Introduction

The elect child of God partakes of the anointing of Jesus Christ by faith and therefore holds the office of all believer. The child of God is anointed and equipped by the Holy Spirit in that office. We read of this in Lord’s Day 12, question and answer 32: “Why art thou called a Christian? Because I am a member of Christ by faith, and thus am partaker of His anointing” (Confessions and Church Order, 96). Holding that office, the believer confesses the name of God, presents himself as a living sacrifice of thankfulness to God, and represents the cause of the living God in the midst of a sin-cursed world in his fight against sin and Satan. The office that the believer holds is his right, his calling, and his glorious privilege as the friend-servant of God.

For us to understand this office in all of its implications and power, we have to consider our head, Jesus Christ, of whose anointing we partake as his elect body. Jesus Christ is the chief officebearer as the mediator of the covenant. He is the chief prophet, chief priest, and chief king. This corresponds with the Old Testament offices of prophet, priest, and king and with the New Testament special offices of minister, deacon, and elder. There is some overlap in those offices. David was a prophet-king. Melchizedek was a priest-king. Samuel was a prophet-priest. In the Old Testament all three offices are found only in Moses, as Moses was the great type of the coming mediator. In the New Testament a minister is a king as well as a prophet, a deacon is a prophet as well as a priest, and an elder is a priest as well as a king. And in the New Testament, the believer holds all three offices by his partaking of the anointing of Christ by faith.

In the old dispensation there was no office of all believer because the Spirit of Pentecost that Christ received of the Father was not yet poured out upon the church. The salvation of God’s people and the knowledge of God and his word were inseparably tied to the special officebearers in the Old Testament. These special officebearers were indispensable for the people of God. There were certain men who were prophets; and to know the Lord’s word, one had to take hold of the skirt of a prophet (Zech. 8:23). Only certain men were priests, and the people of God could not bring sacrifices and could not know atonement and forgiveness and consecration to God’s service without those priests (Lev. 16). And God had made his covenant with King David as a type of Jesus Christ, the one true king. As king, David was typical of the Messiah: David was the Lord’s anointed, and David was the man after God’s own heart. As king, David stood at the head of the nation of Israel, so that the covenant was tied up with the king. And that is what made the rebellion of the ten tribes so abominable. They rejected David and the covenant; they rejected God’s promise; they rejected the Messiah; and they rejected God himself.

The Old Testament was a dispensation of types and shadows that pointed to the one true prophet, priest, and king, Jesus Christ, the great mediator. In him all the types and shadows were realized and fulfilled. All throughout the Old Testament, true Israel was pointed to her deepest need of the redeemer, the savior, the Messiah, and the mediator. And the greatest need of the church today is the gospel, which sets forth that mediator and all his work on behalf of the covenant to save his people from their sins.

Eternal Appointment

Jesus Christ is the officebearer par excellence. He is the perfect officebearer. And his person, works, and office were eternally ordained.

Q. 31. Why is He called Christ, that is, anointed?

A. Because He is ordained of God the Father, and anointed with the Holy Ghost, to be our chief Prophet and Teacher…and to be our only High Priest…and also to be our eternal King. (Confessions and Church Order, 95–96)

The word translated as ordained in the Old Testament means to appoint. In Jeremiah 1:5 God told the prophet Jeremiah that before Jeremiah was ever formed or conceived in his mother’s womb, he had been consecrated and appointed as a prophet of the Lord to the nations. In the New Testament the word ordain has a similar meaning, which is that one is placed, set, or appointed to an office (Titus 1:5). Titus was to appoint elders in every city as Paul had commanded him.

Jesus Christ is ordained to an office. What is an office? An office is the position in which one is authorized and qualified to function on behalf of God in God’s covenant. And so Jesus Christ is an officebearer. An officebearer is the official, visible representative of the invisible God who accomplishes God’s purpose in the world. The officebearer realizes God’s purpose, which is the glory of God’s name and the establishment of his kingdom, the gathering of the church, and the perfecting of the covenant.

Adam in the garden was an officebearer. When God created man in God’s own image and breathed into man’s nostrils the breath of life, God gave man dominion over the earth (Gen. 1:26–27). Adam was the official, visible representative of the invisible God in the garden. Adam was God’s officebearer, God’s friend-servant, and Adam lived in covenant fellowship with God. Adam’s nature was wholly in harmony with the will of God according to God’s judgment, and Adam was capable of doing God’s will and delighting in God’s will. Adam was wholly consecrated to God with all his heart, mind, soul, and strength. Adam knew God immediately and spontaneously both through God’s revelation in creation, in which Adam saw the name of God as a most elegant book, and as God revealed himself directly and spoke to Adam.

