Jesus, the High Priest Forever
Key Verse 7:25
“Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him because he always lives to intercede for them.”
Introduction
Hello, everyone! Good Morning (NJ), afternoon(Bonn, Moscow), and welcome to the Fifth Global Leadership Empowerment Forum. Thank God for blessing us that we have been able to have this program for five years now!! Even though we faced hard times and many ups and downs, by the grace of God we have overcome those problems. For those who do not know me, my name is Daniel Gates and I will share my message in the 4th lecture of Hebrews study, Jesus the High Priest Forever. Before we start, let’s read the key verse and then pray
From the past 3 lectures, we have learned a few of the many things about who Jesus is. Jesus is a merciful and faithful high priest who made himself like us, fully human in every way and broke the power of death by his death. (2:14-17) Jesus is the great High Priest who empathizes with our weaknesses and helps us in our time of need. (3:14-16) Jesus is the high priest designated by God to be the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him. (5:8-10)
In today’s passage, we read about Jesus being the high priest forever in the order of Melchizedek and the superiority of the ministry of Jesus over that of the Levitical priesthood. The author emphasizes Jesus’ priesthood by explaining that he lives forever with a permanent priesthood who always lives to intercede for us, brings the new covenant established on better promises, meets all our needs, and most of all saves completely those who come to God through him. Through this message and GLEF2022, may we come to know and accept Jesus as our high priest forever who intercedes for us always and gives us eternal salvation. Accepting Jesus, we may grow to be a kingdom of priests for this generation.
Part 1: Jesus, the High Priest Forever in the Order of Melchizedek (ch7)
The wonderful truth of Jesus being our High Priest is not so great when it comes to the perspective of the Jewish people. During the time that the author was writing this, it must’ve been hard for the Jewish Christians to believe. According to the Levitical law, Jesus could not be a priest since he descended from Judah, not from Aaron. However, the author proves that it is the fulfillment of the word of God by quoting Psalm 110:4 “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” Through Jesus, the prophecy to establish a new priesthood in the place of the Levitical priesthood became true. Let’s get to know this Melchizedek first
Let’s look at verses 1-3. The author begins the argument with an Introduction of who Melchizedek is. If we turn back time to Genesis, we read about Abraham defeating the kings that kidnapped his nephew. Returning from the victorious battle, he met Melchizedek, a priest of God Most High, and offered a tenth to him and he blessed Abraham.
Melchizedek appeared just one time in Genesis Ch14:18. However, the author noticed a wonderful truth by stating “resembling the son of God, Melchizedek remains a priest forever.” In what ways does this man Melchizedek resemble the son of God? To begin with, His name Melchizedek means “king of righteousness” and “king of Salem” means “King of peace.” Just like Melchizedek, the Son of God is the prince of peace and the king who rules his kingdom with justice and righteousness according to Isaiah 9:6 which states “And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
Not only that, but Melchizedek was a priest of God Most High. There was no official record of how he became an earthly priest in the bible. He never came from anyone, as we learn from verse 3 which says that he had no “father or mother, genealogy, beginning of days or end of life.”, he was not born into a priestly family, and he wasn’t chosen by the people to be one. It is clear that he had not become a priest according to the law of Moses. Therefore, the only conclusion that makes the most sense is that he was called and appointed by God.
In what way did Jesus become a priest? As we read in verse 14, it’s clear Jesus came from the line of Judah, and Moses never said anything about priests. According to Jewish law, it’s illegal for Jesus to become a priest as he did not come from levitical descent. However, we read in verse 16 that it was not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry, but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life.
Jesus was rejected by his own people and was crucified. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death with the power of resurrection. God had made this Jesus, who was crucified, both Lord and Messiah. (Act 2:24,36) Look at verse 17. “For it is declared, “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.” God had promised to establish a new priest and therefore, raised Jesus from the dead and designated him to be our High priest forever. (Heb 5:10)
Finally, Melchizedek remains a priest forever just as Jesus has a permanent priesthood. Numbers 20:26 says “Remove Aaron’s garments and put them on his son Eleazar, for Aaron will be gathered to his people; he will die there.” Since the next high priest had to be chosen after the death of the previous high priest, it was very important to carefully record the beginning of his career to the end of his life. We have a clear written death of Aaron and yet Melchizedek had nothing. This fact tells that Melchizedek who is declared to be living remains a priest forever. His priesthood is not imperfect and limited like the Levitical priesthood, but it is the eternal High Priest appointed by God. Once again, by the power of the resurrection, Jesus was raised from the dead and lives forever, and therefore he has a permanent priesthood.
