The Priestly Ministry that Must Come on the Earth I. INTRODUCTION A. When most people think of the book of Revelation, they think of dramatic end time events, the Antichrist, and the return of Jesus. Of course, you can find all these things in the book of Revelation, but the book actually contains much more than what people normally think of when they think about this book. B. What tends to get little attention in the book of Revelation is what the book says about the church. In the book of Revelation, we find significant information about the church in the end of the age. For example, the book of Revelation predicts a massive end-time church that is faithful in the most difficult hour of human history (Revelation 5:9; 12:11). This alone tells us the church will both mature and experience great harvest before the end of the age. C. The book of Revelation also gives us insight into God s agenda for the church. 1. By understanding what the book of Revelation tells us about God s agenda for the church, we can better understand how we should build the church. Understanding the end goal God s mission is designed to achieve helps us to understand how to better cooperate with that mission along the way. 2. We need to recognize this kind of information in the book of Revelation so that we can partner with God by building the church according to His objectives. While the book of Revelation has specific information for the church in the endtimes, that information about the church is also applicable throughout church history because the end-time information in the book of Revelation tells us God s end goal for the church. 3. That end goal is the culmination of a process that is ongoing throughout church history. Each generation in the church is progressively building towards that goal. 4. This is one of the main shifts we need to make in the church with regard to the study of the end-times (the study of eschatology). We must begin seeing these kinds of passages as more than just predictions of future events, but as passages given to help us in our labor with God to see the church come to maturity regardless of the generation we live in.
PAGE 2 D. One of the more profound predictions the book of Revelation makes is that the blood of Jesus has restored humanity so that human beings can serve as priests on the earth. The subject of believers as priests tends to be one of the most neglected subjects in the church in comparison to how central it is in Scripture. It is both Jesus eternal calling and identity (Psalm 110:4; Hebrews 7:25) and our eternal calling and our eternal identity (Exodus 19:6; 1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 1:6; 5:9-10). 1. The book of Revelation declares that our primary and permanent identity is to be priests. 2. The book of Revelation predicts that a priestly ministry led by human beings who reflect the priestly ministry in heaven must come on the earth. 3. The New Testament affirms the priestly calling on the people of God as a present reality. Therefore, the predictions in the book of Revelation related to the priesthood affect how we build the church now. E. To understand what God wants on the earth, it is important to be familiar with Revelation 4-5. These two chapters predict and describe the priestly expression on the earth that must come. II. REVELATION 1 PRIESTLY MINISTRY IS A RESPONSE TO JESUS BEAUTY A. Whenever we study the book of Revelation, we must always begin at the beginning of the book. When we think of the book of Revelation we often think of many things, but the book declares itself first of all to be the Revelation of Jesus. 1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, (Revelation 1:1 ESV) 1. In some ways the book of Revelation is the most dramatic book in the Bible, but from the beginning God wants to make it clear to us that His primary objective in this book and in the events predicted by this book is the revelation of His Son Jesus. 2. He gave this book to us to give us understanding of His commitment to reveal His Son and to have understanding of some of the things that will happen as He reveals His Son. B. To emphasize that this book, and the entire end-time drama, is primarily about Jesus the book begins as John encounters the glory and majesty of Jesus.
PAGE 3 12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. 17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, Fear not, I am the first and the last, (Revelation 1:12 17 ESV) 1. The scene in Revelation 1 is especially important because John was probably the disciple most familiar and most comfortable with Jesus. The Bible tells us he thought of himself as the disciple Jesus loved (John 13:23; 19:26; 20:2; 21:7, 20). He would lean over and rest on Jesus. He was willing to ask Jesus questions when the other disciples were too intimidated (John 13:22-25), and he was the one Jesus asked to take care of His mother (John 19:25-27). John even saw Jesus transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:28-36); 2. John was extremely familiar with Jesus, but in Revelation 1 John encounters Jesus in a very different way from any way he had known him before. In the gospels we see John leaving on Jesus with confidence, but in Revelation 1 John falls to his face. 17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, Fear not, I am the first and the last, (Revelation 1:17 ESV) 3. One of the main points of John s encounter in Revelation 1 is that there is far more to the glory and beauty of Jesus than what we have encountered so far. Just as John knew Jesus very well but was surprised when He encountered this expression of His glory, so also there is far, far more to Jesus glory than we know. 4. So much of Jesus glory has, in a sense, been hidden from the earth. This is why the Father has so much zeal to reveal Him. He wants us to know His Son the way He knows His Son. C. One of the ways the beauty of Jesus is revealed is through humans functioning as priests who minister to Him and then create a context for the people to encounter His beauty.
