Part II
Jesus Christ as a Priest
There are two orders of priests mentioned in the Old Testament, as having been instituted by the Almighty; first, the Melchizedec; and second, the Aaronic.
Of the former there is but little information given. The only personage mentioned as being of that order lived during the time of Abraham, dwelt in Salem, and was called “King of Salem” and “priest of the most high God” – (Gen. 14: 18). Jesus Christ was a member of this order of priesthood — (Heb. 5: 6).
Of the second order, the Aaronic, which existed contemporaneously with the Mosaic law, the particulars furnished are very full. The principal duties of the high priests of this order were to offer gifts and sacrifices; to bear before the Lord the names of the tribes of Israel; to enquire of God by the Urim and Thummim; to consecrate the Levites as priests; and to make an atonement in the Most Holy Place once a year. Of this priestly order Jesus Christ was not a member; it was, however, a type of him in the capacity of High Priest, as also were the various things connected with the administration of the Mosaic law, such as the altar, the animals sacrificed, the temple, etc. Jesus, therefore, united in his person the functions of a priest with the requirement of a sacrifice: a thing which has never been done by any person, before or since.
Introduction of Sacrifice
The necessity for either a priest or a sacrifice in any community is evidence of the existence of sin. Previous to the introduction of sin into this world, neither the one nor the other were to be found. Adam and Eve, as long as they continued obedient to the Edenic law, were able to commune with their Maker without fear or shame. But when they had transgressed, they were no longer able to hold up their heads as one whose “conscience is void of offence toward God”; they hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden — (Gen. 3: 8).
When placing them in the garden of Eden “to dress it and to keep it”, the Lord God gave them permission to eat of every tree therein, excepting one, “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil”. At the same time they were threatened with punishment in case of disobedience : “In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” — (Gen. 2: 15-17). To understand the meaning of this threat, it is necessary to know of what nature Adam was made.
The Mosaic record of his creation is brief but clear: “The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul” — (Gen. 2: 7). Man himself, and not merely an outer framework, was “formed of the dust of the ground”; and, by having “breath of life” — the same breath which all animals possess (Gen. 7: 15 and 22) breathed into him, he became “a living soul”, but not an ever-living soul, as frequently misinterpreted. If the phrase “living soul” proves man to be immortal, then the whole animal creation must be immortal; for the phrase is applied also to beasts, fowls, and creeping things in Gen. 1: 30 — (see marginal rendering).
The First Temptation
Adam and Eve continued obedient until they were tempted by a serpent, which is described as being “more subtle than any beast of the field” — (Gen. 3: 1); and which, from the fact of its being able to speak, must, like Balaam’s ass, have been endowed with the faculty of speech. As an inducement to our first parents to partake of the forbidden tree, it said, “Ye shall not surely die”; and further, told them that, by eating, their eyes should be opened, and they should know good and evil — (Gen. 3: 4-5).
This was the first religious lie ever told; and, like nearly all its successors, it was a mixture of truth and falsehood. The first part was false; it was the direct opposite of what had been spoken by the Lord God, who declared that if Adam and Eve had disobeyed His law, they should “surely die”. The serpent denied this, by saying that they should “not surely die”, which was, in effect, an affirmation that they were immortal; a theological fable which has existed, more or less, from that day to this: the doctrine of the natural immortality of man is but the propagation of the serpent’s lie.
The second part of the serpent’s statement was true, for, when turning Adam out of the garden, “The Lord God said, Behold the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil” — (Gen. 3: 22); and, in order to prevent him becoming immortal while in a sinful condition the Lord God mercifully “sent him forth from the garden of Eden, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat and live for ever” — (Gen. 3: 22, 23). If the serpent’s statement had been true, such an action as this would have been utterly useless; for Adam would already have been able to “live for ever” without partaking of “the tree of life”.
Definition of Death
Adam having originally come from the dust at his creation, his return to the dust would necessarily result in his ceasing to exist. Hence the Lord God addressed him in the following language: “Out of it (the ground) wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return” — (Gen. 3: 19). In this passage we have a definition of the death threatened against our first parents far clearer and more authoritative than any of the mystifying and erroneous definitions given by the various schools of theology.
The principle upon which this punishment was inflicted on the first human pair is contained in the words of the apostle Paul, “The wages of sin is death” — (Rom. 6: 23). If their transgression had produced no other effect than that of bringing themselves under the operation of this penalty, it would have been comparatively unimportant. But unfortunately it did not end there; it brought upon their descendants both moral and physical results. By their sinful conduct the stream of human life was poisoned at its source. On the principle that “like produces like”, a principle that is embodied in the law of hereditary descent — sinful parents could only beget children possessing a nature defiled through sin, and who, if subjected to temptation, would inevitably yield to the lusts of the flesh. The sentence or law which the Almighty passed upon the whole race in consequence of Adam’s sin is variously stated by the inspired writer of the epistle to the Romans: “By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned”; “By one man’s offence death reigned by one”; “By the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation” — (Rom. 5: 12, 17, 18).
A Universal Law
All men being of the same nature as Adam, they necessarily suffer the same kind of death, viz.: a return to the dust from whence they were taken. The universal application of the law of sin and death could therefore result in nothing less than the utter extinction of every human being; and if allowed to operate undisturbed throughout eternity, none of them could ever again enjoy life of any kind. Such was the prospective destiny of the human race at the time of the Fall. The question which had then to be solved was, How can such a lamentable calamity be averted or mitigated without compromising the attributes or principles of the Deity? Adopting the language of Paul, How could He “be just and the justifier of him which believeth” — (Rom. 3: 26)?
Sin being the cause of death, it is obvious that before death could cease to operate, sin must be removed; and the Almighty being the one who had been disobeyed, He only possessed the prerogative of prescribing the conditions on which He would forgive sin, and remove its consequences. Those conditions constitute the means by which the breach created by sin between man and his Maker can be healed; a process which is commonly called religion, from the fact that the word signifies the re-binding of something which has been severed. Previous to the Fall, when there existed no breach, such a thing as religion was neither known or needed. Religion began when God made known to man the way by which sin might be destroyed, and, as a consequence, abolished. What that way is, will now be shown.