PASTOR OLUWASEYI OSANYINBI
[biblegateway passage=”HEBREWS 7:1-2,11-13,16-19″ display=”HEBREWS 7:1-2,11-13,16-19″]
Perfection is not possible without the priesthood operations of Jesus Christ. The warfare for perfection consists of priesthood battles. Melchizedek appeared to Abraham after the slaughter of certain kings. In the same way, the priesthood of Jesus Christ is tied to the destruction of the enemies of God and so His priesthood is in the order of Melchizedek.
The operation of blood is crucial in the place of priesthood. We must understand how to appropriate Jesus’ blood if we are really aiming for perfection. Blood is the essence of life and it is required to atone for sin. Fortunately, Jesus was generous enough to shed His blood in our place.
Without precedence, Abraham gave Melchizedek a tithe of all he had. He must have been instructed of the Holy Spirit to do so. Tithe speaks of putting God first in our lives. We cannot be perfect, we cannot become like God if we do not give Him the first place in our lives.
Melchizedek blessed Abraham because he was higher than Abraham. It takes Divinity to bless a patriarch like Abraham. Melchizedek must have been the pre-incarnate Christ from all indications. Only Christ is qualified to be the King of Righteousness that Melchizedek is said to be.
We must be able to recognize Christ when He steps into our realm. We must not be like the people on the road to Emmaus who could not discern the Christ until He broke bread with them (Luke 24:13-35).
Priesthood is always required to keep the Law of God. The transition from the Levitical to the Melchizedek priesthood necessitated a change of the law. The Levitical priesthood was predicated on the law of circumcision of the flesh. The Melchizedek priesthood is based on the circumcision of the heart.
The law of flesh circumcision is a carnal commandment because it is confined to the natural realm. The promises of the Old Testament were basically ephemeral. The law upon which the Melchizedek priesthood is based is after the power of an endless life. This upgraded version of priesthood administers eternal life.
God is the sole definition of life, He is the Source of life. The life of God is self perpetuating. God is the sustainer of every other kind of life. God does not necessarily need our allegiance to be sustained because He is all in all. When we are sold out to Him, it is for our own good.
The Old Law was annulled because it made nothing perfect; it was unprofitable because it made nothing perfect. Anything that does not bring perfection is unprofitable. The bringing in of a better hope through the institution of the Melchizedek order of priesthood brought perfection.
We have to streamline ourselves to the hope of perfection, other considerations and other hopes must be subservient to this singular hope. Anything that relegates perfection to the background should be avoided like a plague. It is the hope of perfection that draws us to God.
[biblegateway passage=”PHILIPPIANS 3:14-15″ display=”PHILIPPIANS 3:14-15″]; [biblegateway passage=”GENESIS 14:21-24″ display=”GENESIS 14:21-24″]; [biblegateway passage=”HEBREWS 7:20-25″ display=”HEBREWS 7:20-25″];[biblegateway passage=” I CORINTHIANS 15:55,56″ display=” I CORINTHIANS 15:55,56″]
For us to get the prize, we must attain the mark. The prize is perfection. Our pursuit of God must be ultimately towards the end of perfection. When we lay hold of God we lay hold of eternal life.
There are other prizes competing for our attention but we must know that God is the choicest reward. We must be like Abraham who rejected the offer of the King of Sodom to make him rich and ended up inheriting God.
God’s plan is to save us to the uttermost. Our salvation must not stop at any point short of perfection. Our salvation is determined by the level of our yieldedness to the dealings of God. When we yield fast enough to God, we will enter life and as such death will not be able to catch up with us.
If we must defeat death, we must defeat sin. If we must defeat sin, we need a priest. Priesthood is designated to kill death. The Melchizedek order of priesthood guarantees perfection.