Our Saviour and Lord by George W. Reaser

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Aug 20, 1912

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 39, No. 32.

Our Saviour and Lord

By George W. Reaser

Christ as Our Great High Priest

ONE of the most marvelous things relative to Christ is the large number of offices that He fills, each in absolute perfection. For this reason, at least fifty appropriate titles have been conferred upon Him. Each title that He bears has a special and beautiful significance, either in His nature, or in His character, or because of some experience through which He has passed, or of some high office that He has filled or is yet to fill. Seldom does a member of our human family fill one office perfectly, but Jesus excels in qualifications for His offices, and also in the execution of their functions. The universe constantly feels the vitalizing influence of His executive ability.

Each office that He fills, each special experience through which He has passed in creating worlds, in putting down rebellion, in redeeming humanity, each work accomplished by His voluntary humiliation and triumph over sin, Satan, and death, justly entitles Him to be crowned with honor, power, glory, majesty. Thus it is that we appropriately sing,

"Crown Him with many crowns, The Lamb upon His throne."

Our allotted space will not permit a consideration of each of the offices that He fills, nor of the titles that He bears. We have briefly considered Him as Creator, Michael, Prophet, Teacher, Example, Sacrifice, and Saviour, and future articles will consider Him as "our Judge" and "our King." We will briefly notice two other offices bestowed upon Him by Jehovah. One of these is "antitypical priesthood;" the other, "priesthood forever after the order of Melchizedek." The latter of these two offices is conferred upon Christ by an oath of Jehovah; therefore special importance must attach to it.

Each of these offices is entirely separate and distinct. In the first He was the antitype of the Aaronic priesthood, the great Sacrifice of the sacrificial system connected therewith. In the second He is Adam’s successor, redeeming Adam’s failure, and thus succeeding to the position once held by Adam as head of the whole family of earth. "God’s remedy for the havoc wrought by the first Adam is Christ, the last Adam (the Melchizedek), in whom all the purposes of God in the creation of man will be fulfilled, and in whom all the promises of God are Yea and Amen."

His high-priesthood as the antitype of the Aaronic order is but an incident in the drama of sin. His priesthood "after the order of Melchizedek" is eternal. With the close of His mediatorial work as intercessor for sinners, He will disrobe as high priest antitypical of the Aaronic order, and immediately put on the vestments and crown of kingly authority which pertain to His office as Melchizedek. Altho He became the antitypical priest after the Aaronic order, He was never a priest in the Aaronic order, being of the tribe of Judah (Heb. 7:13, 14); but as Adam’s successor He stepped into the Melchizedek order after the triumph of Calvary, by which He redeemed Adam’s failure. That Inspiration makes a clear distinction between these two orders is evident from the following words: "If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood [or Aaronic], . . . what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchizedek, and not be called after the order of Aaron?" Heb. 7:11. Doubtless the chief points of distinction between the two offices are that one, the Aaronic, is temporary, pertaining to a sacrificial system, and entirely without anything pertaining to kingship; while the other, the Melchizedek, is eternal, not connected with a sacrificial system, and the possessor of the title must be a king and eventually possess an eternal kingdom. In one order men are constituted priests without an oath; in the other, by an oath of Jehovah. Heb. 7:20, 21. The Levitical system pointed to Christ as Sacrifice and Mediator for sinful men, but there was nothing in it typical of kingship.

Each sacrifice slain and placed upon the altar by the Levitical or Aaronic priest was typical of Christ; while the Levitical high priest, clad in robes pontifical, symbolized Christ as the sinless but sin-bearing Mediator. In the Melchizedek order, Christ is not a substitute for the sinner, nor a sin-bearer, but rather a triumphant priest-king.

Christ as Melchizedek

We approach this theme with due reverence, for in its investigation we are to tread on holy ground. We concede also the mystery in which the office of Christ as "a priest after the order of Melchizedek" has for ages been enshrouded; but we most sincerely believe — and therein do we greatly rejoice — that this gospel "mystery" of Christ, which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, but "which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ," is now revealed by His Spirit, through His Word, for the exaltation of Christ, and thus for the edification of "the church of the First-born."

God’s Original Plan for Our World

To reach a correct conclusion as to what is comprehended in the office of priesthood in the Melchizedek order, it will be necessary to consider the question, "What was God’s original plan for our world?" "Whatever that plan may have been, it will eventually be carried to completion, notwithstanding the incident of sin, which for a few millennia (a few days with God) has seemed to defeat it, for none of God’s plans can ultimately fail."

Jehovah’s perfect plan for our world contemplated a sinless and deathless family to fill properly the whole earth, with Adam as the head, the chief representative, the everlasting father-priest, and the king of the universal family of earth. The very first commission given to Adam was, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth." Gen. 1:28. The replenishing of the earth with the posterity of Adam could have no other meaning than to fill it with his offspring, organized into individual family units. That this was God’s plan, and that it will ultimately carry, is proved by these prophetic words: "Thy people shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, that I may be glorified." Isa. 60:21. God knew that the happiest possible relationship is that of the family. Hence instead of filling the world with created beings, He gave the privilege to the first created pair to replenish the earth with their own children, to be the universal and eternal family of the earth.

