Telaquapacky
Unconquerable Good Will
Melchizedek was Jesus in His pre-incarnate form.
1. In Hebrews, Paul identifies Jesus as Melchizedek:
Hebrews 5:5-10 tells us that God the Father appointed Jesus to be a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.
Hebrews 6:20 and 7:1 identify Jesus as the same Melchizedek whom Abraham met, returning from the defeat of the kings. Paul’s argument there that Jesus’ priesthood was superior to the Levitical one rested on the identification of Jesus as Melchizedek.
2. The requirements of the Melchizedek priesthood could only be fulfilled by Jesus:
Hebrews 7:3 Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God he remains a priest forever.
Hebrews 7:16 requires of the Melchizedek Priest “the power of an indestructible life.” He must have eternal life in and of Himself.
To have no father or mother, no genealogy, no beginning or end, that is, to be eternal, Melchizedek had to be divine. That narrows the field, doesn’t it?
Hebrews 7:4-9 tells us that Melchizedek’s priesthood was superior to that of Levi, and Paul spends considerable time in the Book of Hebrews telling us the reasons why Jesus’ ministry is superior.
Hebrews 7:19 and 10:1 describe the Levitical Priesthood as having a major defect owing to it’s dependency upon the law- it cannot make anyone perfect. However Jesus’ ministry can. This is why Christ’s Melchizedek priesthood is superior to the Levitical one:
Hebrews 7:19 (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.
Hebrews 10:1 The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming--not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship.
Hebrews 10:14
because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
Hebrews 11:40
God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
Hebrews 12:23
to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect,
How can Jesus/Melchizedek make us perfect in the way the Old Testament priests never could? Paul explains:
Hebrews 10:11-12
Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.
The Levitical priests were serving as a copy and shadow of the true, saving priesthood of Jesus, serving in a sanctuary that was only a copy and shadow.
Hebrews 8:5
They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: "See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain."
Hebrews 9:24
For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence.
The Levitical priests were sinners themselves. They had to offer sacrifices for their own sins before they could offer sacrifices for the people. On the contrary, Jesus had no sin, so this uniquely qualified Him to offer Himself as the sacrifice for our sins.
Hebrews 7:26, 27
Such a high priest meets our need--one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.
27 Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.
The Levitical priesthood was of the Old Covenant. The Melchizedek priesthood is the priesthood of the New Covenant.
Hebrews 8:6
But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises.
With His divinity, the power of an indestructible life, with the virtue of a sinless life, by the remission of the sins of all mankind by the sacrifice of Himself, and finally, by His high priestly ministry in the Holy of Holies in the antitypical sanctuary in Heaven, Only Christ fulfills all the requirements of the Melchizedek priesthood. The Melchizedek priesthood is the New Covenant priesthood.
1. In Hebrews, Paul identifies Jesus as Melchizedek:
Hebrews 5:5-10 tells us that God the Father appointed Jesus to be a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.
Hebrews 6:20 and 7:1 identify Jesus as the same Melchizedek whom Abraham met, returning from the defeat of the kings. Paul’s argument there that Jesus’ priesthood was superior to the Levitical one rested on the identification of Jesus as Melchizedek.
2. The requirements of the Melchizedek priesthood could only be fulfilled by Jesus:
Hebrews 7:3 Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God he remains a priest forever.
Hebrews 7:16 requires of the Melchizedek Priest “the power of an indestructible life.” He must have eternal life in and of Himself.
To have no father or mother, no genealogy, no beginning or end, that is, to be eternal, Melchizedek had to be divine. That narrows the field, doesn’t it?
Hebrews 7:4-9 tells us that Melchizedek’s priesthood was superior to that of Levi, and Paul spends considerable time in the Book of Hebrews telling us the reasons why Jesus’ ministry is superior.
Hebrews 7:19 and 10:1 describe the Levitical Priesthood as having a major defect owing to it’s dependency upon the law- it cannot make anyone perfect. However Jesus’ ministry can. This is why Christ’s Melchizedek priesthood is superior to the Levitical one:
Hebrews 7:19 (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.
Hebrews 10:1 The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming--not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship.
Hebrews 10:14
because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
Hebrews 11:40
God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
Hebrews 12:23
to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect,
How can Jesus/Melchizedek make us perfect in the way the Old Testament priests never could? Paul explains:
Hebrews 10:11-12
Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.
The Levitical priests were serving as a copy and shadow of the true, saving priesthood of Jesus, serving in a sanctuary that was only a copy and shadow.
Hebrews 8:5
They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: "See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain."
Hebrews 9:24
For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence.
The Levitical priests were sinners themselves. They had to offer sacrifices for their own sins before they could offer sacrifices for the people. On the contrary, Jesus had no sin, so this uniquely qualified Him to offer Himself as the sacrifice for our sins.
Hebrews 7:26, 27
Such a high priest meets our need--one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.
27 Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.
The Levitical priesthood was of the Old Covenant. The Melchizedek priesthood is the priesthood of the New Covenant.
Hebrews 8:6
But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises.
With His divinity, the power of an indestructible life, with the virtue of a sinless life, by the remission of the sins of all mankind by the sacrifice of Himself, and finally, by His high priestly ministry in the Holy of Holies in the antitypical sanctuary in Heaven, Only Christ fulfills all the requirements of the Melchizedek priesthood. The Melchizedek priesthood is the New Covenant priesthood.
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