We simply must understand what Jesus is currently doing in heaven. If we don’t understand what role He is currently playing in heaven, we’ll never understand what role we must currently play on earth. So what’s Jesus doing in heaven?
First, He’s serving as High Priest (Hebrews 6:20). As a kid I was a paper boy. As a teen I was both a waiter and painter. In college I was host at a fancy restaurant. After college I was a youth pastor and currently I serve as lead pastor over New Day. Over the years I’ve had a number of different jobs. Well, when you read the Bible you learn that the same is true of Jesus. In the Bible Jesus has three main jobs.
- Prophet. Moses said in Deuteronomy 18:15, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you…” Moses was the mouth piece of God and in this sense Jesus was the fulfillment of this prophecy. In John 14:24 Jesus said, “These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.” In other words, Jesus came as the mouthpiece of God, telling mankind what God said about how to be saved from the penalty of sin.
- Priest. In the Old Testament the high priest was the supreme ruler over Israel. Well Hebrews 6:20 tells us that Jesus has become our High Priest forever (the supreme ruler over the church).
- King. Jesus told us to pray in Matthew 6:10, “…your kingdom come…” That’s because one day, Jesus will rule as King over his kingdom here on earth during his thousand year reign (We’ll actually be covering this in week five of this series). Isaiah spoke of this time when he wrote in Isaiah 9:6, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders…” At Jesus’ first coming he was the suffering servant who died for our sins. But at his second coming he will be the King of kings and the Lord of Lords.
In the past Jesus was Prophet. In the future Jesus will be King and in the present, Jesus is High Priest. His role changes from time to time, but until the end of the age, Jesus will always play a role in the salvation of mankind – and he wants the same to be true of us. At New Day we have a bi-annual ministry fair so you can find a role to play in the salvation of mankind. Jesus is working to see people saved and expects us to do the same. So in this last week of ministry fair let me implore you to find somewhere to serve if you haven’t already (click here to see some of our current serving opportunities).
Some people, practically speaking, have entered ministry retirement. They used to serve but don’t anymore. But retirement isn’t a biblical concept when it comes to serving the Lord. After God created the world he rested, but he didn’t retire. When mankind messed up the good world God created, God went right back to work, implementing his plan of salvation through Abram. After Jesus died on the cross for our sins, he didn’t retire – he returned to the Father to play a new role in the salvation of mankind. Jesus said in John 5:17, “My Father is always working, and so am I.” Now if anyone ever deserves to take a break, Jesus does, right? But he’s not resting. He’s working to see people come to know Jesus. What about you? Jesus is serving as High Priest. Where are YOU serving?