Monthly Archives: March 2015

Better Ministry, Better Mediator

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BETTER MINISTRY, BETTER MEDIATOR

They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and a shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle,’ See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.’ But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is a mediator is superior to old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises. For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another (Heb. 8: 5-7).

“Better” is the watchword of Hebrews. Why is the new better than the old in every way? If we place them side by side, “better” is seen in two ways:

Firstly, the old system with its earthly tabernacle, human priesthood, animal sacrifices and inability to do away with sin was, in one word, incomplete. It was a never-ending cycle of rituals.  There was never an assurance that one day, one bull or one lamb would remove sin forever and that the cycle would come to an end.

Jesus put an end to this cycle of incompleteness. He is the perfect man, throughout His entire earthly life without sin. He is the deathless high priest. There is no need, ever, for a replacement. He is high priest in a new order, the order of a priesthood that has no beginning and no end. He is qualified by virtue of His divine nature, to represent God to man, and by virtue of His human nature, to represent man to God. He is the perfect and irreplaceable mediator between God and man.

But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we were healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isa. 53: 5-6).

Secondly, the old system was incompetent. However many sacrifices were offered, the people of God were still stubborn, rebellious and disobedient. One look at the track record is enough to convince us that all the animal blood in creation could never change their hearts. Perhaps that was why they could so easily abandon their God for idols. All they had to do was to offer their sacrifices on a different altar and give their allegiance to another god without ever being any different.

Jesus’ sacrifice paved the way for the Holy Spirit to return to God’s people, forever to be both with them and in them. His blood not only forgave sin; it removed sin and allowed the Father to receive His children back into His family with no shadow between them. His promise was fulfilled:

I will sprinkle clean water on you, adieu will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws (Ezek. 36: 25-27).

Even the tabernacle in the wilderness was built on a better model, the perfect tabernacle in heaven. Moses was given the privilege of glimpses of that heavenly blueprint of which the earthly tabernacle was only a pale reflection, as beautiful as it was. Every detail of the tabernacle in the wilderness was to be a physical replica of the heavenly reality so that the people of God would at least have a shadow of the real thing.

As magnificent as the tabernacle was, with its interior of rich embroidery and gold, the people never saw it. Only the priests were allowed into the Holy Place. Only the high priest ever gained entrance into the Most Holy Place. Even then, he was not permitted to look upon the “Shekinah” – the visible radiance of God’s presence – which was obscured by the clouds of smoke from the censor of burning incense

As Jesus uttered His last words, “It is finished!” and drew His final breath, the curtain in the temple ripped from top to bottom, leaving the “Shekinah” exposed for anyone in the temple to see. No longer was God’s presence veiled in secrecy. His arms and His heart were open and His invitation extended to all, ‘Come!’ Never before could He do that because of sin . . . sin that polluted, separated, and stained the human race.

But now . . .? Finished! Complete! Better!

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

A Better Sanctuary

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A BETTER SANCTUARY

Now the main point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being. Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer. If He were on earth, He would not be a priest for there were already priests who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. (Heb. 8: 1-4).

Having established by a careful argument, that Jesus is a superior high priest to the Levitical priests by virtue of His sinless nature and His indestructible life, the writer now moves to the work of this high priest. He does not serve in the earthly tabernacle which is only a picture of the true tabernacle in heaven but in the heavenly sanctuary.

The phrase, “He sat down” has far more significance than that Jesus merely sat next to His Father. The work of the Levitical priesthood was never complete. There were no chairs in the tabernacle. When priests had finished ministering in the Holy Place, tending the lamp, offering incense on the golden altar and replacing the bread once a week on the altar of Showbread, they left the tabernacle because there was no place for them to rest.

Likewise in the outer court there were no chairs. Their work of offering sacrifices was never complete. They had to offer the morning and evening sacrifices as well as those prescribed for every person and situation in the camp. There was no time or occasion to rest. Only when the high priest had sprinkled the blood on the mercy seat on the Day of Atonement and had returned to the outer court did he sit down, signifying that God had accepted the sacrifice offered for the sin of the people for another year.

Jesus sat down at the right hand of God in heaven by invitation and because His work was complete.

The Lord says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet’ (Psa. 110:1).

There was special significance in sitting at the right hand of the one who had high rank.  The “right hand” is traditionally the strong hand.  To sit at the right hand of a king was to be given equal authority, equal dignity and equal honour with the reigning monarch.

