DR. DAVID WESTFALL ON CHRIST'S OFFICE AS PRIEST│SCHOLARS IN RESIDENCE SERMON SERIES (JUNE 21, 2026)

Devotional

Day 1: From Eden’s Garden to God’s Temple: Reclaiming Our Priestly Vocation

Humanity’s original calling was to transform the wilderness into a garden-sanctuary where God’s presence dwells. Adam and Eve were meant to act as royal priests, consecrating every corner of creation through worshipful stewardship. Their rebellion fractured this sacred task, leaving the world fragmented under self-worship. Yet Christ, the true image-bearer, restores this priestly mission. Through His sacrificial obedience, He reclaims the world as God’s temple. We now join Him in making all things holy, turning chaos into spaces where heaven meets earth. [05:45]

“God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’”
(Genesis 1:28, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you treated parts of your life as “wilderness” instead of holy ground? How might your daily work become an act of consecrating creation to God?

Day 2: Expulsion from Eden: When Worship Becomes Self-Seeking

The serpent’s lie convinced humanity that self-rule trumps reliance on the Creator. Adam’s grasping for autonomy exiled him from Eden’s sanctuary, unleashing a world where competing “truths” breed chaos. Like Israel’s failed priesthood, we still prefer guarding our idols over guarding God’s holiness. Yet expulsion isn’t the final word. Christ enters our exile, bearing the full cost of our rebellion to reopen Eden’s gates. True worship begins when we release our grip on counterfeit gods. [08:27]

“Therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.”
(Genesis 3:23–24, ESV)

Reflection: What “preferred truth” have you defended more fiercely than God’s Word? How might reliance on Christ’s obedience free you from self-made burdens?

Day 3: Sacrifice as Death’s Defeat: The Aroma of Worship

Animal sacrifices weren’t about appeasing an angry God but transforming death into doxology. The altar’s fire turned offerings into ascending smoke—a ritual conquest where death became a pathway to communion. Christ’s cross fulfills this pattern perfectly. His surrendered life gathers up humanity’s fatal corruption and transfigures it into worship. What we call “sacrifice” is really death’s surrender to the One who makes all things holy. [14:54]

“And the priest shall burn all of it on the altar, as a burnt offering, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord.”
(Leviticus 1:9, ESV)

Reflection: Where do you resent life’s “deaths”—losses, limitations, or surrenders? How might Christ’s cross redefine them as worship?

Day 4: The True High Priest Enters the Holy of Holies

Caiaphas saw Jesus as a contaminant to purge. But the real defilement was in the priest’s own heart, blind to God’s presence standing before him. Christ, the unblemished offering, enters heaven’s sanctuary not with animal blood but with His own. His perfect “I am yours” resounds eternally in the Holy of Holies, making us fit for God’s presence. Our Great Priest turns expulsion into embrace. [16:29]

“And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.”
(Hebrews 10:11–12, ESV)

Reflection: What areas of your life feel “unfit” for God’s presence? How does Christ’s finished work assure you of welcome?

Day 5: Living Stones: The Church as Heaven’s Embassy on Earth

The rebuilt temple isn’t made of stone but of redeemed people. Through Eucharist and prayer, we become a beachhead of Eden—where heaven’s will reshapes earth’s chaos. Our worship isn’t escape from the world but reclamation of it. As Christ’s body, we’re both sanctuary and sacrifice, declaring creation’s true purpose until every enemy yields to His throne. [26:01]

“You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
(1 Peter 2:5, ESV)

Reflection: How does gathering with other believers reshape your vision of daily life? What “spiritual sacrifice” can you offer today to advance Eden’s restoration?

Sermon Summary

Christ’s saving work takes human nature into the threefold office of prophet, priest, and king in order to make things right between creatures and creator. Christ as prophet perfectly reveals God, Christ as priest perfectly worships God, and Christ as king perfectly rules the world according to God’s will. Atonement means that two who were at odds are made at one, at peace. Christ’s office does not leave the church with nothing to do, because prophet, priest, and king was the original job description given to Adam and all his children when God made humanity in his image.

Christ’s priestly office belongs together with his kingship. The true king reveres and serves one greater than himself, and the world becomes a temple when every corner is ordered toward the creator’s glory and goodness. Adam and Eve were made royal priests, temple builders and temple guardians, called to consecrate every square inch of the world as a garden sanctuary filled with the glory of the living God. Their fall was not merely rule-breaking, but a refusal to worship, a refusal to say that God is supremely valuable and infinitely worthy.

Idolatry turns the world into chaos. Self-worship makes every preferred truth into a fragile god that has to be defended by fear, hatred, envy, and strife. Human worship, when misdirected, profanes the world that human beings were meant to cleanse and consecrate. God cast Adam and Eve from the garden, but God did not move to plan B. Salvation is plan two point o, God accomplishing the original design by overcoming every obstacle in the way.

