Knowing Christ as the High Priest in His Heavenly Ministry and Cooperating with Him

photo credit: Robin Clifton – RedBubble – Heb. 7:25 Hence also He is able to save to the uttermost those who come forward to God through Him, since He lives always to intercede for them.

Who is this “Melchizedek” and why is Christ a “High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek”? In the Old Testament we see a lot about the priesthood according to the order of Aaron, but what about this Melchizedek? Also, as believers in Christ today, how can we cooperate with our interceding High Priest, Christ in His heavenly ministry? These are the two questions we will try to answer in this blog post.

Before the priesthood of Aaron the Bible mentions Melchizedek, priest of the Most High God (Gen. 14:18), and later in Heb. 7 we see that the priesthood according to the order of Melchizedek is higher than the Aaronic priesthood.

When He was on earth, Christ was a High Priest according to the order of Aaron to accomplish His judicial redemption. Now, in His heavenly ministry, Christ is a High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek to minister “bread and wine” to us, that is, to minister the processed Triune God as our life supply so that we may be saved to the uttermost (see Heb. 7:25).

As believers in Christ, we are now in the process of God’s organic salvation, being daily renewed, transformed, conformed, and eventually glorified with Him, and Christ is right now interceding for us that we may be saved to the uttermost.

We need to know Christ as such a One, the High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek, first by enthroning Him in our being and letting Him rule in us as the king of righteousness and peace, and then by cooperating with Him in His heavenly ministry.

Today the Lord is not interceding before the Father alone: He is looking for many who would enter into His heavenly ministry to “fight for the brother” by interceding for the saints according to God, one with Him.

Since we love the Lord and enjoy His shepherding and His interceding, we need to also feed His lambs and shepherd His sheep NOT by pointing out their mistakes and faults but by interceding for them before God and by ministering Christ to them as the sin-dealing life for their spiritual supply and their growth in life.

Knowing Christ as the High Priest according to the Order of Melchizedek

Most Christians know Christ as their Savior, the Redeemer, the One who came and lived a perfect human life on earth expressing God, then died for us on the cross and resurrected to become the Spirit to regenerate us. This is true, but there’s more! Today Christ is in the heavens as a High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek!

Footnote 3 on Gen. 14:18 (Recovery Version) really helps us to understand this,

The priesthood of Melchizedek is mentioned in the Scriptures before the priesthood of Aaron (Exo. 28:1). The priesthood according to the order of Melchizedek is higher than the Aaronic priesthood (Heb. 7). In His earthly ministry Christ was a High Priest according to the order of Aaron for the putting away of sin (Heb. 9:14, 26). Then, in His heavenly ministry Christ was designated a High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek (Heb. 5:6, 10), not to offer sacrifices for sin but to minister to us the very God who was processed through incarnation, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection, signified by the bread and the wine (Matt. 26:26-28), as our life supply that we may be saved to the uttermost (Heb. 7:25a).

In His earthly ministry Christ accomplished His judicial redemption bringing us forgiveness of sins, taking away our sins, justifying us before God, reconciling us to God, and sanctifying us positionally. Now, in His heavenly ministry, Christ is praying for us in the heavenlies that we may overcome sin!

He prays for us and He ministers the processed Triune God into us that we may advance in the process of God’s organic salvation. First we were regenerated to receive God’s divine life, and now we are being sanctified to receive His divine nature, we are being renewed to receive His divine element, we are being transformed to receive His divine being, we are being conformed to receive His divine image, and eventually we will be glorified to receive His divine glory.

Christ as the High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek is interceding for us before God and He is ministering the processed Triune God to us that we may be divinized in our spirit, soul, and body until we become the same as He is in life, nature, expression, and function, but not in the Godhead (1 John 3:1).

We need to know such a Christ as the High Priest and the King of righteousness and peace. To know Christ as the king of righteousness is to be under His headship and lordship, allowing His as the life-giving Spirit to rule and reign within us every day so that we may become the New Jerusalem, the holy city where both righteousness and peace reign (see Heb. 7:1-3; Isa. 9:6; 32:1, 17; 2 Pet. 3:13; Eph. 1:10).

Christ reigns in righteousness, and when we enthrone Him in our being by dealing with anything that His light exposes so that we may have a crystal clear sky with a throne above it, we will have peace. He rules as a King in us to maintain a situation of peace, and He ministers to us the processed Triune God to build us up into the house of God, the building of God for His expression and habitation.

We need to have a clear sky in our being with nothing between us and the Lord so that He can rule and reign in us, and then Christ will be able to minister God to us for our growth in life and for the building up of the Body.