Now, no one can dispute the fact that Melchizedek resembled the son of God by being the king of righteousness and peace, appointed as a priest of God most high, and remains a priest forever. Thus, Jesus is the High Priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.
Look at verses 6-10. The author tells the superiority of Jesus’ priesthood over that of the Levites, by telling that Melchizedek was greater than Abraham. To the Jews, it was a shocking statement. Abraham was the father of the nation of Israel, and the most honored man in Israel’s history. Despite this, Abraham recognized Melchizedek as a heavenly appointed High priest by giving him the tenth of everything and he received blessings from him. By doing these, he willingly accepted Melchizedek as one who was greater than he. Based on these facts, Melchizedek is greater than Abraham and by default, greater than the Levites, the descendants of Abraham.
Now I hope it’s a little more understandable as to Jesus’ priesthood is in the order of Melchizedek. But I bet some of you have this question in your mind… “Why was it through Melchizedek and not the Levitical Priesthood established by the law?” Why was there still a need for another priest to come?
Let’s read verse 11 together. It was because Perfection could not come through the Levitical priesthood. Here what does “perfection” mean? Perfection means to be Holy as our God is holy. To worship God, we must be perfect, faultless, and flawless. Obtaining this perfection allows for us to develop a deep personal connection with Him, and enable us to worship God and have fellowship with God in spirit and truth. This perfection is what we hope for, what we really need and want.
However, this Levitical priesthood that lasted for 1500 years was not able to obtain this perfection. Even though God gave a precious covenant for the people to follow, they turned their backs on God. Even though God gave a great leader like Moses to help them come closer to Him, they still failed to obey God and even Moses could not enter the promised land. Even though the Levitical priests sacrificed millions of animals, from days to years, it could not help the people gain perfect forgiveness (for the law made nothing perfect.) All they could do was have this distant relationship with God and a temporary ceremonial cleansing.
But now what? Should we sacrifice animals so often to repent for our sins?
Should missionary John Park burn sacrifices for God before the message every week? Of course not!! Why?? Because of Jesus, who was raised from the dead and became our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek. This perfection could never have been obtained unless it had been given by God.
Look at verses 18-19a. God had set this weak and useless regulation aside and instead, fulfilled his promise to us when He said in Psalm 110 “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” He brought us Jesus who would be our high priest forever.
Have you seen the sign “Under New Management”? Last year, Little Honors DayCare had been messy and unmanageable with sounds of fighting, shouting, crying, and screaming. Since the new manager, Ms. Youn, came, things have changed. Under her management, even though nothing changed on the outside, the daycare is now filled with a lot of kids to take care of with a fun schedule for them to follow. In the same way, although we look nothing different from the outside when Jesus comes into our hearts, he changes us completely. Jesus’ priesthood brings wonderful changes. Verse 12 says “For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed also.” How is Jesus’ priesthood different from the Levitical one?
Firstly, Jesus’ priesthood brings a better hope by which we draw near to God. (19b) The law helps us understand that sins are sins and therefore condemns us for them. The Jewish leaders tried so hard to save themselves from this condemnation by trying to keep themselves proper, clean, educated, and so on. But even so, they could not avoid sinning and had to keep on giving sacrifices in order to cleanse themselves temporarily. Nothing could help them come close to God.
When we look at verse 19b it says, “a better hope is introduced by which we draw near to God,” By Jesus’ sacrifices for our sins we now have a better hope because we are drawn closer to God than we would have ever been. We see that we are perfectly cleansed from the blood of Jesus and through this, we become holy and are able to enter into God’s presence with confidence. Now we can come to God and enjoy fellowship with Him, eternal life, and the kingdom of God while living in this world.
Look at Verse 27. It states “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.” Jesus, our high priest, did not sacrifice animals, but himself for our sins. His blood washed all our sins away and made us as white as snow. This perfect sacrifice satisfied God’s righteousness. Before our sins were big obstacles blocking our path from meeting God, now we can have a clear path and direction straight to having a personal relationship with God.
