[0:00] term and title is going to be a new theological term that you will never have heard before because I made it up. Our title is Anointianity. Anointianity. So we made up word but maybe a funny sounding word but I hope a helpful word.
[0:18] Let me explain what I mean. Anointianity is just an alternative form of the word Christianity and that's because the word Christ is a Greek word that means anointed one and the Greek word for anointing is Creo. So in Greek which is the language of the New Testament was written in Christ and anointed is almost the same word and you see that very clearly in 1 Corinthians 121 it says here and it is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us.
[0:55] Now I don't usually do this but I'm going to just show you what that says in Greek so that's the Greek underneath this last section from here onwards that's the bit here we're doing together. This is the Greek and so us who mass us with Sun you mean in ice Christ Christ on Kai and has anointed Chris as him as us him as Sun you mean ice Christian Kai Chris as that's what I wanted to say Christian Kai Chris as almost the same word it all means anointing Christ and anointing it's all the same thing and so that means when we say Jesus Christ when we talk about Christianity behind those words lies this whole concept of being anointed that's why we can call the Christian faith anointing see there you go new word for you all and what I hope we're gonna see tonight is that it's actually a very helpful thing for us to think about because it will I hope help us to understand more of the gospel and help us to apply it to our lives in other words what I hope we see tonight is that anointing is a very cool word I want us to look at three things together we're gonna see what it teaches us about
[2:19] Jesus what it teaches us about God what it teaches us about ourselves so that's our three headings Jesus God and us so thinking first of all about Jesus about the person and work of Christ Jesus of Nazareth born just over 2000 years ago is known to the world as Jesus Christ now that word Christ is not his surname it's a title and so we could also say Jesus the Christ and that would maybe be even a little bit more accurate and as we said it's a Greek word that means anointed one and it's the Greek equivalent of a Hebrew word the word messiah so the word Christ the word messiah the phrase anointed one it all means the same thing and so that means that at the heart of who Jesus is and at the heart of what he's come to do is this whole idea of being anointed now what does that mean and why is this important well the concept of anointing as used here in relation to Christ is rooted in the Old Testament and it's connected to three key roles that appear again and again and again in the Bible that's the role of the prophet the priest and the king for each one of these an individual was anointed for the task that was given to them so I've got some examples here in terms of a prophet we read of Elijah anointing Elisha to be prophet in his place in terms of priest you have the instructions given to Moses that Aaron and his sons and they are to be anointed and consecrated as priests and then King 1 Samuel 15 Samuel says to Saul the Lord sent me to anoint you as
[4:12] King over his people so if we are talking about anointing we are talking about prophet we're talking about priest and we are talking about king and these offices appear again and again and again in the Old Testament and all of them are crucial for the life of Israel as the people of God so the prophet functioned as God's spokesperson a messenger who communicated the word of God often that was to issue warnings but those warnings were also always accompanied with a message of salvation and hope the priest functioned as the people's representative before God serving in the temple offering sacrifices interceding on behalf of us sinful people and the king functioned as God's vice-regent or under shepherd that's the language that the Old Testament frequently uses so just as a shepherd cared for his flock so a king was to lead and protect and provide for the people so the prophet spoke from God to the people a priest came to God on behalf of the people and the king held a responsibility delegated by God and so he stood under God over the people now the big emphasis of the Old Testament is that all three of these roles failed the prophets messages fell on deaf ears Israel did not listen the elaborate sacrificial system of the temple and all the priests who served there was never able to actually take away people's sins and the kings constantly failed and by the end of the Old Testament always remember the story of the Old Testament is not a success story it's a story of failure because by the end of it God stopped sending prophets and the temple was destroyed interrupting the priests work and the nation was under foreign rule rather than having its own independent king so it's a big story of failure but in amongst all of that the