But it was not the purpose of God for Adam, as an officebearer, to remain in this original state of rectitude. Adam, as the head of the human race, fell into sin. He plunged the world and all mankind into sin and by sin brought death into the world (Rom. 5:12). Adam was a bad officebearer. As a prophet, all of Adam’s knowledge became darkness. He was a false prophet who knew only the lie. As a priest, Adam’s consecration of himself to God with all his heart, mind, soul, and strength turned into rebellion and the service of sin. And as a king, Adam’s rule turned to one of darkness. All of Adam’s and man’s functioning by nature as officebearers must be characterized as disobedience. By nature man stands as an enemy of God and as a friend of Satan and the kingdom of darkness.

Adam fell as God had decreed that fall and because of Adam’s own willful disobedience, so that Christ, whom God had eternally ordained from before the foundation of the world, would be revealed as God’s servant par excellence, the firstborn of every creature, the first-begotten from the dead, the head of the church, so that all the glory of God might be revealed in Christ. God decreed Christ to unite all things in him. The last Adam, Christ, is first in God’s counsel.

Christ was eternally appointed to his office in God’s decree. “I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee” (Ps. 2:7). Christ did not enter this office by his own will, but he was appointed by God. Jesus Christ, as touching his human nature and his office, eternally existed. There was never a time when Jesus Christ was not. “Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you” (1 Pet. 1:20). Jesus Christ was always in the bosom of the Father, and now he is revealed for his elect.

The name Christ means anointed one. The name Christ is the same as the Old Testament name Messiah. Christ’s appointment, calling, and election are all implied in this title. Jesus Christ was anointed by God to his office as mediator. The Holy Spirit anointed Christ and equipped him to his office. At Christ’s baptism the Holy Spirit descended and lighted upon Christ, and from heaven the voice of God was heard: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17).

Christ’s anointing signifies that He was ordained from eternity by God the Father, and qualified by the Holy Ghost to be God’s officebearer, the Servant of Jehovah, representing His cause in the world, that He might reveal unto us the full counsel of God concerning our salvation, fight the battle against sin and death, and having overcome all the powers of darkness, might occupy His place as the Firstborn of every creature in all the universe. That exalted position, according to which He has a name above all names, and is King over all, He now occupies. He is made Christ and Lord.¹

The official titles of Christ’s office are the mediator of the covenant and the servant of Jehovah. As the mediator, Christ comes from God, and he is God. Christ is not a third party that stands between God and man. God must reconcile his people to himself, and he sent Christ into the world to bring his people, who had plunged themselves into sin and misery, into the highest life in Christ. As the servant, Christ comes doing the will of God in perfect service, love, and devotion to the Father. “Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles” (Isa. 42:1). Jesus Christ is God’s elect, and Jesus Christ is God’s perfect officebearer. Christ serves the purpose of the glory of the name of God and the realization of God’s covenant.

Jesus Christ is the eternal officebearer of God. Christ’s dominion is an everlasting, eternal dominion over all things. At his incarnation the Word became flesh, and that human nature of Christ in his office can never be torn from his divine person. He will reign forever as the one uniting the heavens and the earth. His reign will never end or cease even in the eternal kingdom. And being brought into the covenant by our head and officebearer, Jesus Christ, we stand before God now and will stand everlastingly before God in eternal service, consecration, and love.

His Faithfulness and Obedience

Christ is the perfect officebearer of the covenant. All of his work in his office must be characterized as obedience and faithfulness to God. Christ is the officebearer who delights in God’s will, and the law of God is within his heart (Ps. 40:8; Heb. 10:7). Christ’s meat is to do the will of God, who sent Christ, and to finish his work. Christ made himself of no reputation, took upon himself the form of a servant, humbled himself, and became obedient unto the death of the cross. In that obedience and faithfulness to God as the mediator, Jesus Christ reconciled his people to God.

