6. BELIEVE THAT JESUS CHRIST IS OUR HIGH
PRIEST
The
sixth important aspect of believing in Jesus Christ is to believe that Jesus
Christ is our High Priest. The true believer believes that the reason why Jesus
Christ had to be made like His brethren in every way, was to be become a
merciful and faithful High Priest in service to God, and that He might make
atonement for the sins of the people. He is the mediator of the New Covenant by
which we can now draw near to God.
And
because He lives forever, He has a permanent priesthood. Therefore He is able
to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives
to intercede for them. For it is fitting that we should have such a High
Priest, one who is holy, blameless, pure, separated from sinners, exalted above
the heavens.
Unlike
the other high priests, He does not need to offer sacrifices day after day,
first for His own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for
their sins once for all when He offered Himself. For the law appoints as high
priest men who are weak; but the oath which came after the law, appointed the
Son, who has been made perfect forever” (Hebrews 7:11-17; 21-28).
Worshiping
God and ascribing to Him the glory due to His name is the primary objective of
our calling for thus it is written; “Come to Him, to that living stone,
rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to Him. You also, like living
stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood,
offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
The
spiritual sacrifice one offers through Jesus Christ and is acceptable to God is
the sacrificial body and blood of Jesus Christ. This is the only perfect
offering that satisfies the will of the Father. Because when Jesus Christ came
into the world He said, “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body
You prepared for Me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings You were not
pleased. Then I said, ‘Here I am, it is written about Me in the scroll; I have
come to do Your will, O God, He sets aside the first to establish the second,
and by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of
Jesus Christ once for all”.
A
true believer believes that Jesus Christ is our High Priest and He is
officiating in the true Tabernacle in heaven, and as every high priest chosen
from among men, He is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to
offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. It is stated quite explicitly, “For every
high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; hence it is necessary
for this priest also to have something to offer” (Hebrews 5:1; 8:3).
The
food for the Lord’s offerings which was offered by the High Priest in the Old
Testament and known as the burnt offering, was a combination of a lamb a year
old without spot or blemish, its grain offering of fine flour mixed with
pressed olive oil, and its drink offering, wine, were all copies of the
reality.
The
reality is Jesus Christ the Lamb of God, now in the capacity as High Priest,
interceding on our behalf, with His body in the form of unleavened bread, and
His blood in the form of the wine as the perfect offering for sin in order that
we may have access to the Holiest of all.
And
so we have been duly admonished by the apostle Paul saying, “Therefore,
brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new
and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His
flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a
true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil
conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (Hebrews 10:19-22).
In
our New Testament dispensation it is imperative that believers are able to make
a very clear distinction between the first which was taken away and the second
which has been established because Jesus Christ said quite explicitly; “I have
come to do Your will, O God, He sets aside the first to establish the second,
and by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of
Jesus Christ once for all.”
Unfortunately,
there are not many believers who truly know, understand and believe in the reality
and practicality of the second established will of God.
To be continued
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With brotherly love
Lucius Joseph
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