[6:27] Old Testament also looks forward to the coming of a savior who's going to be all three of these things so Moses in Deuteronomy says the Lord your God is going to raise up for you a prophet like me from among you we sang from Sam 110 speaking of a priest appointed forever after the order of Melchizedek and you have passages like Isaiah chapter 9 which speak of a king to us a child is born to us a son is given and the government shall be on his shoulders his name shall be called wonderful counselor mighty God everlasting father prince of peace of the inquis of his government and of peace there'll be no end on the throne of David and over his kingdom etc etc and so we've got this anticipation of a prophet a priest and a king not only that the Old Testament also hints that all of these are going to be combined in the one person a very good place to go to see that and frequently is the prophecy of Zechariah let me just highlight two passages all of this is looking forward to the one who's coming you can see in 612 to 13 thus there's a lot of hosts behold the man whose name is the branch but he shall branch out from his place he shall build the temple of the Lord it's he who shall build the temple of the Lord and shall bear royal honor and shall sit and rule on his throne and there shall be a priest on his throne and the council of peace shall be between them both do you see what's happening there you've got priest language here and you've got king language here the priest and the king combined then later in Zechariah passage that the New Testament quotes when Jesus enters into Jerusalem speaks all about the king but that king is also going to speak peace to the nations he's a king he's a prophet he's a priest all these roles are going to be combined in one and of course you know where all this is pointing it's all pointing to Jesus in him all of these come together and that's why when we read in Luke 4 it speaks of him being anointed he's anointed to proclaim good news to the poor to set at liberty those who are captive and oppressed to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and you go to the rest of the New Testament you see again and again and again that the writers of the New Testament recognize
[9:07] Jesus as prophet priest and king a brilliant example comes in Hebrews 1 128 I'm sorry that I'm giving you lots of quotes just now but I just want you to see that all of this is just absolutely rooted in what scripture is saying let me just go through this passage together look out for prophet stuff priest stuff king stuff we'll see if you find it long ago and many times in many ways God spoke to our fathers by the prophets but in these days he's spoken to us by his son whom he appointed the heir of all things through whom also he created the world he's the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature he upholds the universe by the word of his power after making purifications for sins he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high having become as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs for to which of the angels did God ever see you're my son today I've begotten you or again I'll be to him a father and he shall be to me a son and again when he brings the firstborn into the world he says let all God's angels worship him of the angels he says he makes his angels wins and his ministers a flame of fire but of the son he says you're thrown oh God is forever and ever the sceptre of uprightness and is the sceptre of your kingdom did you see it all all of this is talking about Jesus there's the prophet language here and there's the priest language here and there's the king language here Jesus fulfills all of these offices perfectly and so prophet priest king you need to learn these categories and remember them because they're immensely important and the reason they're so important is because they all combine to enable Jesus to serve as the mediator between God and humanity there's one God one mediator between God and then the man Christ Jesus that's what makes Jesus unique he is the only one who can fulfill these roles he is the one who he is the perfect fulfillment of all the failed shadows of the Old Testament in fact what we see in Jesus is that he doesn't just take up these roles he actually takes them to a new level so Jesus doesn't just communicate on God's behalf Jesus doesn't just all very own words are the word of God and Jesus doesn't just offer a sacrifice at the temple he is the sacrifice that is offered in our place and Jesus doesn't just rule with an authority delegated from God he is the one who has all the authority he is the king of kings and the Lord of Lord so he is the ultimate example of prophet priest and king and as you look at the life of Jesus you see a progressive intensification of these roles so as Jesus begins his ministry in many ways the focus is on his role as a prophet he goes around preaching and his message is attested by miracles and then as we move on in the ministry of Jesus you see him set his face towards the cross for that great work of atonement where he is going to make to sacrifice offer himself as a sacrifice for our sins to become our great high priest and from that point Jesus the king rises from the dead and is exalted with unstoppable power and unmatched authority he's conquered he's victorious he is king overall and it means that by the time you reach the end of the gospel narratives and as Jesus returns to heaven the work that he was anointed to accomplish is now his perfect finished work and perhaps the best summary of all comes in the words of Jesus himself that we read at the start of the service Jesus said I am the way and the truth and the life no one comes to the father except through me Jesus is the way to