“The term “God’s right hand” in prophecy refers to the Messiah who is given power and authority to subdue His enemies (Psa. 110: 1; Psa. 118: 16). . . The fact that Jesus Christ is at “the right hand Of God” was a sign to the disciples that Jesus had indeed gone to heaven.”  http://www.gotquestions.org/right-hand-God.html

After the Lord had spoken to them, He was taken up into heaven and He sat at the right hand of God (Mark 16: 19).

To sit down at God’s right hand meant that Jesus was the Messiah as He claimed; His   once-for-all sacrifice for sin had been accepted; His work was complete; He was given equal authority with God to reign over His enemies. He was, therefore, the true, legitimate and permanent high priest over the house of Israel.

But, as high priest, He had to have a sacrifice to offer. Since His priesthood was superior to that of the Levitical priests, His sacrifice had to be a better sacrifice than those of the Levitical priests. In what way? Better than the blood of animals which could only cover but not remove sin. Better than the blood of animals because they had to be offered over and over again.

His sacrifice had to be the blood of a sinless man and therefore able to remove sin once for all. Did Jesus qualify? Since He was not a priest in the order of Levi but in the order of Melchizedek, He did not offer animal blood in an earthly sanctuary but He offered His own blood in the heavenly tabernacle. Hence even the sacrifice He offered was superior to that of the earthly priests.

Everything Jesus did to deal with and do away with sin took place on a higher level than on earth. What happened on earth was nothing more than a picture of the real thing.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

A Perfect High Priest

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A PERFECT HIGH PRIEST

Such a high priest truly meets our need – one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart 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 sin, 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 priests men in all their weakness but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever (Heb. 7: 26-28).

What confidence we can have in our high priest!

Unlike the Levitical priests who went before Him, He does not have to offer another sacrifice, not for Himself or anyone else – “It is finished!” No one will ever succeed Him as high priest – He lives forever. No one is more qualified than He – He is the Son of God, no less. He is a perfect high priest in every way – holy, blameless, pure set apart from sinners and exalted above the heavens.

How can a Levitical high priest ever come anywhere near Him in fitness for their office?

When we consider Jesus, who He was, how He lived, what He did, what He said, how He treated people, how He loved and obeyed the Father, how He stood for and upheld the truth, how He suffered and died without resistance, how He rose from the dead, it is difficult to understand why His own people did not recognise who He was. Both then and now, how can they ignore the evidence? How can they reject Him, and refuse to acknowledge that He is both Son of God and their Messiah?

There can be only one reason – prejudice. They have been deceived. Prejudice and blind unbelief caused the religious leaders to reject Him and to crucify Him. They refused to examine the evidence. Today we have a world of people who would rather believe the lies that are being propagated about Him as a substitute for the truth and the unsubstantiated claims that are made about Jesus and His word, than search for the truth for themselves.

Take the claim from the Muslim world, for example that the Bible has been corrupted. On what grounds can such as statement be made and where is the evidence? It does not become true because someone said it. What about those who deny that Jesus is God? When the religious leaders rejected Jesus’ claim, He pointed them to the evidence.

For this reason they tried all the more to kill Him; not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God (John 5: 18).

This was His defence:

If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who testifies in my favour, and I know that His testimony about me is true. You have sent to John and He testified to the truth . . . I have testimony weightier that that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to finish – the very works that I am doing – testify that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has Himself testified concerning me . . . You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me (John 5:31-33; 36-37a; 39).

On what grounds, then, can we have absolute confidence in the high priest God has appointed on oath to stand before Him for us? Our confidence lies in the evidence and witness of who He is. Whatever people may say about Him, based on their refusal to believe the truth, Jesus is, in every way, a perfect high priest, both the Son of God and representative of the Father and the Son of Man and representative of humanity.

Unlike the Levitical priests who all died and were replaced, Jesus died and rose again, and lives forever in an indestructible body as both sacrifice and firstfuits of the resurrection. We have every reason to trust Him. His blood speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. He ever lives to make intercession for us.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

A Better Covenant

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A BETTER COVENANT

The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God. And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath, but He became a priest with an oath when God said to Him: ‘The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind: You are a priest forever.’ Because of this oath, Jesus became the guarantor of a better covenant (Heb. 7: 18-22).

Why was the old covenant weak and useless? It had no power to effect what it required. There was nothing wrong with what God asked them to do. In fact, the law was a reflection of God’s character. He not only asked, He required that they obey His teachings because there was no other way to live that would satisfy His holiness. The problem did not lie in the measure or standard God set for His people but in their inability to carry it out.

