Background
1 Peter 2:9, but you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Revelations 21:2-3, And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them and be their God.
From the book of the prophets, we come across many prophecies where God proclaims these covenantal plans for mankind. To make us his people and Him being our God. In the ideal picture God had for the world, a people of his likeness dominating the nations would be the solutions of the many challenges we face in our world today. If only we can attain the principles of sonship and priesthood as we ought to, our faith would not be seen as a menace in society today. In the first verse of today’s message is the kind of people we are to be in order to live according to the new covenant, and the second is the new world and its kind of citizens. Let’s get into the Word..
Priesthood in brief
Besides the principle of sonship(reference to the message Manifesting Sons ), priesthood is another aspect of the life of the believer. As Peter describes in Chapter 2:5 we are like living stones being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Furthermore, Peter helps us understand the manner of people we ought to be in verse 9, a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that we should show forth the praises of him who has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. Priesthood as in the old testament was ordained to the Levites(Numbers 8), the instruction of their ordination according to Numbers 8:11 and 19 is to execute the service of the Lord, to make an atonement for the children of Israel when they came into the sanctuary. For this reason, they were to be cleansed from vers 7-8, by the sprinkling of water, shaving of the flesh and the washing of their clothes. Sacrifices of animals were made for a sin offering as well.
These were symbols of their ordination and the lives expected of them to live, which is translated in the new testament, seen in the wording of 1Peter 2:5. In the priesthood of the new covenant, Hebrews 8, Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, many deceive themselves into thinking that sacrifices Jesus made exempts us who believe in Him from everything else. But it is not so, our acceptance of this new covenant, is to live as Christ lived, as in Romans 12:1-2 we are to present our bodies as living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable service. The second part of this verse do not be conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is good and acceptable, and perfect, will of God, affirms the generation of people God is raising through Jesus who need to have the mind of Christ. This is only possible by allowing the Word of God to rid us off the elements of the world, the flesh and its desires.
Life of the priesthood of the new covenant
The sacrifices of priesthood have been made possible through the atonement of the blood of Jesus, as Apostle Arome Osayi would say the testimony of the believer is an exchanged life. Seen in Galatians 2:20, I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live not yet I but Christ liveth in me: and the life which i now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. As Jesus our pattern man puts it, if any man will come after me,let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me. The principle of denying self refers to the sacrifice of the flesh and its desires, the priests of old demonstrated this act by the physical shaving of the flesh. Denying self is one of the biggest challenges of the believer, because we think we can do this on our own, living the exchanged life,that is accepting the life of Christ, depends on the condition that we yield ourselves to Him and allow Him live through us. Mathew 11:29-30, take my yoke upon you, and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
The New Jerusalem
In revelations 21:2 John speaks about the New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband, John heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them and be their God. This prophecy is also seen in many parts of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, however Revelations 21:2-3 marks the end of the process. In revelations the book regarding the end time, John announces a new Jerusalem, these are the people who have overcome and finally attained the mandate of sonship, through Christ,submitted to the demands of priesthood,the ones who have not defiled their garments(Revelations 3:4) and submitted to the righteousness of God(Romans 10:3). These are the ones, who have allowed God to make His dwelling in them, shining forth His dimensions, these are such God seeks to inherit the earth. Only men with God enthroned in their hearts, indwelling in the temples of their bodies can be fit for the New Jerusalem.
“For my yoke is easy and my burden is light”