Can I Ask That? – Part Ten – What Was the Purpose of the Priesthood and the Sacrificial System?
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews%204%3A14-5%3A10&version=NIV
Head/Mind – Helpful Information
A priest has basically two functions. The first function is to remind people of God’s love and presence. They teach people the way of the Lord and instruct them in God’s word. In this way, they are God’s representative.
But they also represent the people, by directing praise of the people toward God. They also represent the people as they present offerings to God, including sacrifices for the atonement of sin.
Sacrifices were an important part of the life of ancient Israel. There were burnt offerings, grain offerings fellowship offerings, sin offerings and guilt offerings, among others. The purpose of all of these sacrifices was to underscore the need for atonement. God’s holiness demands that sin be atoned. Atonement means to make two separated parties one again – the are re-united God’s holiness and mercy meet in the sacrificial system mediated by the priests. The priests were authorized to declare the people forgiven, but the system was only meant to be a sign of the real thing. The Hebrew word for atonement means to “cover up” the sin. But, the sacrificial system could only temporarily “cover up sins. It was like temporarily sweeping them under the rug. The blood of bulls and goats, declares the New Testament, could not really take the sins away.
When Jesus Christ came, he offered the final and complete sacrifice of himself. He was the only true pure sacrifice. He was God’s true High Priest, not just a temporary agent, and he was without sin.
The entire sacrificial system, including The Leviticus Priests. sacrifices and offerings, and the calendar of holy days, was only a shadow of the real thing. But it prepared us for the real thing.
Heart – the Personal Connection
Centuries of sacrifices drove home the point that salvation came at a high price and that love is costly. This may be the most important idea I want to share today. If you are a parent, you know that love is costly. Any good parent eventually stops counting the ways that they have given up time, money, energy, and a thousand others goods for the sake of their child’s good.
One of my kids found a picture of me as a teenager and asked, “Dad, did you use to be cool? What happened?” My answer was simple, “You came along.” I had to give up my second childhood so that you could have your first childhood. I gave up the luxury of keeping up with the latest music, the new fashions, and many of my own pursuits, so that you could have a shot at them.
There are many reasons why people are not having children, but one of the cultural trends that is impacting birth rates is adults who do not want to make the necessary sacrifices to be a good parent.
The same kind of reflection could be made on why nations rise in splendor and then decline. G. K. Chesterton reflected on how nations become great. Speaking of Rome he said, “People did not love Rome because she was great. She was great because they had love her.” America will become a place of beauty, freedom, and prosperity, when her people love their country enough to make her so.
Love is costly. And real love is always willing to make costly sacrifices for that which is loved. It was written into the fabric of creation that our salvation would cost something great. All that was left to be seen was who was going to pay that price.
Also, I want to say, the priesthood was about teaching us how to be God’s people. 1 Peter 2:9 says “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into light.”
God’s people are meant to do the same thing as the original priesthood. One, we are to remind people of God’s presence and love. We are to demonstrate how to walk in the way of the Lord and instruct the world in the Holy Scriptures.
We are also meant to direct the world’s worship back to God. In other words, we are to show people how to love God by the way that we live.
Hands – The Practical Application
Imagine a bridge connecting two sides of a river. On one side, you have the presence of God and His love, while on the other side is the world, full of people who may not yet know Him. As priests, we serve as the bridge, helping to connect the two.
Let me give you another analogy. When our oldest son became a student at Mississippi State, he and other incoming freshmen, were invited to spend a week at New Maroon Camp. New Maroon Camp happened a week before official move-in week. During that week, the new students were placed into community groups and introduced to the best that campus life had to offer.
Key to making that work was having upperclassmen work with each community group. These students were ambassadors for the school and advocates for the new students. And it was their job to make sure that each student had what they needed to succeed. They represented both the university and the new students.
That is our work. If you are a mature Christian, you have walked with the Lord long enough to be trusted guide to someone new to the faith. At the same time, you are human being in need of God’s redemptive grace. Thus, you are able to represent God to others, while also being someone who knows the challenges of walking a life a faith.