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God needs priests in order to accomplish His eternal plan. Of the three offices—the priesthood, the kingship, and the prophethood—mentioned in the Scriptures, the most important in terms of the accomplishing of God’s plan is the priesthood. It is not enough just to be a king, because if a king does not live according to the principles of the priesthood, he will not be a proper king. This is also true of prophets. A proper prophet should be a priest in principle.
In addition to these three offices, the Bible uses many terms to refer to God’s people, such as the children of God and servants of God. Priests, however, is an all-inclusive term. Priests includes the aspects of being God’s servants as well as His people and His children. The Bible shows that the accomplishment of God’s plan depends upon priests, because priests are the only people who can accomplish God’s plan.
The first two chapters of Genesis and the last two chapters of Revelation present two descriptive pictures, which are the “blueprint” of God’s plan. Although the Bible speaks of God’s plan throughout its pages, the two clearest pictures of God’s plan are presented at the beginning and at the end of the Bible. These chapters show the “blueprint” of God’s plan, whereas the remaining portions of the Bible speak of the process through which God accomplishes His plan. Hence, if we want to understand God’s plan, we must look at the pictures at the beginning and at the end of the Bible. These two pictures show that God desires to work Himself into man in order that man would express His image and represent His authority. In order to fulfill this plan, God needs to be joined and mingled with man.
The most mysterious and central revelation in the Bible is that God is willing to be joined with man as one. The Word becoming flesh is God’s coming to mingle Himself with man (John 1:14). The Word is God, and the flesh is man. The Word becoming flesh means that God became a man, and it also means that God is mingled with man. One of the main points concerning the Lord’s birth in Bethlehem is that a Savior was born (Luke 2:11). The most important point, however, is that God and man were mingled together. When the Word became flesh, the One who was begotten was called Emmanuel, God with us, that is, God with man (Matt. 1:23). The Lord, who was born, is God as well as man, man as well as God.
The central thought in the Bible is that God desires to be mingled with man and for man to be mingled with God. Without God, man has no meaning. Similarly, without man, God is not satisfied. If God and man exist apart from one another, the universe will be without full meaning. The full meaning of the universe is revealed in the mingling of God with man.
An unbeliever tends to feel that life has no meaning, because he is a man without God; that is, there is no element of God in him. In contrast, a believer feels that human life is meaningful, bright, joyous, and promising, because God has entered into him and has been mingled with him. We all experienced this mingling when we were saved, but we did not have a full comprehension of what happened. It is similar to receiving the benefit of taking a vitamin tablet without knowing the ingredients of the tablet. We are much clearer now about the mingling of God with man. Therefore, we can say with assurance that the meaning of human life and the satisfaction of God’s heart depend upon the mingling of God with man. Mingling is the basic condition that enables God’s plan to be accomplished. Man can express God’s image only when God and man are mingled, and man can represent God and bear God’s authority only when God and man are mingled.
The pictures at the beginning of Genesis and at the end of Revelation also reveal that God’s desire is not related to scattered individuals but to a corporate man. According to the type in Genesis 2, Eve is Adam’s corporate counterpart. At the end of Revelation the bride of the Lamb is also a corporate counterpart, the New Jerusalem. A city signifies a corporate entity because a city is a corporate entity of people who congregate together. These pictures show that God desires to gain a corporate entity, not scattered individuals.
The first time that the Bible speaks of the Word becoming flesh is in John 1:14, which says, “The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us.” This verse refers not only to the mingling of God with man but also to a corporate expression of this mingling, because the Word who became flesh is also spoken of as a tabernacle. A tabernacle cannot be built with only one piece of building material; it has to be built with many pieces. The Lord also referred to Himself as a temple (2:19-21). The Word who became flesh is both a tabernacle and a temple. Hence, when the Bible speaks of the Word becoming flesh, it conveys the thought of mingling and the thought of a corporate entity. This is a mysterious matter.
I hope that we can see this matter. From God’s viewpoint, our experience of regeneration did not occur at various times; rather, it was accomplished in a corporate way at the same time (1 Pet. 1:3). With God there is no element of time or space. In God’s eyes, Paul was not saved two thousand years ago, while we were saved two thousand years later. In God’s eyes, Paul was not saved in the Mediterranean region, while we were saved in the Pacific region. In God’s eyes, we were saved together at the same time.
Hence, our experience of regeneration involved more than the union of God and one individual person; it was the union of God with a corporate man. Through incarnation the Word became a tabernacle and a temple, hence, a building. The completion of this building will be expressed through the Body of Christ as the dwelling place of God and as the counterpart that God desires. The corporate entity produced through incarnation and regeneration is the Body as God’s dwelling place and counterpart.
The only people who can accomplish God’s plan are priests. God’s plan requires priests because the key to accomplishing God’s plan depends on man having contact with God, fellowshipping with God, enjoying God, and allowing God to flow through him. In other words, the accomplishment of God’s plan depends upon the mingling of God and man. Although food may be available to eat, there is still a need for people to eat the food. The purpose of food can be fulfilled only when there are people to eat the food. Similarly, God’s eternal plan to be received by man and mingled with man can be fulfilled by priests who go before God to fellowship with Him, contact Him, and let Him flow through them in a mingled way. A priest is one who stands before God and fellowships with God. The New Testament speaks of those who genuinely live before the Lord as being those who enter into the Holy of Holies (Heb. 10:22; 4:16). According to the type in the Old Testament, only a high priest could enter into the Holy of Holies; not even a king could enter. In other words, those who entered into the Holy of Holies were priests.