1. Priests make ministry to God their priority and their decisions and actions demonstrate the great value of God. The fact that God is worthy of ministry night and day speaks volumes about Him. He is worth the sacrifices priests make to minister to Him. PAGE 4 2. The second purpose priests have is to create a context for people to encounter the glory of God. Priests facilitate a meeting between God and the people. This is the role of priests in a nation. They create a meeting place where God s presence is stewarded so that the nation has access to the witness of His presence. D. The Old Testament priesthood, though it is temporary, serves as a pattern but it is often misunderstood. 1. Most believe the primary function of the Old Testament priest was to make atonement for sins but this was just one function of the priestly ministry. 2. The primary function of the priesthood was the minister to God and then to create a context where the nation could come before God and minister to Him as well. 3. The sacrifices and the sanctifying of the tabernacle was not the end goal. It was a necessary process so that the priests could draw near to God and minister to Him. This ministry was the primary purpose and objective of the tabernacle. 4. The priestly ministry of the tabernacle, and ultimately the priestly ministry of the church, exists primarily because God wants to dwell among His people. Sacrifices were part of the sanctuary, but the purpose of the sanctuary was so that God could dwell in the midst of His people. 8 And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst. (Exodus 25:8 ESV) E. Revelation 1 is intended to be fuel for the priestly ministry. 1. We are called to minister to Jesus because He is so profoundly majestic and worthy of our ministry. Nothing in this earth is as beautiful as Jesus and therefore nothing is as worthy of our love, affection, time, and priority. The more the Father reveals Jesus beauty to us the more we will value Him, the more we will prioritize Him, the more we will want to minister to Him, the more we will miss Him, and the more we will talk about Him.
PAGE 5 2. Because Jesus is this beautiful, we are called to create a context on the earth where people can encounter His glory. What the earth needs most is priestly communities on the earth where people value what heaven values. One way this value is expressed is through singing, intercession, and teaching based on what the Scripture declares about the person of Jesus. a. These kinds of communities are a reflection of what is really true and what is ultimately beautiful. They are prophetic signposts pointing to true reality. b. God presence abides in communities where the priests of the earth intentionally minister to Him. This abiding presence is the only hope of the nations. F. Revelation 1 sets the context for the book of Revelation and it sets the stage for the prediction we find in Revelation 4-5. Revelation 1 introduces the majestic idea that there is so much more to the beauty and glory of Jesus than we have so far seen. John will see more of that beauty in Revelation 5, but it is important that he first encounters the shock of Jesus beauty on the earth. G. This is why he encounters Jesus in Revelation 1 on the earth before he goes up in Revelation 4. The book of Revelation begins and ends with the message that the glory of God is going to fill the earth. John encounters the glory of the man Jesus on the earth in Revelation 1 and the glory of His city coming to earth in Revelation 21-22. In Revelation 4-5 we see a profound revelation of the beauty of Jesus, but that revelation and the accompanying response are in context to one of the main themes of Revelation this must all happen on the earth. H. We are called to understand that He is majestic and glorious, and then to respond to that glory. Revelation 5:10 tells us that human beings are specifically called to lead the response to the beauty of Jesus. 10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth. (Revelation 5:10 ESV) III. REVELATION 4 THE THINGS THAT MUST COME A. Revelation 4 is not just a description of a heavenly setting. It is also a prophecy. In Revelation 4:1, John is told that he is going to see what must take place. We have to approach Revelation 4-5 not just as a glimpse into what is happening in heaven, but also as a prophecy of things that must take place. This especially applies to how we understand what follows in Revelation 5.
