Kings and Priests in Christ

To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood (Revelation 1:5)

Notice the order of the words: first loved and then washed. 
It wasn’t that God washed us out of some sense of duty and then loved us because we were then clean. He loved us while we were dirty, but then He washed us.

Romans 5:8, confirms the same thing: “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

And has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. (Revelation 1:6)

Lord Jesus did not stop only at ‘washing us’, but He made us kings and priests.

Now before the law was given, there was a man who was both King and Priest - Melchizedek (Genesis 14:18). However, after the law was given in the Old Testament, it was forbidden to combine the offices of king and priest. You could either be a king or a priest - not both.

King Uzziah of Judah is an example of a man who tried to combine the two offices and paid the penalty for it - leprosy. Read 2 Chronicles 26:16-21; it tells us the whole story.

Another person who tried to combine both the offices of king and priest was Saul – He was rejected by the Lord and lost his kingdom. Read 1 Samuel 13:8-14 to read the story.

These two examples make it clear that in the Old Testament it was forbidden to combine the offices of King and Priest. However, under the New Covenant, we can be like the Lord Jesus Christ in the sense that He is both King and High Priest.

Now there is a principle here. Since Lord Jesus was both King and Priest, He could make us Kings and Priests unto God. You can never make someone else to be what you are not.

Now go to 1 Peter 2:9: “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light”

Notice the combination of the words royal and priesthood. So then, it is clear that every person who has truly believed in the Lord has been made Priest and King.

Like Christ, we also must minister in both ways; as priests, we are called to offer sacrifices of praise and intercession before the Father. As kings, we are to exercise our authority by healing the sick and casting out demons for the sake of the gospel.

I am in Christ, and hence I am a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a dedicated nation, [God’s] own purchased, special people, that I may set forth the wonderful deeds and display the virtues and perfections of Him Who called me out of darkness into His marvellous light.