The room beside the south inner gate is for the priests in charge of the altar—the descendants of Zadok—for they alone of all the Levites may approach the LORD to minister to him.”
Ezekiel 40:46
Am I ministering to the Lord?
The word minister threw me off a bit. How do I minister to the Lord when he doesn’t have any needs for me to meet?
Minister: shârath (shaw-rath’): serve
- The priest ministered to the Lord at the altar by preparing and making the sacrifice of the people to atone for their sin.
- Christ was both priest and the sacrifice for all humanity.
Through the death, burial, resurrection of Christ, and our acceptance of Him as Savior, we are now part of the royal priesthood.
I am part of the royal priesthood.
- But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
1 Peter 2:9 (ESV)
And, I am the sacrifice.
- And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.
Romans 12:1
We present ourselves, not in atonement for our sin, but in service and worship because of Christ’s atonement for our sin.
Pleasing God through
- Love
- Prayer
- Worship
- Service, to Him and others
- Sacrifice
- And in some cases, more now than ever, suffer
In word, from the Word, we should imitate Christ:
- A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
John 13:34 (ESV) - Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
Matthew 16:24 (ESV) - Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children.
Ephesians 5:1 (ESV) - For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.
1 Peter 2:21 (ESV) - Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
1 John 2:6 (ESV)
Live fully my role as priest and sacrifice ministering to the Lord.
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