33; Luke 13:28-29; John 3:3-7; Hebrews 12:22-23) Within that kingdom there is the Kingdom of Heaven or the kingdom of the heavens. The Kingdom of Heaven is only part of the entire Kingdom of God and refers to the millennial reign of the Lord Jesus Christ on earth. Since the Kingdom of Heaven is a part of the Kingdom of God, they are sometimes used interchangeably.
It is this earthly kingdom that was announced by John the Baptist, offered to Israel by Jesus Christ, and rejected by the Jewish nation. Since it was rejected and the Messiah was crucified, the Kingdom of Heaven was postponed until after the Tribulation. This period will be the time when Jesus Christ will rule on earth. It is a time when all the covenants to Israel will be fulfilled. It is a time of peace and prosperity. The Kingdom of Heaven and the Millennium are the same period of time. (Matthew 3:1-3; Luke 1:31-33; Zechariah 12:8; II Samuel 7:7-10)
When John announced that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand, it simply meant that the Messianic ruler was on the scene and ready to set up His kingdom on earth. Even the disciples of Jesus thought that the Kingdom of Heaven was going to be set up at that time. (Acts 1:6) In Matthew 13, Jesus taught the multitudes about the Kingdom of Heaven in parables. So, these parables and their meanings apply only to the Millennium not to the Church Age. Therefore, we see that there is a difference between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven. The first is a spiritual kingdom and the second is an earthly kingdom. Both, of course, are God’s kingdoms.
As members of the Royal Family of God and the Kingdom of God, Jesus Christ is the King of all Church Age believers. Being spiritual royalty is dependent upon a relationship with someone ofroyalty. For believers it is their relationship with Jesus Christ that makes them royalty. Christ actually has a number of royal titles and also has a royal family. As the Son of God His royal family is God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. As the Son of David His royal family is the line of David. As the King of kings and Lord of lords His royal family is the Church. It is this unique Church family that we have the privilege of being a part of as Christians. (I Timothy 6:13-16)
God interrupted the Age of Israel in order to send His Son as our Savior and to establish a royal family for the King of kings and Lord of lords. Every person during this age who believes in Christ immediately becomes Royal Family of God. While Christ was on earth during the Hypostatic Union, he also set up and executed a way of life as an example for believers in the Church Age to follow. The Victorious Christian Way of Life was lived, tested, and proved by Jesus Christ prior to the Church Age.
For thirty-three years Christ lived, tested, and proved this unique life. Operating by the power of God the Holy Spirit, He was able not to sin and fulfilled His royal destiny by going to the Cross in a state of sinless perfection. His execution of this system proves to us that all believers have the potential of glorifying God by living the Victorious Christian Way of Life.