Posted on by intentional4christ

Kings and Priests

One of my favorite scriptures in the Bible is 1 Peter 2:9,

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light”

This is my identity statement as a Christian. I am particularly attached to my identity as a royal priesthood and in today’s post, I will tell you why this is important.

When God created humankind, He gave us two basic responsibilities: to rule over all His creation and to have fellowship with Him. Easy peasy right? Well, it was supposed to be easy until sin entered our world. The day Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the garden of Eden, they lost their dominion and rule over creation. God used to visit them in the cool of the day for fellowship and that also came to a grinding halt that day. Their disobedience robbed the first humans of their basic function as kings (rulers over all God’s creation) and priests (fellowship with God). And this became the fate of all humankind. We were always supposed to be a kingdom of priest- priests who ruled on earth in the kingdom of our God. And through generations, God has been working behind the scenes to restore us to our original status as kings and priests.

After God had delivered Israel from centuries of slavery in Egypt, He made the Israelites a promise to restore them to their place as a kingdom of priests under His ultimate reign. He promised to bring them to Canaan, the Promised Land, a land akin to the Garden of Eden— “a land with great and splendid cities that you did not build, with houses full of every good thing with which you did not fill them, with wells that you did not dig, and with vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant” (Deuteronomy 6:10-11 BSB). And God was going to restore them as kings and priests:

Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine. And unto Me you shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you are to speak to the Israelites.

Exodus 19:5-6 BSB

With their obedience, all the Israelites would become a kingdom of priest unto God. And although Israel committed to obey, they faltered. One day, they made a golden calf, worshipped it, and compromised their priesthood. The anger of God burned against the Israelites and that day Moses asked, “who is on the Lord’s side?” The Levites rallied to Moses and killed many of their relatives who had worshipped the idol. That was the day the Levites were set apart as priests unto God. Although Israel as a whole was still a kingdom under God, they were no longer priests.

Afterward, Moses said, “Today you have been ordained for service to the LORD, since each man went against his son and his brother; so the LORD has bestowed a blessing on you this day.”

Exodus 32:29 BSB

Many years later, the Israelites decided that they no longer wanted to have God as their king (1 Samuel 8). They wanted to be like the nations around them with a physical head of state, which brought an end to their status as “a kingdom under God.” Although they always remained God’s chosen people, they were no longer a kingdom of priests.

Fast forward to the new testament era and Jesus steps into the earthly scene with one mission: Restoration. Through his death and resurrection, Jesus would reconcile us to God so that we could once again become the kingdom of priests unto our God. This is why all who believe in Jesus Christ need to accept his lordship over their lives as He restores us into God’s kingdom.

For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!

Romans 5:17 BSB

Thousands of years before Jesus came down to earth, it was prophesied of Him: “And He was given dominion, glory, and kingship, that the people of every nation and language should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed” (Daniel 7:14 BSB). Before He ascended back into heaven, Jesus said to His disciples:

So as my Father has given me a kingdom, I’m giving it to you.

Luke 22:29 GWT

Once again, humankind had been restored to their place as kings in God’s kingdom; for indeed the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever. Amen. (Revelations 11:15).

But how about the priesthood? This restoration happened at the moment of Jesus death. It was a literal restoration which involved the tearing of the curtain in the temple (Matthew 27:51). You see, everyone had access to the temple but only the consecrated priests, the Levites, could go into the Most Holy place separated by the curtains. But at the moment of Jesus’ death, the curtain that physically caused separation in the temple was rend from top to bottom, signaling that not only the Levites but all people now had access to God (Hebrews 10:19-20).

Just as the separation of Levites from the nation of Israel to be priests happened through the shedding of blood in Exodus 32, the restoration of all mankind to the priesthood also happened through the shedding of Jesus’ blood. As His blood flowed down His body and down Calvary’s cross, we were restored fully to our status as the kingdom of priests unto our God! This is why being a royal priesthood means so much to me!

As I conclude, I leave you with this doxology from Revelations 1: 4-6, which affirms your current status as kings and priests unto our God.

Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! O You Royal Priesthood. Welcome into the Kingdom of Priests.

Yours truly!

Posted on by intentional4christ

(Un)Finished Business

2025 ended on a different note than most years. You see, usually, I would wrap up all my affairs and outstanding projects by December 30th and spend the final day of the year praying and planning my activities for the next year. But 2025 was different. As of December 31st, I was still running errands, paying bills, and many things on my to do list still remained undone.

A few weeks ago, I said to someone, “unfinished business makes me uncomfortable,” and the Holy Spirit took that as an opportunity to make that a teaching moment. Every day, I make a list of everything that I want to accomplish and I work hard to cross as many of them off. And those that did not get crossed off today make it onto tomorrow’s list, and so it goes. I have become a slave to my lists.

However, the reality of the matter is that as a human in a broken world system, I will always have unfinished business. One day, I will shut my eyes for the very last time and my lungs will expire their last breath, and there will remain things undone. There will be that one bill I did not yet pay, that email that I did not respond to, that one project that I did not deliver on, that phone call I did not return. My work here will remain forever unfinished. This is the result of sin’s effect on the world. Sin broke everything, making sure that everything that sin touches will never be finished. Enter Jesus Christ…

Jesus took on humanity and walked on this earth for 33 years. He assessed our brokenness from his vantage point as human, but this had no hold on him because he had no sin in him. Then, in his last moments on earth, he did what no human had ever been able to accomplish since the fall of man: He FINISHED his work.

When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished.” And bowing His head, He yielded up His spirit.

John 19:30 BSB

He ended sin’s reign of terror with those three simple words. In conquering death, hell, and grave, Jesus broke sin’s power over us forever. This freedom ensured those who believe in him and receive his free gift of salvation will also finish their work here on earth. For believers who die in the LORD, their work on earth does not just end with an ellipsis (…); their lives do not end in an eternal pause. No, it ends with a period (.). They accomplish their work, they finish the race, and enter into the joy of the Master (2 Timothy 4:7-8).

For the first time there will be no unfinished business. Their salvation, fully worked and accomplished through faith in Jesus, will pave the way for them to enter into God’s presence. And there, they will hear a statement only befitting of work that is finished: “Well done!”

But wait, there is even more good news.

Sin’s brokenness has created a world order, an unspoken law of toil. We toil and toil; we are slaves to tasks and to-do lists; we clamor to feel accomplished which is often short-lived; there is always yet another thing to do- this RAT RACE called life. The good news is we do not have to wait till the end of our lives to experience the freedom that comes with knowing that “It is finished.” We can experience it now.

So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.

Galatians 5: 1 NLT

We do not have to strive to be good. It is unnecessary. Our righteousness, our goodness is found in Christ alone (1st Cor 1:30). The work we do, our labour (job, profession, occupation), is not for vainglory. It accomplishes our purpose here on earth. It helps us to occupy till Jesus comes again. It helps us prepare for our future reign with the King of kings. Our earthly labour is not defined by Adam’s curse (Gen 3: 17-19), but rather the works of our hands serves a larger purpose: an Ephesian 2:10 purpose.

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.

Ephesians 2:10 BSB

So friends, in 2026, don’t be a slave to your to do list. Take time to enjoy the presence of God, resting in His promise that IT IS FINISHED!

Happy New Year!

Yours Truly.