“Although the whole earth is mine, you will be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:6)
“You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ…But, you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” (1 Peter 2:5, 9)
“You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.” (Revelation 5:9 -10)
Isn’t this a wild group of quotes?
Notice the tenses of the verb “to be”.
What do you think about when you hear the word “priest”?
I’m beginning to think this idea is more important than I might have thought at first. I borrowed the title of this post from Reggie McNeal’s treatment of the same scripture passages. The idea is that God will not give up nor will He abandon his original intention. McNeal believes that we need to actively take on our role as priests. If we’re going to “move the line”, I believe he is right.
Filed under: Gospel As Story