And this perfect obedience and faithfulness of the perfect officebearer is the comfort of the children of God. Our whole lives are lives of sin, disobedience, and unfaithfulness. In our natures we stand opposed to God and are at enmity with him. We are incapable of doing any good, and we are inclined to all evil. We are false prophets who love the lie. We are false priests who stand in the service of sin with our bodies and souls; with all our faculties and powers; with our minds, souls, and strength. We are false kings: by nature we stand in line with Satan and his hosts against the living God. And so the confidence of the believer is in the perfect obedience of the mediator, that Christ suffered and was obedient as the servant of Jehovah to the death of the cross. That cross is my salvation. At that cross my sins were forgiven, and I am declared righteous and worthy of life eternal because of the mediator and his perfect obedience in his God-ordained office.

It is Christ’s faithfulness and obedience to God that is our salvation. All false doctrine that teaches man’s obedience and faithfulness as a part of his salvation is an attack on Christ as the mediator. It is an attack on Christ’s office. For then man makes himself his own mediator. Man makes himself his own savior when he teaches that man must believe as the hinge on which the experience of salvation turns. Man makes himself his own mediator when he says that he experiences covenant fellowship in the way of obedience. Man’s works! Man’s faithfulness! Man’s obedience! That is the lie that attacks Christ and displaces his perfect work. Christ is ordained as our mediator and as our chief prophet, priest, and king. All his work is obedience and faithfulness, and that work alone is sufficient to save us from our sins.

Prophet

Jesus Christ is our chief prophet. The prophetic work of Jesus Christ is the first aspect of his office as mediator. Prophet generally means one that has the true knowledge of God, speaks in his name, and declares his praises. The basic function of a prophet is to receive and speak the word of God. The Hebrew word for prophet in the Old Testament is derived from a word that means to overflow or to boil over. The idea is that the word of God boils or bubbles up within the prophet. The true prophet is so filled with the true knowledge of God that his mouth overflows. He must speak. He cannot help but speak of God, his covenant, and his will. The prophet must show forth God’s praises. God puts his word in the prophet’s heart, and that word becomes a fire in his bones. The prophet eats God’s word, and that word consumes the prophet.

This word for prophet is found in Deuteronomy 18:18:

I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.

In this text the ultimate reference is to Jesus Christ, the one true prophet, and derived from him are all the true prophets who received a word from the Lord. Thus the words that a true prophet speaks are the very words of God put in the prophet’s mouth.

In the New Testament that word for prophet means to speak forth. The prophet ceaselessly and strenuously speaks in the name of God the word of God. In Acts 3:22 the words of Deuteronomy 18 are quoted and applied to our chief prophet: “For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.” Christ, therefore, is our chief prophet and teacher, and he is the true subject of all the prophets. He is the one who declares the name of God unto his brethren, and Christ reveals unto us the full counsel of our redemption.

Jesus Christ received and speaks the full knowledge and will of God because Jesus Christ is the eternal Word. And Christ is the content and subject of his own message. The scriptures are they which testify of him. He knows God because he is God (John 8:58). Christ is the only-begotten Son of God and the second person of the Trinity. He received the full revelation of God, which God gave unto Christ (Rev. 1:1). He revealed the will of God and God’s eternal plan of salvation. Christ is the chief prophet, and there is no other prophet necessary. And the Lord God raised up Jesus Christ to speak and to reveal God unto his people.

Jesus Christ carried out his work by his Spirit throughout the Old Testament. Although the Holy Spirit had not yet been poured out, we read that the Spirit of Christ was given to the prophets to proclaim the gospel.

10. Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:

11. Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.

12. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into. (1 Peter 1:10–12)

Jesus Christ spoke in and through all the prophets in the old dispensation by his Spirit. Without Jesus Christ there was no prophecy. He was anointed from before the foundation of the world to be the chief prophet, and he carried out his office from the beginning to reveal to his people the secret counsel and will of God concerning their salvation. Christ functioned in his office as prophet in visions and dreams and in types and shadows. Christ functioned in that office directly as the angel of the Lord. Jesus Christ also executed that office by inspiring men to write down the sacred scriptures. Men were so moved by the Holy Ghost that what they wrote down was the very word of God and not the word of man.

And Christ, our chief prophet, came personally in the fullness of time. Jesus Christ executed his office when he came personally preaching the gospel of the kingdom. He came with divine authority, being anointed to his office and given the Spirit without measure. Christ was the master preacher. He spoke of heavenly things and declared the words of eternal life. He was the true and faithful witness. His doctrine was not his own but the Father’s. Christ spoke of the things he had seen with the Father, and Christ glorified not himself but God. He is the Christ, the great prophet of the covenant.