This Christ is the now-Christ, the Christ today, the One who is our daily salvation and our moment-by-moment supply. He intercedes for us according to God (Heb. 7:25) and He is a minister of the holy places ministering the processed God into our being (Heb. 8:2) as the bread and the wine.

Lord, grant us a clear sky: we want to have nothing between us and You, no problem and no issue! May we have a clear sky with a throne above it so that You can rule and reign within us. You are our Lord, our God, our King, and our Ruler. Rule in us in righteousness to bring into us a heavenly situation, atmosphere, and condition in Your ruling presence. You are the High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek interceding for us and ministering the processed God into our being for us to overcome sin!

Cooperating with Christ’s Heavenly Ministry by Interceding for the Saints and Ministering Life to Them

We can Cooperate with Christ’s Heavenly Ministry by Interceding for the Saints according to God and by Ministering Life to Them

How can we cooperate with Christ as a High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek?

On the personal side, as Christ is interceding for us during the day we slaughter the enemies and gain the victory, then He comes to us to minister more of the processed God to us as bread and wine.

Before He ministers the processed God to us, Christ intercedes for us to “take up our sword” and slaughter God’s enemies: the self, the natural mind, the wild emotion, the stubborn will, the flesh, the worldliness, etc. Then, He comes in to minister bread and wine to us, supplying us with the processed God as our life-supply, and we have a good time together.

On the corporate side, in the Body of Christ we need to further cooperate with Christ’s heavenly ministry to fight for the sinning brother by interceding for him and then ministering God to him. Through interceding for us and ministering the processed God to us as our overcoming supply, Christ is also commissioning us to do the same toward our fellow brothers and sisters.

Christ petitioned concerning Peter that his faith would not fail but that, when he is recovered, he would establish his brothers (see Luke 22:31-32). He then came to meet Peter after His resurrection, and He restored his love for Him and commissioned him to shepherd His sheep and feed His lambs (see John 21:15-17).

Christ is the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls, caring for the welfare of our souls and exercising oversight over the condition of our real person (see Heb. 13:20; 1 Pet. 2:25), and He wants us to be co-shepherds with Him by not ruling over the saints but caring for them according to Christ.

Christ is the One who has our names on His shoulder of strength and on His breast of love as He goes in the presence of God (Exo. 28:9-10), and He wants us to have the names of the saints on our being as we intercede for them before God.

The enjoyment of the grace of God that we have is given “to me for you” (Eph. 3:2), that is, we enjoy Christ so that we may bring others into the enjoyment of Christ!

We need to cooperate with the Lord in His heavenly ministry is by interceding for the saints according to God in His economy and by ministering the processed God into them for their overcoming supply and enjoyment!

The best way to do this is NOT to point out their faults, sins, and failures but to love the saints, seek to soften their heart and warm them up, intercede for them, and then minister Christ as the sin-dealing life to them.

Don’t point out the problem; rather, minister Christ as life to them. Don’t talk about his weakness or fault; minister the life supply to them. Avoid any negative talk and take Christ as the sin-dealing life to minister Him to the saints in love. It is God’s life ministered in love that will warm them up, operate in them, and recover them to the enjoyment of Christ and the church as the good land.

Lord Jesus, thank You for first interceding for us to slaughter God’s enemies and then coming to us to minister the processed God as the overcoming life supply to us! Thank You for being a High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek, always living to intercede for us and to minister God to us. May we be those who cooperate with You in Your heavenly ministry to “fight for the brother” by interceding for the saints according to God and His economy and by ministering the processed God into the saints for their overcoming supply and enjoyment!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Ed Marks’ sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Hebrews (msg. 32), as quoted in, the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Genesis (2), week 5 / msg 5, Enjoying Christ in His Heavenly Ministry by Fighting for the Brother.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # The Lord hath sworn forever / And never will turn back, / “Thou art a priest forever, / As was Melchizedek.“ / Oh, Thou hast no beginning / Of days; of life: no end! / And on Thine intercession / We ever do depend. (Hymns #1102)
  # He’s living now to intercede, / Continuing forever; / He undertakes into the age, / His priesthood changes never; / He always lives to intercede, / Such a High Priest is what we need: / He’s higher than the heavens. (Hymns #1130)
  # Your faith in Christ helps me pursue; / My progress depends upon you! / As I seek Christ, with you in view, / My heart, full of prayers, is for you…. / I want to encourage you all, / Without your supply I would fall. / Never think that your Christ is small. / Christ needs you, and so do we all. (new song on Shepherding one another)