PAGE 6 1 After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this. (Revelation 4:1 ESV) B. In Revelation 4, John encounters the living creatures. These creatures look at the beauty of God on His throne and then respond in worship. 2 At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne 8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come! (Revelation 4:2, 8 ESV) 1. Notice that these creatures are covered with eyes so that they can see God s beauty. That fact that God gave these creatures so many eyes tells us that He wants His beauty to be made known. He does not want to hide it. One of the great lies in the earth is that God is detached and aloof. The reality is that He is intricately involved in creation. Sin has obscured our view of Him, but He longs to reveal Himself to creation. 2. Looking at something beautiful always releases pleasure. We enjoy looking at a beautiful picture, or beautiful scenery. God designed us so that when we see something beautiful it releases pleasure within us. God gave these creatures eyes so they could experience intense pleasure by gazing upon the most beautiful thing in the universe the person of God. 3. Not only does God want creation to experience the pleasure of gazing on His beauty, He wants creation to also experience the pleasure of responding to that beauty. When we see something beautiful we cannot help but respond. We automatically gasp, shout, sing, speaking about, and respond to things that are majestic and beautiful. God wants to fill the earth with the response of creation to His beauty. 4. He particularly wants His beauty declared using words because words are one of the most powerful things in the earth. What we say has incredible power both on ourselves and on each other. God wants us to use that power and declare back to Him the glory of who He is. C. The proclamations of the living creatures never cease day or night:
PAGE 7 8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come! (Revelation 4:8 ESV) 1. Day and night they encounter the beauty of God and day and night they cry out. John says the never cease to cry out because of the glory they see. a. We naturally respond to beauty so long as that beauty touches our souls. The response of the living creatures is strange to us because so much of what we see that is beautiful gives us a temporary thrill and then the thrill fades. However, the beauty of God is like an endless ocean. b. The living creatures are immersed into that ocean and cannot find the end of it. The revelation of endless beauty will provoke an endless response. Everywhere they turn they are surrounded by glory and beauty which is why they do not cease to cry out. 2. The unceasing nature of what happens in Revelation 4 reveals two things related to God s plan to restore the earth: a. First, we are made to be in constant communion with God and experience the pleasure of His glory. Because we live in a fallen world, it seems like God s beauty is hidden and we experience it in brief glimpses. Revelation 4 tells us that we were created for something entirely different. We were designed to experience the pleasure of God day and night. The promise of the Bible is that a day is coming when that glory is going to fill creation and permeate the earth (Habakkuk 2:14). b. Second, we are designed to cry out day and night about the beauty of God. The earth should be filled day and night with songs and proclamations of the beauty of God. Declaring the beauty of God is not something that belongs to Sunday morning alone. God s beauty is to be declared both day and night and it will be. D. Revelation 4 is also a key chapter because of the prayer we refer to as The Lord s Prayer. In Matthew 6, Jesus told us to pray that it would be on earth as it is in heaven. Because Jesus is teaching us how He would like us to pray, we could call the Lord s prayer Jesus prayer list for the church. Right at the top of that list, is Jesus desire that the earth would become like heaven. 9 Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:9 10 ESV)
1. Jesus wants us to pray that the earth would become like heaven. If He wants the earth to become like heaven then that has to affect how we build the church. We want to build the church in such a way that it values what heaven values and becomes a picture on the earth of what is coming. PAGE 8 2. Heaven is the place where God s will is done without any opposition. It is the place where we see what He wants. Therefore, glimpses of heaven reveal to us what God wants on the earth. 3. Revelation 4 tells us what it is like in heaven. It tells us what God is like. It tells us what He enjoys. It gives us insight into His plan and purpose for creation. It tells us what Jesus is thinking about when He asks us to pray that it would be on earth as it is in heaven. E. From the very beginning in the book of Exodus, God told Moses to build according to a heavenly pattern (Hebrews 8:5). There is a pattern in heaven that God wants on the earth. That is why the Bible ends with the promise that a city is descending from heaven to the earth. 1. Revelation 4 reveals that pattern. It tells us what is coming. We need to prepare the people for what is coming and also ask how this should influence the way we build the church. 2. The church is meant to be a witness of what is coming. It provides a prophetic witness of what God is bringing to the earth. The church is God s imperfect prophetic picture of the future. It is a down payment of what is coming. This is why what is coming and what is in heaven must influence how we build the church. We could summarize the values of Revelation 4 this way: a. God wants His beauty to be revealed to all creation. b. God wants creation to respond to His beauty by declaring what it is that they see. F. Revelation 4 provides the first glimpse at must take place. The first step to understanding what must take place is understanding the heavenly pattern that God wants on the earth. Revelation 4 summarizes that pattern, and Revelation 5 provides even more specific information about God s plan. It reveals the specific role that man is called to play in that plan. IV. REVELATION 5 THE RECOVERY OF MAN S CALLING
