Our Lord Jesus Christ possesses all the attributes of His Father, God of the Universe in flesh and blood. The attributes, rather the characteristics of God the Father are Justice, Mercy, Wisdom, Love, Goodness, Greatness and Righteous.
Melchizedek is a closest similarity to Jesus Christ just that one is the creator, and the former is His creation. Both hold the titles of King of Righteousness and King of Peace but Jesus Christ is Righteousness and Peace in person and human form. The two persons are Priest too. The Priesthood of Melchizedek is unlike the priesthood of Aaron that ran into many roadblocks and inconsistencies. The priesthood of Melchizedek was to last forever in the shoulder of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. The priesthood of Melchizedek in Genesis was eternal and foreshadowed the coming of Christ. This greater High Priest who came, now at the right hand of the Father, intercedes and mediates on our behalf as stated in the book of 1 John 2: 1 & 1 Timothy 2: 5 accordingly. The Levitical priests and High priest incessantly performed annually the sacrifices of bulls and goats that cannot take away the sins of man. This ultimate High Priest not only mediates and intercedes but also atones for our sins by sacrificing Himself on the cross. It was His ultimate sacrifice that torn apart the curtains which separated man and God. No longer do we need to make peace with God through one man once a year but through Christ, we are usher into the presence of God in the Holy of Holiest. All praises to Jesus Christ, our Saviour!
With these enlightenments of who Jesus is, we can begin to dive into the discussion of seeking God first. We are encouraged to seek Him first, not the solutions to our problems whenever in trouble. Often times, we would pursue desperately the solutions to our problems per se. In this fallen state of humankind and the cursed world that resulted from sins, our troubles are plentiful. Problems are part of our current lives. The television and newspapers are inundated with bad reports and news across all geographical areas on the map; hurricanes, earthquakes, floods and tsunamis that lead to deaths. On the personal level, we face sickness, depressions from addiction to alcohols and drug and etc. That is why Jesus in John 16: 33 forewarned us that in this world we will have tribulations. But He encouraged and assured us that He had overcome the world of sins and its inherent problems. Therefore, have peace in the assurance that Christ, and us in Him, are overcomers.
We humans are all guilty of one crime. Predictably, whenever we are faced with troubles; our immediate instinct is usually to seek help from God. We would presumably seek God if the problem is beyond our human ability to resolve. In hopelessness, we would do all the things necessary that we thought would remove our problems. But in reality, we came with the motive only for the resolutions. Never will we seek the problem solver first, which is Christ. That is the crime! God has become no more than an Automatic Teller Machine that dispenses cash whenever we need it.
Little did we know that our problems can be managed and solved with Wisdom, all problems do. Wait a second; I am never in doubt here that men have or not, the ability to resolve their own problems with their finite wisdom. Mankind has done tremendously well in recent decades in all fields of study; Science, Engineering, Medicines and Space Science etc. Well, necessity was and still is the mother of all inventions to better the lives of humankind. What I am alluding to is in the bible, the scripture of God urged us to seek Wisdom, if anyone should lack. The Wisdom mentioned here is not an abstract object but a person. That person is none other than our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is the personification of Wisdom. Wisdom is one of the characteristics of God and Christ is Wisdom and understanding in the flesh. Whatever our problems may be, be it financial crises, health’s issues, relationship problems, career pressure and etc., we know that Jesus is the answer to all our needs. Seek Him first! Ask for His presence to fill our mind with wisdom and understanding to navigate our ways out of the difficulties in life. He is the Overcomer and He beckons us to take heart, for He has overcome the world. Sometimes, the answers or solutions that the Lord provides may not be our ideal choice but it is His way. Apostle Paul did not receive healing for his “thorn in the flesh” despites being in daily walk with Christ. We must accept the fact that the outcome of our answered requests is under the supervision and wisdom of Christ. It is the best solution.
Humans, being human beings, have the tendency to easily forget all the benefits of the Lord once our problems are solved. That is why, King David a recipient of God innumerous blessings cried aloud in Psalm 103: 1-2, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.” David refused to be counted among the nine lepers who received benefit, healing from Jesus, and went away without a word or appreciations to the God. In Luke 17: 11-19, it is recorded that only one leper turned back towards the healer with gratitude for his healing. There are also some Christians, church going people for years, probably think that God’s helps to them are their entitlements. After all, they have put money, effort and time in service of our Lord. They deserved all the benefits and help. That is also wrong, a sin no lesser than the one who seeks its benefits and not the benefactor.
The verses of Proverbs 4: 7 and Matthew 6: 33 in the bible urged us to ask for wisdom, understandings and to seek first the kingdom of God and all its righteousness. I am inclined to believe that the authors are implying to seek the person Jesus, rather than the abstract object of wisdom, understanding, Kingdom of God and all its righteousness. If we are to replace the keywords of the verses to understand better, we can see that the solutions to all our problems are in the person Jesus Christ, Son of the living God.
We can see Jesus in both of the verses mentioned earlier if we replaced the keywords with Jesus. Proverbs 4: 7 stated that “Wisdom (Jesus) is the principal thing; therefore, get wisdom (Jesus): and with all thy getting get understanding (Jesus). Thrice, our Lord Jesus’ name is mentioned as we have established in the introduction, the attributes of God.
Similarly in Matthew 6: 33, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness (Jesus); and all these things shall be added unto you.” We can see the implications in the whole bible; it speaks and pointed towards the person, Jesus Christ. The author of the bible, Holy Spirit, is consistently embedding the truth, which is the person Jesus, into prophecies and words of God in the scripture.
In conclusion, if the third person of the trinity references of Jesus Christ often, both implicitly and explicitly in the Holy Bible. Then, we must when seeking helps from God to seek Jesus first. Fellow pilgrims, let us not just pursue the benefits, blessings or answers to our problems but seek Jesus first. In so doing, Jesus promised in His words that all these things (goodness and mercy) will follow after us.