Israel’s temple was a symbolic restoration of Eden, a sacramental point where heaven and earth came together. Sacrifice was not mainly about punishing animals or delighting in death. Sacrifice was the creature’s definitive acknowledgment of the creator: “This is yours. All that I have is yours. I am yours.” Animal sacrifice was a ritual conquest of death, a way of turning death itself into doxology, a pleasing aroma of holiness ascending to God.

Jesus stands before Caiaphas as the true high priest before the earthly high priest. Caiaphas sees a contaminant, a blasphemer to be expelled like Adam from Eden or the scapegoat on the day of atonement. The truth is that Jesus is the holy one of God, preparing the offering that bulls and goats could only symbolize. The cross is not merely something that happened to Jesus. The cross is the Son of God’s deliberate human act of worship, our flesh and blood surrendered in perfect obedience: “You are worthy, and I am for you.”

Christ’s single offering conquers death and seats him at the right hand of God. His priestly office restores the church’s priestly calling. The church becomes the temple of the living God, cleansed by his blood and filled with his Spirit. In the Eucharist, Christ joins his people to the once-for-all sacrifice, so that his worship becomes their worship, a living sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving until death’s defeat is complete.

Key Takeaways

1. Worship is humanity’s first vocation Adam and Eve were not merely asked to follow rules, but to guard and build God’s garden sanctuary. The fall was therefore a collapse of worship, a refusal to acknowledge God as supremely valuable. Sin begins when the creature treats the self as the highest good and then calls that slavery freedom. [05:22]
2. Idolatry profanes God’s world False worship does not stay private or harmless. When anything less than the creator becomes ultimate, the world fills with anxious tribes defending fragile “truths” that cannot defend themselves. The disintegration of worship becomes the disintegration of communion, turning a temple into a contaminated home. [08:27]
3. Sacrifice turns death into doxology Biblical sacrifice is not a celebration of death, but a ritual conquest of death’s power to separate creatures from God. A surrendered life passes through death in obedience and rises as a pleasing aroma. Death, the last enemy, is made to serve holiness and communion with the living God. [14:14]
4. The cross is perfect worship Christ’s death was not pleasing to God as bare suffering, but as the Son’s blameless will in dying. The cross is human flesh and blood offered in wholehearted obedience, confessing God’s infinite worth under the burden of human sin. Christ suffered, but more deeply, Christ offered. [22:56]
5. Christ restores a priestly people The great high priest is chief among many, not a replacement for the priestly calling of God’s people. The church is now an island of Eden in a sea of death, cleansed by Christ’s blood and filled with his Spirit. In union with Christ, praise and thanksgiving become a living sacrifice joined to his perfect offering. [25:16]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[01:13] - Christ’s Threefold Office
[02:25] - Restored To The Original Calling
[04:23] - Kingship With A Priestly Posture
[05:22] - Eden As God’s Garden Temple
[06:02] - The Fall As Failed Worship
[07:16] - Self-Worship And A Chaotic World
[09:17] - Exile From The Sanctuary
[10:25] - Israel’s Temple As Eden Restored
[11:54] - Sacrifice As Acknowledging The Creator
[13:33] - Animal Sacrifice And Death’s Defeat
[15:49] - The High Priest On Atonement Day
[18:08] - Jesus Before Caiaphas
[21:28] - A Body Prepared For Obedience
[22:56] - The Cross As Worship
[25:16] - Christ Restores The Royal Priesthood

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Hebrews 10:5-10 (ESV)
“Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, ‘Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, “Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.”’ When he said above, ‘You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings’ (these are offered according to the law), then he added, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will.’ He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

Genesis 1:26-28 (ESV)
“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’”

Leviticus 16:15-16, 21-22 (ESV)
“Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil… and sprinkle it over the mercy seat… Thus he shall make atonement for the Holy Place… Then Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people… and he shall send it away into the wilderness… The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area.”

Observation Questions

According to Hebrews 10:5-10, what does God desire more than animal sacrifices, and how does Jesus fulfill this?
In Genesis 1:26-28, what specific responsibilities did God give humanity in Eden, and how does this connect to the idea of “royal priests”?
Leviticus 16 describes two goats on the Day of Atonement: one sacrificed and one sent into the wilderness. What does the scapegoat symbolize, and how does this ritual address sin?
The sermon states that the cross is “not merely something that happened to Jesus” but a “deliberate human act of worship” [22:56]. What actions or attitudes does this worship involve?