PAGE 9 A. Revelation 5 expands the vision of Revelation 4. As John continues to gaze right into the center of the throne he sees more than just One upon the throne, he sees in the very middle of the throne the majestic Lamb who was slain. As the chapter continues, Revelation 5 tells us how what John saw in Revelation 4 will fill the earth. B. As Revelation 5 opens, suddenly John sees a scroll in the hand of the One upon the throne: 1 Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. 2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals? 3 And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, 4 and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. (Revelation 5:1 4 ESV) 1. To understand the purpose of the scroll we have to remember the main theme of the passage. The passage is describing the things that must come and specifically describing how God is going to bring what is in heaven to the earth. The scroll represents the divine plan that will result transformation the earth so that it is filled with the revelation of God s beauty. 2. The angel declares, Who is worthy? Who can take this scroll and fulfill what is written in it and make the earth like heaven. Who can release the revelation of the knowledge of God throughout the earth? Who can bring man into his priestly calling so that he can respond to the beauty of God? 3. This seems like an impossible situation. God gave man authority over the earth (Genesis 1:26) so a man must redeem the earth. Because men were given the leadership of the earth, a man must emerge who can lead the earth in such a way that it becomes what God wants it to be. However, ever man has failed. There is not one who is worthy or capable of redeeming creation. That is why verse 3 tells us that no one in the heavens or on the earth was able to open the scroll. C. The crisis causes John to weep: 4 and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. (Revelation 5:4 ESV)
PAGE 10 1. Having now seen the glory of Revelation 4, everything within John longs to see that same thing come to the earth. Now that he has seen the beauty of the One upon the throne John wants that beauty to fill the earth. Before John encountered Jesus in Revelation 1 and the throne in Revelation 4 John understanding of God beauty was much more limited. Now John has encountered something beyond his imagination. He is fascinated. He is in awe. He is transformed. He is burdened. a. Encountering beauty is intensely pleasurable for the human spirit. We are designed to enjoy incredible pleasure when we encounter God. b. In Revelation 4 John encountered indescribable beauty as he gazed on the One upon the throne. John had never encountered anything so deeply pleasurable. c. In that moment, John remembered Jesus asked him to pray that earth would become like heaven and it hit John with incredible force. As the pleasure of being near the One on the earth electrified John s being he instantly remembered Jesus words nearly 60 years before, John, pray that it would be on earth as it is in heaven. d. God s deep desire for His glory to be seen, experienced, and loved on the earth is actually the most selfless thing God can do. God is often referred to as some kind of ego-maniac for wanting worship, but the reality is the exact opposite. When we encounter and celebrate the glory of God it is deeply pleasurable. Nothing else compares to it. God s desire for us to experience and acknowledge His glory is His desire for our own pleasure, satisfaction, and fulfillment. e. Humanity is like the living creatures. We are covered in eyes. We are born with hungry eyes looking, and longing, for what is beautiful. We paint pictures, we take photos. We decorate everything around us. We do everything we can to surround ourselves with beauty because it is intensely pleasurable to us. f. Our inner man is covered in eyes and when our eyes are not satisfied by what they were made for, everything goes horribly wrong because the desire for beauty is so deep that it is impossible to turn away from. If that desire is not satisfied, man will search desperately even frantically for something to satisfy that longing. It cannot be denied or suppressed. It must be satisfied by something, by someone.
PAGE 11 (1) Our sin obscures the glory of the only One who is beautiful enough to satisfy the human spirit and so we choose lesser gods. (2) We form gods who are beautiful to us. We elevate creation to the status of a god. We treat each other likes gods looking for satisfaction in each other. (3) All of this is the desire of mankind for beauty and pleasure, something that has been put within us by God. He put it in us for our own pleasure but He alone is great enough to satisfy it. Everything else leaves us longing for more. (4) In Revelation 4 John experienced true satisfaction. He touched true beauty for a minute and the pleasure was indescribable. After that moment, John could never be denied again. g. Not only is our appetite for beauty and pleasure inescapable, it is also insatiable. It is never stagnant. When we experience something intensely pleasurable it satisfied us for a minute, but soon we are looking for something else. Something new, something more. We have an insatiable appetite for pleasure and at the same time stagnant pleasure cannot satisfy us. In the same way we long for beauty but beauty is not stagnant either. This is why fashion changes. It is why trends of beauty come and go. We love beauty, but we are always in a search for something more beautiful. Something new. (1) All of this is because we are ultimately designed for God. What fascinated us last year is not enough for the future. We have an infinite desire for pleasure and beauty and only an infinite God can satisfy that craving. (2) We cannot stay stagnant because of how we are created. Only God can fulfill longing and any time we do not ultimately satisfy our longing for pleasure and beauty in God, we will try to fulfill it in other ways that are frequently self-destructive.
