Burning Altars by Grace Eyiolawi

 

"Then the Lord said to Moses, “Give Aaron and his sons the following instructions regarding the burnt offering."  

God gave instructions to the old 'priesthood lineage' on the modus operandi of their worship to him. If their worship would be acceptable, there was a protocol and this protocol was to be stewarded by the priests. Aaron and his sons were commissioned by God and given the priesthood mandate i.e. to act as an intermediary between God and his people. Economics would term the word 'intermediary' as 'middle man'. In this context, the word 'man' is significant. I find it somewhat interesting that God always seeks after a man when he steps out to do something for his people - 'Israel'. I see this in operation throughout the entire scriptures, from the alpha i.e.  old testament - 'Genesis' where he raised the first man - Adam and likewise the new testament - 'Matthew' where he raised another man - Jesus Christ.  

For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free  gift  came  to all men, resulting in justification of life. Romans 5:17-18 NKJV  

If God has given the old a protocol for worship, I believe he has given us as well. Only that our worship is acceptable without the incessant sequence of sacrifices Aaron and others in the old priestly line had to offer to God.   

For us, we are the NEW. we are the REDEEMED. We are invited to embrace the same call like the OLD. Only that we do it in a different style - in SPIRIT and in TRUTH. Not by slain lambs.  

But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. John 4:23 NKJV

The words in the book of Haggai 2:9 gives life to our reality as God's new heritage bought by the sacrifice of his precious son.  
‘The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘And in this place, I will give peace,’ says the Lord of hosts.” Haggai 2:9 NKJV  
 And that by this reason, we are royal priesthoods!   
. . .  

These words reverberated within my being and I couldn't help but meditate for days. Sister Shola was our cell leader and led the cell at Mokola Junction. During the weekend, we had a conversation on our reality as partakers of the new covenant and these words continually clouded my mind especially during my quiet time.  

At the fellowship, I learnt through our interactions that Jesus' sacrifice guarantees my royal priesthood in God's kingdom. This is confirmed in 1st Peter 1:9.  
 

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 marvelous light; I Peter 2:9 NKJV  
 

The session was an eye-opener. Little wonder the scriptures made mention in Philemon 1:6 that the sharing of our faith makes us acknowledge every good thing we have in Christ - one good thing that dawned on me stemmed from the cell meeting. The reality of my call as a ROYAL PRIESTHOOD became known to me.  

During the cell meeting, we did justice through the help of the Holy Spirit on a believers' inheritance called 'priesthood’. What exactly did it mean when God pronounced us as 'royal priesthoods'?  
The book of Hebrews was recommended to us by the Holy Spirit - the teacher in the meeting and this is what it says about being 'priesthoods'‘:  

For every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. Hebrews 5:1 NKJV  
 

One thing is glaring, that every high priest is appointed by God to offer sacrifices. Unlike the old order, we no longer offer sacrifices for sin, rather what we offer is higher than this - because Jesus died for our sins, we now offer our LIVES to God.  
 

For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. Hebrews 7:26-27 NKJV  

So, Jesus, God's perfect choice for redemption served as a high priest to gift us with an inheritance of royal priesthood - a position given to the redeemed.  
 

The word 'royal' stems from a Greek word and is pronounced as bas-il'-i-os. It means to be kingly. This therefore means that the King of kings bestowed kingship on us to rule, dominate, multiply in his full capacity.  
 

Not only did he bestow 'kingship' on us, he granted us access into his inner Chambers without veil on our faces without shame or guilt. He allows us to deliberate, engage in personal  conversations with him concerning our destiny and the destiny of nations because our diligence toward stewarding this mandate helps fulfill a bigger agenda in God's perspective.  

And the word ''priest-hood' is a two-word syllable that embodies man's ability to communicate with God. An exemption is that a man who is not in Christ is limited in this regard i.e. cannot inherit this blessing. And it's also very important to note that this gift was bought by the precious blood of the lamb - Christ.  

As priests, we are mandated to commune with God. To fellowship. To offer sacrifices. To offer our lives to him daily. These are demands attached to our calling. Jesus fulfilled the highest demand and our highest calling is that we respond to this great measure of his love by stewarding our new calling.  

As priests, we are called to steward the kingdom of God here on Earth. To live out his agenda. To be his ambassador and to act on his behalf. We're called to be his expressed image and to convey his goodness and glory to all creatures. Remember Romans 8:19? The creature waits for the manifestation of the sons of God. They wait for the shewing forth of the sons of God.   

This picture came to mind as I took on a posture of meditation. Quite a number of traditional films centered around village settings portray a people who experience challenges due to a default in obedience which then leads to crisis. As a result, they conclude the gods of the lands are angry with them and their first resolve is to reach out to those who are set apart to communicate with these 'gods'. These set apart ones are called 'priests'. This picture is also quite similar to the scenario in the old testament.   

In the same way, we are like these priests. We have full access to the father. We are selected by GRACE and are commissioned to represent him here on Earth. We are God's set apart ones.  
But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God’s instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the nightand-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted.

1 Peter 2:9-10 MSG   
But here's the question...are we stewarding this mandate? Are we good stewards of this manifold grace of God bestowed on us? We are called but are we fulfilling the call? Are we diligent in our pursuit of God's mandate upon our lives as believers? Even Paul sent an urgent message to Archippus. (Colossians 4:17)  

How can we steward our roles and responsibilities as priests? The old still gives us direction and wisdom. We can always benefit from the Old. Here is a reference…  

Meanwhile, the fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must never go out. Each morning the priest will add fresh wood to the fire and arrange the burnt offering on it. He will then burn the fat of the peace offerings on it. Leviticus 6:12  

To steward our mandate as new covenant priests, i.e. our priesthood in Christ, just like the old priestly lineage were instructed to keep the fire on the altar burning,

• Our lives must burn aglow and fervent for God. We must be fervent in and out of season. Ready and awake to rise up to responsibility when the need arises or when the bell rings. We must be alert and sensitive, must be discerning, have an understanding of the will of God and go in the power of God when God calls us to Go. This was Jesus' exact posture while on Earth   Like the fire on the altar must not go out. 
• Our lives must be consecrated to God daily. We shouldn't be hot today and cold tomorrow. When we give our lives as offering to God, we are doing a work that influences the lives of the unredeemed. A work that reconciles men back to him. New covenant priests like Jesus and John the Baptist lived a daily life of consecration to God and their work yielded great returns to the kingdom.  Just like the Old priests must add fresh wood to the fire and arrange burnt offering on it
• We must live a life of daily surrender to God. Yesterday's surrender is not today. We must be willing to say no at the expense of our self. We must deny our self to follow him. We must deny our flesh to gain Christ. We must say yes to the will of God once we recognize it even if a sorrowful death to self presents itself.  This way, our life becomes pleasing to God and we fulfill the portion of scripture that reads:  

“……He will then burn the fat of the peace offerings on it……”  
 

God is calling us to steward our call of priesthood in Christ and we can only do this through fervency, consecration and surrender - this is the only kind offering acceptable to God. It's our duty and responsibility. It's our service.  
 

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. Romans 12:1 NKJV