The
Greatness of Christ’s sacrifice
The
second aspect of the reformation is the greatness of Christ's sacrifice that is
being offered and so inasmuch as God testifies that Jesus Christ is forever
priest according to the order of Melchizedek, and remains a priest continually,
the offering offered to God by Melchizedek is also perpetual. This is made
evident and supported by scriptures which states that; “…Melchizedek king of
Salem brought out bread and wine; He was the priest of God Most High, and He
blessed him and said: “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven
and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into
your hands” (Genesis 14:18-20).
When
Moses was about to make the tabernacle, remember, he was divinely instructed
saying; “See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the
mountain” (Hebrews 8:5).
Although
they were serving the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, the offering
which they offered to God, and regarded by the Lord as “My offering, My food
for My offerings”, were symbolic to the bread and wine offered by Melchizedek.
The
offering they offered comprised of, a Lamb which represented Jesus Christ, the
Lamb of God, Who indeed was slain and foreordained, before the foundation of
the world, but was manifest in these last times for us, as the High Priest: Its
grain offering which was a mixture of fine flour mixed with pressed olive oil,
as the unleavened bread; and the wine as its drink offering.
In
instituting the New Covenant Jesus took bread blessed it, broke it, and gave it
to His disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” Then He took the cup
and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. For
this is My blood of the New Covenant, which is shed for many for the remission
of sins” (Matthew 26: 26-28).
This
new covenant became in force only after the death of Jesus Christ, since where
there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the
testator, for a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power
at all while the testator lives.
According
to the scriptures, “Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and
sacrifices, therefore it is necessary (indispensable) that this One (referring
to Jesus Christ) also may have something to offer” (Hebrews 8:3).
Jesus
Christ entered the most Holy place not with the blood of goats and calves, but
with His own blood once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. “For if
the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean,
sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of
Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God
purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this
reason He is the Mediator of the New Covenant, by means of death, for the
redemption of the transgression under the first covenant, that those who are
called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance” (Hebrews 9:13-15).
The
flesh and blood of Jesus Christ, represented by the bread and wine, is the
offering which Melchizedek the Priest of the Most High God, offers to the
Father continually on behalf of the sins of the people, and this is the better
hope we have by which we draw near to the Father because, “This is the message
which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him
is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in
darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as
He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus
Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1John 1:5-7).
The
once and for all which Jesus with His own blood obtain eternal redemption for
humanity signifies that, once and for all there is a perfect offering that can purge
our conscience from sin and dead works to serve the living God and to present
us holy, blameless and irreproachable in the sight of God.
The
blood of Jesus Christ which cleanses us from all sin when we have fellowship
with one another and presents us holy, blameless and irreproachable in the
sight of the Father is through the cup of the New Covenant which we partake of
when we are having a holy convocation. Furthermore, the main objective of
having a holy convocation is to offer to the Lord the food for His offerings.
For
we have been duly instructed saying; “These are the feasts of the LORD which
you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire
to the LORD, a burnt offering and a grain offering, a sacrifice and drink offerings,
everything on its day.”
This
offering is besides or in addition to the observance of the Sabbaths of the
LORD, besides our gifts, besides all our vows, and besides all our freewill
offerings which we give to the LORD” (Leviticus 23:37-38).
The
reason why this offering is so vitally important when having a holy convocation
it is because, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the
truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness: If we say that we have
not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us” (1John 1:8-10).
And
the crux of the matter is, God in no way will co-exist with sin therefore, sins
must be confessed and forgiven before we can have fellowship with one another
and with the Father and the Son. We are to worship the Lord in the beauty of
holiness.
One
also has to be mindful of the fact that, the High Priest will not offer any
offering on behalf of anyone without the individual presents his or her
offering to the High Priest. Each individual is responsible to bring his/her
offering to the High Priest so that the High Priest can make intercession to
the Father on the individual’s behalf because with God there is absolutely no
respecter of persons or favoritism.
Another
very important consideration is the fact that, true believers, the called out
ones are considered as living stones that are being built up a spiritual house,
a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through
Jesus Christ. They are regarded as a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a
holy nation, His own special people, that they may proclaim the praises of Him
who called them out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a
people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have
obtained mercy” (1 Peter 2:10).
The
reason why many of us stumble it is because we are being disobedient to the
word, to which we also were appointed which is to be a nation of priests
offering to the Lord the food for His offerings at their appointed time and it
is also the reason why many among us are weak and sick and many sleep: It is
simply because we are not properly discerning the Lord’s body and are not
following the protocol which has been ordained and established by the
Melchizedek priesthood.
To be continued
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With brotherly love
Lucius Joseph
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