THE CELESTIAL
MINISTRY OF CHRIST
Chapter 9
THE MORE EXCELLENT
MINISTRY OF CHRIST IN THE TRUE TABERNACLE
WEEK 3 – THURSDAY
Scripture Reading: Gen. 14:18-20; Heb. 6:19-20; 7:11-17; 8:2; 10:12
Read and pray: “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was priest of God the Most High” (Gen. 14:18)
THE TESTAMENT AND ITS EXECUTOR
We have a wonderful testament and a magnificent Executor! The testament is actually the entire Bible: it began with God speaking, became His promise, later became His covenant, and now, since everything has been accomplished through the death of Christ, it is a testament or last will, with all the items of its contents bequeathed to us as an inheritance.
Everything in this testament is ours. We have a wonderful Executor who ensures the execution of the testament! He is God; nevertheless, He became a man. He lived on this earth and experienced all the sufferings of human life.
At the end of His experience as a human being, He died on the cross. By this means, He solved the problem of our sins, defeated Satan, terminated the entire old creation, and provided a solution to all problems. He satisfied God and fulfilled all His requirements.
After being buried for three days, He overcame death and entered into resurrection life. In resurrection He uplifted humanity, and He Himself became the life-giving Spirit. This is the compound, all-inclusive Spirit. This wonderful Person—God and man, dead and resurrected, living forever, strong and able—executes everything that is in this testament for our benefit and enjoyment.
What a privilege we enjoy to live in the stage in which the testament is in full execution and to have an Executor fully able to carry out all its provisions for our enjoyment!
THE MINISTRY OF MELCHIZEDEK
The book of Hebrews tells us that Christ is the High Priest, not according to the order of Aaron, but according to the order of Melchizedek (7:11-17). At the end of His life on earth, He acted as the High Priest, offering Himself as a sacrifice to God. This earthly part of His priesthood—offering the sacrifice to accomplish redemption—was typified by Aaron, the high priest chosen by God from among His people.
Now that this has been accomplished, Christ in resurrection is the heavenly High Priest, according to the order of Melchizedek. What does our heavenly Melchizedek do? He no longer offers sacrifices, but serves. Just as a minister serves by supplying those whom he serves with what they need, so this Minister supplies us with the heavenly supply, ministering God Himself to us.
In the account of Genesis 14:18-20, when Abraham returned from the slaughter of the kings, Melchizedek, priest of the Most High, came out to meet him with bread and wine. Melchizedek was not a high priest who presented offerings, but one who served.
Abraham must have been exhausted after fighting against the kings. In his exhaustion he undoubtedly needed supplies. Christ now does, in the heavenlies, what Melchizedek did for Abraham. He serves us the supply of life according to our need. There is no longer any need for sacrifices, for His one offering has satisfied God forever (Heb. 10:12).
The heavenly priesthood of Christ is to serve us bread and wine. Christ is also “a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man” (Heb. 8:2). The true tabernacle is the heavenly Holy of Holies, where He entered beyond the veil as our High Priest (6:19-20).
In addition to being the High Priest who intercedes for us and the Mediator who executes the new testament, He is the Intercessor, the Executor, and the Minister! We have this wonderful High Priest!
THE TESTAMENT AS OUR BASE
All this service is based on the testament. It is not something carried out without a base, but has a solid foundation. Suppose, by way of illustration, that there is a bank full of money. I have no money in my pocket, so I go there to withdraw some. Unfortunately, I have no account there, or my account has no funds. My request for money has no base.
Now suppose that someone deposited ten million dollars in that bank. If I go to the bank and present a check signed by him, I will have a base to withdraw money from his account. Many times we approach God when we are in need and plead for His mercy. We shed tears and pray, “Father, how I need Your mercy! Have mercy on me in this sad condition. I thank You because You are a God of mercy.”
To plead in this way is like going to the bank and saying to the manager, “Oh! have mercy on me! I desperately need money. Have compassion on me and give me some money so that I can pay my bills.” Would it not be foolish to use this approach to get money from the bank? We have no base at all if we plead in this way. What is the base on which we present our requests to God? It is the testament, the one that Christ enacted and left to us as an inheritance. On this base Christ carries out His heavenly priesthood and intercedes in the heavens.
We need this Executor to interrupt our prayers of pleading and remind us, “Why do you pray in such a pitiful way? Come forward to the throne with boldness! Go to the bank and claim your money! Here is the testament. I am the Executor. You may be young and foolish, but I am your Attorney. Who would dare to deceive you? I am the Son of God, who died on the cross for you and now lives resurrected!”
How do you deal with the daily problems that assail you? I fear that the sisters in particular pour out their tears and groan before the Lord. In doing so, you forget the testament and the Executor. The Bible and Christ are far away. Only your tears are near.
I have the same inclination. I do not shed tears, but sometimes I do not know what to do when a problem arises. Then I remember that I need to seek the Lord. And I cry, “O Lord Jesus! Have mercy on me!” He is indeed merciful! While I call on Him, He reminds me of the testament and of His position as my Executor and Advocate.
How many times He has reminded me! And thus I realize once again that the Son of the living God, the resurrected Christ Himself, is right beside me, standing at my side, interceding for me and executing His testament on my behalf. And I am strengthened, I drop my anxiety, and I begin to praise Him. Sisters, spare your tears. Instead, praise Him for executing the testament on your behalf.
How blessed we are to be in the Lord’s recovery! What we have heard is unknown to the ears of many who are outside. When we are in Christianity, we may hear about Daniel’s seventy weeks, the ten horns, and the four beasts. However, very little, if anything, has come to us concerning the testament as our legacy and the living Christ as its Executor. We see what others have not seen. Now we enjoy what many others have no way to enjoy. We do not know how blessed we are.
🌿 Enjoy more:
Hymn: Experience of Christ – “As the Minister of the New Covenant”
https://hinario.org/detail.php?tab=1&mainmp3=admin/Uploaded-mp3-Files/1187.voz_piano.mp3&id=1266
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