There are three functions to His office and these have always been recognized and taught. He is Prophet, Priest, and King.

Do not try and divide Him up into these different roles, remember He is one person. We cannot divide Him  into one of the offices because He is present in the other two at the same time.

He is a priestly Prophet, a royal Prophet, a prophetic Priest and a royal Priest, a prophetic King and a priestly King.

We see at once why it is necessary for Him to assume the three functions.

We need a prophet because we need to be delivered and saved from the ignorance and the Penalty of Sin. When we considered the doctrine of The Fall and it’s consequences we saw that men and women had been
left in a state of ignorance. We needed someone to come along and declare…”Here is the way, walk in it.”

But we also need to be delivered from the guilt and Pollution of Sin. So, we need a priest; because of the guilt of sin we need someone who can appear on our behalf in the presence of God. Therefore, Christ has to assume the function of Priest.

And then, of course, we have to be delivered from the dominion, the Power of Sin.

Colossians 1:13 ESV

(13)  He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,

He does that only as He assumes the function of King, with power and authority. Only as King can He set us free and place us in the kingdom over which He rules and of which we have become citizens.

A simple summary of this is as follows:

·      Christ as Prophet, represents God with us; He speaks for God and from God to us.

·      But as Priest, He speaks for us to God. He represents us with God, and that is equally necessary.

·      Then as King He is the representative head of the new humanity.

I know, it sounds odd for someone in the “people business” to say this, but it is a reality.

Week after week I have people come to me and say: “Can you help me?” a “I want to change, please tell me how?”

And you sit with them, give them wisdom and insight, then off they go and it is the same old, same old.

The ones that I personally find disconcerting are those that say they want to be leaders. You invest in them your time and resources, give them opportunity and they say thank you and do nothing with it.

People will only change if they want to.

That is why I wait when selecting leaders or promoting people. 

That is why I take my time appointing leaders and that is why I watch and keep my eye out for the silent ones. The ones that don’t say much but week after week turn up and give of themselves in any way that they can.

In life, in leadership, in business about the only thing you can give people is…an opportunity.

So…if an opportunity is all you can give, how do you choose whom to give one to ?

1) The faithful

In leadership, always reward faithfulness.

Faithfulness is not a one time gig.

Faithfulness is the constant fulfillment of your obligations and commitments over time.

Christ encouraged us to be faithful in the little, and faithful in another mans. Why? Why would He have us prove ourselves in the small and in another life?

Because if we will be faithful in the details of life and if we will be faithful with that thing that someone else gives us to do, then we prove that we will be faithful when God releases much into our lives.

2) Those prepared to go above and beyond

Serving for some in life and in church today has become about preparing a platform for my future prominence. That is not serving. That is manipulation and politics. Serving is really doing what has been asked of you because it has been asked of you…and for no other reason than that.

3) Self starters and continual learners

For people to really change and to really find their place in church life they have to come to a place of revelation and relaxation.

A revelation of who God is and then relaxing and trusting that ALL things are in His hands.

These people position themselves for opportunity by doing what they can with what they’ve got.

They are continually learning, continually striving, continually making themselves valuable to have around.

4) Sons/Daughters of the house, not hirelings

There are people who are just in it for what they get out of it - money, position, power, recognition, that is fine. You know what their agenda is and you can make a decision to work with that or not.

But then their are people who are in it because they see it as something more.

To them it is personal.

To them it is family.

To them it is a passion and a reason.

Now these people may not be the most credentialed, but they are the most qualified.

You can always staff through hiring, you can only expand your family through adoption.

You have to bring people in, take the time to make them a part of the family.

Tonight I would like to start looking at the humanity of Christ, in brief and then look at this whole doctrine of the  sinlessness nature of Christ.

Dr. Charles A. Ratz in “The Person of Christ” quotes an old Latin inscription chiseled in marble,
found in Asia, concerning the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ in the first century of Christianity.

It reads:

I am what I was - God

I was not what I am - Man

I am now called both, God and Man

Truly Christ as the God-Man is the “Better Mediator” of a “Better Covenant”.

If we over-emphasize His deity, we obscure His perfect humanity.

If we over-emphasize His humanity, we obscure His deity.

If we deny His deity, there is no contact between God and man and the bridge is broken down from the divine side.

On the other hand, if we deny His humanity, then the bridge is broken down on the human side. It is out of such imbalance that heresies have arisen concerning the Son of God.

John 4:34

Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.