”You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek!” Psa. 110:4 (psalm 110 is quoted more frequently than any other psalm The New Testament)

What has all this to do with me? you may ask. If you have entered into a personal relationship with Christ Jesus as your Savior and Lord, it means a lot.

Melchizedek was not Christ, but he resembled Him (Hebr. 7:3) and foreshadowed some wonderful gospel truths about Him.

1. He was superior to the law, since Levi (still in the loins of Abraham) acknowledged his supremacy through Abraham who paid tithes to him. Hebr. 7:9, Gen. 14:20. The Levitical law system served its own good purpose, being actually only “a shadow of things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ” (Col. 2:17), i.e. “the real thing” came with Him, meaning that we are now under no “law”, no religious rules and regulations, since we are governed by His Spirit, the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2), in a wonderful, joyous way. Are you enjoying that freedom?

2. He was “king of Salem”, i.e. king of peace. Hebr. 7:1. Again a picture of Christ. He is, indeed, our “Prince of peace” (Isa. 9: 6), and as we submit to Him and let the lordship be upon His (not our) shoulders, His peace will certainly fill our lives despite stormy circumstances.

3. He blessed Abraham at a crucial moment . He stepped in between Abraham and the king of Sodom with “bread and wine”. The result was that Abraham could face the king of Sodom happy and completely free of this world, as the blessing of Melchizedek had already fully satisfied him. See Gen. 14:17-24. What a wonderful truth speaking of our complete satisfaction in Christ to such a degree that the world has lost its charm on us.

4. He is great! “See how great this man is…” (Hebr. 7:4). Yes, this is above all true of Christ. How great is He? When He becomes great to our hearts, many difficulties become so small. “He must increase, but I must decrease.” (Joh. 3:30). May that spirit always prevail with us.

Meditate on this and thank God for these truths before you go out in the open. Your satisfaction and joy in Christ will be noticed. One of my standard answers when those passing by greeted me with the casual question, “ How are you doing?” was this simple, non-casual one: “I´m happy, and do you know why?” Yes, we know why, don´t we? O, let the world know!

-jn-