[13:15] God that's because he's priest Jesus reveals the truth to us that's because he's prophet and it is under Jesus's rule it's by coming into his kingdom that we can have life he is the king and all of that combines to make up the role of mediator which is exactly why Jesus says no one comes to the father except through me and so it all ties in so beautifully and there's so much more that we could say about this and I'm very conscious that I'm kind of I've gone through that very very quickly what I want us to see is that all of what Jesus has done is connected back to this concept of being anointed but why is that so important why does this matter well I want to highlight two things very quickly in relation to Jesus first of all anointing is really important because anointing is the Bible's way of saying it's him it's the Bible's way of saying it's him so whether that was a prophet anointed or a king anointed or a priest anointed it was saying it's him and we actually do the same we don't use oil but if someone wins the Olympics we anoint them with a gold medal if someone's a captain of the football team they get anointed with an armband and when you're the bride on your wedding day you get anointed with a dress that nobody else is wearing and they're always in which we can say it's him it's her and what's this what this is telling us is that when it comes to the biggest issues and biggest needs of life when it comes to finding answers finding hope finding healing finding purpose finding truth finding eternal life the anointing of Jesus as the Christ is there to tell us it's him it's him he's the one we need he's the one that we've been waiting for and it's all reminding us that if you look past Jesus to something else in order to find healing or hope or security if you look past Jesus at something else you have made the wrong choice you've missed the thing that you need more than anything else and so anointing functions to identify but there's another thing that's important about anointing the Bible doesn't just associate anointing with identification it also associates anointing with power you see that in Acts 10 38 God anointed
[16:21] Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power and so Jesus as the anointed prophet priest and king has all the power that is needed to accomplish what he came to do and that power is unlimited it's unstoppable and it is completely effectual because it accomplishes everything that God the Father wants him to accomplish and that means that the Gospel doesn't just say it's him he's the Savior the Gospel also says he's done it he has done everything that's needed and that's why our our response to the Gospel is not simply to realize it's him I need to impress him our response to the Gospel is realize it's him he's done it all I have to do is rest in him and trust him and this is so incredibly important because yes it's true as I said a moment ago some people for the big questions in life they might look past Jesus to something else and go to other options lots of people are doing that I don't think anybody in here is doing that but what I do think is that there are people in here who will think I know it's him but when it comes to saving me I don't think you can do it I don't think he wants to do it I don't think he will do it and that is never true that is never ever true the anointed Messiah can and will save all who come to him no one who comes to Jesus will be turned away no one will be cast out everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved so anointing annity key for understanding the person and work of
[18:29] Jesus but this word also has a lot to teach us about God and about us so first of all what does anointing annity teach us about God but what I want us to think about is the fact that this whole concept of anointing annity is taking us even deeper than the personal work of Jesus so we're not just seeing the coming of Jesus as the Messiah and his work on the cross we actually go behind that to see more about the very nature of God himself in other words behind the anointed Christ is the reality of God the Trinity which is the doctrine of God that's unique to Christianity at the heart of Christian theology proper at the heart of the Christian doctrine of God is the doctrine of the Trinity the fact that there is one God but that one God consists of three father son and Holy Spirit and the way it summarized is to say that God is one substance three persons so what that means is that only that there is only one being that has the nature and substance of God only one only God is God but that singular unique God is triune in nature the simple indivisible nature of God is that forever he exists in a perfect unity of three God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Spirit so if you put it like this only God has Godness only God has