Secondly, Jesus guarantees us a “better covenant.” The “Better covenant” refers to the new covenant of Jesus’ blood for the forgiveness of sin. In Jesus’ priesthood, we could have the assurance of salvation no matter how weak we are because Jesus became a priest by God’s oath. Look at verses 20-22. God gave Jesus the oath “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind; “you will be a priest forever.” Jesus is always our High priest because his priesthood is established by this oath. In this way, the promise of salvation cannot and will not be changed no matter what. It is God’s absolute promise of salvation for sinners through Jesus. That is the gospel of Jesus. “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (Jn3:16) Our salvation is not guaranteed by our works or merit, but by God’s oath.
Finally, Jesus, our high priest, is able to save us completely. The priesthood under the law was constantly changed because the law appointed high priests men in all their weaknesses and also death prevented them from continuing in office. Look at verses 24-25. “Because Jesus lives forever, he had 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.” Jesus is able to save us COMPLETELY for he lives forever and always intercedes for us. This salvation is the perfection that we could not obtain through the Levitical priesthood. Jesus’ new priesthood that we now have allows us to become holy and complete when we repent of our sins, come to God through Jesus, and have true worship in spirit and faith. Jesus will 100% save us because, as we read, he always lives to intercede for us. Why does he do this? Verse 26 tells that Jesus is this high priest that will truly meet all our needs. He is the only one who follows the listed characteristics that the author describes. We can only obtain this perfection through Jesus’ priesthood. Jesus is the one who gives us this confidence and conviction in the word of God because he does not stop advocating, supporting, or helping us. He never gives up on his people.
Today many people suffer with a big problem of sin by satisfying their needs. In fact, many of us 2nd generation are stuck in sin due to how much our society is evolving around us. We think that some things are ok because other people do them. But in the end, they commit a sin against God and do not repent. Without Jesus, our lives are messy with all kinds of sins. However, Jesus, our high priest, The New Manager of our lives, brings wonderful changes in us.
Here I want to share what it means to have Jesus as my High Priest. I need a high priest who can forgive my sins, teach me the word of God, and give me eternal salvation. I need a Shepherd who has compassion and understands my heart. Jesus is the exact high priest who will fulfill my needs. He is the ONLY high priest that can save me from falling into my sin. I am given Jesus, the High priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. Praise God! For he has allowed me to receive this eternal salvation through our High Priest who lives forever, Jesus!!
When writing this message and studying the bible, I was struggling a lot with my spiritual relationship with God. I felt this sense of blessing that he gave me this eternal high priest to always come to whenever I sin. But I took this blessing for granted and fell into the addiction of satisfying myself with lustful desires by using dating apps and watching pornography, fulfilling my pleasures of greed by focusing my time and effort on working in the daycare, and got overcome by laziness, as I didn’t want to write this message at all. Realizing this huge block that was preventing my heart from receiving Jesus, God put me in a situation where I lost all the money I worked for and almost exposed my need for sexual pleasure. During this summer, God showed me his discipline as he opened my eyes to see what my sinful life was becoming. I can’t express how much I thank God for letting me study more and more deeply on this passage specifically and can’t thank him enough for he has blessed me so much within my life. At first, I glossed over this passage because it was too hard for my brain to comprehend. But now God gave me this opportunity to share the message because he has shown me that Jesus the high priest is always willing to accept me. He always lives to intercede for everyone, including me. He welcomes me with open arms, for he has taken my burden of sins and offered himself in order to cleanse my heart completely and restore me to becoming a child of God. Praise God! Because with Jesus’ permanent priesthood, I am saved COMPLETELY!!
Part 2: Jesus, the mediator of the New Covenant (Ch. 8)
Are u guys getting sleepy? Its okay because If you haven’t been paying attention, here’s the main point of what the author is saying. Verse 1 says, “We do have such a high priest!” telling us that Jesus is our high priest who is able to save us completely, who always lives to intercede for us. Now in chapter 8, the author emphasizes the superiority of the ministry of Jesus over that of the Levitical priesthood.