According to the New Testament, every believer can enter into the Holy of Holies; this means that we can be priests continually. Hebrews 4:16 says that we should come forward to the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace for timely help. The throne of grace is signified by the lid of the Ark in the Holy of Holies (Exo. 25:17, 21). If we want to touch the throne of grace, we must enter into the Holy of Holies as priests. Strictly speaking, whenever we pray in a genuine way, we touch the throne of grace in the Holy of Holies, and we fulfill our priestly service.
God’s requirement for the believers is the same as His original desire for created man. If Adam had not fallen, man would have been a priest in the garden of Eden, serving God, drawing near to God, fellowshipping with God, and living before God. When man sinned and fell, however, God blocked the way to the tree of life. The tree of life refers to God, who desires to enter into man to be man’s life and to be joined with man. Therefore, when sinful man was barred from contacting the tree of life, it meant that he could not contact God, draw near to God, or receive God as life.
The God who is in the Holy of Holies today is the tree of life that was in the garden of Eden. The high priest could enter into the Holy of Holies to see God face to face and have direct contact with God, just as Adam had the right to eat of the tree of life in Genesis 2. Before the fall there was no separation between God and man in the garden of Eden; man could live in God’s presence to enjoy God and even eat God as the tree of life. The Holy of Holies is like the garden of Eden in this regard. At the end of chapter 3, however, man was sent forth from the garden of Eden (vv. 23-24). In type, he was barred from the Holy of Holies and put outside the veil.
Nevertheless, Hebrews 10:19-20 says that we may enter into the Holy of Holies, because the veil that separated the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place has been split. The Lord Jesus died and shed His blood on the cross to satisfy God’s righteous requirement related to sin. Consequently, when He died on the cross, the physical veil of the temple was split, and the way into the Holy of Holies was opened (Matt. 27:51).
This shows that God’s desire for us to be priests is not an afterthought on His part; it was present within Him even before the creation of man. God’s thought is that man would be a priest to draw near to Him, contact Him, and let Him enter into man and be mingled with man. God can enter into and mingle Himself only with priests who bear His image and represent His authority. Only priests can accomplish God’s eternal plan.
In its presentation of the offices in the Old Testament, the priesthood, rather than the kingship and the prophethood, is first spoken of in Exodus. With regard to these three offices, the priesthood is the most prominent and the most critical. This shows that the other offices which man has before God depend upon the priesthood. The kingship depends upon the priesthood, as does the prophethood. According to the Bible, the kingship is even brought in by the priesthood. For example, Moses had authority because he fellowshipped with God and lived before God. Since he fellowshipped with God, he could rule for God. Fellowshipping with God is a function of priestly service, and ruling for God is a function of kingly authority. Hence, authority comes out of fellowship. If there is no fellowship, there is no authority. This means that if there is no priesthood, there is no kingship. The kingship depends on the priesthood and is brought in by the priesthood.
Consider the high priest Eleazar, who represented the priesthood, and Joshua, who represented the kingship. All of Joshua’s activities were under the direction of Eleazar (Num. 27:15-21). This shows that the kingship depends upon the priesthood. Even the age of the kings was brought in by the priesthood. When Samuel anointed David, the age of the kings began, and when the condition of the kings was normal, David conducted himself like a priest, going before the Ark and being clothed with a priestly ephod.
During the age of the prophets, especially the prophets during the time of desolation, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Zechariah were all priests who were serving as prophets. Even the prophetess Anna served in principle as a priest in Luke 2:36-38. She was a widow who spent most of her time in the temple.
In the New Testament the apostles served as priests before God. They continued steadfastly in prayer and in the ministry of the word (Acts 6:4). Their function as proper apostles came out of their prayer. They burned incense before God in prayer as priests. The apostles could serve as apostles because they were priests before God. In order for a believer to be proper, he must be a priest. If a believer does not live within the veil, spending time in the Holy of Holies to contact the Lord, it will be difficult for him to be a proper Christian. As God’s children, we must live in the Holy of Holies. If we do not pray or draw near to God, it is almost like not being a child of God. We must be priests and live in the Holy of Holies in order to be a proper Christian.
In order to live as priests, we have to draw near to God both individually and with other saints. We need to live in the Holy of Holies by exercising our spirit and turning to our spirit to fellowship with God. We should never think of the Holy of Holies as being merely in the heavens. Subjectively speaking, our spirit is the Holy of Holies. God dwells in our spirit; therefore, our spirit is the Holy of Holies, and when we come together to release our spirit and blend in spirit, this blended spirit is the Holy of Holies as well.
Matthew 18:19 speaks of two being in harmony on earth concerning any matter. We can be in harmony only when we spend sufficient time in prayer with one another so that our spirits can be released and blended as one. This harmonious, blended spirit is the Holy of Holies in which God dwells. Whenever we have such a harmonious situation, God’s presence will be there (v. 20).
In order to live as a priest, we must enter into the Holy of Holies and spend time in prayer. When we live in the Holy of Holies, we will bear the image of God and represent the authority of God, and we will be blended as one in spirit and be built up as God’s dwelling place. This will accomplish God’s plan. This is the reason that only priests can accomplish God’s plan.