Christ’s office of prophet did not terminate at his death, and his office was not limited to his ministry on earth as the great teacher. He ascended and sat down at God’s right hand; and having received the Spirit, Christ poured out that Spirit and gave to the church apostles to more fully reveal the counsel of God to his people. And Christ functions in his office as chief prophet powerfully to this day by his Spirit in and through the true church as the word is preached according to the sacred scriptures. In the preaching of the gospel, Christ himself executes his office as prophet, and he speaks to his people. There is no preaching or instruction in the church except Christ himself preaches and speaks to us. And he will continue to speak in his church until all of his sheep are gathered into one fold.

Priest

The second aspect of Jesus Christ’s office as mediator of the covenant is that he is ordained as our only high priest. “The central idea of the priestly office is that of consecration of oneself and all things to the living God.”² As the high priest, Christ consecrates himself and his elect people to God. He makes his people holy, sanctifies them, and separates them unto the living God. God’s people cannot bring themselves to God, atone for their own sins, intercede before God’s throne, or enter into the covenant of their own will. They need a mediator. They need the perfect high priest to bring them before God and give them an introduction before the Holy One.

The priestly work of Christ involves a twofold work. Answer 31 of the Heidelberg Catechism teaches this twofold work of Christ the high priest:

He is ordained of God the Father, and anointed with the Holy Ghost…to be our only High Priest, who by the one sacrifice of His body has redeemed us, and makes continual intercession with the Father for us. (Confessions and Church Order, 95–96)

Christ’s high-priestly work of sacrifice and intercession was typified all throughout the Old Testament. God ordained the entire priestly order with all of its laws and rites for the worship of him, which was dedicated to the sacrificing of bloody animals, which pictured the remission of sins and the salvation in the Lamb that was to come. The priests went before God to sacrifice on behalf of the people. And the priests took coals from off the altar and stood before the altar to offer sweet incense before God. The priestly office reached its highest expression on the Day of Atonement. On that day the high priest would make an atoning sacrifice, and then the high priest would intercede on behalf of the people. It was the only day in which the high priest would enter the holy of holies. It was the height of Israel’s worship of God. These types and shadows pointed the Israelites to look forward in hope to the promise of the one perfect sacrifice and the one who continually intercedes with the Father for his elect people.

At the heart of all this work of the priest is the covenant. For Old Testament Israel and for us to enter into covenant fellowship and experience that fellowship with the most high God, there must be a perfect sacrifice. Jesus Christ made that sacrifice of his body on the cross once and for all (Heb. 10:10–14). He perfectly obeyed the Father and consecrated himself to God. Christ was the appointed high priest as the head of a people who are by nature sinful, guilty, and damnworthy. And it was Christ’s sacrifice that reconciled us to God. It was Christ’s sacrifice that paid for all our sins. His sacrifice satisfied the righteousness of God against our sins. Willingly, this high priest entered into death and suffered the agonies of hell. He purchased for us freedom from the bondage of sin, obtained for us eternal and everlasting righteousness, and merited for us the favor of God. His sacrificial work as the high priest was particular. It was only for the elect, for those whom God gave to Christ to be their high priest.

And as our high priest, Christ intercedes before the throne of God.

He arose, and He entered into the glory of the Father, not merely in order to enjoy His own glory, but that the salvation he merited for His people by His perfect obedience might become the possession of all the Father had given him.

All of the work of salvation is accomplished and perfected through Christ as the Mediator. Out of God and through Christ we receive all the blessings of grace.³

Christ stands before the throne of God, continually presenting his perfect sacrifice before God. Christ petitions the Father on our behalf, presenting his shed blood and perfect sacrifice of obedience and faithfulness to God. Christ makes continual intercession before God for us, which God answers by blessing us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. Christ prays, and constantly from the Father Christ receives the full answer to his prayer. His intercession has as its end the salvation of his people. Christ’s prayers are not for himself, but our high priest is ever conscious of his covenantal, inseparable union with his elect. He is ever conscious of his headship over his beloved bride. With Christ we are one. He intercedes as our high priest that he might bestow upon us all the fullness of the grace that he received.

In the scriptures Melchizedek is the unique and wonderful type of Jesus Christ as our high priest. The Bible does not record much about Melchizedek, but what it does record reveals much to us about our eternal high priest. Jesus Christ was a priest after the order of Melchizedek (Ps. 110:1–4). Melchizedek, as recorded in Genesis 14:18–20, was the king of Salem. He was also a priest of the most high God. Melchizedek’s name and the country over which he ruled denote him as a king of righteousness and a king of peace. Melchizedek blessed Abraham at his returning from the slaughter of the kings; and Abraham, recognizing Melchizedek’s royal priesthood, gave him tithes of all.