Then there was a second problem – the priests who represented the people to God were just as unable to measure up to God’s standard as the people were. They were as sinful, rebellious and corrupt as the people they represented. God’s requirements were just and righteous. What He demanded of them was exactly according to who He was, but the whole system fell flat because of the corruption of the people’s hearts. They had no desire or power to do what God required.

God’s intention was never to accept them on the basis of their perfect obedience to the law because they couldn’t do it. The priesthood was His special gift of grace to show them His solution for their sinfulness. He provided blood sacrifices to atone for their sin, and a priesthood which would mediate for them so that God would accept their sacrifices.

All this was just a picture of what He had already done for them. Before He even put breath into the first human being, He had already provided His sacrifice – Jesus, the perfect lamb sacrificed before the creation of the world. He was the only acceptable solution to the problem of man’s sin. Every time an animal was killed and its blood sprinkled on the altar, the offerer was supposed to be trusting in God for the forgiveness of his sins because God’s lamb was the real sacrifice of which the animal was a picture.

So deeply was the nature of man corrupted that the people used their sacrifices as an excuse for sinning since they thought that, no matter what they did or how wicked they were, they could always offer sacrifices for their forgiveness. They thought that it did not matter how much they sinned. They could always offer a sacrifice and be forgiven.

Though Ephraim built many altars for sin offerings, these have become altars for sinning (Hos. 8: 11).

If the system was intended to provide a solution for the corruption of the people’s hearts, it was doomed to failure from the beginning. It could tell them what to do but it could never enable them to obey. It could only show up the depth of their sinfulness and bring the judgment of God down on them, priests and people alike.

God’s solution was already written into His book before man ever fell from his state of perfection. He had prepared another priesthood – not taken from among the people by reason of their ancestry, but one whom He sent from heaven to be a man, to uphold and live by His standards to perfection and then to die in their place as a sacrifice for sin. This priest would be raised to life again by reason of His sinlessness and become forever the high priest His people needed.

Why was Jesus, in the order of Melchizedek, the perfect replacement for the Aaronic priesthood?

Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office but, because Jesus 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. Such a high priest truly meets our need – one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens (Heb. 7: 23-26).

He is the high priest we need, and He is always in the presence of the Father to represent us before Him. Not only does He present His blood as the perfect sacrifice but He also provides the Holy Spirit to transform our hearts. We are no longer rebels but beloved sons and daughters, at home and at peace with the Father.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

An Imperfect Priesthood

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AN IMPERFECT PRIESTHOOD

If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood – and indeed the law given to the people established that priesthood – why was there still need for another priest to come, one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron? For when the priesthood changed, the law must be changed also. He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe, Moses said nothing about priests (Heb. 7: 11-14).

God established the Aaronic priesthood, according to the Law of Moses but, just like the sacrificial system of the Mosaic covenant, it served its purpose only for as long as the Mosaic covenant was in place. Our writer to the Hebrews indicated that, just like every other part of this covenant, it was temporary and would be superseded by a superior priesthood in the order of Melchizedek.

The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind: ‘You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.’  (Psa. 110: 4).

The Aaronic priesthood was of the tribe of Levi. God took this tribe to serve Him in the temple in the place of the firstborn sons of Israel because it was this tribe that stood with Moses when the Israelites worshipped the golden calf at Mount Sinai.

The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died. Then Moses said, ‘You have been set apart to the Lord today, for you were against your own sons and brothers, and He has blessed you this day (Ex. 32: 28-29).

The Levitical priesthood was inferior to the order of Melchizedek for two important reasons.

1. They were part of a system that could only tell the people what God required of them but it could not enable them to obey. They were sinful and were required to offer sacrifices for their own sin first before they could minister to the people. The high priest was appointed from among them – he shared their weakness.

2. There was no continuing priesthood because every priest and high priest’s office was terminated by death.

God has already decreed that the Levitical priesthood would be replaced by another order, the order of Melchizedek which was a permanent priesthood. Jesus, followed Melchizedek, and it ended there because His priesthood would not be interrupted by death. God took Him right out of the Levitical priestly line and into the kingly tribe of Judah from which David descended.

In this rather obscure argument, the writer set out to show that Jesus is a superior high priest to theLevitical priesthood in every way. The Hebrew people looked to Moses as their authority for everything. It was time to move beyond Moses. Jesus is the fulfilment of everything Moses wrote about. He is the embodiment of the Torah, God’s instructions on how to live. He is the face of the Father. To see the Father, we look at Him.

And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. For it is declared: ‘You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.’(Heb. 7: 15-17).

Jesus is a perfect high priest and He is a perpetual high priest, not because He was descended from Aaron, but because He was appointed by God’s decree in the order of Melchizedek.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.