24 The Lord bless you and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
Numbers 6:22-27
In the first post we pointed out that it was Aaron and his sons who gave this blessing to the people and they were the ones selected because they were the priests. Unfortunately, many of us today and have learned that pastors have taken the place of priests, meaning that the role of the priests before Christ is now carried out by pastors after Christ. That is dead wrong. First of all Jesus is the great high priest. The whole priesthood did not foreshadow pastors; it foreshadowed Jesus. “Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people” (Hebrews 2:17). But he was a high priest who truly atoned for our sin and brought us to God. “And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God” (Hebrews 10:11-12).
But not only does the idea of pastors taking the place of priests fall short because Jesus is our high priest; it also falls short because there is something radically new about the people of God after Christ. All followers of Jesus Christ are priests. Peter says, “you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5) and “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).
And John tells us in Revelation that by Christ’s blood he has “made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father” (Revelation 1:6). My point is this: It is the priests who give the blessing to the people so that the name of God will be set on them. All believers in Jesus Christ are priests. Therefore each one of us is to bless others.
So here is the simple summary. 1) God wants to bless you. He wants to do good to you. He wants to encourage you. He wants to give you grace and peace. He wants to show his glory and declare his pleasure to you. 2) This blessing that God wants to give you only happens because of Jesus Christ – who he is and what he did. And 3) as believers in Jesus Christ we are priests who ought to be blessing one another.
Here are some blessings you can share with others:
1. 1 Kings 8:57-58
The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. May he not leave us or forsake us, that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his rules, which he commanded our fathers.
2. Psalm 20:1-4
May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob protect you! May he send you help from the sanctuary and give you support from Zion! May he remember all your offerings and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices! Selah May he grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans!
3. Romans 15:5-6
May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
4. Romans 15:13
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
5. 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13
and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
6. 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.
7. 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.
8. 2 Thessalonians 3:5
May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.
9. 2 Thessalonians 3:16
Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.
