A royal priesthood

Thursday 20 May 2021

A royal priesthood

You will respect and put into practice the prescriptions and the rules, for this will be your wisdom and your understanding in the eyes of other peoples. When they hear of all these prescriptions, they will say : This great nation is a wise and understanding people! Deuteronomy 4:6

You, you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, an acquired people, so that you proclaim the virtues of him who called you from darkness to his marvelous light. 1 Peter 2:9

The people of Israel should have been a "message" from God to the surrounding nations. The Lord dwelt among him and gave him a holy, just, and good law (Romans 7:12). The people had declared that they would fulfill all this law, and if they had kept their promise, the Lord would have set them above the nations of the earth. All the people would have recognized that the Lord, the God of Israel, is the only God.

But to reach this summit, there is an important condition : the people must obey the commandments of God. However, the Israelites were not able to obey God any more than other men, because of the sin which, since our first parents, has been found in every man. In his patience, God extended the experience for centuries under different systems of government : judges, kings, prophets, etc. The failure is total. The people indeed reach a peak, but it is that of evil, by crucifying the Messiah, their king.

Quite different is the state of Christians, whether of Jewish or pagan origin. They are, without conditions, a royal priesthood to proclaim the virtues of Him who saved them. It is by grace that they have been given this function of shining like lights in the midst of a world that does not want God (Philippians 2:15). Certainly, Christendom did not always shine well in the world for two thousand years. But true Christians, those who have truly believed, who have the life of Christ, and are sealed with the Holy Ghost, have shone and are still shining, proclaiming the salvation that God offers to all. Yes, they shone, especially those who, by their testimony for Christ, endured suffering and sometimes went to martyrdom !

You and I, children of God, are members of the royal priesthood today. Let us faithfully assume this dignity with a humanity which, more than ever, needs to see God through us.

Source (Pleasing the Lord)