PAGE 12 (3) This longing for beauty and pleasure is the kindness of God to keep us from being satisfied with lessor things. Without the insatiable desire for beauty and pleasure, human beings could be satisfied with far lessor pleasures. Instead human beings are designed so that lessor pleasures can never fulfill us so that we will search for something more something greater. This reach in us is the reach for the divine and it is the gift of God no other creature on earth is designed this way. (4) God designed us for ever increasing hunger so we could eternally experience the pleasure of greater glory and greater beauty. 2. Having encountered the incredible pleasure and beauty of the One on the throne, everything in John cried out for that to be on the earth. When John was taken up in Revelation 4:1 he broke through the darkness that clouds the earth and keeps the earth from encountering true beauty and true pleasure. 3. Suddenly John broke out into weeping. His whole body convulsed as deep grief took possession of his soul at the thought that no one was worthy to restore the earth. If there was no one worthy, it meant the earth would perpetually be denied the pleasure of Revelation 4. That pain was inconceivable to John. John had already seen the One who is worthy in Revelation 1 so this is not just the weeping of John. John s weeping is the weeping of humanity. It is the cry of all humanity even all creation (Romans 8:19) for One who can fill the earth with the revelation of God. 4. Because Revelation 4 is not presently happening on the earth, the earth is filled with darkness. People do not know what true beauty is and so things that are not truly beautiful enslave them. Their eyes are blind to see the beautiful God. They do not know that there is One who is found worthy who will restore all things. A key part of that restoration is for the beauty of God to be revealed on the earth and for creation to see, experience, and respond to that beauty. 5. God s original intention in the book of Genesis was to dwell on earth among His people. That intention is still in the heart of God and it will come to pass that is the prediction of both Revelation 4 and 5. D. One of the elders tells John he can stop weeping because there is a solution: 5 And one of the elders said to me, Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals. 6 And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I
PAGE 13 saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. (Revelation 5:5 6 ESV) 1. There is a glorious human being who has overcome. He will fill the earth with the glory of God. He will release light to creation. He will enable mankind to experience the pleasure of the knowledge of God. He will enable human eyes to see true beauty. He will enable men to respond to and declare beauty in the earth. 2. The answer to the cry of mankind is the revelation of the Lamb. The earth needs to be filled with the revelation of the Lamb in order to break the darkness on the earth and rescue both the earth and mankind. 3. Man will only recover His calling once the Lamb is revealed and mankind is able to see and respond to the beauty of God. E. The revelation of the Lamb is central to God s plan to transform earth. 1. For heaven to come to the earth there must be someone who can pay the price of sin. This is why John sees the Lamb as a Lamb slain. 2. Because man was given authority over the earth, a man must recover the calling of mankind and restore the earth. This is why John sees Jesus as the Lion of the tribe of Judah. 3. Only God is truly capable of revealing God. This is why John sees the Lamb in the very midst of the throne. He is fully God and therefore fully capable of revealing God. F. Once John saw the Lamb, a significant scene unfolded in from of him. The living creatures and the elders declared the glory of the Lamb. 8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying, Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, 10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth. (Revelation 5:8 10 ESV)
PAGE 14 1. The elders declare the beauty of the Lamb because He has ransomed human beings. He has purchased them back. He has recovered them. No longer is humanity in the grip of darkness. 2. He has ransomed people from every tribe, tongue, language, people, and nation. The Lamb is not just going to restore the calling of Israel; He is going to recover the calling of humanity. He is going to fill the entire earth with the knowledge of God. Yes, He will save Israel, but He will do far more than that (Isaiah 49:6). 3. In verse 10, the elders give perhaps the most profound statement the Lamb has made human beings into a kingdom of priests who will reign on the earth. This is the ultimate purpose of the blood of Jesus. The blood recovers our priesthood. It gives us permanent, open access to God so that we can encounter His beauty and minister to Him (see also Hebrews 9:24-26). 24 but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. 25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. 26 For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. (Hebrews 7:24 26 ESV) 4. God s kingdom is a kingdom of priests. The government of God has been given to a priest and a priesthood. 4 The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. (Psalm 110:4 ESV) a. Jesus initiates a new priestly order. b. He governs forever as a priest. c. He is assembling a kingdom of priests who, like Him, will rule from a priestly place. 5. Jesus is a priest in the heavens so that we can be priests on the earth. In order for the earth to become like heaven, men must become priests in the earth. In the same way the elders and living creatures in heaven stand before God and use their authority to make God s beauty known in the heavens, so also man must stand before God and use his authority on the earth to make God s beauty known on the earth.