[20:04] Godness that makes sense but Godness is actually made of three of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit equal in substance power and glory and I want to highlight that because the triune nature of God ties in so beautifully with this concept of anointing and this is why we read about Jesus as baptism because you see it revealed magnificently in Luke 3 21 and 22 why is this so important it's because in this moment what do you see well let's read it when all the people were baptized when that when Jesus also been baptized and was praying the heavens were open the Holy Spirit descended on him and bodily form like a dove and a voice came from heaven you might be love its son with whom I am well pleased what do you have here you have the anointer God the Father and then you have the one who is anointed God the Son and then you have the oil of anointing that's poured out God the Holy Spirit and it's just a magnificent revelation of the full and combined work of God revealed to us in the baptism of Jesus in other words this whole concept of anointing is rooted in the doctrine of the Trinity anointing has this has three nests at the heart of it anointed anointed an anointing that's a beautiful revelation of the Trinity it's all the collective work of the triune God why is that so important well it means that in everything that we see Jesus say and do God is showing us what he is really like and he is showing us what he really wants and this is what's so important when you look at Jesus you don't just learn what Jesus is like you learn what God
[22:11] Father Son and Holy Spirit is like in fact it's in the person and work of Jesus that the fullness of the attributes of God are revealed and that's such an important thing for us to remember when we talk about the attributes of God we're talking about all the great qualities and abilities and characteristics that God has they're revealed in different ways but they are only fully revealed to us through Jesus and through what he's done so God we can put it like this God can throw a trillion stars into the universe and you can see that he's powerful God can devise all the equations of mathematics and you can see that he's consistent God can make the sky glow red on a beautiful hebron in sunset and you can see that God is creative God can pour out justice and you can see that he's righteous but it is only by anointing his one and only son to die for you that you can see just how loving God really is and that's why the fact that this happens at Jesus's baptism is so beautiful because Jesus wasn't baptized for his own benefit he wasn't baptized because he needed to repent and he wasn't baptized because he needed to be cleansed and that's part of the reason why John said to him look I shouldn't be baptizing you because there's a great sense in which Jesus didn't need it and he didn't need it but that's not why he wasn't baptized because he needed it he was baptized because he was identifying himself with us and with our problem he was anointed to come and stand and die in our place and all of this was God's plan all along and it's all teaching us that the triune God is fully invested wholly involved and utterly committed to your salvation and it all culminates in Jesus Jesus the perfect prophet who's pointing us to the God of all truth Jesus the great high priest who points us to the God of abundant mercy Jesus the risen King pointing us to the God who is all powerful this whole concept of anointing is pointing us backwards to see more of the fullness of the majesty of the glory of God revealed through Jesus Christ but it doesn't just point us backwards and the anointing this whole idea of anointing also points us forwards it also teaches us about ourselves because anointing anity is not just about Jesus it's not just about God the Trinity it's also about you as we think of anointing anity in relation to the church of Jesus Christ in relation to us again there is loads that we could say I just want to highlight two things because as always I'm running out of time the reality of Jesus as the anointed one means two crucial things it means that our needs are met and our possibilities are transformed all our needs are met and all our possibilities are transformed so our needs are met theologians have made a connection between the threefold office of the anointed Christ prophet peace king with what they call the threefold misery of humanity that's the kind of great phrase you read in old theology books the threefold misery of humanity which is summarized under three headings ignorance guilt and tyranny and theologians use those three three phrases to summarize our situation now they're helpful theological terms but what you need to recognize it's also exactly what you experience every week of your life and we maybe find these words a bit off-putting the word ignorance is not it's a bit offensive really it's not a very pleasant word but it's actually something that we have to deal with all the time sometimes it's from others so how often in your life have you been judged by somebody who didn't know you or didn't know your circumstances that's that's them displaying ignorance how often do we see people who we love walking down a path in their lives that we know is a terrible idea but they can't see it and they go marching off how often do people speak with supreme confidence when all the time we know fine that they're talking rubbish all of that is is ignorance that we encountered all the time but maybe even more so ignorance is something that we struggle with ourselves and again nobody likes to sort of say oh well I'm really ignorant that's you know we don't like using that language but the concept is real the experience is real because how often do we find ourselves saying I don't know what to do I don't understand why this is happening I didn't think that things would turn out like this and maybe the worst encounters we have with ignorance are when we are hurt by people that we thought that we knew and