Adam’s Failure

Had it not been for the disloyalty of Adam, the calamity of sin, and consequent death, he would still be the living, representative priest-king of our world, going betimes, with other sons of God by creation, into the presence of the Creator to worship before Him and to attend His councils, as do the unfallen sons of God. Job 1:6; 2:1.

But by the fall, Adam forfeited his representative right, lost his preeminent position, his priest-kingship, his life, and the territory of his future kingdom.

God’s Plan Sure

Nevertheless Jehovah’s plan for our world can not fail. Its failure would seal the doom of the organized universe; for if rebellion could enter and thwart His purpose in one world, it could do likewise in another, and thus all worlds might revolt from the government of heaven. But the Creator must possess power to fashion all things according to "His own will."

To insure the success of His plan, help was laid upon One who is "mighty to save," and "who will save to the uttermost." With the overthrow of sin in our world, and the completion of God’s plan,—filling it with a family "all righteous,"—the calamity of universal rebellion will forever be averted.

To redeem the failure of the first Adam, the Son of God must come into our world on the same plane upon which man was created. He must be made "in all things like unto His brethren." In making this condescension, and by the triumph of Calvary redeeming the failure of "the first Adam," Christ became "the last Adam." When He had thus triumphed, He took the position lost by the first Adam, not for the brief period of His earth life, but to all eternity. In taking Adam’s place, He became all to this world that Adam would have been had he not failed. Adam’s eternal loss, by his failure, was representation in the councils of heaven, everlasting fatherhood, high-priesthood to the whole family of earth, and eternal kingship.

Christ’s sinless and sin-conquering life, and the triumph of Calvary, redeemed Adam’s failure; and thus all the offices held by Adam, being won by Christ, were conferred upon Him. All that is involved in these offices is embodied in the definition of the title "Melchizedek." The resistless logic of this forces upon us the conclusion that Adam was "a priest after the order of Melchizedek," and that the official title "Melchizedek" was won by Christ as Adam’s successor, having redeemed his failure.

Definition of "Melchizedek"

When Jehovah bestows an official title, it invariably signifies in its root meaning the office of the person upon whom the title is bestowed. Recognizing this absolutely universal rule in the bestowal of God-given official titles will give us a positively certain clue to the official position held by Christ in becoming, by the oath of Jehovah (Ps. 110:4), "a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." Therefore, to discover the office held by Christ as a priest after the order of Melchizedek, our first avenue of approach should be to seek for the signification of the term "Melchizedek."

If we first discover the meaning of the title, and then learn how Christ came into possession of it, we will know exactly what office He will fill, what position He will hold when the oath of Jehovah making Him a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek goes into full effect; and, incidentally, we will also learn the character of the offices held by each member of the order of the Melchizedek priesthood. Whither shall we pursue our search? Happily Inspiration has taken special pains to help us on this point.

In the inspired definition of the title, and in the Scriptural specifications pertaining to both Christ and Melchizedek, we find that each is a priest forever of the Most High God, and each a king of righteousness and a king of peace. The inspired interpretation of the title also portrays the character of Christ as well as of each priest in the Melchizedek order.

The primary definition of "priest" is "father," and secondary, "representative." God’s eternal purpose for our world—vested in Adam—was exactly the things included in the definition of the term "Melchizedek;" namely, father and representative of the whole family of earth, and eventually to be its eternal king of righteousness and of peace. Every Bible student will concede that Christ became "the last Adam" (1 Cor. 15:45) by redeeming the failure of the first Adam, and thus He became to our human family all that the first Adam was, or in God’s plan was to become. And inasmuch as the title "Melchizedek" signifies exactly what Adam was, and, in the plan of God, was to be to our world, so, Adam having failed, and Christ having redeemed his failure, when the title "Melchizedek" was conferred upon Christ by the oath of Jehovah, that title carried with it, in its definition, all that Adam was or was to be to our human family, and bestowed the same upon Christ, "the last Adam." Thus when Jesus received the title "Melchizedek," or "priest after the order of Melchizedek," He simply took Adam’s position as our "everlasting Father," our representative, our High Priest, our eternal King.

With this discovery, how naturally are our minds carried forward by the prophetic Word to the time when, behold, "a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. . . . And this is His name whereby He shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS" (Jer. 23:5, 6), which is equivalent to "Melchizedek, king of righteousness and king of peace."

If this priesthood was composed of an "order" before Christ stepped into it—and it was—then it is certain that there must have been a group or class of high priests to compose the order; and if so, how may we determine the nature of the office held by each member of the order?

The simplest, most logical, most conclusive proof of the nature of the office held by each priest in this order would be that, as Adam was the head, the father, the high priest of our world, and by right would have been its eternal king had he not failed, and as Jesus was not a priest in that order (Heb. 5:5) until He had redeemed Adam’s failure, at which time He became "the last Adam," "the everlasting Father," "the High Priest" and prospective King, in short the Melchizedek of our world, therefore the individuals who compose the order of the Melchizedek priesthood are each to his respective world all that Adam was, and all that Christ became to our world by stepping into the Melchizedek order; for the God-given title has in it all that Adam was, and that Christ became to our world in taking Adam’s forfeited place.

But the reader to whom the thoughts advanced may be new will require additional Scripture evidence to supply a firm basis for faith. More evidence will be supplied in the next article.