John was born a priest. But this was only a type and a shadow. It was not the reality. In him, the Old Testament priesthood had a turn. It turned from the type to the reality, from the shadow to the body, and from the offering of physical bulls and goats to the offering of sinners as sacrifices. This is the sacrifice that God has been seeking for before the foundation of the world in eternity past. These sacrifices are the individual sinners. Ephesians 1:4 says, “According as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world.” We the saved ones were chosen by God before the foundation of the world. In eternity past God chose us. It does not matter in which country or corner of the world we are; He has chosen us. We did not know when we would be born or where we would be born. God predestinated us before the foundation of the world that we would be chosen, in time be saved, and become offerings to God in Christ.
Although we were chosen before the foundation of the world, the time of our salvation was not yet fulfilled (Gal. 4:4). After the God-created man fell, God came in to knock at the door of Adam’s heart in Genesis 3. He called and said, “Where are you?” (v. 9) and preached the gospel to him by saying that the seed of the woman would bruise the serpent’s head (v. 15). This word was the gospel and also a promise. Two thousand years later, at the time of Abraham, God came in to promise Abraham again, saying, “In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 12:3). The seed of Abraham is Jesus Christ. After that, two thousand more years passed. Four thousand years after man was created, Jesus Christ was born of a woman and became the seed of the woman. Mary, the one who begot Jesus, was a descendant of Abraham. Consequently, Jesus, the One begotten of her, was also a seed of Abraham.
The first page of the New Testament records, “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, Son of David, Son of Abraham” (Matt. 1:1). Following this it says, “Abraham begot Isaac; and Isaac begot Jacob...,” until the end of the genealogy where “Matthan begot Jacob; and Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ” (vv. 15b-16). In the genealogy of Matthew we see the fulfillment of the promise made to Adam and Eve. Moreover, God’s promise to Abraham was fulfilled as well. The Lord Jesus bruised the serpent’s head, and He is the One in whom all the families of the earth are blessed.
When Christ came, He fulfilled the promises in the Old Testament. But before Christ came, God had set up the priesthood in the Old Testament already. What was there was only a shadow. God required that the Old Testament priests offer up bulls and goats. These bulls and goats were types of Christ. In the New Testament, the priests no longer offer bulls and goats. Instead, they offer the sinners chosen by God and saved in Christ.
Now we understand why John, born a priest, would not offer bulls and goats when he came out to fulfill his ministry. Instead, he would now offer sinners. He preached in the wilderness saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near” (Matt. 3:2). If men would repent and confess their sins he would baptize them, offering them up one by one to God. John was the first priest of the New Testament and the last priest of the Old Testament. From God’s point of view, after John the Baptist, there were no more priests in the Old Testament. The system of service in the Old Testament ceased completely. In other words, the age had changed. The old way was changed to the new, and the Old Testament priest turned to become the New Testament priest.