a. Because man has been cut off from the revelation of God s beauty due to his sin, man is incapable of serving his divinely given function. PAGE 15 b. So long as man is not functioning in his calling, the earth can never become like heaven. c. The blood of Jesus restores access to God so that man can have access to God and minister to Him on the earth. 6. John is given heaven s solution for the crisis on the earth: a. The blood of Jesus has restored the calling of human beings. Because of the blood of Jesus, human beings can be priests before God again. b. God wants human beings from every tribe and tongue. He wants a global priesthood. Not just one people or one nation. A people from every single people group will enter into a priestly calling before God. c. This people will be formed into a kingdom, but it is a priestly kingdom - a kingdom of priests. From the beginning God wanted a nation of priests (Exodus 19:6) and Revelation 5:10 tells us that, through the blood of Jesus, it will happen. d. John is told that these human priests must reign on the earth. In order to redeem creation there must be a priestly ministry on the earth. We have open access to God and stand before Him in heaven, but there must be a priestly ministry on the earth to restore the earth. It is not enough for humans to go to heaven to experience and declare the beauty of God. It must be done on the earth. e. Jesus stands forever as the great intercessor and great high priests to bring this to pass. V. THE NEED FOR PRIESTLY MINISTRY A. From the very beginning God established man with a priestly calling. When God put man in a garden, He made man in His image and then commanded him to subdue the earth. Man was to subdue the earth and take dominion over it by filling it with the knowledge of God.
1. The garden language used in Genesis is temple language. God is creating a cosmic temple and in that temple He put man and then gave man the commission to fill earth with the knowledge of God. PAGE 16 2. This is why God was accustomed to walking with man in the garden. The garden was a place of communion between God and man a place that God wanted expanded until it covered the entire earth. B. Throughout the redemptive plan, we see an emphasis on the priestly ministry and because of this it is important to recognize that the priesthood is far more than a vocation it is an identity. The people of God are priests before Him forever. 1. Even in the book of Exodus when God put vocational priests in place who served in the tabernacle as an occupation, God declares that Israel is a nation of priests. 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel. (Exodus 19:6 ESV) 2. This is why the priesthood of Israel was originally designed to come from all the tribes of Israel. God saw the nation as a priestly nation and wanted every family in the nation connected to that identity regardless of whether or not they served in the tabernacle as part of their vocation. 3. Moses was told to speak these words over the nation so that their divine calling remained front and center. In the same way we are to speak to each other about our priestly identity before God to provoke each other to function in our calling before God. 4. It is key to recognize that there is a difference between the priestly identity that God has given man and the priestly job that the Levitical priesthood fulfilled in the Old Testament tabernacle. The priestly job in the Old Testament that included administering sacrifices does not continue on for us. However, the priestly identity of the people of God does. 5. This is why Jesus is called a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Our leader is a priest and we are called to be like Him. However, He is not a priest like the Levites who were called to administrate the Tabernacle. He is a priest of a different order who ministers to God forever. We are part of this priesthood with Him.
PAGE 17 4 The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. (Psalm 110:4 ESV) C. All of this is why the New Testament describes the people of God as a continuing priesthood. God has always wanted a priestly nation, not just a few priests who administrated the Old Testament sacrificial system. The gospel does not replace the priesthood; it enables the priesthood God always wanted. Because of the sacrifice of Jesus God s eternal purpose of a nation of priests can go forward. Revelation 4-5 contains key predictions about the nature of these priests, how they function, and how God wants to implement the priestly ministry on the earth. D. Human beings were uniquely designed by God to serve as priests. We were made in the image of God so that we can fellowship with God and then accurately reflect and spread the knowledge of God across the earth. 1. The most majestic creatures in the earth can only display their own majesty. A lion is majestic and terrible in his strength, but he is limited to his own strength. His majesty is limited to what can be contained within the frame of a lion. 2. Man is completely different. Man is not limited to the majesty of his own frame. Human beings are designed so that they can encounter and reflect the majesty of God. We are designed to demonstrate a glory greater than our own glory. 3. The great tragedy of man s fall is that we have become obsessed with displaying and pursing our own glory when in fact we were created to experience and display something far more glorious. a. Though we endlessly pursue our own glory, we are never satisfied with our own glory because we weren t made like the rest of creation. We are made to reflect something bigger than ourselves. b. However, when we break fellowship with God and we do not experience and display His glory we still try to fulfill our priestly duty by giving ourselves to lessor glories and displaying lesser glory. We become obsessed with human beauty, human power, and human pleasure when the reality is we were made to call creation to something far greater.