Interpretation Questions

Why does Hebrews emphasize that Jesus’ body was “prepared” (10:5) for sacrifice, and how does this contrast with Old Testament rituals?
How does Adam and Eve’s failure to “guard Eden as a sanctuary” (Genesis 1-3) relate to Israel’s later failure to protect the temple’s holiness (Ezekiel 10)?
When Jesus stands before Caiaphas (Matthew 26:57-68), why does the high priest accuse Him of blasphemy, and how does Jesus’ response redefine true priesthood?
The sermon says sacrifice “turns death into doxology” [14:14]. How does Christ’s death transform the meaning of suffering and mortality for believers?

Application Questions

Worship is described as humanity’s “first vocation” [05:22]. How could viewing your daily work, relationships, or hobbies as acts of “consecrating the world” change your approach to them?
Idolatry “profanes God’s world” by replacing Him with fragile, self-made truths [08:27]. What modern “idols” (e.g., success, ideology, comfort) do you see yourself or others defending anxiously? How might these distort your view of God’s worth?
The cross is called “perfect worship” because Jesus surrendered His will [22:56]. Where is God inviting you to say, “You are worthy, and I am for you” in a situation that feels costly or uncertain?
The church is called an “island of Eden” [25:16]. What practices (individually or corporately) could help your community better reflect God’s cleansing, life-giving presence in a broken world?
In the Eucharist, believers “join [their] lives to Christ’s sacrifice” [27:08]. How might regularly receiving communion reshape your attitude toward gratitude, suffering, or serving others?

Sermon Clips

72s

“``The cross did not merely happen to Jesus, and he did not merely endure it. The cross is the son of God's deliberate human act of laying down his life under the burden of our sins in order to magnify God's name, exalt God's righteousness, glorify God's holiness. It is his costly deed that uses the humble material of our mortal flesh and blood to worship, to confess God's infinite worth. So worthy is God, so heinous our sin, that the son of God was willing to surrender his very life in wholehearted acceptance of God's justice. What greater worship could guilty creatures render to a violated creator than that? And who could be more worthy of a place at the right hand of power coming with the clouds of heaven than the one whose perfect worship so honors the holy one of Israel.”

74s

“Jesus is going to offer god what the blood and flesh and fat of bulls and goats could only symbolize, the unblemished perfection of human nature, completely obedient to the will of God. Our flesh and blood surrendered in obedience to be slain and transformed, taken in hand, and lifted up high to the creator of the universe in order to say, this is yours. I am yours. You are worthy, and I am for you. I wonder if that's what you mainly see when you look at the cross. Is worship what you see going on there? When you look at the cross of Christ, do you see death, or do you see worship spelling death's defeat? You see that Christ suffered. Do you see that he offered? It was not Christ's death that god found pleasing, but his will in dying, his blameless heart, his perfect love, his sacrifice.”

78s

“Now sacrifice, especially animal sacrifice, might seem like a strange way to create an island of Eden in an ocean of death. Doesn't sacrifice cause death? Isn't sacrifice all about death? Well, no. Not exactly. Contrary to how it might seem, animal sacrifice in the Bible is not so much about death as it is about death's defeat. Animal sacrifice in the Bible is a ritual conquest of death, an overcoming of death's power to separate us from the creator. The life of an unblemished holy animal, a representation of human life before God, passes through death in ritualized submission, obedience, and worship. Cleansed with water and arranged on the altar, the sacred fire transforms the animal offering, literally in Hebrew, turning it into smoke that ascends from earth to heaven, not as a stench of death, but as a pleasing aroma of holiness.”

59s

“In these rituals, death is no longer the chaotic, defiling force that wreaks havoc and makes a thing unfit for God's presence. A life voluntarily surrendered to God in death gathers up death itself into an act of worship that acknowledges the creator. Sacrificial worship transforms death into doxology. It turns the ultimate mark of our finitude and distance from God into an expression of nearness and devotion. I am yours, all of me, in life and in death. In this way, the lifeblood of the sacrifice subdues and overcomes death, the last enemy. It makes death a path to life, a servant of holiness and communion with the living God.”

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DR. DAVID WESTFALL ON CHRIST'S OFFICE AS PRIEST│SCHOLARS IN RESIDENCE SERMON SERIES (JUNE 21, 2026)

Devotional

Day 1: From Eden’s Garden to God’s Temple: Reclaiming Our Priestly Vocation

Day 2: Expulsion from Eden: When Worship Becomes Self-Seeking

Day 3: Sacrifice as Death’s Defeat: The Aroma of Worship

Day 4: The True High Priest Enters the Holy of Holies

Day 5: Living Stones: The Church as Heaven’s Embassy on Earth

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

DR. DAVID WESTFALL ON CHRIST'S OFFICE AS PRIEST│SCHOLARS IN RESIDENCE SERMON SERIES (JUNE 21, 2026)

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