- Priests and Holy
Exodus 15:6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak to the children of Israel.
God promises that we children of God through faith in Christ will be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. The Lord made us so by His achievement of Redemption and His act of Salvation. Jesus made us a kingdom of priests. Peter calls us a “Royal Priesthood and a Holy Nation” [1 Peter 2:9). John sees Jesus and declares that He “made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father” Revelation 1:6].
First, the promise is that we will be a kingdom and a nation. This is the invisible Church of all believers. We are bound together by blood as citizens and subjects under the King of kings and Lord of lords. Jesus brought the kingdom to us and placed the kingdom inside us, in our spirits. He makes us a nation under one flag, the cross, and guides by one constitution, the Bible. We live and die for this kingdom, for in it we live forever and will never die. As subjects of the King we rule as kings. Luther gives us this paradox: “We are lords of all, subject to none, and we are servants of all.” We are free of any master except the One who loves us and gave His life for us. We are free to love others by serving them, sacrificing our own selves for their good. We rule and exercise authority and dominion over all evil, ruling with Christ under His absolute rule.
Second, the promise is that we will be priests, a whole kingdom of priests. The function of a priest is to bring people to God. The priest prepares the sacrifice for the worshiper and he prays for him to the Lord. This is what we do in the midst of a lost world: bring people to God with our life, witness and service, and we pray for people. We preach the Gospel and intercede. God promises that this is what we will do: we serve others and pray for them; we bring them to God. What would happen if the prayers of God’s people were suddenly vanished from the earth? Who would bring people to God? When the Lord made us priests He gave us a purpose.
Third, the promise is that we shall be a holy nation. The Lord makes us holy in truth suddenly when we believe in Jesus. The Spirit is making us holy in fact gradually as we live by faith in Christ. We need to believe this promise, because we do not see it. We don’t see the invisible kingdom; we don’t see the hearts of this holy nation. We trust God’s Word and promise to make us holy. He says it; we believe it.