PAGE 18 c. All sorts of disasters are in the earth because we cannot, within ourselves, produce the kind of glory we were made to carry. At the same time we cannot help but function in our priestly calling. We cannot help but call the earth to what we find most beautiful and most desirable. We automatically talk about, write about, and evangelize about whatever we find most beautiful and most majestic. d. It s in our nature. When we see beauty and majesty our response is automatic. We talk about it. We call others to it. We look for it. When someone hits a game winning shot we don t ponder it, we immediately respond to the beauty of the athletic feat. We tells others about it the next day. We are made to be fascinated and when we are truly fascinated we are not silent. This is the core of our priestly identity and our priestly function. We must connect how we function as human beings with the prediction of Revelation 4-5 that we are made to interact with the beauty of God this way. e. No other creature in the earth does this. Other creatures simply live their life. They do not call others to pleasure and beauty because the animals of this realm do not have a priestly calling. They live their lives at a basic level seeking food and shelter. Beauty does not affect them, nor do they call others to embrace what they find beautiful. f. Humans cannot live this way though. We are attracted to beauty and we naturally call others to appreciate that beauty whether it is a person, an idea, a cause, a nation, or even an athletic contest. Humans cannot help but be attracted to beauty and then seek to call others to value that same beauty. What we must see is that this is priestly. 4. Man will fulfill his priestly calling in some way and this has grave implications for the earth. So long as we function as priests calling the earth to lesser beauty, we bring disaster into the earth. However, the very moment we being to call the earth to something higher than ourselves we recover our priestly calling and cooperate with Gods plan to bring healing to the nations. E. What the earth needs most right now are human beings to function as priests on the earth. Jesus died for this because it is necessary for man to recover his calling in order to redeem creation. At the heart of man s priestly call is the desire for beauty, the revelation of beauty, and then giving a witness of that beauty.
1. Man s fallen nature wars against his priestly calling because our fallen nature sets our focus on ourselves. The lie in the garden was that we would be the ones that defined both good and evil. PAGE 19 2. The recovery of the priestly calling requires us to set our focus outside ourselves on something higher. Our fallen nature resists this, but in reality it is a doorway to the highest pleasure imaginable. There is no higher pleasure than encountering beauty that transcends us. 3. This is why the majesty of nature amazes us or the roar of a jet leaves us in awe. These things are bigger than ourselves. We are made to be caught up in a majesty bigger than ourselves and in that we will find ecstasy that we can never experience so long as we are enamored with ourselves. F. The unique gifts given to man were given so that man could commune with God and then spread the knowledge of God across the earth. 1. A true priestly ministry sanctifies and cleanses a space. It enables people to approach God. Israel had to have a priestly ministry for the nation to experience the presence of God in their midst and that is a picture for us of what the earth must have. 2. If Israel had to have a priestly ministry to host the presence of God, then the earth also must have a priestly ministry to host the presence of God. Until there is a priestly ministry functioning on the earth, the earth cannot experience the presence of God in the way it was meant to. 3. This is ultimately the calling of the church. We are called to be a priestly ministry in a particular location so that a community can experience the knowledge of God. We are called to be a witness of something greater and to host God s presence in the midst of our nations for the sake of the nation. G. We are designed by God to minster to Him and in so doing host His presence for the sake of our nations. 1. Whenever Israel s priesthood was corrupt, the nation was in serious trouble. When the priesthood was flouring the nation flourished. This is intended to be a message for us. a. Our modern nations do not have Israel s calling, but the church in a nation represents the priests of that people group. The fate of our nations is more connected to the church than we realize.
PAGE 20 b. When the church is functioning in her priestly identity it releases a witness in a nation of what is true, right, and good. A vibrant church in a dark nation can preserve and ultimately bring a measure of transformation to that nation. c. This is illustrated in Numbers 16. Numbers 16 tells the story of what happened when Korah rebelled against God s leadership through Moses. The people sided with Korah s rebellion and provoked God s judgments. Moses response to God s immanent judgment was to send Aaron into the people to offer incense to protect the people from judgment. 45 Get away from the midst of this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment. And they fell on their faces. 46 And Moses said to Aaron, Take your censer, and put fire on it from off the altar and lay incense on it and carry it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone out from the LORD; the plague has begun. 47 So Aaron took it as Moses said and ran into the midst of the assembly. And behold, the plague had already begun among the people. And he put on the incense and made atonement for the people. (Numbers 16:45 47 ESV) (1) Our atonement is found in Jesus, but Numbers 16 illustrates a powerful principle. Priests bringing incense among the people was able to effectively serve as intercession protecting the people from God s judgments. (2) While the priesthood has changed dramatically the principle is the same. When priests minster among the people it serves as intercession for the sake of the people. (3) Aaron took his incense into the middle of God s judgments on the basis of the ministry of the tabernacle. We are called to take our incense into the middle of the people on the basis of a much more powerful atonement the blood of Jesus. d. When a nation does not have a vibrant church functioning in her identity the nation is missing a God ordained witness and will rapidly descend into darkness.
