New Testament Gifts & sacrifices

 For us to be effective members of the New Testament royal priesthood of Jesus Christ, we must understand what the gifts and sacrifices are that we need to present to God. When we present the appropriate gifts and sacrifices, Christ our High Priest will take them and offer them to God as sweet smelling savor. 

The New Testament shows us the following gifts and

sacrifices that we can give God:

1. Our Bodies

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present

your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your

reasonable service (Romans 12:1 KJV).

2. Walking in the Love of God

And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for

us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor (Ephesians

5:2 KJV).

3. Service of Faith

Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy,

and rejoice with you all (Philippians 2:17 KJV). 4. Sacrificial OfferingsBut I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the

things which were sent from you, an odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice

acceptable, wellpleasing to God (Philippians 4:18 KJV).

5. Tithes

...but he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from

Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. Now beyond all

contradiction the lesser is blessed by the better. Here mortal men receive

tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives

(Hebrews 7:6-8 NKJV).

6. Praise and Worship

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 (1 Peter 2:9 NKJV).

7. Talents and Skills

If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister,

let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may

be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever

and ever. Amen (1 Peter 4:11 KJV).

8. Prayer

He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a

house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves!” (Matthew

21:13).

An Excellent and Superior Ministry

But now Jesus, our High Priest, has been given a ministry that is far

superior to the old priesthood, for he is the one who mediates for us a far

better covenant with God, based on better promises (Hebrews 8:6).

In the Holy of Holies

But only the high priest ever entered the Most Holy Place, and only once a

year. And he always offered blood for his own sins and for the sins the

people had committed in ignorance (Hebrews 9:7).

[Christ Is the Perfect Sacrifice] So Christ has now become the High Priest

over all the good things that have come. He has entered that greater, more

perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is

not part of this created world (Hebrews 9:11).

Since the fall from grace of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, men

have tried to find their way back into the presence of God. Simply

observing humankind’s propensity to worship some invisible or visible

being, underscores the craving for the presence of God that is hidden in the

crevices of the human heart. 

But after sin entered the world, it created an unholy fear of the presence of God. When Adam and Eve heard the voice of God traveling in their

direction, they hid themselves.

Under the Levitical priesthood, entering into any room that contained the

manifest presence of God was a scary experience. Even the high priest

entered the Holy of Holies only once a year to make atonement for the

people of Israel. But under Christ’s New Creation priesthood, our High

Priest lives in the Holy of Holies. 

Since we are also seated with Him in heavenly places, it follows then that the regenerated spirit of every born-again believer lives in the Holy of Holies. 

Beloved, under this NewTestament order of Melchizedek priesthood, we can truly know the joy of

living in God’s presence.

His Blood of Atonement:

Under the old system, the high priest brought the blood of animals into the

Holy Place as a sacrifice for sin, and the bodies of the animals were burned

outside the camp. So also Jesus suffered and died outside the city gates to

make his people holy by means of his own blood (Hebrews 13:11-12).

And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us

go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For

our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us

clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water (Hebrews 10:21-

22).

The apostle Paul uncovers one of the most important aspects of the royal

priesthood of Jesus Christ. It is related to the power of the blood of

atonement that God has made available to every person on earth who

desires forgiveness from sin and deliverance from eternal damnation. Under

the Levitical system of sacrifices, the priests slaughtered bulls, goats, and

sheep daily to atone for the sins of the people of Israel. Even though these

blood sacrifices covered the sins of the people, the blood of bulls and goats

was not powerful enough to abolish the sin nature in the worshippers.

Since the blood of bulls and goats could only cover the sins of the people

instead of removing them, the worshippers’ consciences were constantly

burdened with guilt from past sins. This is in direct contrast to what Jesus

Christ’s blood has made available to members of the New Creation. The

blood of Jesus doesn’t just cover sin it removes the sin nature in

humankind. This is why the Scripture says that “if any man be in Christ he

is a new creature: old things art passed away, behold, all things are become

new” (2 Cor. 5:17 KJV)

The inexhaustible redeeming power that God has invested in the blood of

Jesus Christ is the main reason the order of Melchizedek priesthood of

Christ is so very powerful. Since the blood of Christ overpowers and

silences sin, it yields tremendous power over the devil. 

The devil’s kingdomof darkness can only prevail in atmospheres that are charged with the

technology of sin. The devil feeds on sin and the sin nature, because he is a

slave to Sin. But the blood of Jesus Christ has complete authority over both,

Sin and the devil. No wonder the overcomers overcame him (the devil)

through the word of their testimony and the power of the blood of Jesus.

Under Christ’s New Testament order of Melchizedek priesthood, we can

confidently negotiate with God for thendestiny of our nations if we invoke the name of Jesus