Before we begin to trace the footsteps from Genesis to Revelation, I feel it is important to first understand Christ’s task and roles he fulfilled to complete his task. In doing so, I hope to answer the question “why” that helps inform both “who” Christ is and “what” Christ did.
Graeme Goldsworthy has written that, "The Bible begins in Genesis 1 and 2 with creation and ends in Revelation 21 and 22 with the new creation. That is the simple and direct way of describing the two ends of the biblical story. Between these 'bookends', in the story from Genesis 3 through to Revelation 20, we have the account of the fall of mankind, the consequent corruption of the universe, and the gracious work of God to redeem the situation.” (Goldsworthy, 15)
Jesus fulfilled three offices or roles of prophet, priest and king in union as one Mediator between God and man.
Christ Our Mediator
Joel Beeke says of Jesus' three offices, "How are we to bring together the various facets of Christ’s work in a biblically balanced manner? Reformed orthodoxy offers a solution in a relatively simple form: there is one Mediator who performs his incarnate work in according to his threefold office.” “The only Mediator of the covenant of grace is the Lord Jesus Christ….Our Mediator of the covenant of grace is the Lord Jesus Christ….Our Mediator was called Christ, because he was anointed…to execute the offices of prophet, priest, and king of his church, in the estate both of his humiliation and exaltation.” (Beeke & Smalley, 873)
Paul wanted Timothy to fully understand Christ’s task of mediator when he wrote in 1 Timothy 2:3-6:
"This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time."
What is a mediator? “The term translated as “mediator” (mesites) refers to a “middleman” selected to establish a relationship between two parties”(Beeke & Smalley, 874). Mediators are used in many ways in society, from being a translator between two languages during political agreements, to helping two people or parties come together during conflict. As a pastor, I have had to serve as a mediator several times between two arguing families and even between members of one family who couldn’t work through a conflict. Mediating is difficult and sometimes even dangerous work.
Jesus Christ is our mediator to help reconcile us to God. Jesus does this difficult work in three ways: He represents God to us (as a Prophet) , He represents us to God (as a Priest), and He reigns over the church on behalf of the Father (as our King). These three roles of Christ as mediator all find their introduction and foundation in the Old Testament, so as we read the Old Testament we must look for these three roles not only in the political structures introduced to us, but also as important typology that points forward to the need for Jesus Christ in fulfilling these roles completely.
Jesus Christ is our mediator to help reconcile us to God.
Christ Our Prophet
What do we need to understand about the role of prophet? A prophet’s task was to preach the covenants of God to man that have already been revealed. Jesus, as a prophet, not only fulfilled all of the covenants, but even revealed Himself to be the bringer of a new covenant in His own blood! (Luke 22:20)
A prophet revealed the written word of God in new knowledge. John referred to Jesus as the revealed word of God in John 1! The greatest prophet of the Old Testament was Moses and Moses had the distinct privilege of presenting God’s word to the nation of Israel. When we look at Moses’ story, we should recognize him as a type of Christ! We can see the role of Jesus as a prophet pictured in Moses. Jesus ascended a mountain and expounded the law like Moses, but Jesus was the greater Moses in that He didn’t just give us the law, He fulfilled the law for us.
The greatest of prophets were endowed with miracle working power to mark them as beacons of God’s power and revelation. Moses possessed miracle power which he used to cross seas and rivers, bring plagues, produce food and drinkable water, heal plaguing diseases and a host of other miracles. Elijah and Elisha posted miracle power to stop rain from falling and see it begin again, to heal the diseased, bring an ax-head up from water, and produce food to provide for the faithful and much more. Jesus, in similarity to both Moses and Elijah and Elisha possessed miracle power to heal diseases, produce food for the hungry, turn water into wine, control weather and walk on water. One important thing to understand about miracles is that prophetic power to do miracles was granted directly by Jesus to His disciples, and ended with His disciples. Jesus demonstrated his connection to Moses and Elijah on the mount of transfiguration when He appeared in a meeting with both prophets. You can read about that incredible moment in Matthew 17, Mark 9 and Luke 9. It was a declaration of Jesus Christ’s prophetic role and miraculous power that came with that role. This moment was also a fulfillment of the Old Testament. Deuteronomy 18:15 says,
“The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen”
Peter says in Acts 3:22-26:
"Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’ And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days. You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”
How do these three offices or roles relate to one another? To answer this, we must remember that Jesus never acts merely as prophet, or priest, or king, but always as a mediator. His three offices flow out of His mediation. Graeme Goldsworthy described Christ’s work as “for us”, “in us” and “with us”(Goldsworthy, 24). He says, “This way of distinguishing the work of Jesus as “for us,” “in us,” and “with us” is simply another way of distinguishing our justification (in the past), our sanctification (in the present), and our glorification (in the future). It is what we express when we say, 'I have been saved, I am being saved, and I will be saved'.”(Goldsworthy, 25)
Jesus never acts merely as prophet, or priest, or king, but always as a mediator.
Modeling Christ's Offices
If we are to model Christ to the world, how do we show his three offices in our lives? There is a correspondence to mankind of the threefold office in our day-to-day lives. We are called to reveal God. This is a prophetic task in that we are called to live in such a way that the world will follow our path towards God. It’s almost as if we are leaving a breadcrumb trail to truth. This isn’t just a model of Christ the Second Adam, it is actually inherited in us from Adam who was placed in the Garden to reveal God’s glory.
We are also called to worship God in a priestly way, which allows us to declared God to mankind. This is both evangelistic and celebratory. Adam was to worship God in the Garden, and we have inherited that responsibility from him as well.
We are heirs of God’s authority, and this is a kingly right. Adam was to exercise dominion over the earth so in the first and physical sense we are the pinnacle of all creation. But in the sense of our inheritance from the Second Adam, Christ, we are sons and daughters of the High King of the Universe. This means we walk on this earth among the nations with the authority of someone greater upon our lives.
We are called to be preachers (or prophets in a sense) that declare God’s covenant-keeping faithfulness to the world. Our job is to know God and make God known. We inherited this role from Adam, but this role is best performed by surrendering to the Second Adam.
1. We reveal God’s power best by yielding to the Holy Spirit.
2. We reveal God’s word best by learning and teaching the Bible.
3. We reveal God’s faithfulness best when we are faithful.
The Apostle Paul said it this way in 1 Corinthians 1:4-9:
"I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge—even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you—so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."
References
Graeme Goldsworthy, The Son of God. (Crossway. Wheaton, Ill. 2015)
Joel R. Beeke, Paul M. Smalley. Reformed Systematic Theology, Vol. 1 (Crossway, Wheaton, Ill. 2019)
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