PAGE 21 e. The number one need of the nations is not political change or economic change. The number one need of nations is a priestly ministry a vibrant church. If we deeply care about the future of our nations, we should first of call give ourselves to building the church. Only when the church is in place can a society ever truly prosper. H. Revelation 4 describes the essence of that priestly ministry. It is to gaze at what is truly beautiful God Himself and then respond to that beauty. Our declaration of the beauty of God is what sanctifies the earth. 1. The church becomes a set apart people, a holy people, because we set our gaze on a higher beauty and because we call others to embrace that beauty as well. 2. Our calling is to first establish the church as this kind of people. A people with a different gaze and different values from the people around them. A people who live differently from their emotions not just in their behaviors. 3. Too often we teach people that being Christian means to believe certain things or to behave certain ways, but it means something far deeper. It means to love different things. It means to have an entirely different vision of what beauty is. It means the very core of our being has been captured by something entirely different from what captures the earth. 4. We are not just different from the world in attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors. It goes farther than that. We are different in our very essence. This is what it means to be holy. That is what it means to be a Christian. 5. When a people gather around this it forms a biblical church. The thing that makes us different is not ultimately our creeds or our behavior, it is God Himself. This is why the new birth is so critical. a. A Christian is one who has been made into a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17) a new creature and that transformation doesn t happen when a person only taken on new beliefs, it takes on when they encounter the beautiful God. b. That encounter is more dramatic in some and less dramatic in others. It happens in different ways with different individuals, but nevertheless it is the transformation of human beings that comes when they encounter God that makes them Christians.
PAGE 22 I. A church is an assembly of people transformed and they become a visible statement in their community of a different way of living. It reflects the values of heaven and not the values of their society. It provides a glimpse into what is coming on the earth. This is why it is so critical that we model the church after what is happening in heaven. 1. The church makes a statement to society because it values and, even more importantly, finds pleasure in very different things that the world values and finds pleasure in. 2. A biblical church values now the things that will be valued on the earth. It is a prophetic statement of what is coming and what will be. It is also a rebuke to the existing culture, a reminder that what presently is will not always be. Something greater is coming. 3. One of the ways the church does this is by reorienting itself around priestly ministry. Practically this means the church ministers to God first and then to the people. The expression can vary in different locations, but the ultimate goal is the same the church should demonstrate on earth what is most valuable in heaven. J. When the church functions as a community of priests, it provides a valuable witness on the earth. When the church functions in its priestly identity it creates a context where people can experience God. To do this we must make the pursuit of the beauty of God our highest passion and then structure church in such a way that it becomes a context to pursue the beauty of God and then a place to respond to that beauty as it is revealed to us. K. It would have been easy for John to get so caught up in the ecstasy of his heavenly vision that he assumed that such a thing can only be experienced in the heavens. 1. This is why the elders remind him humans must rule as priests on the earth. What John experiences in these chapters must come to the earth. 2. If we connect to the intensity of the pleasure John was experiencing in Revelation 4-5, then the prophesy that this must come to the earth becomes a staggering prophecy. 3. This means the earth truly is going to be filled with the glory of God. The curse will be lifted. The earth will become like heaven. How will it happen? It will happen as part of a divine process that involves restoring mankind to his priestly place.
PAGE 23 4. This is why Romans 8 tells us that all of creation is groaning for the sons of God to take their place and be revealed. Creation groans because the earth is made for something far more than what we currently experience. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. (Romans 8:19 ESV) 5. Human beings must take their priestly place for creation to be liberated. This cannot fully come until Jesus returns to liberate creation, but the act of redemption was the first step in recovering man s calling. As we wait for the day of His return when the earth will be transformed, the church is to be a witness in society of what is coming. That witness is primarily given by what the church values. How important is this? Revelation 5 says Jesus shed His own blood for it. VI. REVELATION 5 A KINGDOM OF PRIESTS A. Our destiny is not just to be priests, but to be a kingdom of priests. The kingdom is God s designated government and there is a governmental aspect to man coming into his calling. We are called to govern the earth as priests. B. This is one reason why we hear that prayer always precedes revival. When we stand before God, take our place, and declare His will in agreement with Him it produces fruit in the earth. It does not always happen in the way we expect and frequently takes longer than we wish, but prayer is a trigger for God s activity in the earth (Revelation 8:3-5). 1. The great tragedy is that we frequently pray for revival but once an awakening comes, prayer tends to subside. 2. In reality we are designed to be a people who stand in the place of prayer and minister to God as our primarily calling forever. 3. We fail to do this because we do not understand the full extent of the authority we have been given. Yes, we are in a great conflict with darkness but when we take our place it sets things into motion.