Look at verse 5. The Levitical priesthood served as an earthly sanctuary that was a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. The earthly priests entered the Most Holy Place with the blood animals once a year. But Jesus our high priest serves in the heavenly sanctuary, the true tabernacle where God dwells, sitting down at the right hand of God. Jesus, the heavenly priest, has entered into God’s presence and opened a new and living way for us through sacrificing himself. This ministry of Jesus, which is superior to the ministry of the priests in the Old Testament, gives us the hope of the kingdom of God as an anchor for our soul, firm and secure. It is because Jesus brings the new covenant established on better promises that give us perfect forgiveness and redemption. Then, how is the new covenant superior to the old one?
Exodus 19:5-6 says “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations, you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’” This was the promise God made with the Israelites.
Notice the If…then phrasing in the verse? This promise that God gave them was more of a give-and-take relationship between the people. If you do this, then I will make you this. God even gave Moses 10 commandments on stone tablets for everyone to understand and memorize. However, as we all know, the people failed to keep this and decided to turn their backs on God because they were weak. They refused to listen to God and therefore, were not able to fulfill his covenant. Although this brought God’s wrath, it also brought mercy to the next generation. God did not abandon them but rather, made a promise to establish a better covenant with the people.
Let’s read verses 10-12. In what sense is this new covenant better than the first one? This new covenant is based on God’s faithfulness to keep his promise. When we look at the covenant, we don’t see that “If…Then” phrasing anymore. Rather, we find “I will…, I will…, I will…” Instead of seeing a give-and-take relationship, we see God’s willingness to save us from our sins. Since God is faithful and never fails to keep his promises, this new covenant will come true no matter what. Now, we will have perfect forgiveness when we accept Jesus, our high priest by faith. Look at verse 12. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” God will now forgive our sins and not remember our wickedness at all through this new covenant that our mediator, Jesus, made and brought. He planned for Jesus to take on the burden of our sin and decided that we would receive all the blessings. Since Jesus sacrificed himself for our sins, Sin has no mastery over us anymore. In Jesus, we are truly free from the power of sin and death.
God will write his laws on our hearts and in that way, the new covenant would lead us to know God from our hearts and develop a personal relationship with Him. Instead of a bunch of stone tablets, God writes the word in our hearts because it changes our hearts; for the word of God is living and powerful: it penetrates souls and spirits and judges thoughts and attitudes of the heart. God even promised “I will be their God and they will be my people.” and “they will all know me from the least of them to the greatest.” God created us in his image as spiritual beings to worship and praise God. After sin broke this life-giving relationship with God, man could not help but become miserable. Now, through the blood of Jesus, we can have this life-giving relationship with God. God is our God and We are his people. The covenant of Jesus’ blood, gives true peace and happiness in God. Nothing can separate us from God because of this new covenant.
Now that we have this new covenant, so what? Let’s read Romans 6:13 together. Hebrews Chapter 8 talks about how God gave us this new covenant and why. He gave it to us due to the people’s unaccepting heart to receive this promise of God to become the kingdom of priests. God gave us this new covenant willingly so that we would not go back to our old life of sin. He promised to not remember our sinful ways and forgive us. So in return for his mercy and love, Instead of sinning and repenting, again and again, we can become instruments of righteousness and have our hearts fixed on Jesus.
The key verse for this GLE is Hebrews 12:2 which says “And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer, and perfecter of faith” We can overcome our temptation of sin through perseverance and keep our eyes fixed on God for he has given this new covenant to you and me
Today, we learned that Jesus is our High Priest forever who can completely save those who come to God through him. Because Jesus is our High Priest forever, we can courageously proclaim the gospel of Jesus; we can patiently serve the next generation and campus mission; we can continue to raise disciples of Jesus through 1:1 Bible study and living together. Because Jesus is our High Priest, we continue to preach the wonderful news to all campuses and all nations. Again, I thank God so much for giving me this opportunity to share this message with everyone. This experience has shown me that God is working in me and showing me his power and love. Now instead of going back to my old life of lust and greed, I can have an open heart for God, keeping my eyes fixed on him and letting him lead me in the right direction toward eternal salvation. Now that Jesus has interceded and saved me from my life of sin, I can live to be a child of God and a leader for the next generation! Praise God!! Because of Jesus who is my High Priest, I can grow to be a Bible Teacher and shepherd for campus students. Together we can all grow to become Self-motivated executive bible teachers for our campuses and raise a holy nation through Jesus our High Priest forever! Amen!
Let’s read the key verse and pray.