Jesus Christ Our High Priest (Heb. 4:14)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 02-06-03

 

My Worship Time                              Focus:  Jesus Christ our High Priest

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Hebrews 4:14

 

            1.  Message of the verse:  “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.”  (NKJV) “That is why we have a great High Priest who has gone to heaven, Jesus the Son of God.  Let us cling to Him and never stop trusting Him.”  (NLT)

            In this section, (4:16-5:10), the writer is proving that the Priesthood of Jesus Christ is superior to that of Aaron’s.  Dr. Wiersbe says that the Priesthood of Jesus Christ is the theme of the book of Hebrews.  In his book he gives four reasons why the Priesthood of Jesus Christ is superior to that of the Priesthood of Aaron.  The first reason is that Jesus Christ has a superior title.  The name Jesus means “Saviour” and this identifies Him as being human.  Jesus Christ is The High Priest and this could not be said of any of the OT priests.  In this verse it says that Jesus Christ passed through the heavens, and this is speaking of where He is at now, He is in Heaven and is available to minister on behalf of all believers all of the time and not just once a year as the OT high priests could.  They were only allowed to enter into the Holy of Holies once a year on the Day of Atonement to offer up the blood on the mercy seat for the sins of the people.  Verse 16 tells the believers that they can come boldly to the throne of grace to find mercy and grace to help in time of need.  This is far different than the way it was done in the OT setting.  The OT priest passed through areas to get to the Holy of Holies and Jesus Christ passed through the three heavens to get to God.  One more point from this verse and that is the last phrase, “let us hold fast our confession.”  Those to whom this letter was first sent to were thinking of “not holding fast to their confession,” because of the persecution that they were going through; the writer is encouraging them to hold to it.  This would not cause them to loose their salvation, for that is eternal, however it would cause them to bring reproach to the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

            2.  Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I think more than ever before that I am more thankful for my Great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ and for what He is doing for me from His throne in heaven.

 

The Word of God was so very refreshing to me today.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  The Bible says,  “the just shall live by faith,” and because I have so great a High Priest who has gone before me being an example on how to live, I want to live my life by faith each day.

 

Memory verse for the week:  1Peter 4:10

 

Each one should use whatever gift he has to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.