George Warnock — Christology
b7 — Crowned With Oil
Christ as Priest-King on the Throne
Christ reigns as Priest on the throne of God. Zechariah saw this after the temple was built:
“Behold the Man whose name is the Branch; And he shall grow up out of His place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD… He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon His throne; and He shall be a priest upon His throne.” (Zech. 6:12-13, quoted in George H. Warnock, Crowned With Oil, ch. 2, § “Christ Reigns as a Priest on the Throne”)
Warnock explains that Christ is not merely King, but Priest on the throne:
“This Man is the Lord Jesus. He is the Branch, or Sprout. Isaiah calls Him ‘a root out of a dry ground’. He grows up out of ‘His place’ — and His place is His holy Temple in the earth. His place is in God’s Garden. In God’s Garden He becomes the Vine, and in union with that Vine there are many ‘branches’.” (Warnock, ch. 2)
Interpretation: Christ is the Branch who builds the temple — not an earthly temple of stone, but a spiritual temple of His body and His people.
Order of Melchizedek
The priesthood was transferred from the Levitical order to the order of Melchizedek, where Christ serves as High Priest in the heavens:
“Why did God transfer the administration of the priesthood from earth to Heaven, and from Levi to Melchizedek? Paul shows us why: (1) Melchizedek is superior to Levi… (2) The Levitical order… ended in death… (3) The Levitical order could not bring perfection… (4) The old system was declared ‘unprofitable’… God has changed to a better Covenant with a better High Priest.” (Warnock, ch. 2)
“The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a Priest for ever After the order of Melchizedek. (Ps. 110:4). Why did God establish the order of Melchizedek? The name ‘Melchizedek’ means ‘King of righteousness’. This Melchizedek reigned over the city of Salem, which means Peace.” (Warnock, ch. 2)
Christ is seated on a “better” throne with a “better” priesthood in the Kingdom of Life, above all principalities and powers (Eph. 1:21).
Christ as Temple
Christ was the Temple of God on earth during His walk (John 2:19), and now He builds an extension of that Temple:
“He was the Temple of God in the earth when He was here. But now He is building an extension of that Temple which He was when He walked on earth. It is not another Temple—but now He is the Chief Cornerstone of an enlarged Temple; and He bears the glory. As our great High Priest in the heavens He carries upon His shoulders the fulness of the glory of God—and He reigns as a Priest, bearing that glory.” (Warnock, ch. 2)
Son of God / Man of God
Christ is the Son of God, anointed with the oil of gladness above His fellows:
“Thou hast anointed Him with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows. (Heb. 1:9, from Ps. 45:7). He earned the crown of power by wearing on His brow the crown of thorns. He earned the crown of oil, because He ‘loved righteousness and hated iniquity’.” (Warnock, ch. 7)
“As the Son of God, anointed by God Himself, He bears the judgment of the children of Israel upon His heart before the face of the LORD.” (Warnock, ch. 4, on the breastplate of judgment)
John 17 — The High Priestly Prayer
Warnock provides an extensive christological interpretation of John 17 as revelation of Christ’s heavenly ministry:
“Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee… As Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him. And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.” (John 17:1-3, quoted in Warnock, ch. 7)
“What is eternal life? It is not merely eternal existence in Heaven. It is knowing God! This is life eternal, ‘That they might know Thee’. It begins when we receive Him—or rather, when He receives us; but it flows on eternally. You do not find Him in books, but in walking with Him.” (Warnock, ch. 7)
“That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me. And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as We are one: I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one…” (John 17:21-23, quoted in Warock, ch. 7)
“Jesus prays for us in the heavenly Sanctuary, that we might be sanctified through the truth… And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.” (John 17:17-19, quoted in Warnock, ch. 7)
Interpretation: The John 17 prayer reveals the intimate unity between the Father and the Son, and the calling of believers to partake of that same unity through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Second Coming as Harvest and Destruction
Warnock sees the second coming not primarily as the beginning of the Kingdom, but as the harvest and judgment that devastates the earth to make way for the new heavens and new earth:
“The coming of the Lord is generally presented as the hope of the world, when the gospel of Christ will really begin to make an impact on the nations, and the Kingdom of Heaven will be forced upon the earth by righteous decree. But Jesus likens His coming to the judgment of the flood, and to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Matt. 24:37-39; Luke 17:28, 29).” (Warnock, ch. 2)
“The Day of God is at hand—a day when ‘the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up’ (2 Pet. 3:10).” (Warnock, ch. 2)
“He comes to consume all that is corrupt—socially, politically, economically, religiously, environmentally. He comes ‘to gather out of His Kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire… Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of their Father’ (Matt. 13:41-43). He comes to reap the harvest of the Kingdom, not to start a new one.” (Warnock, ch. 7)
Atonement and Justification
Christ’s work on the cross is seen as the foundation of justification by faith, where God is shown to be just in forgiving sins:
“Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation (or ‘mercy seat’) through faith in his blood. (Rom. 3:24, 25). The word ‘propitiation’ is translated ‘mercy seat’ in Heb. 9:5; and this refers to the lid of the ark of the covenant… God forgave and remitted the sins of His people in a past day, because of the sacrifices which they brought.” (Warnock, ch. 4)
“Can we grasp the significance of this? We are saved because of the love and mercy of God, this is true. But God wants us to know that by virtue of the Cross we are justified, or declared to be righteous, by a righteous decree of the Judge of Heaven… And so the Psalmist says, ‘Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other’ (Ps. 85:10). Where did this happen? At the mercy seat!” (Warnock, ch. 4)
Holy Spirit as the Ministry of the Comforter
The Holy Spirit is the continuation of Christ’s earthly ministry after His ascension, with Christ reigning from the throne:
“The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus. He is described as ‘another Comforter’, for the Man Christ Jesus is the Advocate on the throne, while the Holy Spirit is the new Advocate who would abide in His people in the earth. (John 14:16-18). And again: ‘I go away, and come again unto you’ (vs. 28).” (Warnock, ch. 6)
“It is expedient (better) for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you. (John 16:7). For He shall not speak of (from) Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak; and He will show you things to come.” (Warnock, ch. 6, on John 16:13-15)
“He shall not take glory to Himself, but shall take of Mine, and shall show it unto you.” (Warnock, ch. 6, on John 16:14)
Concordance of Christological Themes
| Theme | Scripture | Chapter |
|---|---|---|
| Priest-King on throne | Zech. 6:12-13 | 2, 7 |
| Order of Melchizedek | Ps. 110:4, Heb. 7 | 2, 6 |
| Christ as Branch/Vine | Zech. 6:12, John 15:1-5 | 2, 6 |
| High Priestly prayer | John 17 | 6, 7 |
| Second coming as thief/harvest | 2 Pet. 3:10, Matt. 13 | 2, 7 |
| Atonement/blood | Rom. 3:24-26, Heb. 9 | 4, 7 |
| Holy Spirit/Paraclete | John 14-16 | 6 |
| Better covenant | Heb. 8:6 | 7 |
| Eternal life = knowing God | John 17:3 | 7 |
| Union with Christ | John 15:1-5, 17:21-23 | 6, 7 |
| Son of God | John 17:1, Heb. 1:9 | 7 |
| Righteousness and peace | Ps. 85:10, Rom. 14:17 | 2, 4 |