Colossians 1:11-23 What Jesus does in our lives is so wonderful and awe inspiring, He brings so much to our lives. The wonderful, tangible, and definite things Jesus brings to our lives is all about the roles He has in our life. Jesus helps us to know and live out the Kingdom of Heaven life He offers to all who will accept Him as Lord. Christ Jesus, the Messiah, clearly indicates that He was anointed to His great redemptive work as Prophet, Priest and King for our lives. The following are some thoughts and ramblings of a guy who has been transformed by the redemptive work of Jesus. I pray The Holy Spirit brings encouragement, hope, peace, and joy to your life as you grow in your relationship with God. RECAP Jesus our Prophet brings clarity to living out the truths of Scripture. Jesus makes the why and how of living out the scriptures real and practical. Jesus our King rules wisely, justly, and righteously. He is the perfect representation of God. He leads with Mercy, Grace, and Love, showing us that leading others is about deeply caring, building up, and protecting. Jesus our High Priest, offered once and for all times, for all people, His life to pay the price for all sin. The one who never sinned, although He walked as man, willing gave His life, that is He died, for all of humanity to have the opportunity to enter eternity with God. Jesus sits in the place of power at the Father’s righthand, and when the Father looks at us, He sees His creation just like He made it, because Jesus has offered to God the final sacrifice to restore us and all of creation to Himself. A NOTE This is a good opportunity to remind ourselves of how Jesus becomes all three of these in our life. Each of us are born into a broken world of destruction and despair because of disobedience. The disobedience of one man, Adam, brought sin into the world. The life and death of Jesus, has brought restoration and life back into the world (Romans 5:12-21). Because of the sin of Adam, all have sinned and are in need of savior and because of the righteousness of one man, Jesus, we all have the opportunity to live as God intended. It is God who loved you first and through this love sent His son that you might have life now and into eternity (John 3:16-17; 1 John 3:16-17; 1 John 4:9-10; John 10:10; Romans 3:23-26; Romans 6:23). Simply put, humanity is full of sin and Jesus is the one who breaks the bondage of sin, and creates for us a place heaven. Our relationship with God can be restored through Jesus. Knowing that living a life of sin separates us from God and that through Jesus we are made right with God brings us to set of cross roads. Do I believe I have a sin problem and have the need of a savior, or not? Many say “no” and some say “yes.” One very amazing thing is that you get to choose; God choose to give His one and only Son, so that you can choose life. The choice is yours to make. Believe in your heart God raised Jesus from the dead and confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and you are saved (Romans 10:9-13), really simple. We all have a sin problem, when we realize it repent (let God know you know) of your sins, ask God to forgive you and God will forgive (1 John 1:8-10 Psalm 103:10-13). Remember that repentance is not about a distance from God, is a about a direction; choosing God’s direction is confessing “I need Jesus as my Savior” and turning to follow Him for the rest of this life and the life to come. To have Jesus be Prophet, King, and Priest of your life is really that simple, although very hard; making the right choice is most often difficult. It is by faith that we accept this truth, “I need Jesus,” and it is by faith and faith alone that we believe and confess that Jesus is the only way to true life today and into eternity (Romans 5:1-2). If you are reading this and have not confessed your need for Jesus, why not? If you are reading this and you have confessed your need for a Savior and yet aren’t living for Jesus, why? Why not take a moment and let God know your need, confess your sin, ask God to help you repent, and let His forgiveness fill your life full of Love and Grace? Why not? The desire to confess sin, the desire to follow Jesus, the faith needed to repent comes from Jesus, the one who imparts God’s Holy Truth into our lives; our Prophet, Priest and King. PERSONAL TESTIMONY Let’s get back to Jesus and what He brings into our lives. All that Jesus gives to us, is given through Grace (Ephesians 2:8-10). He brings into our lives so many wonderful things, the most amazing is forgiveness through His Grace and Love. Grace is God giving us what we do not deserve, that is we cannot earn it. The craziest thing to wrap my brain around is that I do nothing to earn God Grace. Everything that I have, in Christ, today, tomorrow and into eternity I did nothing to earn it. The healing both spiritually and physically, peace, comfort, love, joy, the ability to laugh in spite of circumstances, and so much more is all because Jesus fulfills all of life’s purposes. All that we have is a free gift from God (Romans 4:15; 5:16; 6:23), His amazing grace! Jesus, came as God and as man that all of humanity would have the same opportunity to spend eternity in heaven with Him. Jesus is not just about eternity He is also about life today. Given for us today, this very day, is the fullest life possible, a rich and satisfying life through Jesus (John 10:10). The Scriptures point out that in Christ Jesus there is newness of life; the old life is gone and a new heart, mind, and purpose are born within us (Romans 5:18, Romans 6:13, Colossians 2:11-12). All the good that is produced in this new life is because Jesus is in this new life. Jesus dwells within us (Truth fills our life, born again), we dwell in Him (The penalty of sin is paid for, once and for all time), and Jesus dwells within the Father (Mercy, Grace, and Love are fulfilled); we are surrounded inside and out with what God has for us (Holy Trinity). We begin to fulfill those things God has for us because we become more and more like Jesus as He fills us and surrounds us with Himself. Look carefully at the illustration above; where are you in this picture?