then we realize we didn't guilt is another word that we don't like to think about but we can't escape its shadow we look at our lives we see the mistakes we've made we are crushed by regret we're conscious of our sin and no matter how much we try to become a better version of ourselves we can't escape our awareness of failure and our sense of guilt before God and maybe you can mask it people are brilliant at masking it and you see people do that in a whole ton of different ways so many people trying to mask the sense of guilt but the whole reason they're masking it is because it's there and they can't get rid of it and tyranny that's another unpleasant word another inescapable aspect of life this week we live in a broken world just you turn the news on this morning and you're like oh man this word is broken and we all have hearts that gravitate towards bad choices how through is that oh man how often do we just kind of drawn towards choices that are foolish how many of us in here are conscious that we have bodies that are losing the battle against age and decay and every single one of us every single one of us on our own stands helpless in the face of death and that merciless power of sin and death has been a brutal tyrannical oppressive of humanity ever since our first parents fell this is the plight that we face theologically this is the plight of humanity experientially this is what makes life so hard this is why things don't make sense this is why there's always a negative voice accusing your failure and this is why death wrecks our lives and all too often we feel completely helpless these are our greatest needs and the anointed Jesus meets them all the anointed one Jesus fixes it all and so Jesus the prophet brings light in a world of darkness truth in a world of lies knowledge in a world of confusion the priest Jesus cleanses away all your sin all your sin every scar is healed every mistake is forgiven every regret can be forgotten forever because he's forgotten it and the king Jesus breaks the power breaks the tyranny of sin and death rules and defends his people he makes them untouchable which is why if you're a
[31:04] Christian or if you become one then the power of death cannot harm you if you are trusting in Jesus death can only do one thing to you it can send you to paradise and so we desperately need a prophet to teach us we need a priest to atone and intercede for us we need a king to rule and defend us and that's why Jesus is everything that you need and not only that he is everything that you crave do you crave truth do you long for forgiveness are you terrified of dying anointing is amazing because the anointed Jesus fixes it all but he actually does more than that because not only our needs net our possibilities are transformed and this is one of the most amazing things about the gospel
[32:05] Christ is anointed by the Spirit through that anointing he accomplishes everything that God sent him to achieve he's now risen and exalted at the right hand of God does his work stop no it doesn't his work continues through the church so how does he make that work continue and how does he accomplish that reality well you Jesus at his baptism anointed by the Spirit enabled to accomplish all the work that God gave him to do now exalted at the right hand of God sending out his church what does he do he anoints that church with exactly the same Holy Spirit in other words if you become a Christian or if you are a Christian God the Holy Spirit's poured out on you he's come to dwell in your heart to restore you to what God created you to be and to empower you to accomplish God's purposes and it's all because Jesus has made you an anointing he's made you a Christian and the risen Lord anoints all of his people with the same Holy Spirit with which he himself was anointed and when that happens our possibilities are transformed because we're no longer slaves to sin we're no longer living for ourselves we're no longer blind and deaf instead we are indwelt by the Spirit so that we can be led by the Spirit bearing the fruit of the Spirit witnessing for Jesus in the power of the Spirit and all of that means that the Spirit that enabled the Christ to accomplish all his work is now the Spirit that enables the church to fulfill Christ's mission and of course all of this is coming back to what the cross has achieved and you remember that when Jesus died in the cross the temple curtain was torn into you and when we think of the temple curtain torn into you we often think in terms of access that's true but it's only half the story the term the temple curtain was torn into giving us access to God but that tearing of the temple also allows for an outpouring of the Spirit of God to fill his church and to enable us to serve him and for his purposes to be accomplished through us that transforms our lives it transforms our possibilities and it makes this week very exciting as we go into it together following Jesus if you are a Christian or if you become one you are valued commissioned and empowered by God the
[34:36] Holy Spirit and Jesus will accomplish his purposes through you all of it is teaching us that anointing is a very cool word and the reason it's a cool word is because the anointed one is utterly amazing and becoming an anointing is the best thing that can ever happen to you and so I hope that every one of us is looking to Jesus and trusting in him I mean let's pray