Melchizedek appeared suddenly on the scene of history. No genealogy is given to us regarding Melchizedek. Curiously, he was “without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually” (Heb. 7:3). Melchizedek pointed to the eternal ordination and everlasting nature of Jesus Christ as our high priest. Christ has neither beginning of days nor end of life but came from eternity and will continue to eternity.

The priestly and kingly offices that Melchizedek held were united in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the true king of righteousness and the true king of peace. He is the king who comes to establish everlasting righteousness, and therefore he is the king of peace who rules in mercy. By his righteousness, he gives eternal peace to his people. And the mercy of the priestly office governs the rule of the kingly office.

King

Jesus Christ, as God’s perfect officebearer, is not only our chief prophet and high priest, but he is also our eternal king. He is “the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords” (1 Tim. 6:15).

In the Old Testament Christ functioned in his office as king through the kings of David’s line. The fact is that there were many wicked and ungodly kings, which emphasized Judah’s need for the one true king. That God gave any godly kings to Judah was because of God’s faithfulness to his promise. All of the godly kings were but shadowy revelations of Christ and his salvation.

In his life on earth, Christ personally exercised his kingly office. He fought the battle against the powers of darkness by his obedience and faithfulness to God. At the cross, toward which his whole life marched unstoppably, Christ defeated all his enemies and the enemies of his church. He reigned victorious over his enemies. At the cross he laid the sole foundation for his gracious kingdom. Christ’s ascension was his triumphant and royal procession into heaven as the victorious king. And today he sits as the exalted king at God’s right hand.

This kingship of Jesus Christ as the mediator is not to be confused with his eternal power as the second person of the Trinity. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as the triune God possess all power in heaven and on earth from eternity to eternity. God is absolute power and authority in his being. Rather,

The kingship that [Christ] possesses as mediator is the authority and power with which the person of the Son according to his human nature is invested by the Father for the purpose of completing his kingdom, preserving and protecting his church, and leading his people on to eternal glory.⁴

The kingship of Christ that he received in his human nature according to the eternal appointment of God is called his bestowed kingship. There are two aspects of this kingship. The first aspect is Christ’s rule by his sheer might and power over the creation and ungodly men. Christ rules them with a rod of iron. He reigns with all his enemies under his feet. All must bow to Christ. The second aspect is Christ’s gracious rule in the hearts of his elect people. Jesus Christ sets up his kingly throne in his people’s hearts and rules in his people by his grace: by his word and Spirit. Christ’s rule is a spiritual rule as God’s kingdom itself is radically spiritual.

Christ as the mediator is God’s eternal king who establishes the everlasting kingdom of God. Upon all of his subjects, Christ bestows the riches and blessings of the kingdom. And as king, he rules over all for the good of his elect. He defends and preserves his people in the redemption and salvation he obtained for them. He defends his people by his power and causes all things to work together for the salvation of his subjects.

This kingdom of Christ is opposed by Satan and all of his hosts, which opposition will culminate in the antichristian kingdom. But Christ will utterly destroy the kingdom of darkness. Christ will put Satan under his feet shortly and will destroy Satan and all darkness by the breath of his mouth. At Christ’s final return he will come as the great king to forever establish that kingdom of righteousness where God is all in all. Christ will come again as king in great power and glory. And he will reign eternally over his church and his people as a royal priesthood.

Jesus Christ’s kingship is everlasting. “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever.” There is no end to his dominion.

Jesus Christ is our chief prophet who makes known unto us—who by nature are in darkness—the whole counsel of God concerning our redemption. Jesus Christ is our chief high priest who intercedes on our behalf with the Father, presenting before God his one perfect sacrifice on the cross. Jesus Christ is our eternal king: he fought the battle against sin, death, and the powers of darkness and gained the complete victory; and he preserves his subjects by his word and Spirit in the salvation he obtained for us.

Jesus Christ is God’s perfect officebearer as the mediator of the covenant.

Next time, the Lord willing, we will turn to the office of all believer and the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ was anointed and equipped by the Holy Spirit for his work, and Christ received the Holy Spirit of the Father, which Christ pours out on his church. It is by that Spirit that Jesus Christ continues to execute his office in his church.