Jesus in you, you in Jesus, Jesus in the Father... (John 15:1-17; John 10:38) CONCLUSION Jesus our Prophet, Priest, and King is all we need to be the Church. He demonstrated for us the Way, the Truth, and the Life we are to live, then He died and rose from the dead demonstrating His complete full authority over all of creation. Jesus the “Anointed One” brought to our lives complete and full restoration to God the Father; nothing is left undone. Jesus then sent from heaven, to us, the Holy Spirit; who now fills us with comfort and Truth as He teaches us the very things God wants us to join Him in. As an individual we are complete in Christ, as a Church we are complete in Christ. As an individual we are given gifts, as a Church we are given gifts. One very important aspect of living the Kingdom Life, God has designed for us, is to remember that what we are given as gifts and talents is for the benefit of each other and the world around us. All we are given, in Christ, is to be given away for the benefit of others (1 Corinthians 12:7). This brings us to the conclusion of our time exploring who the person of Jesus is: Prophet, Priest, and King. Living in the Kingdom of Heaven, in the New Testament era has aspects of the Old Testament life woven into it. We function today as God’s people with a complete fulfilled Law, a complete fulfilled relationship with God and each other, a complete fulfilled life to come. All because God first loved us! Jesus our Prophet, establishes in the New Testament church the prophetic office. There is a distinct order of prophets (1 Corinthians 12:28; Ephesians 2:20, 3:5, 4:11-13) outlined for us. They are different from the "teacher," whose primary purpose was/is to impart truths already revealed.
As Jesus fills us with His truth, we begin to understand how the newness of Life changes us. We are no longer defined by our past, we are defined by our future. Our identity becomes Kingdom centered and we live out the Way of Jesus, because He has made Truth real. Jesus our High Priest fulfills all the requirement of God’s priestly order so that we can offer up to God our sacrifices of praise and worship without a mediator. The priestly order is carried out in the church today; not in the same way as the Old Testament, but carried out non the less. Through the mediation of Christ Jesus, we, as a holy priesthood, offer spiritual sacrifices to God (1 Peter 2:4-12; Hebrew 13:15-16). Our sacrifices are the praises we give to God and the very way we live out our lives serving others. Jesus brings to our lives purpose, He defines our destiny, that is to worship and praise our Heavenly Father and pour into others what God has poured into us. Jesus our King lived out for us and explains the very nature of leadership for the New Testament Church (Matthew 23:5-12; John 13:12-17). Through the life and teaching of Jesus, the Kingdom of Heaven has come. Given to us is the way we lead and guide others into Kingdom living. We, as Jesus expands our capacity, live out the Kingdom life where He brings to our lives ruling authority in the Kingdom. The people of God are called kings in the Scriptures (Daniel 7:22,27; Matthew 19:28; Revelation 1:6). Jesus the head of the Church leads and guides all authority for all time. I pray you are encouraged as we have been on this journey together. I understand that there is so much more to learn and grow in my understanding of Jesus as Prophet, Priest, and King. I pray that more questions are formed and more searching begins as we continue to walk the Way of Jesus our Lord and Savior. I am very excited to continue to learn what the Kingdom of Heaven living has for us in the generation. May you experience God the Father, Christ Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit in real, personal, and practical ways more and more. Now may the God of peace – who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood – may he equip you with all you need for doing his will. May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him. All glory to him forever and ever! Amen. Hebrews 13:20-21 Work Cited International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Electronic Database Copyright © 1996, 2003, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved. Easton's Bible Dictionary, PC Study Bible formatted electronic database Copyright © 2003, 2006 Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved. Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Copyright © 1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003, 2006 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc. Meet the Rabbis: Rabbinic Thought and Teachings of Jesus, Brad H. Young ©2007, Baker Publishing Company. A Primer on the Empowering Works of the Holy Spirit, Philip J. Noordmans © 2018, Kindle Direct Publishing.
3 Comments
Garvin
5/31/2020 09:35:15 am
I so much enjoyed your message this morning. When I was reading this,and how God loves us so much that he provided everything , so that we could be with him for eternity it is so awsome. Regardless of the family we came from, whether we had good parents or not so good, we have now been adopted into God's family. We now have endless brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, and to think that our father now is the creator of heaven and earth. When i think how God provided his only son to be nailed to the cross so that we could be with him, regardless of our past, reminds me of how great the price was that he paid for me.
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Dean
5/31/2020 07:44:11 pm
Blessing to you brother, thankful you were encouraged.
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AuthorDean Walker; Pastor Archives
January 2023
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