Have you ever desired to have someone that could take
you to the Creator and introduce you to Him so you could begin to know Him?
That person is called a Priest.
What is the key responsibility of Priest? It is Not to
represent God to Man, that was the call of the Prophet! The call of the Priest
is to represent man to God
REQUIREMENTS:
Hebrews 5:1-4
Every high priest is a man chosen to represent other people in their
dealings with God. He presents their gifts to God and offers sacrifices for
their sins. 2 And he is able to deal
gently with ignorant and wayward people because he himself is subject to the
same weaknesses. 3 That is why he must offer
sacrifices for his own sins as well as theirs. 4 And no one can become a high priest
simply because he wants such an honor. He must be called by God for this work,
just as Aaron was.
The Humility of Christ
overwhelms me! Even in this call, He did not claim it for Himself:
Hebrews 5:5-6 That
is why Christ did not honor himself by assuming he could become High Priest.
No, he was chosen by God, who said to him, “You are my Son. Today I have become
your Father.” 6 And in another passage God
said to him, “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek."
Jesus was Called by the
Father to be a Priest. He met every requirement and exceeded them.
(1) He was taken from men
Hebrews 5:1
Every high priest is a man chosen to represent other people in their
dealings with God.
Hebrews 2:17 Therefore, it was necessary for him to be
made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be
our merciful and faithful High Priest before God.
(2) He was able to offer gifts & sacrifices for sin
Hebrews 5:1
He presents their gifts to God and offers sacrifices for their sins.
Hebrews 2:17 Then he could offer a sacrifice that would
take away the sins of the people.
(3) He was able to sympathize & have compassion
Hebrews 5:8-9 Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned
obedience from the things he suffered…In this way, God qualified him as a
perfect High Priest,
Hebrews 4:15 This High Priest of ours understands our
weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.
Jesus did not possess the sin nature, but He did live in the “Flesh,”
which even if only innocent as Adam & Eve were, it is very susceptible to
temptation. So we see Jesus possessed all the qualifications of a human High
Priest, yet we need to understand how superior His Priesthood is.
It is clear if you look around the world, most humans do not understand
what it means that Christ is willing to be their Priest. That is why in every
religion, so many still seek a Priest among fallen men. Jesus is the Complete
Priest!
(A) He lives in
the Very Presence of God in Heaven
Hebrews 4:14 So then, since we have a great High Priest
who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we
believe.
Hebrews 7:26 He is the kind of high priest we need because
he is holy and blameless, unstained by sin. He has been set apart from sinners
and has been given the highest place of honor in heaven.
Hebrews 8:1–2 Here is the main point: We have a High
Priest who sat down in the place of honor beside the throne of the majestic God
in heaven. 2 There he ministers in the
heavenly Tabernacle, the true place of worship that was built by the Lord and
not by human hands.
(B) He is the only Eternal Priest
Hebrews 7:23–25 There were many priests under the old
system, for death prevented them from remaining in office. But because Jesus lives forever, his
priesthood lasts forever. Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save those
who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their
behalf.
(C) His Work is Finished
Hebrews 1:3 The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses
the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of
his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of
honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven.
Hebrews 7:26–28 He is the kind of high priest we
need because he is holy and blameless, unstained by sin. He has been set apart
from sinners and has been given the highest place of honor in heaven. Unlike
those other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices every day. They
did this for their own sins first and then for the sins of the people. But
Jesus did this once for all when he offered himself as the sacrifice for the
people’s sins. The law appointed high priests who were limited by human
weakness. But after the law was given, God appointed his Son with an oath, and
his Son has been made the perfect High Priest forever.
As Priest, Jesus is in the presence of God, eternally
representing us to Him, and has finished all that was required to remove our
sin and bring us into an eternal relationship with the Father.
Jesus no longer offers sacrifice to pay for our sin, that was
finished on the cross, and that has secured our eternal relationship with God
when we place our trust in Jesus’ sacrifice! So as a priest now, what does
He do?
Due to the reality that we continue to live in our fallen
flesh, we continue to sin. However, this sin does not impact our relationship
with God, we are once and forever His child!
John 1:12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he
gave the right to become children of God.
Friendship is different than Family. My son will always be my
son, even if he becomes an Adolf Hitler! We are connected through blood, which
is exactly our condition when we have trusted Christ. However, my son may not
always be my friend. His action can break our fellowship. Relationship is
unconditional; fellowship is conditional. When we disobey God we break our
intimacy.
John 15:14 You are my friends if you do what I command.
Even in this Jesus represents us before the throne
1 John 2:1 My dear children, I am writing this to you so
that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads
our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous.
Our Priest continually brings us before the Father, and even
defends us against the accuser!
The So What: Do you
feel the need to seek a fallen man to bring you to the Throne of God? Why?
Please consider this Scripture:
1 Timothy 2:5 For, There is one God and one Mediator who
can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus.
There is no person on
this planet that can represent you to God better than Jesus Christ. Would you
consider asking Him to do that?
